Chief Gerald Amos Chief of the Haisla Nation has written a response to claims by Minister of Natural Resources, Joe Oliver, that radical environmental groups funded by foreign interests are hijacking the debate surrounding the proposed Enbridge pipeline. Read his response in the Huffington Post.
Temperatures across the Prairies have been in the double digits and the warm weather is expected to continue. While some are enjoying the weather, the change in climate is creating problems for many northern communities, where ice roads are not even close to being completed. Communities may have to rely on food and other stables being flown in at great expense.
The BC government's plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by one third will not be attainable if plans for three new liquid nitrogen plants go through. While the first two will be powered by electricity the third and the largest one, will be fueled by natural gas. The government has said it hopes to stores emissions underground, but carbon sequestering is still in the developmental stages.
The cost of solar energy in Germany has dropped 50% since 2007 and the results of that price drop have been dramatic. Last year alone demand for solar energy led to a 60% increase in its use. Solar power consumption has increased largely due to government incentives to make the energy more affordable to consumers. This year those incentives will decrease by 15% this year, but consumption is still expected to rise. The incentives have allowed the industry to grow and in turn to reduce its costs to consumers.
Canadians have on average paid less for food than people in other countries, but that will soon change. High transportation costs, low crop yields and export restrictions are responsible for recent spikes in food prices. Overall costs rose 4.5 % between November of 2010 and 2011, eggs rose 12.3% and potatoes rose 20.3%.
A report released by Canada's Commissioner on the Environment, Scott Vaughan criticizes Environment Canada for failing to regulate and punish polluting industries. The report describes a lack of knowledge and consistency within the organization. Read more at the CBC.
A team of Russian scientists studying eastern Arctic sea ice has discovered large plumes of methane bubbling to the surface. It is estimated that hundreds of millions of tones of methane, a greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide are locked in the Arctic permafrost. As climate change warms the planet these gases are being released at a rapid rate. The scale of the release of methane has shocked the scientists,
At today's news conference in the House of Commons, Environment Minister Peter Kent made the following announcement, "We are invoking Canada's legal right to formally withdraw from Kyoto." Minister Kent has argued that ratifying Kyoto would require dramatic action, and that his government was not prepared to take such action given that other major economies, such as the US, are not signatories. Kent's announcement and Canada's lack of cooperation at the recent Climate Summit in Durban South Africa, have angered activists across the globe as well as many heads of state.
Current emissions reductions targets are likely to create a warming of 3.5°C by 2020, far below the original pledge of 2°C lower. The Climate Action Tracker has done an analysis that shows what the financial and environmental risks are. The tracker is continually updating according to the latest information available. What the current analysis shows is that "for every US$1 of investment not spent on reducing emissions in the power sector before 2020 an additional US$4.3 would need to be spent after2020 to compensate for the increased emissions.
