DARYN CAISTER: Canada decides to help to weaken US shipping fuel standards on the great lakes. The Canadian embassy in Washington stepped in to object to a new piece of legislation that the US Environmental Protection Agency has been working to pass. The legislation would have improved the quality of fuel used in the shipping industry on the lakes. The shipping industry is one of the largest single sources of as yet unregulated commercial greenhouse gas emissions and pollution. The ships typically burn so called “bunker fuel” which is the dirtiest for of transportation fuel left over after upgrading and extraction of oil is done for other uses, literally the scum left at the bottle of the barrel. Under the deal, companies would have had to upgrade ships to use cleaner fuel, but now thanks to lobbing from some American states, the shipping industry and the Canadian government about 20% of the great lakes fleet will receive a permanent exemption from fuel quality regulations. The deal was blocked by the Canadian office despite the fact that it would have greatly improved the air and water quality of shared great lakes resources. The decision was made apparently due to the cost burden it would have imposed on a small number of Canadian shippers. Great Lakes ships typically carry coal and iron ore between Canada and the US, and currently use fuel that has a sulphur content of about 17,000 parts per million. The proposed EPA rules would have lowered the sulphur emissions per ship in the great lakes to about 1,000 parts per million, but incur a cost increase of anywhere from 70%-250%. Most of the ships in the great lakes shipping lane were built in the 1950’s and companies say they cannot be converted, and would have to be replaced. [ index ]

DARYN CAISTER: The site 41 saga continues in Tiny Township, as community and environmental groups still have concerns about the Alliston Aquifer site. The groups are worried despite the fact that Simcoe County officials voted 86 percent in favour of placing a one-year moratorium on the site in August. One of the groups called “Stop Site 41” is holding protests over the County’s insistence to retain the certificate of approval license that it received from the provincial government which allowed the site to be used for waste disposal in the first place. Despite Simcoe Warden Tony Guergis’s insistence that Site 41 is history, questions about the future of the site at County meetings, including those by Committee members on the issue have been deflected and avoided according to the group. Mr. Guergis also said that he doesn’t want the council to have any more “garbage days” where councillors spend too much time dealing with the issue. Instead Mr. Guergis has retained a private consulting company called Stantec and proposed a new sub-committee to deal with the site 41 issue in the future. Stop Site 41, and other groups that have been involved in protests insists that councillors should be fully involved and informed about the issue until the matter is put to rest. The groups claim that despite “halting” the project, the fact that they refuse to give up the provincial go ahead notice means that they may be able to resurrect the site in the future. They also say that the County is refusing to return the construction site to a state that is protective of environment. To date the restoration of the protective cover of the site has only been partially backfilled, jeopardizing the pristine nature of the site. [ index ]

TYLER IRVING: Last week we reported on the delay of Bill-C311, the Climate Change Accountability Act. On Monday, parliament was disrupted by over one hundred protesters demanding that the bill be signed immediately. The protesters were in the public galleries of the House of Commons during question period. They began their protest as NDP leader Jack Layton rose to ask a question regarding pensions. One of the participants shouted “Bill C-311” while others responded with shouts of “Sign it, sign it.” After a few minutes, security guards moved in and ejected the protesters from a back entrance. There were numerous complaints of violent treatment and at least one protester, Jeh Custer, was still bleeding visibly when interviewed by CBC’s News Network later in the day. However, none of the protesters sought medical treatment, and it is alleged that other videos taken immediately after the protest show Custer with no cuts to his face. In the days since the incident, there has been much speculation about the NDP’s involvement in the protest. Although both the participants and the NDP deny any connection, most of the protesters entered the gallery through passes arranged by NDP members. On Tuesday, House Leader Jay Hill said that Jack Layton booked the Centre Block room where the protesters gathered before the action. He demanded that Speaker investigate the NDP’s involvement and that Layton be charged with contempt of parliament. In the meantime, 6 of the protesters have been banned from Parliament Hill for a period of one year. [ index ]

