Tag "Canada"
Trudeau’s environmental record on the line in Canada election year
Canada: Trudeau on back foot as frustration builds over PM’s climate strategy Read more When Canadians cast their votes next October, they will do so amid standard electoral issues: jobs, the economy and foreign policy.
“The good news for the prime minister is that when you ask Canadians who they think would make the best prime minister, he still has a comfortable advantage over Conservative leader Andrew Scheer,” said Nik Nanos, a Canadian pollster.
“The bad news is that leading up to the next federal election right now, it’s basically a coin toss between the Liberals and Conservatives.” Canadians have shown an increasing concern for the environment, but in a country largely dependent on resource extraction, the results are often messy.
Earlier in the year, as part of its pan-Canadian climate change strategy, the federal government required all provinces have a minimum level of carbon pricing.
For those that fail to do so, the government will implement its own carbon tax, set to begin in July 2019.
Already, the levy has fired up Trudeau’s political opponents – at both the provincial and federal level.
“The only true test of a climate change plan, after all, is whether carbon is going up or down,” said the NDP leader, Jagmeet Singh, in a statement about his frustrations with the Trans Mountain Pipeline, which runs from Alberta to the British Columbia coast.
“Trudeau has moved from having an environment that was friendly and pliant to one that is more combative and hostile,” said Nanos, pointing to a string of shifts to Conservative – or right-of-centre – provincial governments across the country since Trudeau was elected in 2015.
Along with their provincial counterparts, the federal Conservatives have pledged to repeal any carbon taxes, with Scheer dismissing the policy as an “election gimmick”.
He points out that the biggest emissions reductions in Canada came from the Ontario government’s closure of coal plants.
3 Reasons the Deadly Lac-Mégantic Oil Train Disaster Could Happen Again
Canada’s TSB Chair Fox noted in her recent remarks that the DOT-111 tank cars, which were carrying the oil that destroyed part of Lac-Mégantic are no longer permitted to move crude oil, in either Canada or the U.S. Those tank cars clearly were unsafe for transporting flammable liquids—something they were never designed to do.
The 2015 oil train rules mandate stricter standards for rail tank cars carrying hazardous materials, which means rail companies have a decade to switch to new DOT-117 cars.
Yet Fox does not address the real issue at play with tank cars.
The real problem is that DOT-117 tank cars are also proving inadequate for moving oil safely, as evidenced when an oil train of cars meeting the new standards derailed in Iowa in June 2018.
That exchange occurred six years before the industry was required to implement PTC, giving rail companies plenty of time to hire lobbyists to argue against implementing a safety technology now almost 50 years after it was first recommended.
Despite being one of the easiest problems to solve, runaway trains, or “uncontrolled movements,” are increasing since Lac-Mégantic.
In addition, positive train control could also prevent runaway trains, and modern ECP brakes would also help.
And while this statement was made by a Canadian at a conference in Canada about an accident in Canada, the rail barons are on both sides of the Canadian-American border.
Since then, the rail barons successfully had the regulations for modern ECP brakes repealed.
This statement reveals why so little has been accomplished to improve oil-by-rail safety.
Canada and Argentina to peer review each other’s fossil fuel subsidies
G7 and G20 hosts commit to a process they hope will help them phase out taxpayer support for coal, oil and gas Canada and Argentina have announced they will conduct peer reviews of their public finance of fossil fuels.
“Phasing out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies is an important step in the transition to a low-carbon economy,” said the statement.
Canada and Argentina are the hosts of this year’s G7 and G20 respectively.
Canada, which is a member of both the G7 and G20, has committed to working to phase out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies every year since 2009.
This month, observers told Climate Home News that Canada’s pledge to spend $3.5bn to nationalise the Kinder Morgan oil pipeline counted as a huge new subsidy.
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“As a G20 country, Argentina reaffirms its commitment to rationalise and phase out, over the medium term, inefficient fossil fuel subsidies that encourage wasteful consumption, recognizing the need to support the poor, and we will endeavour to make further progress in moving forward on this commitment,” said Juan José Aranguren, Argentina’s minister of energy and mining.
The announcement did not set a deadline for the review to be delivered.
“Canada’s partnership with Argentina in this peer review demonstrates our commitment to ambitious climate and energy policies,” said Jim Carr, Canada’s minister of natural resources.
Canada Risks Billions in a ‘Carbon Bubble’ as Kinder Morgan Execs Get Big Bonuses
Days after Justin Trudeau blew an estimated $15 billion of hard-earned Canadian taxpayer money on Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline, scientists are warning just how financially and ecologically stupid and short-sighted the investment was.
