Dec 22, 2016 - After spending the past 13 months focused on international and national climate negotiations, Environment Minister Catherine McKenna will turn her attention in 2017 to the more prosaic work of implementation – ensuring that what was agreed to at high-profile political summits is acted upon.

The pan-Canadian climate agreement signed earlier this month by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and 11 provincial and territorial premiers includes a plan for Ottawa to impose a carbon price on provinces that refuse to adopt their own by 2018.

Dec 15, 2016 - And there’s one country that can claim a huge share of the credit for it.

Solar power is becoming the world’s cheapest form of new electricity generation, data from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) suggests.

The rental building under construction at the corner of East Hastings and Skeena Street looks similar to countless others being built around the city. But one detail, noted in small print on the promotional sign, calls attention to the difference: it aims to be designated a “Passive House,” a highly energy efficient building. It’s one of only a handful of buildings or houses in Vancouver that either have the designation or are targeting it. Once certified, the Heights — as it’s been dubbed by the developer — will be the largest building in Canada that’s met the Passive House standard.

The sinking of a diesel-laden tug near Bella Bella has a First Nations community on Vancouver Island becoming even more committed to renewable energy.

Hesquiaht First Nation, on the west coast of Vancouver Island near Hot Springs Cove, relies on a diesel generator to provide electricity for about 70 residents.

That means the diesel engine runs round the clock. A barge with three tanker trucks carrying full loads of diesel fuel, totalling 45,000 litres, docks at Hesquiaht every eight weeks to replenish the village tank farm.