CHRIS GUSEN (read by Cara Chellew): In Ottawa, yesterday, a federal advisory panel said the time has come for industrial firms to start paying for their share of water consumption. The advice comes from a study prepared by the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy.

While water consumption by Canadian households has grown slightly in recent years, industrial consumers use the lion’s share of the country’s water, accounting for 86 percent of Canada’s annual water consumption. This trend is especially obvious in regions with prevalent oil, gas, and agricultural operations. Despite their heavy water use, industrial consumers face minimal costs or licensing fees. The report recommends that the government make a detailed inventory of Canada’s water resources, accompanied by a plan to make industry pay for every litre it uses. [ index ]

CHRIS GUSEN (read by Cara Chellew): Merwan Saher, Alberta’s auditor general announced, this week, that the province’s carbon offset rules are still not clear enough to be considered airtight. In 2007 Alberta instituted a cap-and-trade system that requires its biggest polluters to pay for each ton of emissions that exceeds the 100,000 ton per year limit. Alternatively, companies can buy carbon offset, and Alberta’s top greenhouse gas emitters go for this option to the tune of $60 million in offsets each year.

Two years ago, the auditor general asked the province to clarify the rules of the offset program, pointing out that there was no standard measure for how various offsets contribute to reducing carbon emissions. This week, he announced that the province’s progress in clarifying its carbon offset rules has been unsatisfactory. He said the province still does not test the validity of offsets purchased by polluters, which undermines the credibility of its entire carbon reduction program. In response, Alberta’s Environment Minister said a review of the offset protocols is underway and she expects the auditor general’s concerns to be addressed by next year. [ index ]

CHRIS GUSEN (read by Cara Chellew): An internal Environment Canada memo – released to the media this week under the Access to Information Act – contradicts the official rationale the government has given for proposed ozone-monitoring cuts. In September, it was revealed that the federal government has plans to slash funds to Canada’s ozone-monitoring program. At the time, Environment Minister Peter Kent said the cuts were meant to streamline the way Environment Canada collects ozone data by removing a redundant level of monitoring technology.

However, in the briefing note made available to the media this week, a senior Environment Canada bureaucrat advises that the two ozone monitoring methods currently in place “complement, but do not duplicate each other.” The memo explains that there is no redundancy because the two systems measure different aspects of the atmosphere. It also describes one of the monitoring networks as among “the largest and most important in the world.” This information contradicts the public claims made by Environment Canada officials, including the one who approved the memo. The news casts serious doubt on the government’s claims that the cuts are merely to eliminate redundancy. [ index ]

CARA CHELLEW: Violence has broken out between anti-nuke demonstrators and police in north western France this week, leading to 12 arrests. Activists blocked rails with debris near Valognes, France while attempting to stop a trainload of nuclear waste destined for Germany.

The train’s departure from reprocessing facilities in La Hague was also delayed because demonstrators managed to removed a rail and destroy an electrical control box. The shipment of waste from France to storage facilities in Germany is scheduled to be the last. Earlier this year, Germany announced plans to shut down all of its nuclear power plants by 2022. [ index ]

CARA CHELLEW: Kenya’s Green Belt Movement has inspired the planting of 450 million trees this year, restoring forests ravaged by illegal logging and drought. The Green Belt Movement, founded by recently deceased Nobel prize winner Wangari Maathai, recruits local women’s groups to plant trees in exchange for firewood.

Planting a billion trees a year with the help of schools, youth groups, and women’s organizations is a part of Kenya’s official climate response strategy. The heavily forested upland areas of Mount Kenya, the Aberdares, Mount Elgin, Mau Forest and the Cherangani Hills supply the country with 90% of its water and electricity. Reforestation will allow these areas to store rain in the wet season and feed water into the rivers during the dry season. [ index ]

CARA CHELLEW: A new UN report reveals that if industry were to cut its green gas emissions by realistic amounts, global warming can be kept below 2 degrees Celsius. Combining research from 28 centers around the world, the study Bridging the Gap looked at projections for future emissions growth and what can be achieved in different sectors.

Energy, forestry, farming, and transport industries could cut emissions through improving energy efficiency which could also be cost neutral as these sectors save money in fuel costs. Projections also show that it is possible to meet the two degree mark without making strong cuts presently. If action is delayed until 2020, steeper cuts will be required at a greater cost. [ index ]