Fed steps up efforts to monitor environmental impact of oil sands
Environment Minister Peter Kent recently announced that the federal government wants to establish “a world-class monitoring system” to guide the future development of the oil sands, but environmental experts say the government needs to come up with a system of enforceable regulations. Last month Mr. Kent (Thornhill, Ont.) unveiled the second phase of the federal […]
Waiting for approval: Keystone XL Pipeline passes NEB in Canada, waits for U.S. decision
Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird was in Washington, D.C., last week to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to discuss the conflicts in Libya and Syria, but perhaps of more pressing importance, from a Canadian point-of-view, is the issue of the Keystone XL pipeline project. An extension of the original Keystone pipeline, TransCanada […]
Canada’s energy ministers should pull together a national energy consensus
Along with 12 regional governments, hundreds of First Nations, more than 1,000 municipalities, countless industry associations and a broad swath of civil society, the federal government has an important role to play. This would be a great time in our history to have an “easy” button. Click: reduced dependency on carbon fuels. Click: profitable green […]
Without sound climate policies Canada can’t develop strong green economy, say experts
Canada, a world leader in traditional energy reserves, is falling behind in its level of competitiveness in emerging global energy markets, says a leading environmentalist. “We’re not moving quickly enough. Not as quickly as Europe, as China—we’re in a situation where others are claiming the terrain,” Clare Demerse, director of climate change at the Pembina […]
Rural Canada’s boom-and-bust industries moving to green economy
Commercial projects in the renewable production of biofuels and electricity are emerging as potential saviours for some of rural Canada’s boom-and-bust economies. However, some critics argue that federal incentives don’t go far enough in fast-tracking Canada’s transition to a green economy. In May of this year, Los Angeles-based Rentech-Clearfuels and the government of Ontario announced […]
Oliver wants Canada to be leader in green technology development
As Canada’s federal Natural Resources minister, newly-elected Conservative MP Joe Oliver faces the difficult challenge of defending some the government’s most controversial policies. In his first month on the NRCan portfolio, Minister Oliver (Eglinton-Lawrence, Ont.) has already had to publicly support Canada’s asbestos industry, the feds’ sale of AECL, and Enbridge’s planned Northern Gateway Pipeline […]
NRCan Minister Oliver touts feds’ commitment to building a green economy in Canada
Recently appointed Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver says the federal government has a plan to manage Canada’s natural resources sustainably and to make the country a leader in clean technology, but leading environmental policy analysts say there are significant political obstacles to fostering a green economy at the federal level. “We want to emerge as […]
Feds should coordinate environment and energy policy, now
TORONTO—Now that environmental policy is focused primarily upon the climate change impacts of fossil fuels, the two policy fields of environment and energy are inherently, inescapably interconnected. Any federal government making policy in this combined area, regardless of party or ideological leanings, faces three basic challenges. First, there is an inherent conflict between the traditional […]
Over the long term, good environmental policy is good economic policy
It’s difficult to imagine that only 40 years ago, Germany was one of Europe’s worst environmental stragglers. Today, seen as a model of environmental success, at the time it was known for forests ravaged by acid rain, waterways contaminated with toxic heavy metals, and air blackened from the burning of high-sulphur coal. Key policy decisions […]
We could be building a clean energy superpower in rural Canada
OTTAWA—Addington Highlands township is a two-hour drive west of Ottawa. It not only looks like a Group of Seven painting, it is: many famous paintings from the original G7 were created at Mazinaw Lake 90 years ago. Seventy per cent of township land is Crown-owned, and covered with a mature mixed hardwood-softwood forest. Indeed, this […]
