DARYN CAISTER: The number of federal infrastructure projects estimated to be exempted from environmental assessments has jumped from 2,000 up to 14,000. The exemptions are taking place as part of the federal government’s legislation passed in March to help expedite economic stimulus plan projects. The new rules have been contested widely by Canadian environmental groups; including EcoJustice and the Sierra Club of Canada whom are currently in federal court trying to fight the policy. The Sierra Club and EcoJustice have asserted that the exemptions are illegal since the plan was announced. The original estimates of 2,000 projects that would fall under the exceptions policy was originally announced in the Canada Gazette and cover a wide range of projects such as road widening, bridges and sewage treatment plants. Few environmental projects such as bike trails and social housing projects have been announced or given exceptions. Ecojustice which is handling the legal case for the Sierra Club said that the vast expansion; of up to 7 times the originally applicable projects will provide further pressure from its case, and also said that it is clear in their opinion that the federal government is trying to get out of the environmental assessment business overall. The federal government has insisted that the duplication of environmental assessments between federal and other provincial and municipal authorities has not provided any benefits or improvements to environmental impacts of projects in the past and has frequently on resulted only in increased delays. Environment Minister Jim Prentice said that the number of projects that will ultimately be exempted (quote) “isn’t clear, it won’t be clear until we complete the economic action plan” seeming to keep open the possibility of further increases in exempted projects. [ index ]

TYLER IRVING: As of Tuesday, June 30, Canadian products labelled as “organic” must now comply with specific federal regulations under the Canada Agricultural Products Act. Previously, organic growers could voluntarily certify their products at their own expense, but they were under no legal obligation to do so. The new mandatory rules are welcomed as a way of levelling the playing field in the industry. In order to have their product stamped with the new “Canada Organic” logo, producers must demonstrate that their product does not contain pesticides, synthetic growth regulators, or genetic engineering. If a product contains multiple ingredients, the organic content must be 95% or higher; lower percentages must be labelled as such. The new rules will be enforced by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, which will work closely with industry associations such as Canada Organic Growers and the Organic Trade Association. The regulations will supersede those already in effect at the provincial level in British Colombia and Quebec. In addition, an equivalency agreement has been signed with the US Department of Agriculture, meaning that Canadian-certified products will be recognized as such in the US, and vice versa. Currently, 80% of Canada’s organic food is imported, much of it from the US. [ index ]

DARYN CAISTER: Biotech wheat is pushing back into the conversation for Canadian farmers. A renewed effort to convince Canadian farmers to take up the genetically modified crops has come from a tri-national group of various interests including biotech giant Monsanto and a variety of grain organizations from Canada, the US and Australia. A campaign to convince Canadian farmers to take up the GMO crops in 2005 was met with a resounding no at the time and some farmers are surprised to see it back in the news. At the time both farmers and consumers were generally wary of GMO safety and farmers were worried about closing off potential trading partners overseas such as the UE and Japan which at the time had very strict no-GMO policies. However many of these import rules have relaxed in the last few years, allowing limited forms or GMO canola, corn and soya beans. Monsanto also asserts that public opinion has changed and consumers are more comfortable of the idea these days. Currently there are no GMO strains of wheat in Canada, but it is Canada’s biggest crop and critics say it was only a matter of time until big biotech companies such as Monsanto tried again. Despite the recent efforts, 2 recent polls show that Canadian farmers are still resoundingly against the idea, with one showing that less that 9% of Canadian wheat growers would like to see GMO wheat available as soon as possible, and another showing that 83% of farmers are against planting the crops entirely. A variety of Canadian groups have also sprung up as rivals to the tri-national campaign to oppose the crops. The GMO wheat opposition groups accuse proponents of trying to manipulate the issue and strong arm its way into the profitable market also saying that the move would potentially ruin Canadian market share. Many farmers say they think there would be an international backlash if GMO wheat was introduced in Canada, and believe that a total block out is necessary to prevent contamination of wheat strains by the wind and water drift of seeds within Canada from even a limited introduction of the crop. [ index ]

TYLER IRVING: In a surprise announcement Monday June 29, Ontario’s Energy Minister George Smitherman said that plans to build two new nuclear power plants at the Darlington station have been indefinitely put on hold. The contract to build the replacement reactors received three bids, from France’s Areva SA, US-owned Westinghouse Electric Co., and Atomic Energy of Canada Limited. Of the three, AECL had the lowest bid, but Smitherman stated that it was still billions too high. He also noted that uncertainty over the future of AECL clouded the issue significantly, referring to the federal government’s plans to privatize AECL’s reactor construction wing. His decision not to accept the bid puts pressure on the federal government to step in and lower the price, as loss of the contract would be devastating for the struggling crown corporation. According to the Independent Electricity System Operator, nuclear power currently makes up a third of Ontario’s total generating capacity, although its share of baseload power generation is closer to 50% due to the fact that it cannot be easily cycled on and off. The province has been given some breathing room by the economic recession, which the IESO estimates will reduce power consumption by 4% this year. Still, the existing reactors are aging, and Ontario’s peak demand is expected to increase by 2700 MW by 2015. [ index ]

DARYN CAISTER: In a related story, A Greenpeace inquiry has revealed a fundamental safety flaw with Canadian designed Candu nuclear reactors. The report outlining the safety issue was revealed due to a Greenpeace access to information request for an undated “internal memo” at the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission that is estimated to be from 2007. The problem stems from a design flaw that leads to a state in nuclear reactors called “positive reactivity feedback”. The PRF issue involves a state where the reactor rapidly increases in core temperature when there is a critical loss of coolant in the reactors core. This issue is almost unique to the Canadian Candu design, which is unlike 80% of the rest of the worlds reactors which use negative reactivity to rapidly cool the core during a critical coolant loss. Regulators admitted that they have “always known” about the PRF flaw, but had (quote) “greatly underestimated” the danger during a critical failure that could lead to dangerous power pulses during a major accident. This underestimation came in the form in one case of undershooting the number used to measure the PRF effect by 50%, resulting in drastically lower safety allowances. The discovery at the time prompted regulators to warn that they might have to order Canadian nuclear plants to operate at less than full capacity for the foreseeable future to compensate for these safety issues according to the document. While the danger of PRF events was estimated to be acceptably low when plants were constructed, the possibility significantly increases over time as the plant and its parts age with use. It is so far unconfirmed is the public release of this report had any impact on the cancellation of the proposed new Ontario reactors, or how any of the recommendation’s have been implemented at currently operating Candu reactors in Canada. [ index ]

TYLER IRVING: This week saw two more explosions take place near the small communities of Pouce Coupe and Dawson Creek in northern B.C. The first was discovered on Canada Day when workers found evidence of a blast while searching for the source of a pressure drop in the line. The following Saturday, as the workers tried to repair the line, a second bomb was detonated less than a kilometre away. No-one was injured in either bombing, and in both cases the pipeline’s emergency shutoff system quickly isolated the leaks. These latest incidents bring the total number of bombings of the pipeline to 6. They started last October, when a letter was sent to EnCana demanding that the company cease operations in the area. Since then, most attacks have taken place on or near civic holidays, such as Thanksgiving, Hallowe’en, and New Year’s Day. Local residents had been divided over EnCana’s operations in the area, with some welcoming the economic development and others worrying about declining property values and the danger of gas leaks. Since the explosions began, tensions in the community have been heightened by suspicion and the fear that sooner or later, someone will get hurt. The R.C.M.P. has described the bombings as “nothing short of domestic terrorism” and has launched a probe into the affair. EnCana is offering a $500,000 reward for information leading to the capture of the bomber. [ index ]

DARYN CAISTER: Toronto has secured its $1.2 billion streetcar deal despite losing federal funding support. The massive project has been the centre of controversy in Toronto especially at city council where many councillors said they felt they were held hostage by the way the deal transpired. The plan was to split the cost of the project 3 ways between the city, the province and the federal government however the federal funding fell through when the federal transportation minister, John Baird decided the plan didn’t fall under the requirements for the federal stimulus funding plan. Toronto Mayor David Miller said if he had the chance he would have done everything again the same way and city council approved the doubled funding request 36-6. However many councillors said that they felt unfairly pressured to approve the funding due to the situation. If the plan had not gone through by the deadline, the price of the project would have increased by $500 million dollars and the city would have lost the provincial part of the funding. City councillors were also upset that they were not involved or consulted during the negotiations with the federal government. However Mayor Miller was beamingly proud of the success of the deal for 204 new streetcars saying that it was his proudest moment as Mayor, and that he felt he had secured the Toronto transit future for a generation. The deal also has the added bonus of potentially creating thousands of jobs in Thunder Bay and around 905 area parts suppliers. While the Mayors many critics are hailing the new deal as dooming policy for the future of the already troubled city finances, representatives from the Mayor’s office are assuring Toronto citizens that the increased municipal spending will not affect city public services or safety. The new vehicles are expected to begin full production in 2012. [ index ]

