Environment
Tory Budget Walks Away From Renewable Energy
The new federal budget is titled “Leading the Way on Jobs and Growth,” but environmentalists say it fails badly when it comes to creating new employment in fields that deliver energy from renewable sources like sun, wind and water.
Even before the new fiscal plan was released last week, the U.S. federal governmnet was outspending Ottawa by a per-capita ratio of 14 to 1 on the technologies that many believe will be the energy sources of future generations.
Tofino By-Law Would Ban Franchises
The District of Tofino is currently drafting a by-law that would ban franchises from setting up shop in the district. The legislation aims to protects the uniqueness of the community. Read more here.Vancouver School Board Introduces High School Sustainability Course
SOLARIS, a 4 credit, year long course in sustainability, is being offered to Vancouver students in grades 11 and 12. The course will focus on a range of topics from housing and transportation to forestry and fisheries. Read more here.Richmond approves $60-million to buy Garden City lands
Although Mayor Malcolm Brodie didn't like the terms of the deal, he said a deal's been brokered with the Musqueam Indian Band and the Canada Lands Company, and it wouldn't be appropriate for him to vote against it at this point.
But Brodie made his position clear during the special meeting of council Mionday, in which Coun. Sue Halsey-Brandt participated via conference call.
"It's not the deal I would have made," he said.
Budget Puts Climate Action on Ice
The Harper government has taken a pause in financing federal action on climate change.
In his budget speech Thursday, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty was literally silent on the issue – climate change was not mentioned, though the government has in the past described it as one of the major challenges of the age.
Cuts to Ministry of Environment undermining environmental enforcement
The announcement, in BC Budget 2010/11, of $69 million for justice and policing operations ignores the virtual collapse of the enforcement of BC's environmental laws, according to West Coast Environmental Law. The group asserts that past and new cuts to the Ministry of the Environment play a key role in an ongoing drop in enforcement of laws protecting BC's air, water and wildlife, and called for increased funding for environmental law enforcement.
School grows greener graduates; Dedicated students teachers staff at Reynolds High School lead way in environmental education
Over the last few years, the Green Spaces Project has gone from concept to reality, with landscaping, gardening and educational activities transforming areas of the school into welcoming and sustainable micro-ecosystems.
U.N. says emissions vows not enough to avoid rise of 2 degrees C
Emission cuts pledges made by 60 countries will not be enough to keep the average global temperature rise at 2 degrees Celsius or less, modelling released on Tuesday by the United Nations says.Scientists say temperatures should be limited to a rise of no more than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 F) above pre-industrial times if devastating climate change is to be avoided.
World's top firms cause $2.2tn of environmental damage, report estimates
Report for the UN into the activities of the world's 3,000 biggest companies estimates one-third of profits would be lost if firms were forced to pay for use, loss and damage of environment.
The cost of pollution and other damage to the natural environment caused by the world's biggest companies would wipe out more than one-third of their profits if they were held financially accountable, a major unpublished study for the United Nations has found.
The Cleveland Model : Green worker Co-ops
Something important is happening in Cleveland: a new model of large-scale worker- and community-benefiting enterprises is beginning to build serious momentum in one of the cities most dramatically impacted by the nation's decaying economy. The Evergreen Cooperative Laundry (ECL)--a worker-owned, industrial-size, thoroughly "green" operation--opened its doors late last fall in Glenville, a neighborhood with a median income hovering around $18,000.
