This week:

• Alex Rose, author of Who Killed the Grand Banks, speaks with host Jordan Poppenk about the collapse of the cod fishery off of Newfoundland and some historical lessons that may apply to resource use today.
• Jordan speaks with Leif Harmsen, artist and spokesperson for the Toronto chapter of the World Naked Bike Ride, which is taking place in cities across Canada and around the world over the next several days. He joins us to describe what his group is doing to promote cycling and other environmentally-friendly alternatives.

The headlines in brief:

• A controversial zoning document known as the EcoDensity charter has passed in Vancouver’s city council that will encourage greater density throughout the city rather than just in the core;
• Ontario won’t scrap plans to review the safety of the pesticide 2,4-D despite its recent approval by Health Canada;
• British Columbia’s provincial government has announced an air action plan aimed at reducing smog in the province;
• Documents released under freedom-of-information legislation indicate that the BC government may be stonewalling habitat protection for the endangered Vancouver Island marmot;
• On the heels of new science indicating that shower curtains made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) release 108 toxic chemicals, retailers are beginning to stop carrying the product;
• A new petition from BC environmental groups is asking the government to revoke permission from gravel miners in the Fraser River, over new fears about depleting salmon stocks.
• Alberta premier Ed Stelmach announced a large new program this week to try and develop new skills and move parts of the Albertan economy away from tar sands development.
• Ottawa has developed a method to detect pollutants on a small scale, and there is hope that other Canadian municipalities will follow.
• The federal Liberal Party may abandon their vaulted carbon tax plan, over fears that leader Stephane Dion would not be able to articulate the specifics of the plan to Canadians.
• The United Nations is considering adding nuclear power plants to its list of green energy initiatives eligible under the UN’s Clean Development Mechanism.
• Madagascar is planning to sell nine million tonnes of carbon offsets in an effort to protect one of its largest and most pristine forests.
• A UN Atlas study has revealed that Africa is suffering deforestation at twice the rate of the rest of the world.
• US government scientists declared the Carribean Monk seal extinct this week.

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This week:

Arne Næss

• Dr. Alan Drengson, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the University of Victoria, speaks with Correspondent Simon Watson about the Deep Ecology movement and its founder, Norwegian philosopher Arne Næss.
• Host Jordan Poppenk speaks to Bruce Benett, CEO of the US-based CD Recycling Center, about how to recycle CDs and the economical and industrial considerations that are part of the process.

The headlines in brief:

• The Federal Conservatives say they will not be bound by the NDP climate bill passed into law by all other parties;
• An Ontario-Quebec cap-and-trade climate pact has been announced;
• The Montreal Exchange celebrated its official opening of Canada’s first carbon market;
• Environmentalists and forestry workers have formed a coalition to fight the BC foresting industry;
• Due to development threat, groups have asked the UN to add the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park to its World Heritage Sites in Danger list;
• More than two-thirds of $53-billion in U.S. refinery investments is aimed at tar sands production, which environmentalists lament as an “entrenched commitment” in a new report;
• Teck Cominco’s lead and zinc smelter leaked nearly a metric ton of lead and 400 litres of acid into the Columbia River;
• An attempt by investors in Exxon Mobile to push a greener agenda at the company’s annual meeting has been thwarted;
• US President George Bush has vowed to veto a climate change bill that is being discussed in Senate this week;
• A new report says biofuel output will soar over the next decade causing concern for the future costs of food;
• New Zealand has announced it plans to ban commercial fishing on some of its coast in an effort to protect some of the world’s rarest dolphins.

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This week:

• As CIBC reports that global trade networks are shifting on account of the surging cost of oil, we turn our microphone to a feast of initiatives running on people power. Host Jordan Poppenk speaks with Albert Koehl of the local advocacy group Bells on Bloor, as well as a joint discussion with Rick Conroy, Co-ordinator of the newly minted Toronto Cycling Union, and Adrian Heaps, the City of Toronto Councillor chairing the city’s cycling committee.

