TYLER IRVING: An investigation led by a group of environmental NGOs has led to accusations that the Canadian government is muzzling its senior climate scientists. A report released on Monday by the Climate Action Network says that media coverage of climate change issues has been decreased the introduction of a new communications policy.

The report quotes anonymous Environment Canada sources who say that media interview requests dropped by 80% after a new communications policy was introduced in the fall of 2007. That’s when the Harper administration made it mandatory for scientists to seek approval from their supervisors before talking to the media, even when discussing the results of studies that had already been published in peer-reviewed journals. Many scientists complained that due to slow responses from their overseers, they were unable to speak to media sources in a timely manner.

The Climate Action Network also notes that the latest federal budget provides no new funding for the Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences, a 10-year-old organization that coordinates and funds scientific research on climate change. The group claims that this is part of a trend of climate research being undermined and minimized by the Harper administration. We will have more on this story later in the program. [ index ]

TYLER IRVING: There was another setback in the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Project this week. A new schedule filed with the National Energy Board by the project’s proponents lists 2018 as the soonest date the pipeline could begin operation. That’s four years later than the next most recent estimate, filed three years ago.

The $16 billion pipeline project was originally envisioned in the 1970s, and would pipe natural gas 1200 km from the Mackenzie River Delta to markets further south. Many northern communities have hoped that the project would bring long-awaited economic development to that part of the country. Aboriginal groups, such as the Inuvialuit, the Gwich’in and the Sahtu, have negotiated a one-third stake in the project.

The project has been beset by delays as it drags through various approval bodies. Most recently, a report by the Joint Review Panel on the socio-economic and cultural impacts of the pipeline listed 176 recommendations that would need to be met in order for the project to proceed. In the meantime, valuable deposits of shale oil further south have been discovered, leading to questions about the economic viability of the project. Nevertheless, the project’s proponents say they believe the gas will still be needed to meet market demand. The National Energy Board will make its ruling by September. [ index ]

TYLER IRVING: The final nail in the coffin of the proposed dump in Simcoe County known as Site 41 has not yet been hammered, and it’s largely because of the recent prorogation of parliament by Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty.

The proposed site, near the village of Elmvale in Tiny Township, sits atop the Alliston Aquifer, one of the world’s purest sources of drinking water. Simcoe County Council voted to discontinue the dump site last fall after an extremely negative public reaction that included multiple protests and a blockade of the site. However, the certificate of approval, issued by Ontario’s ministry of the environment, was never formally revoked, meaning that the door is open for the project to be revived at any time.

Simcoe North MPP Garfield Dunlop introduced a private member’s bill into the legislature that would have seen the certificate revoked. However, that bill died on the order paper when the provincial parliament was prorogued on March 4. Parliament has since re-started, and Dunlop has vowed to re-introduce the bill as soon as possible. Meanwhile, Ontario’s Environment Minister John Gerretsen says although he believes the site is scientifically appropriate for a dump, he will revoke the certificate if county council requests it. So far, that formal request has not yet been made. [ index ]

TYLER IRVING: A report released on Wednesday by the UN’s Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Project shows that while some arctic species have recently increased in number, others are declining.

The report looked at data from 965 populations of 306 arctic species over the last 40 years, and was co-authored by Canadian researcher Mike Gill. He says that there are both winners and losers with rapid changes in the Arctic. Some of the winners include bowhead whales and Arctic geese, which have benefitted from decades of hunting restrictions. The losers include Atlantic cod and the brown bear.

Data on polar bears was not sufficient to make any strong conclusions. However, some of the biggest population reductions were found among species that live in high arctic regions where there has been faster than predicted rates of sea ice retreat. While cannot yet provide a direct cause and effect relationship between climate change and loss of biodiversity, it does point out that retreating sea ice will have an impact on species that depend it, including narwhals and polar bears. [ index ]

LEEANNE MACGREGOR: This week at the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species two of the most important and controversial proposals failed to win the support of delegates. Yesterday, votes were cast on the proposals for banning both the trade of Atlantic bluefin tuna and polar bear parts. Both proposals fell far short of winning the necessary two-thirds majority with bluefin winning only 17% of the vote and polar bears, only 40%.

Reasons for the failure of the bluefin tuna proposal are many. Japan, which consumes 80% of the total tuna market, took a strong stance against the proposal asserting that it would not abide by an international ban. Meanwhile the European Union was divided on the issue as many Mediterranean countries bowed to pressure from their tuna industries. In most cases, fisheries would rather continue in the bluefin business while prices are at a premium than take action now to ensure the longevity of the fishery. For the polar bear proposal, countries voting against a ban were under the impression that global warming is the major threat to polar bears, not trade. It was argued that the trade in polar bear parts is an integral part of Inuit economies in Canada and Greenland. In both proposals, Canada voted against bans.

