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¶ Published Friday, August 27th In Environment - No Comments »
Garbage, or oil? Or both? A Japanese man demonstrates his machine to convert plastic waste back to oil. The video is a little short on technical details (efficiency, size, etc.), but in principle, this is great news.
¶ Published Friday, August 13th In Environment - No Comments »
An Environment Canada report just released demonstrates that pollution from Tar Sands mining operations is even worse than expected. Notably, the release of toxins and heavy metals is increasing faster and faster as development grows and new projects come online. This Globe and Mail article summarize the report well, but suffice to say Tar Sands production in 2009 can be summed up as: Arsenic and lead released to tailings ponds has increased 26% in 4 years 111 661 tonnes of sulphur dioxide were released (causes acid rain) 70 685 tonnes of volatile organic compounds were released (causes smog and harmRead the Rest…
¶ Published Tuesday, August 10th In Environment - No Comments »
The average day at my office in downtown Beijing, 2005. China has just announced the forced shutdown of 2 000 old and inefficient industrial plants (AFP article). Some are government run, others are privately owned. This strong handed move to close polluting plants could only be done in China (or some other autocratic state). But, criticize China for their pollution we might, when they decide to move, they move big and fast. As the famous sinologist, Alain Peyfritte apply stated, “Quand la Chine s’eveillera, le monde tremblera” (When China wakes, the world will tremble). In 2005, I interned at Danieli,Read the Rest…
¶ Published Friday, July 30th In Environment - No Comments »
On July 27th, the Western Climate Initiative (WCI) released details of its strategy to reduce regional greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 15 percent below 2005 levels by 2020. The WCI is a regional collaboration among seven American states and four Canadian provinces (Quebec, Ontario, British Columbia and Manitoba) to fight climate change and global warming. The document that was made public is billed as a roadmap to assist WCI members (known as partner jurisdictions) in developing and implementing regulations. The program start date is set for January 1, 2012. The first stage of the program will target generators emitting moreRead the Rest…
¶ Published Thursday, July 29th In Environment - No Comments »
Jim Middlemiss at the National Post has a good rundown here on the stakes surrounding Quebec’s proposed Bill-79 which, if passed, will introduce some key changes to the province’s Mining Act. The title of the article, in typical headline writing fashion, plays up the fact that Quebec is at risk of losing its status as a mining haven. But even the lawyers interviewed in the article seem to acknowledge that there is a lot of good that can come out of the proposed changes, provided the parameters can be better defined, particularly with respect to public consultations and provisions governingRead the Rest…
¶ Published Wednesday, July 28th In Environment - No Comments »
Yesterday there was another oil spill, in Michigan, an Enbridge pipeline has spilt over 3.25 million litres of oil (CBC article). Though tiny in comparison to the BP spill, it is significant. On top of the spill in China last week (MSNBC article), we are seeing more and more spills as oil companies strive to make more money by cutting costs. The risks of managing hazardous materials increase exponentially – not linearly – with the complexity of the system. Sadly, with increasing demand for oil, we are likely to continue to see more and more spills. It is high timeRead the Rest…
¶ Published Thursday, July 22nd In Environment - No Comments »
I recently spoke with Dianne Saxe about the BP oil spill and its larger implications. We tried to address a number of issues in 10 minutes, notably the massive conflict of interest between regulatory bodies and industry. As an example the US has re-branded the Mineral Management Service to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and Enforcement, very subtle. In Canada we still have the Ministry of Natural Resources, which begs the question of what their purpose is – extracting minerals or protecting the environment? Next we discussed liability issues on risky projects and how to safely ensure that a companyRead the Rest…
¶ Published Monday, July 19th In Environment - No Comments »
Environmental class actions are beginning to line up a string of successes. Readers will recall the landmark Supreme Court of Canada decision in St. Lawrence Cement Inc. v. Barrette, which found in favour of neighbours of a cement factory who had filed a class action lawsuit against the company alleging that the factory’s activities caused excessive disturbances, mainly dust. This month, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice awarded $36-million in the long-awaited Inco class-action to Port Colbourne residents. Inco operated a nickel refinery that was found responsible for having contaminated nearby properties with airborne metals, particularly nickel, thereby causing dropsRead the Rest…
¶ Published Tuesday, July 6th In Environment - No Comments »
It depends on how it’s produced according to a study soon to be published. Dams are particularly harmful, it seems: “This is because large amounts of carbon tied up in trees and other plants are released when the reservoir is initially flooded and the plants rot. Then after this first pulse of decay, plant matter settling on the reservoir’s bottom decomposes without oxygen, resulting in a build-up of dissolved methane. This is released into the atmosphere when water passes through the dam’s turbines.” Large dams contribute up to 4 per cent of global warming by some estimates. Still, there areRead the Rest…
¶ Published Tuesday, June 29th In Environment - No Comments »
Charles Homans at FP calls Canada the biggest winner from the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico, because oil sands extraction presents fewer risks, according to the Canadian government. Still, it remains to be seen what kind of regulatory and investment climate surrounding oil extraction will emerge in the months and years ahead. Other oil spill winners include yesterday’s fossil-fuel villains (Exxon), Republican governors, lawyers and democratic lobbyists. Added to this unholy alliance are environmental groups whose coffers will swell in the wake of the disaster.
¶ Published Tuesday, June 22nd In Environment - No Comments »
What does your company release into the environment and what does it publish in its annual report? According to a Globe and Mail article (found here), only 10 of the 60 largest Canadian companies release data for all four major environmental items (carbon emissions, water usage, energy usage and waste production). They say, you change what you measure. With so little public disclosure of environmental indicators going on, it is no wonder that we remain a polluting country. Beyond legal compliance, the rigorous and methodical collection and analysis of environmental data helps increase awareness at all levels of a companyRead the Rest…
¶ Published Wednesday, June 16th In Environment, Legal Issues - No Comments »
I recently got a chance to follow up with environmental lawyer Dianne Saxe on the upcoming changes to the Ontario Environmental Approvals process. We had done an interview a couple months ago, but with the changes now in proposed acts, it was time to follow up. Click here to learn more about our regular environmental updates. The changes to the approvals process should make Ontario business’ lives a bit easier, but it also imposes much more serious responsibilities on the shoulders of corporate directors. The fines that you may face, should you not respect your permits, are substantial and muchRead the Rest…
¶ Published Tuesday, June 8th In Environment, Legal Issues, Video - No Comments »
I recently got the chance to sit down with Richard Girard of the Polaris institute in Ottawa. He has just released a corporate profile of oil pipeline giant Enbridge. We run through his findings, how the pipelines are compromising the environmental health and safety of local communities and the ties between government and industry. Our interview went a bit long, but we go through a lot of interesting issues surrounding the extraction, transportation and use of oil in the Canadian west. You can download the full Corporate Profile Report here. TarSands Watch Polaris Institute While we primarily service industry, itRead the Rest…
¶ Published Monday, June 7th In Environment - No Comments »
In New England there is a program in place designed to help recover overfished species. Fisheries managers there have been implementing a system, known as “catch shares” aimed at regulating the harvesting of groundfish. A brief description: “Where previous systems enforced seasonal, area-based and other limits to reduce catches, catch shares give set quotas to individual fishermen, who are then free to decide how and when to fill them. They can also lease quotas to others or, as in Marciano’s case, sell them off. In theory, catch shares have economic and ecological benefits, making for steadier income streams for fishermenRead the Rest…
¶ Published Friday, June 4th In Environment - No Comments »
Will the oil spread outside the Gulf of Mexico? According computer modelling, this is where the oil may be headed within the next six months.
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