The headlines in brief:

• A CIBC report indicates that the rising cost of transportation due to oil prices is undercutting global trade;
• The Canadian uranium company Cameco has warned that its Port Hope plant may have leaked uranium into Lake Ontario;
• A probe has revealed dishonesty in revelations about 2006 Ottawa River sewage spill;
• PM Harper has been promoting Canadian wildlife conservation in France, while reports denounce his lack of action;
• BC has made uncertain emission capture technologies a centrepiece of future green planning;
• The National Energy Board has forecast average gasoline prices of $1.30 to $1.40 per litre this summer;
• American bald eagles have come back from the brink of extinction on Vancouver Island;
• Five Arctic countries have met to agree on distribution and protection of Arctic resources;
• After 20 years, Italy is re-considering nuclear energy as a viable source of power.

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This week:

• Dr. Lawrence Packer, a Professor of Biology at York University and an expert on Canadian bees, speaks with host Jordan Poppenk about bee myths, the good things bees do for an ecosystem and the collapse in bee populations that was widely reported last year.
• Jordan Poppenk interviews Senior Environment Canada Climatologist David Phillips about the function of weather trivia, his perspectives on global warming and the financial hardships endured at Environment Canada (originally broadcast on November 2, 2007).

The headlines in brief:

• Newly released figures from Environment Canada show that Canada’s greenhouse-gas emissions dropped marginally in 2006;
• Alberta has released a draft land-use policy, although the draft is non-committal on tarsands management;
• The Western Climate Initiative is set to restrict Albertan oil exports;
• PEI has canceled an alternative energy program;
• New federal guidelines will require products labelled “made in canada” to contain Canadian ingredients unless otherwise specified;
• A report suggests that nanomaterials in food and clothing are more dangerous than suspected;
• Canadian and U.S. governments have reached agreement over a new Pacific Salmon treaty intended to protect dwindling salmon stocks;
• NDP and Bloq Quebeqois party leaders have attacked the notion of a carbon tax;
• Prime Minister Stephen Harper says that he won’t be cutting back federal taxes on gasoline to compensate for high gas prices;
• Los Angeles plans to cleanse sewage water to increase drinking supplies;
• Iceland has announced it will resume commercial whaling;
• The WWF reports that world biodiversity has decreased by nearly a third over the last 35 years.

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This week:

• We feature a talk by Dr. Doug McDonald, a Senior Lecturer at the University of Toronto’s Centre for Environment and author of Business and Environmental Politics in Canada, a new book about how business reacts to environmental regulatory pressure.
• Engineering correspondent Nicholas Wood discusses biodiesel production with Tim Haig, the CEO of BIOX corporation, which is widely considered the major biodiesel producer in Canada.

The headlines in brief:

• Quebec’s provincial government has announced that it will protect over 18,000 square kilometers of forest and wetlands in 23 new conservation areas;
• A private member’s bill that would require mandatory labeling of genetically modified foods has been defeated in federal parliament;
• A major civil lawsuit has been launched by the Beaver Lake Cree Nation in Northern Alberta seeking to block oil and gas development in their territory;
• 53 ducks were killed in a second tar sands incident involving a Newalta Corporation tailings pond in west-central Saskatchewan;
• EnCana Corporation, Canada’s biggest energy company, will split into separate natural gas and tar sands companies;
• NDP and Bloq Québeqois parties now reject federal ethanol plans;
• Environment Minister John Baird has agreed to support heritage status for the Ottawa river;
• Scientists in Australia have published the genome of the duck-billed platypus;
• US courts have ruled polar bears are an endangered species, although Canada has not followed suit;
• Spain is importing water to the drought-stricken region of Catalonia.

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This week:

• Pat Roy Mooney, Director of the food issues think-tank ETC Group, speaks with host Jordan Poppenk about the dynamics between world food production, food technology, and fuel.
• Correspondent Danny Leskiw talks to Rod DeBoice, the Provincial Bark Beetle Coordinator for British Columbia, about the current state of Western Canada’s mountain pine beetle epidemic.

