This week:

  • Environmental pundit Kevin Farmer and host Jordan Poppenk declare 2007 to be “The Year of Buy-In” and discuss the ten most important environmental news stories of 2007:
    • Most significant buy-in: The Canadian Council of Chief Executives, a group of Canada’s top business leaders, acknowledged global climate change is a reality and called for potentially painful government intervention.
    • Best international policy document: Parties to the 1987 Montreal Protocol hastened a ban on the use of hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs).
    • Most dubious international distinction: China overtook the U.S. as the world leader in carbon dioxide emissions.
    • Most nefarious politics: The Federal Government funded its climate change initiatives using internal funding Environment Canada, reducing the budget of some core programs to zero.
    • It’s later than you think: 2007 was the hottest year on record in the Northern Hemisphere and the decade 1998-2007 was the warmest decade on record.
    • Most important legal challenge: Legal action launched against the Federal Government by Ecojustice Canada and Friends of the Earth Canada to force the government to fulfill its legally-binding Kyoto obligations.
    • Most shameful: Canada’s obstructionist position at the Bali/Commonwealth conferences.
    • Most hopeful turn of events: Kevin Rudd won the Australian federal election, replacing key U.S. ally against climate change John Howard. Rudd subsequently signed the Kyoto accord.
    • Scariest precedent: development of plans to build a nuclear power plant on the Peace River in Alberta to power extraction of the tar sands.
    • Best nod to the movement: The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to both Al Gore and the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
  • Simon Watson asks about eco-spiritual life in an interview with Seyyed Hossein Nasr, who speaks about Islamic Science and nature (originally aired June 15, 2007).

The headlines in brief:

  • Residents of Atlantic Canada are digging out from the fourth winter storm in a week;
  • Harvey Mead, Quebec’s first sustainable development commissioner, says Quebec’s sustainable development strategy is not ambitious enough;
  • The Globe and Mail reports that global warming is causing an increasing abundance of stray cats in Canada’s major cities and Toronto in particular;
  • Hydro-Québec says that its only nuclear power plant will remain offline until late this month because of technical problems;
  • Oil prices briefly topped $100 per barrel;
  • The US Minerals Management Service will sell oil and gas exploration rights to the Chukchi Sea off northwestern Alaska;
  • The Italian city of Milan has introduced a “pollution charge” for vehicles in an attempt to tackle a serious smog problem;
  • Three German cities are tackling vehicle pollution by introducing “environmental zones”;
  • A new study says warmer autumn temperatures are reducing the ability of Canada’s northern forests to remove carbon dioxide from the environment.

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