This week:

• Jack Gibbons, Chair of the Ontario Clean Air Alliance, presents his group’s assessment of Ontario’s new clean energy legislation, discussing both the good news for the facilitation of renewable energy projects and how the bill is likely to lead to growth in provincial nuclear power generation.
• Green Party Leader Elizabeth May and Council of Canadians Chair Maude Barlow weigh in on efforts to protect Tiny Township’s aquifer, the purest known source of water on the planet, from becoming a garbage dump. Thank you to Danny Leskiw for recording this presentation.
• Listener Kelsey from the Dogwood Initiative writes to encourage listeners to oppose increasing supertanker traffic off the North Coast of British Columbia. More information and “loonie decals” are available here.

The headlines in brief:

• The province of Ontario has introduced legislation to help enable more renewable energy producers in the province, though the legislation does not attach specific funding or regulations to the industry.
• Alberta’s tar sands have been featured in this month’s National Geographic which called the projects “dark satanic mills” and showed readers photos of the sludge covered tailings ponds.
• The Natural Resources minister has refused to apologize after it was discovered that Chalk River nuclear facility had been leaking tritium into the Ottawa River.
• Federal officials anticipate that up to 850, 000 acres of agricultural land will be left idle in California due to drought.
• Scientists are voicing concern that biotechnology companies have restricted academic research on genetically modified crops.
• NASA’s first satellite dedicated specifically to monitoring global carbon dioxide levels plunged into the Antarctic sea shortly after being launched.

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- Photo credit: Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy -

This week:

• On today’s show, Environmental Law Correspondent Naomi Jehlicka speaks with Justin Duncan, a lawyer with the Canadian environmental law group EcoJustice, about the law behind Alberta’s tar sands tailings ponds.
• Dylan Jervis makes his first appearance as a correspondent speaking with film director Suzanne Chisholm about her film, Saving Luna.

The headlines in brief:

• President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Stephen Harper pledged this week to work together on carbon capture technologies. The two did not announce plans for a continental emissions reduction strategy as many had hoped.
• Irving Pulp and Paper Limited pleaded guilty this week in New Brunswick to provincial court charges for illegal dumping of toxic substances from one of its plant’s into the Saint John River.
• Ottawa has officially released its plans to fast-track the way it evaluates the environmental impact of most of its planned infrastructure projects.
• Another shutdown at the ageing Chalk River nuclear reactor in Ontario has stopped the production of medical isotopes.
• The United Nations expects global food production to fall 25 percent by 2050.
  China has been urged to reduce the use of nitrogen fertilizers after great atmospheric damage.
• The world’s largest marshland is in danger from development for industry and agriculture.

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- Photo credit: David Dodge, The Pembina Institute -

This week:

• We feature a special lecture by Dr. Christopher Key Chapple, from the Department of Theological Studies at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, discussing India, Hinduism, Jainism and Ecology. His talk is entitled: Protecting Ice, Trees, Air, and Rivers: Challenges of Environmental Protection in the Land of the Hindu Goddess. Thanks to Theological Correspondent Simon Watson for recording this talk.
• News Director Chris Berube speaks with News Writer Daryn Caister about the federal budget and its impact on issues such as job creation, green infrastructure and the coming visit by US President Barak Obama.
• News writer Daryn Caister fills in for Jordan Poppenk as guest host.

The headlines in brief:

• Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty proposed legislation to stop the blocking of green energy projects in Ontario for any reasons other than environmental or safety concerns;
• An international group of environmental organizations begin a cross border campaign to retain environmental policy plans in the US;
• Parts of the Arctic sea have been closed to all commercial fishing due to sustainability concerns;
• The Environment Minister of Northern Ireland banned an advertising campaign advocating for action of climate change because he does not believe that global warming is a reality;
• Canada’s green jobs are beginning to appear “recession proof” as the sector expands while much of the economy contracts.

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This week:

• Green Life correspondent Peter Stock presents a “how-to” guide on building a greenbelt around one of the few major Canadian cities not to have one – Calgary – in conversation with environmental lawyer Maureen Carter Whitney (see Alternatives Journal).
• News Director Chris Berube speaks with host Jordan Poppenk about the implications of a UN report about how rising ocean acidity is resulting from CO2 emissions.
• Simon Watson speaks with Sammy Davis-Mendelow, one of Al Gore’s youngest climate messengers.

The headlines in brief:

• The federal environment commissioner has issued a report dispelling claims by the federal government that their two central pieces of environmental legislation are leading to reduced emissions.
• Health and Environment Canada have added two new substances to the Toxic Substances list which are commercially found in commercial hair and skin care products.
• The Albertan government has announced regulations on tailing ponds from tar sands development after forty years of voluntary regulation by industry.
• A report finds that the consequences of fisheries collapsing from climate change will be felt the most by developing countries.
• A study conducted by the United Nations on the acidity of our oceans calls for ‘urgent action’.
• Demand for the installation of wind and solar power has plummeted as a result of the economic downturn,

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