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#FAIL, says new report from Canada’s environment watchdog

OTTAWA - The Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development provides further evidence the federal government is failing to protect the environment, ^NOT meeting its climate change commitments and ^NOT cleaning up contaminated sites.

The reality is Canada will ^NOT meet its 2020 greenhouse gas emission target of 17% below 2005 emissions (it won’t come close with the current rate of expansion of the Tar Sands). Nor is there a plan (or the funding allocated) to clean-up thousands of toxic waste sites. Only a handful of contaminated sites out of over 10,000 are reported to be receiving adequate attention.
Budget: Canadians have no say in environmental laws

OTTAWA- Canadians are less able to protect our water, air and land because of changes to environmental law outlined in today’s federal budget.

The key change, essentially speeding up environmental reviews of mega-projects, will greatly hurt the public's ability to participate in future processes.

“Environmental assessments need to be thorough, consultative and science-based.” said John Bennett, Executive Director of Sierra Club Canada. “Creating hard-time limits and rushing the process compromises all these things.”

The changes will result in weaker environmental assessments and projects being approved without a full understanding of the social, economic and environmental impacts they will have.
Reaction to federal coal regulations announcement

In response to the federal coal regulations announced this morning by Minister Kent, Climate Action Network Canada would first and foremost request clarification as to whether the Maxim coal plant will be subject to these new regulations*. These regulations also do not go far enough fast enough to move Canada away from burning coal, one of the worst offenders when it comes to greenhouse gas pollution. Given what we know about climate change, Canada should not be building any new coal-fired power plants, and we should be rapidly phasing out the existing ones.

For comment and reaction to the announcement of the federal coal regulations please contact:

John Bennett, Sierra Club Canada, 613.291.6888

Steven Guilbeault, Equiterre, 514. 378.0232

Dale Marshall, David Suzuki Foundation, 613.302.9913

Brennan Vogel, Ecology Action Centre, 902.442.0199
A response from Sierra Club Canada

Re: "Wind turbine religion ignores rural people", Sept. 3
'Money Laundering' claim irks green groups

MONTREAL - Environmental groups in Quebec and across Canada are accusing the federal government of engaging in a kind of McCarthyism, painting environmentalists as terrorists and criminals in a bid to discredit and silence critics.

“This is a sustained campaign,” said Steven Guilbeault of the Montreal-based environmental organization Équiterre. “They have been talking about it since January; comparing environmental groups to terrorists, radicals, and money launderers. If I had more money, I would take the minister to court for defamation.”

Guilbeault was responding to various statements by Conservative politicians, including Environment Minister Peter Kent’s recent comments on CBC accusing unnamed environmental organizations of money laundering.
Positives of wind energy to be discussed at meeting organized by Friends of Wind Ontario

An event held by Friends of Wind Ontario, will discuss the roadblocks, attitudes and misinformation that stops communities from working together towards energy sustainability. The meeting will share all the facts about renewable energy, particularly wind turbines.

One of the topics to be talked about is how renewable energy is a good revenue source for independent farmers.
Prentice pushed cap-and-trade on Alberta

TORONTO - A former Conservative cabinet minister attempted to convince Alberta politicians to accept a more stringent regulatory approach to curbing climate change in 2009, newly released documents show.

Then-federal Environment Minister Jim Prentice met with Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach and provincial Environment Minister Rob Renner in Calgary on Sept. 11, 2009 to discuss the idea of getting the province involved in a national system.

"I think you would agree with me that encouraging businesses and individuals to change behaviour requires appropriate price signals," a briefing note, which outlines "points to register" with the Alberta government, reads.
Pipeline critics hit back after Oliver warns of 'radicals'

Canada's natural resources minister has entered the fray over the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline with a controversial public letter accusing "radical" environmentalists of trying to delay the project and undermine the country's economic interests.

In an open letter released on the eve of the first public hearing on the proposal, Joe Oliver says environmentalists and other "radical" groups are trying to hijack the regulatory process.

More than 4,300 groups and individuals have signed up to speak at the regulatory panel hearings, which begin Tuesday in Kitimat, B.C.

"Their goal is to stop any major project no matter what the cost to Canadian families in lost jobs and economic growth," Oliver wrote in the letter. "No forestry. No mining. No oil. No gas. No more hydro-electric dams."
Pipeline Options

ROBIN GILL: Good evening and thank you for joining us. It was supposed to create jobs for both Canada and the United States, but the proposed 2700-kilometre pipeline that would ship Alberta crude to market in the States has been stalled. The Keystone XL pipeline has become synonymous with controversy and now there's a new push to build another pipeline, this time through northern BC to much bigger markets across the Pacific. Mike Le Couteur has our top story tonight.
Wind Decision in Ontario (Environmental Review Tribunal)

For those of you who may be following the raging debate about the health effects of wind turbines, you will want to know about the decision just released by the Environmental Review Tribunal in Ontario.

The folks behind this are also (we believe) affiliated with Wind Concerns Ontario, who are "a unified voice of opposition to the unchecked rush of locating thousands of massive industrial wind turbines across the province which are too close to human habitation and are without the benefit of full environmental assessment." This same group of people sent a Notice of Libel to the Sierra Club of Canada for its report on the health effects of wind, and a whole pile of other people speaking in favour of wind "generally".

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