Environmentalists are hopeful that longterm conservation goals can be met in the coming week of talks. Still up for debate are the proposals banning elephant ivory and shark parts. We’ll have more on the outcome of the UN Trade in Endangered Species talks in next week’s report. [ index ]

LEEANNE MACGREGOR: In the first project of its kind, large amounts of ocean space have been leased to developers of wave power. Ten sites off the northern coast of Scotland have been leased to local companies who will use the intense power of the ocean currents to generate electricity using Marine Current Turbines. The uniquely space-age looking turbines are placed to sit partially submerged in the tossing waves. Plans to develop tidal power are also under way.

Once the project is fully functional, energy harnessed from the wave powered devices will be enough to power 750,000 homes by the year 2020. So far estimates of the MegaWatt-capacity of the area have been dramatically underestimated. The initial capacity of the site was pegged at 700MWs but is now known to hold closer to 1.2 Gigawatts of wave and tidal power. The development has caused many in the Scottish parliament to nickname the region the “Saudi Arabia of marine power”. Conservation groups assert that with proper planning and installation the new technologies will not cause harm to marine ecosystems. [ index ]

LEEANNE MACGREGOR: The state of the Everglades National Park is causing concern and frustration for environmental groups amid promises from the Florida Governor that restoration will happen soon. For two decades the Everglades has been under increasing pressure from threats such as urban sprawl, pollution, invasive species, and global warming. Surrounding the Everglades, big agri-business siphons off water for irrigation and trades it for chemical run-off.

Eighteen months ago Florida Governor Charlie Crist signed a deal that would allow the state to purchase a large parcel of land that borders the Everglades. The land in question belongs to sugar cane giant U.S. Sugar Corporation. Once purchased, it would be permitted to return to marsh allowing water to flow from Lake Okeechobee in the north to the Everglades in the south. Stalling the deal is opposition from rival sugar corporations who say the purchase is little more than a government bailout of the struggling US Sugar Corporation.

During a tour of the Everglades yesterday, Governor Crist reaffirmed his commitment to restoring the ecosystem and water quality of the region with the U.S. Sugar deal. Once a plot of land over 100 thousand acres big, the deal has been whittled away to its current 73,000 acres in an effort to compromise with agri-business lobbyists. The governor insists the area is still large enough to replenish the Everglades and act as a buffer against run-off pollution from neighbouring agricultural lands. Environmentalists hope to see the deal go through before this year’s dry season. [ index ]

LEEANNE MACGREGOR: A British advertising watchdog has banned two ads accused of making unsubstantiated claims about the effects of climate change. The government released the ads as part of a campaign to encourage citizens to reduce their carbon footprints. After receiving nearly 1000 complaints from the public, a hearing was held Wednesday where the move to pull the ads was made.

The offending ads altered the verses of children’s nursery rhymes to spell out disastrous possible consequences of global climate change. In one ad, Jack and Jill are seen searching fruitlessly for a bucket of water; in another, three men in a tub navigate a flooded town while others are seen in Katrina-esque fashion trapped on top of roofs. The government says it used the childhood references to inspire citizens to act on behalf of future generations and to draw attention to the importance of lifestyle choices. Advertising watchdog group ASA, or Advertising Standards Authority, blamed the government for causing “fear and distress” among the public. The two ads are being pulled for portraying drought and severe flooding as substantiated consequences of global climate change.

The response from government acknowledged the campaign could have been more obvious in laying down proofs of its arguments, but said the aim was to draw attention to the need to address climate change in an accessible way. The ASA refused requests from the public to pull the remaining two ads in the campaign as well as a TV spot along the same vein as the banned ads. You can still take a look at all the ads on the Department of Energy and Climate Change website, by searching online for “Act on CO2”. [ index ]

DARYN CAISTER:  The federal government has announced a further $182 million in spending on Atomic Energy of Canada, Ltd., partially to cover cost overruns at Chalk River nuclear facility. The facility is famous for production of a large portion of the world’s medical isotopes and for a tragic series of problems in the last year. AECL is now responsible for eating up $824 million of the current year’s federal budget, 50% more than was allotted in last year’s budget. This comes as the government is planning to restructure and sell AECL’s commercial reactor division. Of the $182 million, $110 million has been designated for plant refurbishment work on the AECL’s commercial reactors, and $72 million will go to fix the National Research Universal reactor at Chalk River. The latest in a series of timeline revisions is that the NRU should be up and running producing medical isotopes again by April. Chalk River has been out of business since June. While the federal government still says it is supports AECL, a spokesperson for the Prime Minister called the AECL last summer, “one of the largest sinkholes of government money probably in the history of the government of Canada”. [ index ]

DYLAN JERVIS:  The Province of Alberta announced that it will roll back most of its year-old royalty hike on oil in order to attract oil and gas investment back to the province. It also announced that it was looking into ways to decrease the bureaucratic hassle for new investments.

