SHAK HAQ: Ontario has plans for a massive boost to its electricity grid, which would place the province among the top green leaders in North America. The province has set aside a sum of $2.3 billion for this three-year project, which will create 20,000 jobs and provide green electricity to residential and business centres. Energy and Infrastructure Minister George Smitherman reports that Hydro One will be expanding the power-carrying transmission and distribution lines, which run through aboriginal territories and reach as far north as Kapuskasing and Kenora. With 20 projects scheduled the Minister stated that “Ontario intends to be North America’s leader in renewable energy.” Despite the positive attitude put forth by the Minister, the communities affected by the expansion will need to be consulted. According to Don MacKinnon, president and CEO of the Power Workers Union, the consultation with the communities could make the three-year timeline unrealistic. He cites NIMBYism as a potential problem and gives the example of Hydro One’s $600 million dollar plan to expand a line between Milton and Bruce County, which is on hold because of community and aboriginal resistance. The wind industry is highly in favour of this investment and sees it as a way to make wind and other renewable energy projects more mainstream. Despite the difficult economic times this will be a record year for wind-energy development in Canada. By the end of this year turbines in Canada will be able to generate approximately 3,200 megawatts of power, although the average output lies at about one-third that number. They are expecting 2010 to break this record as the economy is expected to improve and progressive energy policies and investments are springing up in Ontario. [ index ]

SHAK HAQ: The British Columbia Supreme Court rejected a bid by a native band to stop the expansion of the Cache Creek landfill, where most of Vancouver’s garbage is dumped. This will allow Vancouver to continue sending garbage to the landfill for at least two more years. The landfill was scheduled to close in 2010 and upon its closure Vancouver would start shipping garbage to the US until a long-term solution was in place. However, in its Throne Speech last month, the BC government stated they refused to allow the export of garbage. Earlier this month, the Ministry of Environment approved a 40-hectare expansion to the landfill that extends its life to 2012 and allows Vancouver more time to find alternative solutions. This expansion is what led to the lawsuit filed earlier this month by the people of the Nlaka’pamux Nation. They argued the province neglected its legal and constitutional duty to consult the first nation group about the expansion. The Supreme Court judge rejected the claim and responded that the province’s Environment Assessment Office had properly consulted the group prior to going forth with expansion plans. There may be further plans for extension beyond 2012, but for the moment the current expansion provides an alternative to incineration. [ index ]

JORDAN POPPENK: In a major victory for Simcoe County residents in Ontario that would have seemed impossible just months ago, Simcoe County Council met this week and voted to permanently terminate the Site 41 dumpsite. The motion to end the project passed with a vote of 29 for and only three opposing, including Bradford Mayor Doug White, Deputy Mayor Dennis Roughley and Severn Township Mayor Phil Sled. While the council had already imposed a one-year moratorium on the project last month, the current motion calls for an permanent end to construction and all future development of Site 41, also known as the North Simcoe Landfill Site. The site was first proposed 25 years ago, and has since been subject to countless studies, meetings, and protests. Residents were concerned that the dumpsite was to be placed atop the Alliston aquifer, which connects with water supplies throughout the Simcoe region. In addition, several years ago, scientist Dr. William Schodyk found water from the aquifer to be exceptionally pure – more so than any natural spring on the planet. While residents are celebrating the victory, the fight to block the dump is not entirely over, as the Ontario Ministry of the Environment still has an environmental certificate of approval outstanding for the site, a document that is transferrable. In other words, if Simcoe county were to sell the land, the buyer would be entitled to operate the property as a waste management facility. Ministry officials have indicated that they would revoke the certificate if asked by Simcoe County, but the matter has not yet come to a vote. In addition, criminal charges of mischief are still outstanding against a number of people who protested the dump site. Local and fist nations protesters have vowed to continue their fight until the remaining charges are dropped and the certificate revoked. [ index ]

