Chris Tindal, Green Party candidatefor Toronto Centre, discusses the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) negotiations - publicized in Québec last week - and their relevance to environmental policy in Canada, the U.S., and Mexico. A conservative candidate from the same riding was unavailable to join the discussion. See the Green Party FAQ on the SPP, as well as a YouTube video from CUPE depicting alleged “police provocateurs” at the event.
Simon Watson speaks with Tim Leduc from York University’s Enviornmental Studies program about Inuit communities and knowledge about the issues surrounding global warming (first aired on April 20, 2007).
The headlines in brief:
The Ontario Power Authority tabled a regulatory submission this week that spells out the government’s plan for eliminating coal over 20 years and at a cost $60-billion;
Lake Superior is headed for a record low water level for August, with more record lows likely in September and October;
Construction has begun on preliminary work for a landfill site in Tiny Township;
Premier Dalton McGuinty is planning a ban on pesticides as part of the Ontario Liberal election platform;
Two separate incidents in the oil and gas sector have led to the release of noxious gasses in urban areas of Alberta;
The Weather Network is predicting near normal temperatures and precipitation this fall;
Conservation groups in Quebec called for stop a major real-estate project from going up at the entrance to a provincial park just off Montreal Island;
Iceland has said it will not issue any new whale-hunting quotas until market demand increases;
A study suggests that current predictions for global warming underestimate the risk of floods and overestimate the impact of droughts by ignoring the role of plants in the system;
Britain’s endangered species list has almost doubled over the past decade and now includes sparrows and starlings that are considered pests in North America.
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In addition to the live 10-11am TGM broadcast on CIUT in Toronto, you can now also listen to a condensed version of the program in Banff national park on CFPE (101.1FM). Airtimes include:
Tuesdays at 6pm MST
Wednesdays at 8am MST
Thursdays at 6pm MST
Tune into Friends of Banff Park Radio to enjoy your Canadian environmental news in Canada’s oldest national park!
Due to exceptional circumstances, no audio technician was available for this week’s program. Please forgive intermittent clipping and audio quality problems.
Jordan Poppenk speaks with Martin Middlestadt, environmental reporter with the Globe and Mail, about trends in environmental journalism and the role of the media in environmental change (first aired on March 30, 2007).
The headlines in brief:
Federal Conservatives have snubbed a private members bill passed in February by opposition parties that was intended to force the government to outline how Canada will meet its Kyoto targets;
A document obtained through an Access to Information request suggests that senior government experts disagreed with Environment Minister John Baird’s warnings that the Kyoto Protocol would provoke an economic disaster;
Another such document indicates the Conservative government was warned that the vehicle rebate program it is implementing would be cost-ineffective at reducing CO2 emissions;
Several of Ontario’s nuclear reactors have been offline for unexpected maintenance this summer, forcing a large spike in emissions from Ontario’s coal plants;
A diesel spill that occurred Monday near Vancouver Island could threaten the habitat of killer whales that frequent the area;
Unsatisfied with Environment Canada forecasts, the Canadian Wheat Board is investing hundreds of thousands of dollars into its own weather system;
The federal government has purchased a new Dash 8 to patrol the West Coast to monitor illegal bilge waste dumping.
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While TGM’s show correspondants get some much needed R&R, we feature a selection of interviews from the past eight months, including:
Darryl McMahon, author of The Emperor’s New Hydrogen Economy, who discusses the future of hydrogen as a fuel source in Canada (originally broadcast on December 29, 2006).
Dr. Harold Harvey, Professor Emeritus and Director of the Bait Association of Ontario, about how a new aquatic virus in Lake Ontario is shutting down the Ontario bait business (originally broadcast on Janurary 26, 2007).
