DARYN CAISTER: Ottawa announced its intentions to comply with new tougher American fuel standards. Barack Obama’s new fuel standard policy will add about $600 US dollars to the cost of producing a US car and would improve fuel efficiency to an average of 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016. A similar plan was already put in place by former American president George W. Bush, however the major change was the timeline which bums up the dead line by 4 years. The Canadian announcement to comply with this policy came from environment minister Jim Prentice while speaking to reporters in Calgary this week saying that Canada’s plan’s would closely mimic the American rules, and that competing regulations didn’t help either country. While the big car companies have generally protested the new standards as unrealistic, survey data shows that Canadian consumers will be less affected than American consumers due to existing preferences for smaller cars with less horsepower. Despite Mr. Prentice’s comments on Canada-US consistency Quebec, Manitoba and British Colombia have indicated in prior announcements that they will be moving ahead with their own, likely more stringent fuel standards. Those three provinces proposed standards are more in line with California’s proposed tough new rules. So far the White House has predicted the new rules will reduce green-house gas emissions in the US by 900 million metric tonnes over the duration of the implementation through to 2016, while Canada has so far not released any official impact predictions. [ index ]

CHRIS BERUBE: One of Canada’s largest nuclear reactors has been shut down over imminent safety concerns. The Chalk River nuclear facility was shut down by federal regulators this week over concern that it was at peril of having an accident. The NRU reactor at Chalk River is going to be shut down at least one month for safety repairs, though the federal government said it will try to speed up this process. The expediency is apparently required since the Chalk River facility produced 40% of the necessary medical isotopes for cancer testing. Luckily, the South African government has agreed to step in and begin diverting more of their used nuclear isotopes to begin making up the gap, though world stock of medically necessary isotopes will still likely be as much as 20% lower than necessary until the Chalk River reactor is fixed. One person claiming vindication this week was Linda Keen, the former head of the Atomic Energy Agency of Canada. Keen warned 18 months ago that the Chalk River facility needed to be shut down for repairs and that the government was in deep trouble without a contingency plan in case the reactor had to shut down. Keen was promptly dismissed for her comments by then Natural Resources minister Gary Lunn. Lunn claimed around the time of Keen’s dismissal that she was being removed for causing unnecessary panic about the chalk river reactor, which he cited as having caused the shut down of the reactor for the first time in December of 2007. The reactor did not get the necessary upgrades then, and has since leaked twice, including a leak of heavy water last week that prompted the closure. While government officials say they managed to get the leak under control, there is still concern that some of the toxin evaporated into the atmosphere. No word from current natural resources minister Lisa Raitt if Ms Keen would be issued a formal apology. [ index ]

DARYN CAISTER: Alberta is pushing for a Canada wide ban on the use of plastic bags. It’s a position that some Alberta cities have been calling for, for a few years. However, Rob Renner the Provinces environment minister believes that the plan has a better chance of sticking this time due to the changing political climate and similar bans and restrictions on plastic bags elsewhere in Canada and the rest of the world. Renner has also said that if the federal government doesn’t make the move this time round that he would not rule out an Alberta only ban on plastic bags, which he said would be preferable for cities than several localized bans within Alberta. Renner said that the council of provincial environment ministers have talked about reducing plastic bag use for the past three years and that he thinks their next meeting this fall may be more productive on the issue. He also said that a Canada wide plan in any form would be a much more productive way to deal with the problem also seeming to imply that he would accept something less than a full ban if it were to enable a national plan. The bag issue has largely been part of a multi-province discussion on overall waste reduction policies to reduce or eliminate many forms of packaging from being used. Calgary city officials have so far matched the message of Mr. Renner by approving a city staff proposal to engage retailers and industry groups on reducing plastic bag usage in the city by 50% over the next five years regardless of the fate of larger national plans. It is estimated that the city of Calgary alone uses about 100 million plastic bags a year. [ index ]

DARYN CAISTER: As Calgary moves ahead with waste policy, it’s city officials are also using the opportunity of federal stimulus money to improve their public transit service. The city of Calgary, along with the province and the federal government have contributed $90 million dollars each to retrofit Calgary’s public transit infrastructure. The “shovel ready” project will be started over the next two years and include major renovations to much of the system in the form of technology upgrades such as new CCTV security systems and digital fare collection and information systems. Some of the money will also be used to upgrade or add service, however much of the money will go to improving the condition or technology of existing services as well as parking lot and “track work”. As well much of the upgrade work will be started immediately, while the service and station expansions will largely not start until 2010. Mayor Dave Bronconnier talked about the upgrades this week as an important way for the city to attract more riders and create jobs in Calgary, while reducing congestion and improving the environment and quality of life for Calgary citizens. [ index ]

