MELISSA SHAW: An Alberta woman is attempting to sue Encana, the Alberta Government and the provinces energy regulator for a total of 10 million. Jessica Ernst works as a consultant for the oil and gas industry and has been a long time outspoken critic of drilling methods such as fracking. She claimed in a statement to the court that the failure of the Alberta’s Environment Department and the Energy Resources Conservation Board to investigate her case and enforce regulations ” served as a government coverup of environmental contamination caused by the oil and gas industry.” A decade ago Encana began drilling for shallow coal bed methane deposits around wells in Rosebud, a hamlet near Calgary. As a result she claims her well became polluted. The legal statement reads that “as a result Ms Ernst’s water is now so contaminated with methane and other chemicals that it can be lit on fire.” These claims have not been proven in court and a 2008 report issued by the Alberta Research Council suggests that the methane found in these wells was a naturally occurring result of their proximity to coal seams. She plans to bring her issue to the next week’s meeting of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development in New York. [ index ]

CHRIS GUSEN (read by Lia Mazzolini): An alliance of local, national, and international conservation groups, including the Canada Sierra Club and the Alberta Foothills Network, has launched a market action campaign against clear-cut logging in southern Alberta’s Crowsnest Forest. The campaign calls on lumber retailers and consumers to boycott wood from Crowsnest. The goal is to pressure the Alberta Sustainable Resource Development office to reverse its decision to approve Spray Lake Sawmill’s plan to clear cut the Castle Special Place protected area, located at the south end of the Crowsnest Forest. The conservation groups also hope to pressure Spray Lake Sawmill to enter into a Forest Stewardship Council certification process, which would hold their logging practices to strict social and environmental standards. The unchecked logging of the Castle forest, would threaten both the vitality of the watershed and the habitat that is currently home to Alberta’s largest diversity of native plants and animals. [ index ]

MELISSA SHAW: The market for alternative energy vehicles will continue to be small due to high upfront costs that outweigh eventual savings on fuel according to consumer research firm J.D Power and Associates. A survey of 4,000 US auto buyers determined that price is still the largest barrier to growth in the market. They predict that by 2016 hybrid and electric vehicles sales will account for only 10 percent of the market in the US. These vehicles currently make up 2.5 percent of the market in the US and Canada. J.D Power’s consumer study reveals that although consumers see the value in saving on fuel costs they said factors such as purchase price, driving range, higher maintenance and questionable vehicle performance as reasons why they do not choose to drive an alternative energy powered vehicle. The Conference Board of Canada cites studies that indicate the purchase of a hybrid vehicle could be a few thousand more and a plug in car could cost up to 20,000 more. The price of gas continues to rise but automakers have been producing more fuel efficient vehicles which has also kept interest in alternative energy vehicles low. [ index ]

LIA MAZZOLINI: The Ontario Power Generation is looking for federal approval to store nuclear waste under the Bruce nuclear plant, near Kincadine. The company submitted an Environmental Impact Statement, Preliminary Safety Report and supporting documentation for the proposed Deep Geologic Repository for low and intermediate level waste, on Thursday, April 14. The waste, coming from the nuclear plants in Pickering, Darlington and Bruce, will be placed in these storage facilities in 2018. Executive Vice President of OPG, Albert Sweetnam says, the nuclear waste will be tightly encapsulated into sedimentary rock, 680 metres below the surface, preventing any possible leakage. He also says that this type of storage facilities safely operate in other countries such as Sweden, Finland and the US. Although, many residents who live by the lake, including US residents are concerned, given the current circumstances in Japan. A public hearing for the project is expected to take place in 2012. [ index ]

CHRIS GUSEN (read by Melissa Shaw): On Monday, April 25th, the David Suzuki Foundation and four Nova Scotia citizen’s groups concerned with water conservation and protection sent an open letter to Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter and Nova Scotia Mink Breeders Association President Earl Prime highlighting the destructive effect that Nova Scotia’s largely unregulated mink farming industry has had on local watercourses. The letter describes how steadily expanding fur farms have allowed untreated manure, carcasses, and waste feed to seep into local rivers and streams for years. Recent studies have found that, as a result of this practice, local lakes and rivers now contain highly elevated levels of fecal coliforms (an indicator of disease-causing organisms like E- coli), with some lakes exhibiting more than 1,000 times the normal amount. This poses a serious health risk to fish, livestock, and even humans. The citizen’s groups are asking the Nova Scotia government to quickly develop and enact strict protocols and enforceable regulations for the immediate management of waste from mink farming operations to protect the water quality in the watersheds where these farms are located. [ index ]

LIA MAZZOLINI: The Green Party are slamming the Conservatives of being silent about environmental issues. Green Party candidate, Fred Twilley attended the party’s press conference on Wednesday, April 27, claiming climate change and environmental issues have taken a back seat in the Tories campaign. Twilley adds their platform doesn’t include enough plans to reduce greenhouse gases and gas emissions. Environment minister Peter Kent, has a target to reduce these emissions from 730 million tons to 607 million tons by 2020. Twilley adds that the Conservatives have not mentioned how that target will be met. But, the Conservative’s platform does include a one-year extension of the ecoEnergy Retrofit Initiative, which will give about 350,000 retrofit grants to Canadians. A Public Policy Forum and Sustainable Prosperity poll taken in February, states that 91% of Canadians believe that climate change is a serious problem. [ index ]

BRYANT BOULIANNE (read by Vanessa Purdy): Thousands of demonstrators held protests against nuclear energy this week at the border between France and Germany. The protesters took to bridges over the Rhine River that links France and Germany chanting “Chernobyl – Fukushima – never again!” The protests mark the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, and come amid the ongoing struggle to contain radiation at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan.

That the protests took place between France and Germany is no accident, as both countries are facing policy decisions regarding the future of nuclear energy. The German government is still deciding whether or not to extend the life of 17 nuclear reactors, while France, which relies on nuclear for 75% of its energy, must decide if it needs to diversify its power generation. [ index ]

BRYANT BOULIANNE (read by Vanessa Purdy): The world’s smallest island nation, Nauru, is set to take the chair of the Alliance of Small Island States. At 21sq.km, Nauru is the world’s third smallest country and has a population of just over 9,000 people. Now, the tiny island is set to lead the alliance of small islands as they attempt to battle their biggest foe: climate change. Rising sea levels threaten the very existence of Nauru and others like it, a fact which the country aims to bring to the UN in its efforts to get the rest of the world to curb greenhouse gas emissions. [ index ]

BRYANT BOULIANNE (read by Vanessa Purdy): Scientist have long speculated that melting of arctic ice would slow down the Gulf Stream, which is a current of warm water moving from the Caribbean to Europe. If this were to happen then climate change would cause Europe to become much colder because it is the Gulf Stream that keeps Europe warm.

Now, a new study in the journal Nature suggests that this could be counteracted by another current called the Agulhas. The Agulhas Current caries warm water around the Indian Ocean, but some of it leaks into the Atlantic and moves northward. Using computer models, the scientists say that climate change might increase the leakage of warm water from the Agulhas Current to compensate for the slowdown of the Gulf Stream. The researchers warn however that the data is still very preliminary. [ index ]