SHAK HAQ: The City of Toronto is now facing serious charges for discharging partially treated sewage into Ashbridges Bay in Lake Ontario for five days following a heavy rainstorm that occurred in November 2006. As a result of the storm, Ontario’s environment ministry had granted approval for the plant to bypass the full treatment process for two days to prevent flooding, but the discharge continued for three more days, said a spokesperson for the ministry. Partially treated sewage, which refers to waste water that has had solids removed, has already been legally released into Ashbridges Bay 11 times this year. According to environmental group Ecojustice Canada, it is a common problem to 89 Ontario municipalities where untreated sewage and rainwater are collected in a single pipe. The city has tried to implement initiatives such as requiring homeowners to detach gutter downspouts from drains and redirect rainwater onto lawns and gardens, but even this may not be enough. Experts recommend that the 25 per cent of the sewers that are still combined need to be separated in addition to better management of storm water higher up in the watershed. The charges were filed last year in November after a lengthy investigation and since then there have been four court dates and a pretrial hearing is scheduled for October 20. The city has also been charged with failing to record the daily sewage flow rate as required by the ministry. Despite the allegations against the city, it may be the Toronto taxpayers that have to pay the fines that range from $150,000 to $30-million. A spokesperson for Toronto Water stated that “The City will defend itself vigorously against the charges.” [ index ]

SHAK HAQ: A recent study based in Washington and Oregon has declared salmon to be a “keystone species”. A keystone species is defined as a species that plays a critical role in maintaining the structure of an ecological community and whose impact on the community is greater than would be expected based on its relative abundance or total biomass. If a keystone species were removed from an ecosystem it would collapse. The study identified 138 species of terrestrial and aquatic mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians that feed on salmon on the North American west coast. Researchers found nine species to be so dependent on the salmon that their distribution, viability, abundance, and population status were directly related to availability of the salmon. The nine species include: grizzly bear, black bear, killer whale, river otter, bald eagle, Caspian tern, common merganser, osprey and harlequin duck. The report strongly advised wildlife managers to be “aware that salmon can be viewed as the centre of a broad ‘functional web’ of wildlife and…thus [are] a keystone species.” [ index ]

JORDAN POPPENK: Activists from Greenpeace successfully broke into a tar sands operation in Alberta this week and held up production for hours as they chained themselves to equipment and unveiled a banner reading “TAR SANDS: CLIMATE CRIME” on a major access road. More than 20 American, Canadian and French activists broke into Shell Canada’s Albian Muskeg River oilsands mine north of Fort McMurray and successfully halted production at the mine for six hours. The protest lasted for 30 hours and ended with a negotiated settlement between Greenpeace and Shell with the activists leaving peacefully and Shell agreeing not to press charges. The action was timed to coincide with the release of a report by Greenpeace condemning the tar sands as well as a visit by Prime Minister Stephen Harper to U.S. President Barrack Obama. The protest leaked into coverage of the U.S. / Canada summit on major U.S. networks. [ index ]

JORDAN POPPENK: Shortly after the tar sands action, recent Alberta energy minister Pat Nelson spoke out about the action denouncing Shell Canada producers, saying they should be embarrassed that protesters were able to sneak into their property. Nelson called for tar sands producers to “wake up” and ramp up big-budget public relations campaigns, and indirectly encouraged industry leaders to use force as a way to stop future protests. Nelson made the comments while addressing business leaders at the Oil Sands Trade Show and Conference in Edmonton. She said, “Wake up, people! It’s no wonder what we are getting the wrong messages. Every other country in the world would have stopped them at the gates, even if it meant using force. What a message to send.” Pat Nelson left her office as Alberta Energy Minister in 2004 to become the vice-chairman of an industry group called the In Situ Oil Sands Alliance. [ index ]

DARYN CAISTER: The British Columbia government is considering an underground coal mine on Vancouver Island. The proposed site, appropriately named Raven, has been proposed by Vancouver based Compliance Energy Corp. and could be the first new mine since 1987. To date over half or BC’s coal exports go to Pacific Rim nations and Compliance Energy will establish partnerships with two Japanese and a South Korean energy companies to help develop the new Raven project. Much of the interest in coal from Pacific Rim governments stems from a boom in Asian steel producers, as well as China’s increasing interest in buying up resources such as its recent bid for a large share of the Alberta tar sands projects. The particular companies that Compliance has been negotiating with for this project are both international trading companies and financing investors who specialize in coal markets and were selected for their ability to facilitate worldwide trade particularly in steel production due to the particular type of coal in the site. The company insists that vast majority of the coal would be for metal production, and not for electricity generation. BC environmentalists however are still protesting the project on the basis that it still represents pollution, but that this way the greenhouse gas emissions and pollution are simply shipped off somewhere else, and therefore is at cross purposes with Vancouver’s attempts to green itself and its economy. [ index ]

TYLER IRVING: On Monday, the oil-sands giant Syncrude entered a plea of “not guilty” against charges laid by the federal and provincial governments in connection with the deaths of over 1600 ducks. The charges stem from an incident in the spring of 2008 at Syncrude’s Aurora site, just outside Fort McMurray. At that time, hundreds of early-migrating ducks landed in a tailings pond operated by Syncrude, and sank to the bottom when they became covered in oily residue. In various statements since, the company expressed regret for the incident, which it blames on a late spring snowstorm that prevented the deployment of the air cannons it normally uses to scare birds away from the site. It further states that these air cannons are now employed year-round, and that radar is used to detect migrating birds that might be landing on the tailings ponds. Despite these assurances, the Crown felt that prosecution was still necessary to answer the public’s concerns. Two months of time have been reserved for the trial, which is scheduled to start March 1, 2010. Syncrude declined to give reasons for its plea of not guilty. Instead, chief executive Tom Katinas issued a statement saying: “We will provide our reasons in court, and we ask Canadians for their patience as we go through this legal process.” If convicted, the energy company could face fines of up to $800,000. [ index ]

DARYN CAISTER: Pink salmon seem to have avoided the fate of Sockeye this year. The west coast is experiencing the lowest Sockeye salmon run on record due to an as yet unexplained apparent collapse. However pink salmon seem to be returning in higher than expected numbers. The pink salmon’s strong return this year was both exciting and puzzling to researchers as a clue into the mysterious disappearance of millions of sockeye; it is not exactly what local fishermen were hoping for. Pink salmon are worth about ten times less than sockeye and are usually canned due to their smaller size. The pink salmon has been steadily increasing over all during recorded history, with a historical average of 12 million fish which was overshot by estimates of nearly 20 million this year. Speculation of warmer water patterns may be affecting the population and migration patterns, but scientist organized by the government to study the sockeye collapse say it’s much too early to be drawing conclusions. An emergency meeting was held to discuss the sockeye collapse this week with various stakeholders hosted by federal Fisheries and Oceans Minister Gail Shea. Ms. Shea has downplayed the sockeye collapse and has taken the new report of excess than predictions pink salmon numbers to call for more research and funding. The closed door stakeholders meeting help primarily for fisheries executives was also attended by Grand Chief Doug Kelly, co-chair of the First National Fisheries Council who reported after that he told the meeting and Ms. Shea that the Fraser River sockeye salmon fishery was on the verge of extinction. Chief Kelly also proposed an international summit to respond to the crisis, but later reported that he didn’t feel like anything he said was heard. Another Chief, Chief Bob Chamberlain of Vancouver Island showed up to the meeting to discuss his concerns as well, but apparently was stopped at the door and refused entry after being told that there would be other first nation’s representatives there to speak for him. So far no official decisions or plans have been released from that meeting. [ index ]

TYLER IRVING: On Tuesday, Nova Scotia’s Environment Minister Sterling Belliveau gave the green light for a tidal power demonstration project in the Bay of Fundy. The move is seen as another step toward the province’s stated goal of having 25% of its electricity come from renewable sources by 2020. Three commercial entities are involved in the project: Minas Basin Pulp and Power of Hantsport, Nova Scotia; BC-based Clean Current Power Systems; and Nova Scotia Power, which will operate a turbine designed by the Irish company OpenHydro. All three are testing different versions of an in-stream turbine, which operates like a giant underwater windmill. In-stream turbines are touted as having a lower environmental footprint than dam-based tidal power systems, such as the one currently operated at Annapolis Royal in Nova Scotia. However, it’s not known whether the turbines will be able to stand up to Fundy’s powerful tides, or what the impact will be on the local underwater ecology, including commercially important fisheries. Belliveau said that those are exactly the questions the demonstration project aims to answer. Each system will cost approximately $10-15 million and the three companies will co-operate on environmental monitoring. Nova Scotia Power aims to have its turbine in the water this fall; the other two companies will wait until the spring of 2010. [ index ]

DARYN CAISTER: Green jobs are continuing as the top of the list on the expected job rebound list. Reports show that “green jobs” are currently expanding at about twice the rate of standard job market over the last decade in Canada, and analysts say that this trend has not slowed down during the recession. The Environmental Careers Organization of Canada (ECO) is predicting that among many promising “green job” compatible fields set to make significant expansions are especially in the trades fields, closely followed by science and engineering. Skilled trades they predict will make the most significant gains due to the large amount of infrastructure that will potentially be installed through the combination of environmental and sustainability motivations and economic motivations by various levels of government. According to the ECO many sustainable projects such as wind and solar installations have already been slowed down in Canada due to a lack of skilled trades-people able to construct and maintain the new technologies. In wind production alone more than 8,000 individual parts go into the construction of a single turbine, a massive opportunity they say for Canadian labour and industry. In 2008 there were 530,000 jobs in Canada that were related to the environment, a number that the ECO predicts will increase by approximately 9% per year for at least the next 5 years. [ index ]

TYLER IRVING: Last weekend, Wiebo Ludwig broke a prolonged silence to plead for patience in the case of the recent bombings of EnCana’s sour gas facilities in northern B.C. Ludwig was convicted of sabotaging the facilities of one of EnCana’s predecessor companies in 1998. He was released from jail in 2001 after serving 18 months of a 28 month sentence. In an open letter sent to the Dawson Creek Daily News, he expressed sympathy for the bomber, and offered congratulations for the increase in attention on the pipeline project. However, he also wrote “these conflicts cannot ultimately be settled by use of force but by way of informed and patient persuasion.” He urged the bomber to allow time for discussions with the company to take place. There have been 6 bombings of EnCana’s facilities since last October, when an anonymous letter was sent to the same newspaper demanding that the company cease their operations in the area. In July, a second letter was received by the paper containing another ultimatum and a three-month deadline for compliance. Many in the area are looking nervously toward the long weekend in October as the time when the deadline runs out. In the meantime, the RCMP have hundreds of investigators involved in the case, and EnCana is offering a $1 million reward for information leading to the arrest of the bomber. [ index ]

DARYN CAISTER: A Toronto developer is challenging parking rules to install a car-free condo. The developer Tribute Communities, planned to have a parking free building in Toronto’s downtown core. The big deal over the issue for the city is that this plan violates zoning rules which require certain numbers of parking spaces per unit in the building. The cities reaction to the proposal was quite negative, saying that granting an exception to the zoning rules to allow forgoing parking spaces would undermine the integrity of the parking policy, and foster a “negative precedent” for others projects. City Councillor Adam Vaughan however who presides over this area disagrees with the cities assessment. Mr. Vaughan applauded the project’s no car policy and told reporters he thought it was exactly what a city trying to green itself needed to help encourage a walk-able and less polluted downtown core. The Tribute condo would be 42 stories high right in the centre of the downtown core and be comprised mainly of bachelor and single condo’s to appeal to single and couple professionals without children. A major selling feature of the plan is a greatly reduced cost to the company in construction, as well as significant savings on individual units as parking in condos in downtown Toronto can add $30,000 or more to the retail price of a unit. Despite the cities response to Tributes application, the Toronto-East York community council considered the project proposal this week and gave it their green light. The decision will then return to city council for a final verdict later this year. [ index ]