Under the roll-back plan, top royalty rates will drop from 50 to 36% for natural gas, and from 50% to 40% on non-oil sands crude oil. This almost completely reverses the rate hike that Premier Ed Stelmach introduced last year in an effort to give the provincial government a bigger share of energy revenues.

Energy Minister Ron Liepert was quoted on Thursday, saying “We can’t pretend that oil and gas investment levels haven’t eroded or that we don’t have a responsibility to current and future generations of Albertans to address that.” The roll-back will become effective January 2011. [ index ]

DARYN CAISTER:  Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty announced this week his office was considering a water conservation rating system for appliances similar to the Energy Star program for electric appliances. The Premier said that the people of Ontario have come to understand the importance and positive benefits of reduced electricity use and efficiency, but that the concept had not yet permeated water conservation issues in Ontario. The ratings would theoretically be constructed and regulated in the same fashion as the Energy Star program, which is a partnership between industry and Natural Resources Canada’s Office of Energy Efficiency. Opposition critics were quick to jump on the announcement to criticize the premier about pursuing water conservation initiatives while many areas of Ontario still had long standing boil water advisories and quality concerns. The premier admitted that the province could be doing a better job cleaning up water resources, but denied that the sudden focus on water had anything to do with next year’s elections. Opposition critics accuse the premier of focusing on water as a segue to bringing up the Conservative failure in the Walkerton water tragedy 10 years ago where incompetent water quality management resulted in the deaths of at least 7 people. [ index ]

DYLAN JERVIS:  The three gleaming towers at 100, 200, and 300 Consilium Place in Scarborough have become such an unanticipated death trap for migrating birds that two local environmental groups have began a lawsuit against the buildings managers.

The environmental groups – Ontario Nature and Ecojustice (formerly the Sierra Legal Defence Fund) – initiated a private prosecution under the Environmental Protection Act and the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animal Act. The buildings, up to 17 stories high and made of mirrored glass, have been the site of more than 7,000 bird deaths over the last decade. Most daytime collisions have occurred between the ground and 4th floors.

The high incidence of bird deaths due to hitting buildings has been of concern for many years. The non-profit group Lights Out Toronto has led a campaign to encourage building managers to turn of lights in the evenings so that birds are not distracted. However, this is the first time that the law have been used in order to effect change. [ index ]

DARYN CAISTER:  A new study shows that the vast amounts of road salt used in Canada is having a toxic affect on lakes and groundwater. The University of Toronto study was performed between 2002 and 2003 shows that during spring thaws, downstream water bodies and aquifers jump up to a level of salinity that is close to salt concentrations found in ocean water. The study monitored how salt spread on roads in the Pickering area of Toronto made its way from the roads into the surrounding environment and the effects it incurred on local habitat. Pickering was used as a sample area for the study due to the relatively small 27 kilometre watershed. The study, which was published in the Journal of Sedimentary Geology, was described by lead author and UofT Professor Nick Eyles as a “really bad news story” describing a “relentless chemical assault on a watershed”. The study area recorded approximately 7,600 tonnes of road salt being distributed in the area in one season, and detected at least half of this, 3,600 tonnes ending up in local watersheds. Canada uses approximately 5 million tonnes of road salt annually, which equals about 150 kilograms per person per year, mostly in Ontario and Quebec. Environment Canada has recognized this toxic problem, and implemented voluntary codes of practice to reduce usage in 2004. After the study was published, Environment Canada said that it was reviewing usage with current data and that it would consider further action if usage had not improved due to the voluntary measures. [ index ]

DYLAN JERVIS: B.C. premier Gordon Campbell reassured the Vancouver Board of Trade on Monday that the $1.4 billion Evergreen Rapid Transit Line will be built on time and ready to run by 2014.

There has been concern that the rail line – connecting Vancouver to the North eastern parts of the Lower mainland, including Burnaby, Coquitlam, and Port Moody – does not have the money to cover all costs. “It’s going to be built in partnership. We’re going to get it done on behalf of all of you” Mr Campbell said, promising that details on funding will be released soon.

