Renewable energy companies see tremendous opportunity in Ontario’s climate-change plan, though skeptics question whether the proposed incentives and regulations will achieve the government’s goals and will impose costs that are unacceptable to voters.
The Ontario government will spend more than $7-billion over four years on a sweeping climate change plan that will affect every aspect of life – from what people drive to how they heat their homes and workplaces – in a bid to slash the province’s carbon footprint.
In the immediate aftermath of the Fort McMurray fire, it was considered to be in bad taste to associate the event with climate change. Worse was to suggest that karma had come back to bite the oil sands city in the behind.
If you’re trying to figure out how Alberta’s already hurting budget is going to get battered by the Fort McMurray wildfires, don’t get too bogged down in the reports of massive losses in oil production shutdowns. You’re better off keeping an eye on the way the oil price responds to the drama playing out in the Alberta oil patch.
Blazes in Fort McMurray, Alberta. Video still from Youtube footage posted by Jason Edmondson.
Some time ago, the environmentalist “Break Free” movement planned a number of protest actions around the world during the first two weeks of May. The protests have a simple and basic message: burning fossil fuels is unsafe and those resources must be left in the ground.
The federal government is coming up on what will be a litmus test of its commitment to nation-to-nation relations with First Nations and to the environment, say those advocating for the shutdown of the massive BC Hydro development known as Site C in northeastern British Columbia.
[Editor's note: The Leap Manifesto says: "Since so much of the labour of caretaking - whether of people or the planet - is currently unpaid and often performed by women, we call for a vigorous debate about the introduction of a universal basic annual income." Following is an article with some cautions about such an income.]
Crystal Lameman is a member of the Beaver Lake Cree Nation, a single mother of two, and the treaty co-ordinator and communications manager for Intergovernmental Affairs and Industry Relations in the Beaver Lake Cree Nation.
I was one of the first to sign the Leap Manifesto, and I helped write it.
For too long, Canada has been on the wrong side of climate action. Now is our chance to change that.
The Trudeau government plans to put forward a new national climate strategy for Canada before the end of 2016. We already know that oil lobbyists are gearing up to try and weaken any attempts to take bold action, and it’s up to us to make sure the voices of the people are heard first.