CHRIS BERUBE: Last week, we here at the Green Majority declared an end to our BC election coverage. And guess what? In our flurry of BC election coverage, we neglected to mention that the government in Nova Scotia fell on a confidence motion May 5th, meaning we are back in horse race mode. Yes, Nova Scotians are going to the polls June 9th, and this past week saw a flurry of policy announcements certain to peak the interests of any environmentalist. All four major parties in the province released their platforms this week, and each has quite a bit to discuss from an environmental perspective. Among the promises, the incumbent Progressive Conservatives are promising a minimum of 20% renewable energy for the province by 2016, while the second place NDP has committed itself to 25% renewables by that time, and the third place Liberals have made no guarantee on renewables, but is promising to break up Nova Scotia’s monopoly that currently provides energy to the province, to allow private renewable energy companies . The Liberals are also promising to ban plastic bags and non-recyclable plastics in consumer products sold at restaurants if elected. During the televised leader’s debate this past week, the environment barely came up, though the issue of power generation was fairly central, with the Liberals and NDP supporting the right of independant producers to be allowed to sell directly to consumers, which the Tories oppose. The Liberals are also promising to scrap a gas tax in the province implemented by the Conservatives, which has raised the ire of many, particularly in rural parts of the province. many observers have noted that the incumbent Tories have been running a fairly backward looking campaign on the environment, running on their record, rather than promising new initiatives for their next term. The PCs big selling point has been their diversion of sewage waste, which once flowed directly into the ocean, but is now being diverted to proper facilities at a much higher rate. Recent polls show that the New Democrats have a strong lead coming up to the election, with the most recent Angus Reid poll putting them at around 38%. The liberals are currently polling second at 31%, while the Conservaties are behind at 28%. The provincial Green Party is polling at around 3%, despite Nova scotia being the home ot federal green leader Elizabeth May. We will have more on the Nova Scotian election later on in the program. [ index ]

DARYN CAISTER: Toronto is implementing new graded rates for electricity in an attempt to reduce power demand. The new rules will reflect peak consumption cycles by adding increased prices for peak hours, and reduced pricing for overnight and weekends. The new most expensive times will be from 11am to 5pm during the summer to attempt to reduce peak demand. The new rates are such that the 10pm to 7am period will bill for 4.2 cents per kWh, 7.6 cents from 7am to 11am and 5pm to 10pm, and 9.1 cents from 11am to 5pm. The plan is also being accompanied by the transition to so-called “smart meters” which would allow consumers to monitor in more detail their own energy usage. The new rates will only affect homes that have these new digital meters, which for the time being exempts buildings and condo’s from the new rates. Smart meters have already been rolled out in some areas in Canada, and the US along with web monitoring in some first few test area’s which allow consumers to monitor precise usage and history statistics in real time even when they aren’t home. Plans are also in the works to allow web-access to power control and system function as well sometime in the future. One of the issues for power consumption is the capacity needed for peak demands that impacts the construction of new power capacity including controversial plans to expand nuclear power in Ontario. While most of the time large cities retain a power surplus, capacity must be expanded to cover peak usage. The new rules will attempt to reduce the need for new power options by spreading out usage over the full day, however the impact of this strategy will be entirely subject to consumer reactions to the new strategy which some critics say are too small to create any meaningful change in consumer habits. 10,000 randomly selected homes in Etobicoke, Scarborough and North York will be transitioned to the new system as of June 1st, and it should become province wide by the end 2010. [ index ]

CHRIS BERUBE: The city of Toronto is trying to make good on its promise to become a world leader in infrastructure for cyclists. This week, city officials unvileved the beginnings of a plan that would create a bicycle lane that would encompass the entire city from Etobicoke to Scarborough. The new lane will be presented formally before a city planning committee June 3, and will propose a large swath of road across the city be dedicated to cyclists, and that much new road be built. Such a corridor has been in demand for years from cyclists in the city who complain that there are too few safe east-west routes across the city. The plan will also propose reducing the amount of on-street parking and an decrease in the number of lanes used for rush hour traffic to help clear room for cyclists. While it is unclear how quickly this plan will be implemented, city councillor Adrian Heaps, chair of the city council cycling committee, says he expects the first stretch of bike lanes should hopefully be in place by next year. However, the attempt to create a cross-city bike lane is already facing stiff opposition. Many businesses across the city are complaining that they have not yet been consulted about the possibility of a city bike lane, and that the reduction in on-street parking could hurt their clinetele. Complaints have been especially prevelent from the Greektown Business Board, which represents the popular Greek restaurants that run across Danforth Avenue in Toronto and would take part of the new lane. Many restauranters across the eastern part of the city have complained of a shortage of parking and are planning to oppose the plan. Chairman Heaps said that he was unconcerned with the opposition, say that public opinion was clearly on the side of more bike lanes throughout Toronto. [ index ]

