August 2008


This week:

To celebrate our 100th episode, we present a retrospective on the most interesting moments of The Green Majority featuring many of our regular contributors, including:

  • Incoming News Director Chris Berube
  • Former Science Correspondent Sapna Sharma
  • Theological Correspondent Simon Watson
  • Green Life Correspondent Peter Stock
  • Arts Correspondent Letitia Henville
  • Political Correspondent Danny Leskiw
  • Environmental Pundit Kevin Farmer

The headlines in brief:

  • Canada unilaterally extended its nautical authority over environmental and other laws extends to 200 from 100 miles offshore in the Arctic;
  • Environment Canada predicts Arctic Sea Ice will be at its second lowest level on record by the end of 2008;
  • A 26-year deal was met to protect 4,500 square kilometers of Baffin Island and surrounding waters, although most likely as part of a sovereignty agenda;
  • $100-million in mineral exploration grants was made available for Arctic exploration;
  • Federal records show tar sands companies lobbied federal government ministers heavily this summer, whereas only a few meetings were made between environmental groups and government bureaucrats;
  • The Toronto Transit Commission is considering an end to its use of biofuels;
  • BC has begun clearing protected wetlands in Whistler to create a hybrid bus terminal;
  • A group of Christian activists talked to the UN about the moral aspects of environmentalism at talks in Ghana.

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lynnpapermill.jpgThis week:

  • Chris Severson-Baker, Policy Director for the Pembina Institute, speaks with Political correspondent Danny Leskiw about why his group decided to pull out of a tar sands regulatory process in Alberta.
  • Lynn Harrison, an environmentally-minded Toronto musician and longtime contributor to the Take 5 morning show, shares recent compilations from her album Simplicity and discusses her musical philosophy with host Jordan Poppenk.

The headlines in brief:

  • A new federal report suggests that Canada’s water supply may be at risk of being drained within the decade;
  • Environmental groups quit the government-sponsored forum on tar sands development en masse this week, undercutting government efforts to make the tar sands appear a “safer buy”;
  • A mutated fish with two mouths was caught in Lake Athabasca, Alberta, a site of water quality concerns resulting from tar sands operations;
  • London, Ontario has become the first Canadian city to restrict the sale of plastic water bottles;
  • Toronto announced it will have to pay $2 million after propane company Sunrise Petrolium failed to properly clean up after a recent explosion;
  • The BC government is being urged by environmentalists to take charge of a chemical plant that’s been leaking diesel fuel into the Cowichan River;
  • Released documents suggest the federal Conservatives knowingly pursued plans for an industrial project in the Mackenzie Valley expected to surpass ecological impact limits;
  • A new study is finding that rising levels of acidity in the oceans are threatening reproduction for marine animals;
  • Research by the International Water Management Institute shows that developing countries around the world are using untreated wastewater for agriculture.

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This week:

  • ncc.jpgWe build on last week’s topic of wildlife conservation with Linda Stephenson, Atlantic VP of the Nature Conservancy of Canada, who discusses strategies her group is using to protect key widlife habitat from development.
  • Political correspondent Danny Leskiw speaks with NDP leader Jack Layton about his party’s environmental platform and position on the Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI).

The headlines in brief:

  • A number of dramatic fuel accidents have shaken the country this week, including a massive propane explosion in Toronto and two highway fuel spills;
  • The Canadian Medical Association has predicted that the number of air pollution deaths in Canada between today and 2031 will roughly equal the population of Edmonton;
  • The government’s nuclear energy provider AECL may be dismantled if it does not win two contracts for nuclear reactors in Ontario, according to government sources;
  • Coordinators of the Cache Creek Regional Landfill say they will triple the landfill’s size to keep up with Vancouver’s growing garbage crisis;
  • BC Transport announced this week it is planning to build its refuelling station for its fleet of transcontinental hydrogen buses on endangered forest wetlands in Whistler;
  • Toronto broke its all-time summer rainfall record with over three weeks left in the season;
  • African companies are taking an active stance against global warming as its emerging markets are overlooked in the rush toward sustainable development;
  • In Great Britain, peach-potato aphids are appearing as much as four weeks ahead of the 42 year average as a possible consequence of global warming.

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banff_pass.jpgThis week:

  • Conservation specialist Nigel Douglas speaks with host Jordan Poppenk about a planned highway expansion in Banff National Park and the competing priorities that are bringing wildlife preservation and economic development into conflict.
  • Following up on last week’s episode about problems with municipal sewer overflow into rivers waterways, Riversides spokesperson JP Warren speaks with Jordan about home-made solutions for mitigating storm runoff.

The headlines in brief:

  • Ontario has officially joined the Western Climate Initiative;
  • Nova Scotia announced new green plan to cut emissions by 10% from 1990 levels. The plan will not include a carbon tax;
  • Beaches on Halifax Harbour are re-opening clean after more than three decades of sewage contamination;
  • City of Toronto to pay citizens $20 million in grants for projects reducing carbon footprint by 2012;
  • Liberal leader Dion suggests that we will go to the polls in the fall, and that his environment plan will be the central issue;
  • Prime Minister Stephen Harper promised $100 million to expand the trans-Canada highway through Banff National Park.

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This week:

  • flood.jpgFrank Zechner, Executive Director of the Ontario Sewer and Watermain Construction Association, speaks to host Jordan Poppenk about how the City of Ottawa’s sewer system came to spill into the Ottawa River for 15 consecutive days.
  • Political correspondent Danny Leskiw speaks with Ontario Natural Resource Minister Donna Cansfield about the future of wind power in the province.

The headlines in brief:

  • An ice sheet spanning seven square miles broke off from the Canadian section of the Arctic ice shelf;
  • Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty drew praise for introducing a plan to permanently protect half of Ontario’s vast boreal forest region from mining and other resource development;
  • Ecojustice and Earthroots released a report illustrating years of mismanagement in Ontario’s sensitive Oak Ridges Moraine watershed;
  • Ottawa is facing environmental litigation for a 15-day sewage spill into the Ottawa River in 2006;
  • 48 municipal and regional governments filed a letter of complaint over BC’s decision to deregulate 20,000 hectares of logging on Vancouver Island;
  • Environment Canada blames nitrates from nearby farms for the deaths of five thousand fish in the Cardigan River last week;
  • Nova Scotia’s fisheries minister Ron Chisholm has increased the province’s seal hunt quota in response to a proposed EU ban;
  • UK-based Co-operative Financial Services warns that proposed tar sands developments could increase Canadian CO2 emissions by 15% by 2015.

You can download the show here (right click, save as…), or listen in the player ** Note: player will close if you surf away from the page**