This week:

• We produce our first fully live-to-air episode.
• Jordan Poppenk and Scott Hansen declare 2006 to be “The Year of Global Warming” in a review of the year’s top environmental stories.
• Darryl McMahon, author of The Emperor’s New Hydrogen Economy, discusses the future of hydrogen as a fuel source in Canada.

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The headlines in brief:

• The province had indicated it won’t necessarily buy its new nuclear reactors from Crown-owned Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. or a global company;
• Stelco is offering land it owns in Nanticoke, Ont., as the site of one of the province’s new nuclear power plants;
• The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission has recommended to the federal government that the proposal for a nuclear-waste dump near Lake Huron be reviewed by a full panel of experts;
• 500,000 yuletide evergreens will be disposed of across the province in the two weeks following Christmas;
• A giant ice shelf the size of 11,000 football fields and one of the last six remaining has broken free from Canada’s artic;
• The Bush administration has proposed listing polar bears as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, which could have ramifications on US climate change policy;
• Rockhopper penguins have suffered a dramatic and mysterious decline.

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This week:

• Letitia Henville speaks with Victoria McDonald, a biologist at Rouge Park, about bird counts in the new year. For more information or to get involved, visit Bird Canada, or call 905-713-7729.
• We introduce the plight of the Tiny Township aquifer, the cleanest source of water on the planet, which is currently slated to become a landfill site;
• Scott Hansen talks to Dr. Ingrid Stefanovich, Director of the Center for Environment at the University of Toronto.

The headlines in brief:

• Another violent windstorm swept through parts of British Columbia on Wednesday in a series of storms that have left 250,000 people without power;
• The federal government promised $20 million for a project to reclaim industrial land in Toronto;
• The federal government announced that it plans to mandate the use of renewable fuels, and will consider the purchase of international emissions credits under Kyoto mechanisms;
• Environment Minister Rona Ambrose wants the auditor general to review federal climate programs, but it’s not clear whether that audit will include the Conservatives’ own programs;
• The US government is considering opening an area off the Bering sea frequented by the world’s most endangered large whale;
• Over 300 American cities are competing for the title of Most Green and have pledged to meet or exceed Kyoto obligations;
• Across the entire northern hemisphere, there is less snow than normal, causing problems for ski resorts and a Christmas that is more green than white;
• The UN weather agency says the northern hemisphere is warming twice as fast as the Southern hemiphere in recent years;
• 2006 was the 6th warmest year on record worldwide, according to the World Metorlogical Organization.

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This week:

• New show talent Sapna Sharma talks about the impact of global warming on freshwater ecosystems with Dr. Ken Minns, recent Senior Research Scientist at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and Adjunct Professor at the University of Toronto in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.
• We discuss recent developments and directions at the Toronto Transit Commission.

The headlines in brief:

• Howard Moscoe is being replaced as chairman of the Toronto Transit Commision by Councillor Adam Giambrone;
• Giambrone called for a clenliness audit of the TTC, a new website, revamps of several subway stations and deciding upon a new fare increase;
• After 15 years of talking about building a new GO Station in the northwest corner of the city, the official groundbreaking took place on Wednesday;
• The federal government has approved a controversial quarry expansion in the Niagara Escarpment;
• Environment Minister Rona Ambrose says Canada has paid all the money it owes in support of the Kyoto Protocol, but that’s not what UN figures indicate;
• The conservative party has released a new plan targeting toxic chemicals;
• The David Suzuki Foundation presented a sustainability strategy for Canada’s ailing environment;
• The longest and most expensive case in Botswana’s history noted that several hundred Sanns, a hunter-gather group, were unlawfully displaced for diamond exploration;
• Open water at the north pole may be the norm for the summer by 2040;
• Strange weather in Doba, Qatar, has disrupted the Asian Olympic Games;
• Oceans worldwide may be full of tiny pellets of non-biodegradable plastics that mabeing taken into the food chain;

This week’s phone-in topic: how do you feel about expanded High-Occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes in Toronto? Call in your response at 718-514-9785.

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This week:

• We discuss the implications of former Environment Minister Stéphane Dion‘s ascent to Leader of the Liberal Party;

• Ryan Wiseman interviews Alex Steffen from World Changing (visit besustainable.com for additional discussion);
• Jordan Poppenk speaks with with Johanne Gélinas, Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development (see TGM #9 for her roadshow talk and shownotes);
• Rosemary Mosco kicks off a new midshow segment containing the international headlines;
• We respond to your questions about climate change.

The headlines in brief:

• Canada’s opposition Liberals on Saturday unexpectedly chose former Environment Minister Stephane Dion as their new leader;
• The University of Toronto Student’s Council is facing unprecedented demand for TTC metropasses;
• A single upgraded plane tasked with the mission of patrolling 3,000 the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Coast isn’t sufficient to prevent ships from dumping toxic sludge, according to critics;
• Ontario has announced it will start charging a 10- or 20-cent deposit on LCBO bottles in February in order to divert more bottles from landfill;
• Scientists in Alberta have determined that climate change may indirectly boost levels of mercury in fish and the food chain;
• Americans are driving fewer SUVs and minivans for the first time in 6 years;
• Australia’s economy is experience it’s slowest growth in year, which may be due to a historical drought that has been linked to climate change.

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This week:

• Johanne Gélinas, Canada’s Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, speaks about her report on climate change from the Auditor General’s office.
• Gélinas notes that any Canadian resident can submit an environmental petition to force a government response to environmental questions.

The headlines in brief:

• Mayor David Miller is considering the possibility of parking lot surcharges in downtown Toronto and North York’s city centre;
• 24 billion gallons of untreated effluent enter the Great Lakes every year, according a study by the Sierra Legal Defense Fund;
• In the London byelection, Liberal Glen Pearson took London-North-Centre for the Liberals, with Green Party leader Elizabeth May a close second;
• For the second time this month, Environment Minister Rona Ambrose has cancelled an appearance at a parliamentary committee on global warming;
• The Supreme Court heard arguments this week in a case that could determine whether the Bush administration must change course in how it deals with the threat of global warming;
• Water levels in many reservoirs across Australia have fallen by more than two thirds and some cities have almost no water in a drought that could be the most severe in 1,000 years;
• The rate at which humans are pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere has more than doubled since the 1990s, according to Australian researchers.

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