VANESSA PURDY (read by Ariel Rabinovitch): The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, CAPP, unveiled a new set of operating practices on Monday. The new rules would apply to all of the members of the organization. The new practises are said to improve the environmental consequences and transparency of fracking, according to CAPP representatives.

The new rules include the public disclosure of chemical ingredients in the fracking fluids, and developing domestic well-water sampling programs. As well, CAPP is aiming to identify and mitigate potential risks associated with the transportation, storing and disposing of fracking fluids.

This set of practises accompanies the “guiding principles” CAPP released this September. However, there is no specific guideline for rule and regulation enforcement to accompany this new report. [ index ]

HARLAND TUFFORD (read by Vanessa Purdy): Stewardship Ontario, the province’s quasi-governmental recycling agency, announced on Tuesday a controversial new pricing plan for hazardous waste recycling. Two waste removal agencies have ceased collection of hazardous waste in response to the new fees, arguing that, under the new guidelines, hazardous waste collection is financially unsound. Previously, municipalities had tendered private contracts with recycling-service providers, and had been reimbursed by Stewardship Ontario. The new scheme, however, provides incentive payments directly to waste management firms.

While waste removal firms are outraged by the changes, municipalities are anxious to ensure that their own flow of hazardous waste, such as household paint, will be safely disposed of. Stewardship Ontario came under attack in 2010 after instituting unpopular “eco-fees” on certain products, including fire extinguishers and rechargeable batteries. Although overseen by the government-controlled Waste Division Ontario, Stewardship Ontario is a private, not-for-profit organization, and does not officially report to the government. [ index ]

VANESSA PURDY (read by Ariel Rabinovitch): Parks Canada has been entertaining a proposal put forth by Brewster Travel Canada–a U.S. Company–to privatize sections of Jasper National Park for tourism purposes. They were supposed to have reached a decision on the Glacier Discovery Walk project on Tuesday. According to Parks Canada’s website, they are taking more time to complete an environmental assessment of the project.

Brewster’s proposal is a 400-metre-long trail and glass-floored platform that would be situated above a valley. They claim it could triple Jasper’s visitors. However, Parks Canada has received over 2,000 letters about the project, many from people opposed to it. The plan would charge travelers to use the walkway, and could also set a dangerous precedent in terms of privatizing natural heritage sites. As well, an online petition calling for the freezing-out of the Brewster project has gathered over 179,000 signatures. Parks Canada expects to have a final decision in the coming weeks. [ index ]

HARLAND TUFFORD (read by Vanessa Purdy): Scientists on Baffin Island have uncovered persuasive evidence regarding the cause of the Little Ice Age, a climate change event which began during the Middle Ages. In accordance with known principles, their discovery was made possible by contemporary climate change. As icefields continue to melt on Baffin Island, plants which have been encased in ice since the 13th century are now within reach of arctic scientists. Thanks to insight gleaned from contemporary plant specimens, the research team believe that the Little Ice Age was the result of volcanic eruptions which occurred between 1275 and 1300 AD. This initial cooling process was likely exacerbated by a second series of eruptions circa 1450 AD. The discovery, published in the latest Geophysical Research Letters, suggests that a climate system may undergo a cumulative cooling process if hit repeatedly by relatively short-term reductions in temperature. However, the research team has not wholly discounted the possibility that the solar radiation cycle may also have played a part in the Little Ice Age. [ index ]

VANESSA PURDY (read by Ariel Rabinovitch): The federal government’s decision to end the EcoEnergy retro-fitting program two months early comes as a shock–and perhaps at a cost. The program began in 2007, and was cancelled in 2010. It was renewed this past June, and set to be completed by March 31, 2012. On January 29th, however, Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver announced the sudden closure of the successful program. Having reached it goal of 250,000 participants, it has been capped at that. According to the Save ecoEnergy Coalition, the program was promised a budget of $400 million. By capping it at the current participant quantity, the government’s actual investment amounts to less than half of the original promise. [ index ]

HARLAND TUFFORD (read by Vanessa Purdy): In response to invasive fish hailing from foreign waters, two agencies have called for the erection of a massive physical barrier. The barrier would aim to halt the migration of Asian Carp into the Great Lakes. Although a barrier between the Great Lakes and Mississippi river watersheds already exists, the Great Lakes Commission and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative believes it has not been entirely effective. The new proposal would require either a single down-river barrier between the two drainage basins, or barriers in five locations near Lake Michigan, or a “mid-system” option to restore a natural divide between the watersheds. Although the agencies are adamant in their support, high costs may deter governments. Initial construction of the barrier could cost between $100 and $150 million dollars, while long term costs could reach between $3 and $9 billion over fifty years. However, the report also stated that preventing an invading species of fish from entering the lakes could save as much as $5 billion over 30 years. [ index ]

CARA CHELLEW: More than 100 countries back France’s proposal to create a World Environment Agency to deal with the world’s worsening environmental crisis. The proposed agency would help implement international environmental standards with the help of grassroots groups and business and would have a wider scope than the current United Nations Environment Program.

Supporters include more than 30 European countries, 54 members of the African Union, as well as Thailand, Malaysia, Nepal, Chile and Uruguay. While the United States has not yet backed the proposal citing sovereignty issues, the agency would aim to be more inclusive, including all stakeholders rather than just governments. [ index ]

CARA CHELLEW: The European Commission has added 15 chemicals to a list of hazardous substances to be regulated by the EU’s water framework law. Eight of the chemicals have been newly identified as priority substances to be eliminated from European waterways in the next 20 years. These hazardous chemicals include Dicofol which is similar to the pesticide DDT, Quinoxyfen which is a fungicide, dioxins that are a by product of thermal combustion, and industrial chemicals used in hydraulic aviation fluid, photography, and textiles.

The chemicals on the list will be subject to controls and regulation with the aim of monitoring and eliminating emissions. Members from the European Environmental Bureau, Europe’s largest federation of environmental organizations claim the proposal is too weak to protect human health and European waters. In addition, too few chemicals have been selected, from 2000 potentially harmful chemicals to 15. [ index ]

CARA CHELLEW: South American Authorities have sentenced three Mozambique men to 25 years in jail for poaching rhino horns. The men were caught illegally hunting in the Kruger National Park in July 2010 and were apprehended with two freshly chopped rhino horns, rifles, and an axe. 450 rhinos were killed in 2011 where the animals are left to bleed to death after their horns have been chopped off.

South Africa has been a hotbed for rhino poaching because it has the largest population of rhinos in the world with almost 2000 black rhinos and 19 000 white rhinos. Last year, 232 suspected poachers were arrested and 26 were killed in fights with authorities. Authorities are trying to fight poaching with harsher sentences and looking into the possibility of legalizing the rhino horn trade. [ index ]