The headlines in brief:
A new study shows dropping water levels in Lakes Huron and Michigan is being caused by man-made erosion from dredging and other activities in the St. Clair River
Hamilton is getting the $30-million Ontario share of funding for the cleanup of Randle Reef in Hamilton Harbour;
B.C. government and The Land Conservancy of British Columbia have reached an agreement to acquire Gerald Island near Nanoose Bay for future designation as a provincial marine park;
Environment Canada revealed that Eurocan, a pulp and paper mill in Kitimat, B.C., was responsible for an effluent pipeline break this summer that dumped approximately 1.9 million gallons of mill waste into an oxbow of the Kitimat River;
Former Alberta premier Peter Lougheed has warned that Canada is facing a bitter constitutional clash over the environment and Alberta’s oil industry that will threaten national unity and eventually end up in the Supreme Court of Canada;
Former Canadian mining executive Steve McIntyre found an error in the math used by A Calgary study shows that the Halifax area’s ecological footprint is higher than that of nearly every other Canadian city;
NASA has determine historic temperatures that was slightly inflating recent record temperatures;
Environment Minister Mark Parent has rejected a request to stop the spraying of the herbicide Vision in two Nova Scotia counties. In a letter to Pictou County.
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We present reflections by speakers at the opening ceremonies of Chernobyl: 20 years, 20 lives, an exhibit featuring the work of Danish photographer Mads Eskesen. Comments are made by Chernobyl medical researcherDr. Luba Komar and Toronto Councellor Gord Perks. The exhibit, an attempt to humanize the disaster by focusing on the lives of affect individuals, can be seen over the next two weeks at the Gladstone Hotel in Toronto (1214 Queen St. W).
Jordan Poppenk and Kevin Farmer discuss greenwashing and the changing relevance of anti-litter initiatives to the environmental movement.
The headlines in brief:
CNR has been charged with five counts of environmental infractions stemming from a 2005 train derailment that resulted in 40,000 litres of lye spilling into the Cheakamus River in B.C.;
The environment has dominated the debate over the last two days during a meeting of Canada’s 13 premiers in New Brunswick;
A group of protesters are expressing their discontent over a flawed environmental assessment process regarding the proposed construction of a new incinerator by Durham/York regions;
Verdun in Montreal and a city infrastructure group are conducting more analyses to find out how raw sewage is getting into the St. Lawrence River;
Prince Edward Island announced a new Office of Energy Efficiency in its Department of Environment, Energy and Forestry;
Emergency officials in Newfoundland and Labrador are warning residents to heed new rainfall warnings;
The Blue Sky Solar Racing team at the University of Toronto unveiled its fifth solar powered vehicle on Thursday in an event that marked the team’s 10th anniversary;
On Wednesday, China held a celebration to mark one year until the 2008 Beijing Olympics, although pollution threatens some of the events;
A new study says that the length of heat waves in Western Europe has doubled since eighteen eighty, and the number of very hot days has tripled;
A study by US Environmental officials says that the number of U.S. beaches declared unsafe for swimming reached a record high last year.
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In a slideshow lecture that should accompany every presentation of the Al Gore “Inconvenient Truth” talk, Calgary journalist Andrew Nikiforuk presents a slideshow lecture on the surface and in sutu mining of the Athabasca tar sands, a project of paramount ecological importance in Canada.
Summer weather woes are being reported from across the country, with severe conditions including heat alerts, humidex alerts, high UV readings, dry spells and smog warnings;
Ottawa is distributing free indoor water efficiency kits to residents through the city’s Client Service Centres;
New Brunswick has requested a feasibility report from Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. for a second nuclear reactor in the province;
British Columbia is implementing new e-waste management and recycling regulations;
The Toronto Star has uncovered major flaws in the federal ecoEnergy program for assessing the energy efficiency of homes;
A new fund specializing specifically in investments in the Canadian tar sands has completed its IPO on the Toronto Stock Exchange (OilSands Canada Corporation);
A US federal judge has issued a preliminary injunction to stop logging in spotted owl habitat in four parcels of private land in Washington;
A new rental bike scheme is turning Paris, France into a biking paradise;
On Wednesday, China’s Meteorological Association blamed global warming for unusual weather this year;
Scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego say that clouds of pollution over South Asia are making climate change worse;
Australian scientists released a study that says that laser printers in offices can have serious health consequences.
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This week: