TYLER IRVING: A new Environment Canada report questions the effectiveness of Canada’s carbon reduction strategy. The report states that carbon reductions due to government actions will amount to a mere 5 Mt in 2010. Not only is this amount less than 1% of total emissions, it’s also 10 times smaller than last year’s estimate of 54 Mt.

The report is required under a Liberal private member’s bill that was passed in 2007, and was posted quietly on the agency’s website last week. It cites such government programs as the Public Transit Tax Credit, which is estimated to reduce emissions by only 3000 t, equivalent to taking roughly 500 cars off the road. There is also an admission that there is no system in place for keeping track of how the money from larger programs, such as the $1.5 billion Clean Air and Climate Change Trust, is spent by the provinces.

In a media release, Sierra Club Canada Executive Director John Bennet said that “Slipping the report under the teacher’s door doesn’t change the fact that the government gets an F.” [ index ]

SHAK HAQ: Ontario Power Generation and the Moose Cree First Nation have joined to construct Northern Ontario’s biggest hydro project in 40 years. The $2.6 billion project will take five years to complete and is estimated to create approximately 800 jobs, for which local residents will receive preference. Located on the southern part of the Mattagami River, the plant is expected to double the output of the four existing stations. The new plant will add 438 megawatts, which is enough to power 400,000 homes. Combined with the existing stations the total output will reach 924 megawatts. The plans for the current project will not flood any new territories through dam creation and any generating stations that need rebuilding will be built on the same footprint as existing dams or stations. The project supplements the existing wind and solar power available to the region and will boost the amount of clean energy available during peak demand periods. After almost 20 years of negotiations between the Moose Cree Nation and the OPG, the final contract between the two groups declares the Cree Nation receives 25 percent plant ownership and 25 percent of revenue generated by the plant. [ index ]

TYLER IRVING: A plan to generate electricity from disused railway ties may find a new home in Prince George after being rejected in Kamloops.

The Aboriginal Cogeneration Corporation (ACC) is a company that builds plants to convert woody waste products into a synthetic gas similar to natural gas and propane. The process, called “gasification,” can accept such waste products as disused railway ties, which are soaked in creosote to prevent rot. The company has a contract with CP rail to dispose of 250,000 ties per year.

Earlier this year, a plan was in the works to build such a plant in Kamloops. Although the ACC had obtained permits from both the Interior Health Authority and the Ministry of Environment, the project was scrapped after massive public pressure from Kamloops residents concerned about the plant’s emissions.

Following the plant’s rejection, a group of business and community leaders from Prince George contacted ACC’s president Kim Sigurdson. They say their community has the required industrial land and wants the 25 jobs the plant is expected to generate. So far, Mr. Sigurdson has said only that he continues to search for a suitable location. [ index ]

SHAK HAQ: Three years ago Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced that $500 million from the federal budget would fund the construction of commercial ethanol plants that would use agricultural or forestry waste to make transportation fuel. Iogen Corp, a biotechnology firm in Ottawa, and its partner and part-owner, Royal Dutch Shell PLC were designated as the leaders of this initiative. Today, there is no plant at the proposed site in Prince Albert Saskatoon and no specifics on a future plant. Iogen cites government delays in climate-change policies as the main problem. The ethanol-from-waste technology, also known as cellulosic ethanol, could be commercially viable with more assertive government backing such as a higher price on carbon dioxide emissions and making fossil fuels more expensive. Cellulosic ethanol uses enzymes to break down agricultural and forestry waste into a product that can be turned into fuel. This process produces fewer greenhouse-gas emissions than producing ethanol from corn or wheat. However, biofuel critics feel cellulosic ethanol producers still face tremendous hurdles as the enzymes currently being used do not break down the cellulose into ethanol efficiently enough. Critics feel cellulosic ethanol producers would need to be generously subsidized to compete with current fuel markets. [ index ]

TYLER IRVING: Charlottetown Harbour’s shellfishery is in the midst of a shutdown that will last at least seven days. That’s because heavy rains last weekend overloaded the city’s wastewater treatment system, dumping raw sewage directly into the harbour.

Like many cities, Charlottetown’s sewer system was originally designed to handle both stormwater and sewage in the same pipes. Although the two have been separated in newer parts of the system, there are some older parts where the sewers remain combined. Heavy rains can easily overwhelm the city’s capacity to treat the water before it is released into the harbour.

Officials from the provincial Department of the Environment will be taking water samples, while the Canada Food Inspection Agency will be testing shellfish from the affected area. The closure will affect hundreds of oyster fishers in P.E.I. [ index ]

BRYANT BOUILANNE: British Columbia’s glass sponge reefs are one step towards having protected status, following a move by the federal government. While reefs around the world are formed by coral which produce carbon shells, B.C.’s glass reefs are unique in that they were formed by sponges which produce silicon shells. Glass reefs, common millions of years ago, were thought to be extinct until they were discovered off the coast of B.C. in 1987. This makes them the only known living glass reefs in the world, in essence, living fossils. Their unique ecological importance has led to an announcement Tuesday by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans that the reefs, located in the Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound, are officially an area of interest, the first step in conferring protected status. Designation as a Marine Protected Area would ensure that the reefs are protected from damage by fishing trawlers, undersea cables, or other development. [ index ]

BRYANT BOUILANNE: Earlier this week, British Petroleum managed to place a cap on its leaking oil well. The cap is now siphoning oil through a pipe up to the surface to be stored by a tanker. BP estimates that it is siphoning 15,000 barrels per day, and is hoping to increase this number to 20,000 barrels by next week. The US government estimates that up to 25,000 barrels or more are being released from the well, however, meaning that large quantities of oil are still being released into the ocean.

Meanwhile, researchers from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have confirmed the existence of undersea oil plumes. These plumes of suspended oil droplets extend in the water column between 50 and 1,300 metres below the surface, and have been found up to 78km from the well. It is believed these plumes formed in part due to chemical dispersants that BP has been injecting into the leaking oil to prevent it from pooling on the sea surface. While the oil plumes pose no threat to beaches and wetlands, there are worries they could pose threats to underwater ecosystems. [ index ]

BRYANT BOUILANNE: An Indian Court has found the Indian division of Union Carbide guilty of negligence over the Bhopal Disaster. Seven former employees of Union Carbide, all Indian, have been sentenced to 2 years in prison and given $2,200 fines. The former Indian division of Union Carbide has been fined $11,000. The decision was rendered as thousands of angry protesters gathered outside the courthouse demanding severe punishment for those responsible. Activists responded negatively to the decision, calling it a light punishment for such a deadly crime.

The Bhopal Disaster occurred in 1984 when a Union Carbide chemical plant released 40 tonnes of toxic gas into the air. An estimated 3,500 people were killed immediately. Activists claim up to 25,000 people died of chronic illness in the following years, and a further 100,000 were inflicted with lifelong illness and birth defects.

The ruling applies only to local officials, and cases against the American company are still pending. Those convicted still have the option of appealing the decision, a process which could take years. [ index ]

BRYANT BOUILANNE: A new report by the International Energy Agency, a Paris-based NGO, calls for governments to cut subsidies for fossil fuels in order to promote energy efficiency. The report calculated that governments paid $557 billion in fossil fuel subsidies in 2008, up from $342 billion in 2007. The largest provider of oil subsidies, according to the report, was Iran, which issued $101 billion in subsidies, almost a third of its national budget. The report argues that fossil fuel subsidies remove economic incentives for improving energy efficiency and for developing alternative energy. The key findings of the report were released this week, and the full report will be published in November as part of the IEA’s World Energy Outlook report. [ index ]

TYLER IRVING: Canada’s Far North has seen 260 spills of toxic substances over the last five years. That is the result of a two year Canadian Press investigation which finally pried open Environment Canada’s National Enforcement Management Information System and Intelligence System (NEMISIS). The database keeps track of all spills of toxic substances in the far north.

Most of the spills were of diesel fuel, but sewage spills ranked first by sheer volume; in one case, 13.5 million litres of sewage were released after a dike failed in the remote village of Hall Beach. In the past five years, only two companies have been prosecuted for spills of harmful material. In many cases, crucial details of the spills are unknown, including the parties responsible.

Manon Bombardier, head of Environment Canada’s enforcement branch, said that prosecution is just one of many tools it uses to deal with toxic spills, and that the majority of them are cleaned up within weeks. Nevertheless, the lack of complete information has worried many environmentalists, especially in the wake of the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The National Energy Board is currently reviewing environmental safety and drilling requirements in the North. [ index ]

DARYN CAISTER: The largely dry winter has had a profound effect on the water levels of the great lakes, according to the Canadian Hydrographic Service. Lake Superior, the largest of the lakes has fallen to its lowest point in more than 100 years. The agency also said that the low water levels can be dangerous to many boaters, both big transport ships up and down the St. Lawrence as well as smaller craft due to newly exposed underwater hazards. The US Army Core of Engineers’ data on the water levels in the system showed that Superior had lost about 3cm during April this year, compared to a usual April swelling of water levels of up to 8cm. Local fishermen are also reporting a complete lack of fish compared to this time every year, and have noticed increased pollution in the water due to the reduced lake water volume. Even water management tricks that manipulate the water level between locks on the St Lawrence aren’t working as the water is simply too low within the entire system. There also does not seem to be relief soon as indications are that this summer will continue to be hot and dryer than normal. [ index ]

TYLER IRVING: In a joint announcement on Tuesday, Oakville Mayor Rob Burton and Haldimand Mayor Marie Trainer proposed to relocate Ontario’s new natural gas generating plant from Oakville to Nanticoke.

The proposed power plant is meant to allow Ontario to meet times of peak energy demand after the closing of the remaining coal-fired generators in 2015. However, Oakville residents have been protesting the plant for months because it would be placed 400 metres from a residential neighbourhood. Meanwhile, residents of Nanticoke have complained that the local coal-fired plant’s closing will cost 600 jobs and millions of dollars in economic spin-offs. Moving the new natural-gas fired plant to Nanticoke could satisfy both municipalities.

The Ontario Power Authority says while Nanticoke does have the requisite space and power lines, the natural gas plant would require new gas lines, adding hundreds of millions of dollars to the cost. Energy Minister Brad Duguid says the province welcomes all suggestions, but did not say whether or not the province is considering the move. [ index ]

DARYN CAISTER: Cynical Canadian’s aren’t buying the green hype according to a new survey. The poll, called the Greendex, was conducted by the National Geographic Society and GlobeScan in 17 countries. They found that Canadians professed deep concern over environmental issues, but were however much less likely than other countries to make “green” consumer choices. They might have a point as well; the Ottawa based TerraChoice research company reported in its annual review of products that as many as 98% of Canadian “green” products are still green-washing to some degree or another. This may range from simply not providing verification for their claims to outright lying about their contents or methods of the products. According to the TerraChoice survey, 46% of Canadian respondents believe that companies are usually lying or exaggerating their claims, which surpassed the runners up of increased cost or inconvenience when purchasing “green” products. Overall with the Greendex, Canada ranked second lowest, above the US slightly. The most eco-conscious, or perhaps simply the least jaded were India, Brazil and China. [ index ]

TYLER IRVING: Last Friday, Nunavut’s Environment Minister Daniel Shewchuk told reporters that his government is no longer supportive of listing the polar bear as a species “of special concern” under the federal Canada Species at Risk Act.

The status of the polar bear is currently suspended. That’s because the federal government is still considering a 2008 recommendation by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada to keep the bear on the list. Although the government of Nunavut originally supported the listing, Shewchuk said that after recent consultations with Inuit hunters and community members, he believes that the polar bear population is healthy.

Total polar bear numbers have remained more or less steady at between 20,000 and 25,000 since the 1970s. However, scientists from the Polar Bear Specialist Group of the International Union for Conservation of Nature reported last summer that at least 8 individual populations are in decline. There are also concerns about the as-yet-unknown impact of contracting sea ice in the Arctic.

If listed, the federal government would be required to develop a management plan for the bear’s habitat. The ‘of special concern’ designation is the lowest of the four possible under the Species at Risk Act, behind threatened, endangered, and extirpated. [ index ]