TYLER IRVING: On Tuesday, the National Post reported that a recent proposal by Environment Minister Jim Prentice to provide financial assistance to the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Project has been rejected by cabinet. Although the official position is that no decision has yet been made, loss of confidence at the federal level would essentially end the massive energy infrastructure project. The Mackenzie Valley Pipeline has been in development for over 40 years. The 1200-kilometer line would bring natural gas from deposits under the Beaufort Sea to energy distributors in Alberta. At an estimated $16.2 billion, it would have been the largest single infrastructure project in the history of Canada, and many hoped that it would bring economic development to Canada’s north. Jim Prentice has been an active proponent of the project throughout his tenure at the head of three Ministries: Indian Affairs and Northern Development, Industry, and now the Environment. A few months ago he told a business audience that the dream “has never been closer.” Despite this optimism, many analysts worry that the low price of natural gas will not be able to sustain the massive capital costs involved in building the pipeline. As well, the last few years have seen discoveries of more accessible gas fields in Texas, Louisiana, and British Columbia. If the reports turn out to be true, this massive infrastructure project – and the many environmental problems associated with it – could be laid to rest for good. [ index ]

DARYN CAISTER: Atlantic Canada gets first LEED Gold certification. Commercial Properties Limited has won a Brownie Award and LEED Gold for its Nova Scotia project, Somerset Square. The site won acclaim as the recipient of one of 6 annual “Brownie Award’s” which is administered by the Canadian Urban Institute. Brownie Awards are handed out for the best re-development and vitalization of so-called “brownfields” or sites that used to be industrial areas. The project is also noteworthy because of its LEED (or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certification as well. LEED certification is a green building standard that takes into account many aspects of construction and planning standards to issues ratings for buildings. LEED certification is administered by the US Green Building Council and currently is involved in over 14,000 projects worldwide. The Somerset Square project, which used to be a gas station, is the first private sector LEED Gold site of its kind in Atlantic Canada, and one of only 18 so far nationwide. Commercial Properties is a Saint John based company which has been operating for more than 40 years and has already won several previous brownie awards, but this is its first LEED Gold project. [ index ]

DARYN CAISTER: In Brief this week, Nexen Inc. and OPTI Canada Limited have announced further delays at their tar sands projects. The joint project at Long Lake has again been delayed after years of operational problems at the $6.1 billion dollar tar sands project. The first delayed target for full production capacity was late 2009 after an initial round of problems, then 2010 and now the companies are declining to provide a new date for full implementation. An OPTI executive said this week that many of the operational issues have been surpassed, and that 2010 is still the target for the next phase of the project, but that when that will lead to full capacity is difficult to forecast. OPTI’s suffering investors suffered further bad news this week with the announcement as it coincided with a further slipping of its stock price on the TSX another 25cents to $2.19 a share. Nexen Inc.’s price also fell 59cents to $23.40. [ index ]

TYLER IRVING: A report released yesterday by the Pembina Institute and the David Suzuki Foundation has politicians across the country fuming, particularly in the west. The report was financed by TD bank and was the first to provide a regional breakdown of exactly what it would cost to meet the federal government’s stated goal of reducing CO2 emissions to 20% below current levels by 2020. Under such a scheme, the report states that economic growth in Alberta would be 8.5% lower than if it was left unrestricted. That for Saskatchewan would be 2.8% lower. Many provinces would be relatively unaffected, and some (including Ontario and Manitoba) would actually see an increase in GDP growth. Federal Environment Minister Jim Prentice dismissed the report’s findings as “irresponsible” and based on inaccurate assumptions, while his Alberta counterpart Rob Renner said it was “divisive.” Alberta’s premier, Ed Stelmach, was quoted as saying “there won’t be another wealth transfer to Ottawa under my watch.” The Pembina Institute’s director of climate change, Matthew Bramley, emphasized that even with the 8.5% reduction, Alberta would still see the highest economic growth of any province in the period covered by the report. He also noted that that Canada’s overall economy would still grow, albeit at a slower pace than if not measures were taken. The federal government’s official position has not changed; it will wait for the results of the Copenhagen conference before implementing any concrete measures. [ index ]

TYLER IRVING: On Monday, the new American Ambassador to Canada, David Jacobson, met over breakfast with members of the Pembina Institute to discuss their position on the oilsands. Later that day, he met with Alberta’s premier Ed Stelmach for the first time since he was appointed on June 4. The meetings are part of Jacobson’s efforts to understand the issues surrounding oilsands development. Earlier this month, he toured some oil operations near Fort McMurry with some industry executives. He also met with aboriginal leaders. So far, his response has been measured. Although he did express some awe at the sheer size of Canada’s boreal forest, he has stated that he’s still very much in the learning phase in terms of the development projects. Oilsands development is a highly politicized issue in the U.S. as well as in Canada. President Barack Obama made mention of the “large carbon footprint” of the projects during his first visit to Canada in February. [ index ]