In a peer reviewed scientific paper published Monday, the scientists warn of the existence of a “carbon bubble,” due to the plunging price of renewables and improved energy efficiency measures, which will make many fossil fuel projects “stranded assets.”
It continues: “This trend is inconsistent with observed investment in new fossil fuel ventures, which could become stranded as a result.”
But this economic loss of “stranded fossil fuel assets” will be exemplified if “new climate policies to reach the 2°C target of the Paris Agreement are adopted and/or if low-cost producers (some OPEC countries) maintain their level of production (‘sell out’) despite declining demand.”
And the reason will be the tar sands.
And if the tar sands are “shut down,” Kinder Morgan is a pipeline to nowhere.
Individual nations cannot avoid the situation by ignoring the Paris agreement or burying their heads in coal and tar sands.”
Dr. Jean-François Mercure, the lead author, from Radboud and Cambridge universities, also told the newspaper: “If people stop putting funds now in fossil fuels, they may at least limit their losses.”
Trudeau has just done the opposite. “It is government subsidizing a market failure.”
Taxpayers Still Shelling Out Billions Annually in Fossil Fuel Subsidies
The world’s richest countries continue to subsidize at least $100 billion a year in subsidies for the production and use of coal, oil and gas, despite repeated pledges to phase out fossil fuels by 2025. “With less than seven years to meet their 2025 phase-out deadline, G7 governments continue to provide substantial support the production and use of oil, gas and coal,” the authors stated.
The study, co-authored by Oil Change International, the International Institute for Sustainable Development and the Natural Resources Defense Council, was issued Monday ahead of the G7 summit in Canada. “Governments often say they have no public resources to support the clean energy transition,” the study’s lead author Shelagh Whitley told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. “What we’re trying to do is highlight that those resources are there (but) it is being used inefficiently.”
For the study, each G7 member was rated on the following measures: transparency; pledges and commitments; ending support for fossil fuel exploration; ending support for coal mining; ending support for oil and gas production; ending support for fossil fuel-based power; and ending support for fossil fuel use.
France ranked the highest overall, with 63 out of 100 points.
Germany (62 points) and Canada (54 points) rounded out the top three in the dubious list.
The report showed that the U.S. spent $26 billion a year supporting fossil fuels and scored the worst in ending support for coal mining, a pet project of President Trump. “What should be a low-hanging fruit in terms of moving public resources away from fossil fuels is not happening, or where it is happening, it’s not happening fast enough,” Whitley told the news service.
Canada to Buy Controversial Tar Sands Pipeline
The Canadian government plans to spend $4.5 billion Canadian dollars ($3.5 billion) to buy Kinder Morgan’s existing Trans Mountain pipeline and its controversial expansion project that will triple the amount of tar sands transported from Alberta to the coast of British Columbia.
Kinder Morgan halted all non-essential spending the pipeline project last month, citing continuing opposition in British Columbia.
The company set a May 31 deadline to get assurances it can proceed with the project without delays.
Bill Morneau, the federal finance minister, said in Ottawa Tuesday that the government’s purchase will guarantee the summer construction season for workers and will ensure the project is built to completion. “Our message today is simple—when we’re faced with an exceptional situation that puts jobs at risk, that puts our international reputation on the line, our government’s prepared to take action,” he said.
The agreement was approved by the Cabinet this morning and is subject to approval by Kinder Morgan shareholders.
Aurore Fauret, 350.org’s Canadian tar sands campaign coordinator, said in a statement that “in a single mandate, Justin Trudeau transformed from a climate champion into a Big Oil CEO.”
However, environmentalists have criticized Trudeau’s support of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.
Kinder Morgan abandoned this project because people organized all across the country to stop it, and we’ll do it again,” Fauret said. “This fight is far from over, and now that Justin Trudeau has turned the Canadian government into a fossil fuel company, it’s crystal clear who we’re up against.”
Canadian Environment Minister Predicts Ice Free Canada
Guest essay by Eric Worrall Canadian Environment Minister Catherine McKenna has demanded climate skeptic Hockey commentator Don Cherry think about all the children who might one day not be able to play outdoors on the ice in Canada.
Don Cherry says “cuckaloos” believe in global warming Don Cherry calls people who believe in global warming ‘cuckaloos’ Hailey Montgomery Digital Reporter Sunday, February 4, 2018, 6:16 PM – Known to many as the most outspoken man in sports, iconic Canadian commentator and television personality Don Cherry is once again facing criticism after offering input to a discussion well outside of the hockey world.