TYLER IRVING: A Toronto Star investigation has revealed that Toronto’s Green Bin program is not operating as advertised. The newspaper states that the program doesn’t divert as much waste as the city claims it does, and that the compost it produces may not be all that valuable. The program, which began in 2002, collects organic waste from over 500,000 dwellings in the city. Unlike similar programs in Durham and Peel regions, Toronto’s program accepts diapers and allows the use of plastic bags to contain the waste. Neither of these items can be composted or recycled, so they must be separated using costly technology. Nevertheless, large chunks of plastic still end up in the organic waste, and the processors subcontracted by the city send thousands of truckloads of plastic to landfills or incinerators every year. The city’s claims to divert 30% of its waste through the program, and the mayor promised to increase that to 70% in the 2006 election campaign. The new revelations are causing those figures to be seriously questioned. The Star also paid for an agricultural laboratory to test the compost produced by the city’s processors. They found that the compost was rushed through the process, leading to material that was not completely digested, as well as extremely high in sodium. The lab reported that levels that high would be toxic to plants. The mayor has maintained silence on the issue, citing the ongoing municipal workers strike. However, Ontario Environment Minister John Gerretsen has vowed to fix the problem by changing provincial regulations for organic recycling programs. [ index ]

KATHERINE BROWN: The world’s wealthiest eight countries, known as the G8, have agreed to limit the world’s temperature increase to two-degree-Celsius. To reach this target, the leaders of the eight countries agreed that the world’s 32 industrialized nations should cut their greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050. This newest commitment has been viewed by some to be an absolutely incredible commitment— to try to limit the world’s temperature increase to 2 degrees will call for drastic measures. But this newest commitment has also been criticized by many as being simply unattainable. Also, the G8’s ambitious targets have been seen a lot of resistance from the leaders of India and China—who demand more financial support from richer countries before agreeing to the emissions goal. But although the G8 still have to win developing countries over, this newest bill is a break-through agreement. It sets the stage for climate talks to come this December in Copenhagen– and it also sets the foundation for a unified global effort to address climate change. [ index ]

KATHERINE BROWN: Many of the world’s poorest countries have found their food security to be in a precarious situation. According to a recent report from the UN, the acquisition of farmland from the world’s poor countries has been accelerating at an alarming rate. This farmland is being bought up by both wealthier countries, and by international corporations. This trend is often referred to as ‘neo-colonialism’, or ‘land-grabbing’—and it’s worrisome because the countries having their land bought up usually are already unable to produce enough food for their growing populations. Studies have found that nearly 50 million acres of farmland have been sold or negotiated for lease during the past 6 months. But why has there been a recent increase in so-called ‘land grabbing’? Wealthy countries are thought to be acting in response to concerns around food security. And interestingly, around one fifth of the acquired land was expected to be used for bio-fuel crops. But the list of investors varies– some of the world’s largest food, financial and even car companies have invested in land.  [ index ]

KATHERINE BROWN:  The hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica has been found to limit the polar water’s capacity to absorb carbon dioxide. A computer simulation found that the ozone hole has caused wind-speeds over the high-latitude southern oceans to increase. In some areas, it’s predicted that wind speeds could have been up to 60 percent higher in 2004 than they were in 1975. These increased winds are thought to have triggered a whole number of effects. For one, the winds stir the surface waters more effectively—meaning that they boost the upwelling of waters. But the trick is that this water coming up to the surface already holds large amounts of dissolved CO2—since it holds the decomposing materials which sank to the bottom of the ocean. So, this means that the surface water can absorb less CO2 because it’s already pretty much saturated. The simulation suggests that between 1987 and 2004 the southern oceans absorbed around 9 billion metric tonnes less CO2 than they would have had there not been a hole in the ozone. These types of changes may very well exacerbate and even speed up the effects of climate change globally. For more details, the report is available on-line in Geophysical Research Letters. [ index ]

KATHERINE BROWN: A plane named the ‘Solar Impulse’ may soon be the first solar-powered airplane to make a trip around the world. The solar-powered airplane hasn’t quite made it off the ground yet, but it’s expected to make its first trip by the end of 2009. Once the first test is completed, its developers hope that it will complete a full circle around the globe. The airplane itself is made from carbon fibre concentrate. It looks like a glider, and it has a wingspan of around 60 metres. These wings are where the energy for flight comes from—they’re covered in nearly 12,000 solar cells. These cells power four ten horsepower electric motors, which are strong enough to propel the plane into flight. Given that aircrafts are thought to be responsible for around 3.5 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, this type of design definitely has huge potential to literally ‘take-off’. [ index ]