CHRIS BERUBE: And in brief this week, salvage crews have finally recovered a tanker truck that fell off of a barge in 2007 near Vancouver Island. The tanker was pulled out using a crane and net system to try and minimize oil spillage – the tanker held over 10,000 litres of crude oil, though only about 200 litres of it has spilled out, according to government estimates. The tanker fell out to over 350 metres underwater in Robson Bright, a prominent whale habitat off the Island. While the company responsible for the original drop was ruled criminally responsible, government efforts to gain compensation in the matter have not worked so far, as the company declared bankruptcy last year. [ index ]

TYLER IRVING: Last Tuesday, US president Barack Obama announced a new national standard for automotive fuel efficiency. Under the plan, American-produced vehicles will be required to travel on average 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016, an increase of about 30% from today’s standard of 27.5 miles per gallon. The move effectively ends a legal battle between the US Environmental Protection Agency and a league of 13 states, led by California. Previously, the EPA had been slow to grant the states permission to enact fuel efficiency limits more strict than its own. This followed complaints by automakers of “patchwork legislation” that would hinder the industry’s ability to adapt. The new national standard contains the same tough targets proposed by California, but those targets will be reached more slowly, allowing time for the automakers to develop the high-efficiency vehicles. The plan has been praised for its ability to bring together the interests of national, state, and industry players. Obama stated that the new standards are expected to save the equivalent of 1.8 billion barrels of oil over the lifetime of the new vehicles. [ index ]

TYLER IRVING: A climate simulation team based at MIT warns that unless strong emissions reductions policies get into place, the global temperature rise could be worse that previously predicted. Their latest results predict a median probability of surface warming of 5.2 degrees Celsius by the year 2100 if no policies are put into place. This compares to a mere 2.4 degrees in a similar study conducted in 2003. The simulation was carried out using the MIT Integrated Global Systems Model, developed by the Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change. The model was originally developed in the 1990s and has been continually refined since. It is the only climate model that couples the effects of economic activity with those of atmospheric, oceanic, and biological systems. Although the rise in temperatures under the “no-policy” scenario are dramatic, there is less change in the scenario that takes into account potential greenhouse gas regulation by world governments. Study co-author Ronald Prinn says: “This increases the urgency for significant policy action.” [ index ]

TYLER IRVING: In a ceremony last Wednesday, Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond officially connected the Whitelee Wind Farm to the UK energy grid. Situated just south of Glasgow, the power station consists of 140 turbines with a rated capacity of 322 MW annually, enough to satisfy the electricity needs of Scotland’s largest city. Although it is already Europe’s largest onshore wind farm, Salmond announced plans to expand the station by a further 36 turbines, bringing its rated capacity to 452 MW. This comes on the heels of an announcement by Viking Energy of plans to construct an even larger facility in the Shetland islands. If realised, that project would generate a further 540 MW of power, representing 20% of Scotland’s energy demand. Both projects provide a boost to the Scottish government’s goal of having half of its electrical energy generated from renewable sources by 2020. Officials say that an interim target of 31% by 2011 has already been surpassed. [ index ]

TYLER IRVING: Rising global temperatures have been threatening coral reefs all over the world. According to a report by the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network, above average temperatures in 2005 contributed to coral cover loss of over 50% across much of the Caribbean. However, Stanford University biologist Stephen Palumbi has recently uncovered evidence that some corals may be able to adapt to the warmer temperatures. Corals get much of their food from a symbiotic relationship with algae that live within the bodies of the coral polyps. When stressed by high temperatures, the algae stop producing food and are ejected by the coral polyps in a process called “coral bleaching.” From research conducted in American Samoa, Dr. Palumbi and his colleagues have found that certain corals are able to replace their algae partners with more heat-tolerant species. His data suggest that corals that grow in above-average temperatures tend to have higher levels of heat-tolerant algae. The ability of coral to find ways of adapting to climate change was not entirely unexpected. As Dr. Palumbi states: “Although we are doing things to the planet we have never done before, it’s hard to imagine that these corals, which have existed for a quarter of a billion years, only have 50 years left”. [ index ]