Demand for federal cash to help defray the cost of home energy renovations spiked in recent months, forcing the government to close applications for the program almost a year earlier than expected.
With more than half a million applications for the Canada Greener Homes Grant already in, the program is nearing its $2.6-billion budget.
Declining renewable energy prices have not led to a long-predicted renewables boom, because green energy still isn’t sufficiently profitable for private investors. Public investment and ownership is essential to driving a rapid green transition.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), over the past three decades the oldest, thickest ice (13-20 feet thick) has declined by a stunning 95 percent and 70 percent of Arctic sea ice is now thin “seasonal ice” that quickly melts in the Arctic summer.
Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) has signed up more than 100,000 households in six months for an electricity demand management program that is now Canada’s biggest virtual power plant, and North America’s fastest-growing.
The year 2024 is shaping up to be the most important ever for climate action — just like 2023 before it and 2022 before that, and so on back through at least the 1980s.
It may be a tired refrain. But in this era of accelerating and compounding crises, the longer we fail to address climate change, the more urgent the problem becomes.
So what trends, events and opportunities should concerned citizens be paying attention to in 2024?