During his CBC Hockey Night in Canada segment Coach’s Corner on Saturday, a day after groundhog Wiarton Willie predicted six more weeks of winter, Cherry implied that Canada’s ongoing cold weather was contradictory to the concept of global warming.
When MacLean tried to change the subject, Cherry persisted.
“We’re not totally cuckaloos if you look at some of the thing’s going on in our world,” MacLean replied.
The formed Boston Bruin’s coach has been known to be unapologetically opinionated on and off screen, making his two-cents known as to Toronto’s bike lanes, politics, European imports to the NHL, and weather or not female journalists may go inside NHL locker rooms to seek interviews.
Most of the population is jammed up against the “warm” southern edge of the country, leaving vast empty wildernesses to the north.
As for Canadian Environment Minister Catherine McKenna’s suggestion that ice in Canada might someday be a thing of the past, I think I’ll go with Don Cherry’s position on that kind of prediction.
To aid readability, and to avoid the risk of getting it wrong, no attempt is… From the UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS and the “humans have survived far worse climates” department.
Two of the main threats are the deforestation for arable land and climate change.
Climate portfolio back in UK cabinet after May’s reshuffle
Key appointments: Greg Clark stays as secretary of state for the department of business, energy and industrial strategy (Beis) Climate minister Claire Perry remains in her role, but will now attend cabinet Environment secretary Michael Gove, international trade secretary Liam Fox, and foreign secretary Boris Johnson, all kept their jobs After much speculation, Beis secretary of state Greg Clark today kept his role as secretary of state for Beis.
The biggest change was for climate change minister Claire Perry who won a slight promotion and will now attend cabinet meetings as minister of state at the department for business, energy and industrial strategy (Beis).
Perry, the MP for Devizes in Wiltshire since 2010, was appointed climate minister in June last year.
UK: Government details coal power phase-out strategy Perry has made a couple of notable announcements during her seven months as climate minister.
In October 2017, the department published the long-awaited Clean Growth Strategy, which set out how the government hopes to meet its climate targets and reduce emissions.
Analysts have warned that new policies “need to progress quickly” if the government is going to meet its carbon budgets.
In November, Perry joined Canada’s minister of environment Catherine McKenna at the UN climate talks in Bonn to announce the launch of the Powering Past Coal Alliance.
The alliance of countries, states and regions committed to closing coal power plants that don’t have carbon capture and storage technology was largely welcomed in Bonn.
But environmentalists warned the announcement was “only the start of the journey”, and urged countries to specify how they would reduce their reliance on coal.
The plan was met with cautious optimism by environmentalists, though it was seen as “a missed opportunity” to remove coal generation from the UK‘s energy mix at an earlier date.
NAFTA Renegotiation Is A Stark Reminder That States And Cities Must Protect Against Climate Disaster
Given the administration’s focus on fossil fuels in its energy agenda, it would be unsurprising if its vision for such a strategy includes more oil and gas development, more cross-border pipelines, and more pollution threatening the North American people and environment.
It is therefore up to U.S. cities, states, and businesses to work with Mexican and Canadian partners to create a North American energy strategy that protects the continent from the effects of climate change—and positions each country to benefit from the global shift to clean energy.
A North American energy strategy should also promote a clean and equitable transportation system, given that this sector is second only to electricity generation in terms of carbon pollution.
It’s a common sense move to significantly improve local air quality in metropolitan areas.
By working together to expand vehicle electrification, states, cities, and provinces can fight climate change and improve the health and productivity of their citizens.
Cooperation on carbon pricing to encourage clean energy deployment should be part of a North American energy strategy as well.
Meanwhile, Mexico has a national carbon tax and intends to implement an emissions trading market by 2021.
As the rest of the world positions itself to lead and benefit from a clean energy future, a robust North American energy strategy is critical to the region’s long-term success—and in today’s world, an energy strategy must be a climate strategy.
With a U.S. national plan focused on fossil fuel development, the most interesting opportunities for North American energy collaboration are among states, provinces, cities, and businesses.
Erin Flanagan is Program Director of Federal Policy at the Pembina Institute, a Canadian clean energy think tank.
UK and Canada announce global alliance to end coal power
The two nations have committed to phase coal out of their electricity generation – by 2025 in the UK and 2030 in Canada.
Canada’s minister for the environment Catherine McKenna and UK climate minister Claire Perry met at the Houses of Parliament in London.
This year, with the growing influence of renewable energy, the UK began experiencing summer days during which not a single coal station needed to be turned on.
“We still are going to get our resources to market in the near term; we are still going to use oil and gas,” she said.
The Netherlands will surely join after announcing their own coal phase out by 2030 on Wednesday.
In that country, coal still produces 40% of electricity.