TYLER IRVING: On Wednesday, Steven Harper announced that a project to build a power transmission line in northern BC will receive $130 million in federal stimulus money. But environmental groups are questioning just who the power is actually for. Both the federal and provincial governments are promoting the project as a way to get remote communities off diesel generators, as well as provide a possible link to get clean BC hydro to customers in Alaska. However, groups such as the Pembina Institute and the Dogwood Initiative insist that the line is not about green energy at all, but rather providing cheap and reliable electricity for several coal and metal mines along the proposed route. They say the emissions from these mines will far outweigh any reduction from small diesel generators. In any case, there are still several hurdles to jump before the project can truly get underway. An environmental assessment of the site has yet to be completed, and although federal and provincial money has been committed, no private sector partner has yet stepped forward to provide the balance of funds for the $404 million project. Still, BC’s minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, Blair Lekstrom, remains optimistic that shovels could be in the ground as early as next year. [ index ]

SHAK HAQ: An earthquake hit Venezuela’s capital and surrounding areas last Saturday, September 16, injuring 14 people and causing damage to a few buildings. According to a report by the U.S. Geological Survey, the magnitude was 6.4 on the Richter scale. Local seismologists reported an aftershock of 4.0. The epicentre of the quake was estimated to be just off Venezuela’s Caribbean coast, approximately 110 kilometres west of Caracas. The quake hit Caracas at approximately 3:40 pm. Despite the scale of the earthquake, damage to the cities affected was minimal and there were no reported deaths. Of the victims confirmed by the Venezuelan government, two people suffered from serious leg injuries while 12 others had minor injuries. There were no reported victims in the capital itself despite very few people evacuating the buildings due to the concurrent rainstorm. The Infrastructure Minister Diosdado Cabello said there were no reports of major infrastructure damage – only some damage to a handful of houses, a few buildings, but most notably part of a medical clinic collapsed in a neighbouring state. No problems were reported at oil refineries or other installations in Venezuela’s key oil industry. [ index ]

SHAK HAQ: International oil company Trafigura may offer compensation to the 31,000 people who claim they became ill from toxic waste dumped in the West African country, the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire. The claims for tens of millions of dollars stem from an incident in 2006 when petrochemical waste was dumped by a ship chartered by Trafigura, the world’s largest independent oil trader. The waste was dumped on open sites around the country’s largest city, Abidjan. A complete report by the UN was released Wednesday, September 16 and showed at least 15 people had died while thousands were left ill as a result of the waste. According to independent human rights expert for the UN, Okechukwu Ibeanu, there is strong conclusive evidence that these deaths and health problems are directly related to the dumping of the waste. But Trafigura responds to these claims saying they have “always maintained that the [waste] could not possibly have caused deaths and serious or long-term injuries”. They also deny any liability for events occurring in Côte d’Ivoire. In early 2007, Trafigura and the Côte d’Ivoire government agreed to an out-of-court settlement of $198 million dollars US. The settlement would exempt Trafigura from legal proceedings in the country. However, this figure did not appease victims and their families and a local activist group, The National Federation of Victims of Toxic Waste, was created. They say the offer is not nearly enough as there are more than 30,000 victims affected by the spill. They are also demanding more long-term and active solutions, as there is still waste in Abidjan that needs to be removed. [ index ]

SHAK HAQ: NASA scientists announce they are developing a method to screen molecules to predict how they will contribute to global warming. The chief of NASA’s space science and astrobiology division, Timothy Lee, will be leading this new study. Past research has shown that carbon dioxide is the principal greenhouse gas, however, according to those working on the current study, there are gases that are more efficient at trapping heat near the Earth’s surface than CO2. It is these molecules that will be the focus of the study. So far after analyzing more than a dozen molecules, scientists have found that molecules containing several fluorine atoms tend to be very strong greenhouse gases versus molecules with chlorine or hydrogen. According to the researchers, if the study yields conclusive results they hope it will provide a basis from which to design more environmentally friendly materials. The study will appear in the November 12 issue of the Journal of Physical Chemistry. [ index ]