These vague comments sought to address concerns over how TransLink, the regional transit authority, might finance its $400 million share of the project. Given that TransLink spokesperson Ken Hardie said Monday “We agree with what everyone is saying about the need for the line, [but] we do not have the source of the funding to support that investment, that debt we would be taking on”, the future of the line is still cloudy. Construction of the project was supposed to start this year, but has since been put off until 2011. [ index ]

DARYN CAISTER:  This week, Canadian supermarket giant Loblaws became one of the fist commercial participants in Ontario’s feed-in tariff program for renewable energy. The announcement was made this week by Ontario’s new Energy Minister, Brad Duguid as his first big announcement after taking over the office in January. The feed-in tariff program, which is the first of its kind in North America, pays a premium for companies and individual citizens who produce power using renewable energy (such as solar or wind generation) and feed this power back into the local grid. The rates for commercial and private interests are 13.5 cents per kilowatt hour for on-shore wind farms and up to 80.2 cents for solar power. These rates are guaranteed for 20 years, dramatically lowering the uncertainty around the payback timescales for renewable energy. While Loblaws and the office of the Minister of Energy declined to comment on the details at this time on the deal, industry experts told the media that Loblaws will be installing solar panels on the roofs of many of its stores across Ontario. The Ontario Power Authority, which oversees the feed-in tariff program for the provincial government, said that the response to the program has been far better than expected, and that it has been overwhelmed with both private and public requests for participation in the program. [ index ]

BRYANT BOULIANNE:  China and India have formally joined the Copenhagen Accord on climate change. Both countries have informed the United Nations that they can be included on the list of nations that agree to the non-binding Copenhagen Accord, which aims to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. In joining the accord, China has agreed to try and reduce its carbon intensity by 40 to 45 percent of 2005 levels by 2020. Likewise, India will aim for a reduction of 20 to 25 percent by the same benchmarks. It remains to be seen how closely China and India will be able to achieve their targets, as the accord is non-binding and vague on details. The Copenhagen Accord was drafted at the UN Climate Change Conference last December, and is widely regarded as a failure for being unable to produce a binding successor agreement to the Kyoto Treaty, which will expire in 2012. [ index ]

BRYANT BOULIANNE:  The government of The Maldives has announced that it is turning its territorial waters into a shark sanctuary. The 90,000 square kilometres that comprise the waters owned by the tiny island nation in the Indian Ocean will be off-limits to shark fishing. In addition, the country will outlaw the import and export of shark fins; a lucrative business that has been devastating to shark species. The move follows a similar one by country of Palau, an island nation in the South Pacific. In a press release following the declaration, a spokesman for the Pew Environment group applauded the move stating: ”Countries are beginning to recognize just how important vibrant shark populations are to healthy ocean ecosystems, and to their ecotourism industries.” [ index ]

BRYANT BOULIANNE:  In a related story, the United Kingdom is moving closer to creating a vast marine reserve of its own. The Chagos Archipelago, located in the Indian Ocean just south of The Maldives is a British foreign territory and is home to some of the most pristine coral reefs in the world. The UK has just completed its 3-month public consultation on the idea, and is now considering creating a ‘Chagos Protected Area’, which would turn the archipelago and its waters into a marine reserve completely off-limits to commercial fishing. The proposed reserve would be 544,000 square kilometres: larger than the UK itself. Though conservation groups around the world are pushing for the designation, the move is controversial due to the displacement of the islands’ former inhabitants, who have been pushing to return. The islands had been inhabited since the 18th century when French coconut plantations were set-up there. The local residents were removed from the islands in the 1960s, however, by the British government to make way for an American military base. Since then, the former inhabitants, most of whom have relocated to Mauritius, have been fighting to be allowed to return. They fear that the creation of a marine reserve would prevent them from ever being able to return, and that the creation of the reserve is being done without their consent. [ index ]

BRYANT BOULIANNE:  United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has ordered an independent review of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC. The IPCC was created by the UN to collect and analyze global climate research and to produce reports on climate change for use by the UN and world governments. Lately, the IPCC has fallen under criticism following revelations that its 2007 report contained inaccuracies and errors. The report’s chapter on the retreat of Himalyan glaciers due to climate change was specifically singled out for being poorly cited and for drawing exaggerated conclusions. This has served to undermine the authority of the IPCC the veracity of its reports. The UN has called on the InterAcademy Council, an organization comprising science institutes around the world, to put together an independent review of the IPCC and make recommendations to restore credibility to the panel. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon sought to point out that although there were problems with portions of the report, the science behind climate change remains sound. In a statement, Secretary Moon stated: “Let me be clear: the threat posed by climate change is real. Nothing that has been alleged or revealed in the media recently alters the fundamental scientific consensus on climate change.” The independent review is expected to be completed by August of this year. [ index ]