The headlines in brief:

• A new poll suggests a majority of Canadians – even in Alberta – support the idea of a carbon tax;
• Liberal leader Stéphane Dion has announced his party’s support for the carbon tax;
• Canada is under investigation for Kyoto violations, and could be barred from future carbon trading;
• Hydro-Québec has accepted bids to build 2,000 megawatts of wind generators;
• Critics of fish farming in BC will ask the provincial courts to prevent the provincial government from renewing fish farm leases;
• Alberta premier Ed Stelmach refused to launch an independent investigation into Alberta duck deaths;
• The federal government is fighting a US ban on oil from the Albertan tar sands;
• The federal government has extended a regulatory exemption that will allow the use of leaded gasoline in race cars;
• Canada’s interim environment commissioner Ron Thompson has completed his term and has been replaced by Scott Vaughan;

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This week:

• Dr. Quentin Chiotti of Pollution Probe speaks with Political correspondent Danny Leskiw about new Ontario legislation that’s slowing down trucks on Ontario highways in the name of fuel conservation.
• Environmental pundit Kevin farmer and host Jordan Poppenk discuss whether there is a link between peak oil and recent panic regarding a world food crisis.
• Jordan Poppenk speaks with Liz Benneian, President of Oakville Green, a very successful community organization who speaks about tactics that have allowed her group to work effectively towards conservation of urban green space (first aired July 20, 2007).

The headlines in brief:

• Experts are telling Canadians to brace for higher food prices as the cost of basic staples begins to go up, possibly due to the use of biofuel;
• CIBC economists are predicting a coming “age of scarcity”, in which short supply will lead to gasoline prices of $2.25 a litre and crude oil prices of $225 a barrel by 2012;
• Biofuel proposals are under attack in the Canadian legislature;
• Five hundred ducks were killed in an Alberta tailing pond disaster, raising new questions about the impact of the tar sands;
• Alberta is bypassing environmental impact assessments for proposed transmission line projects;
• British Columbia has implemented a ban on exploration for radioactive minerals;
• Animal-welfare activists demonstrated across Europe, demanding a ban on the import of Canadian seal products;
• International oil company Royal Dutch Shell has backed out of its 33% stake in the UK wind farm, London Array;
• Central American countries are discussing soaring food prices and a $630 million plan to increase food output;
• Warming in the world’s largest lake, Lake Baikal in Siberia, is threatening the lake’s unique ecosystem.

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This Earth Day special:

• We feature the final portion of a three-part series on the Massey College Walter Gordon Symposium, Harnessing the Green Wave: taking action in an era of eco-consciousness. The series features experts in business, government and international policy who speak about what it’s going to take to make environmental change happen. Part Three features Dr. Adam Harmes, a Political Science Professor at the University of Western Ontario, who speaks about the role of international relations in making environmental change happen.
• We feature a discussion between TGM political correspondent Danny Leskiw and Canada’s Federal Environment Commissioner Ron Thompson who speaks about his recent report on how the Federal Government is doing on the environmental file.

The headlines in brief:

• Several jurisdictions made environmental policy announcements to recognize Earth Day:
• Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty is introducing legislation to ban cosmetic pesticide use in the province;
• Turner Valley, Alberta has voted to ban styrofoam from its community;
• BC Premier Gordon Campbell announced legislation to create 11 new provincial parks and 66 conservancy areas, although this was labelled as a re-announcement.
• The federal government has proposed adding Bisphenol A to its toxic substance list;
• Statistics Canada reported that Canada is the third-worst per-capita greenhouse gas emitter in the world;
• Alberta environmentalist Martha Kostuch has died at age 58;
• The Union of Concerned Scientists says that over half of respondents to a survey of EPA scientists claimed they had experienced political interference;
• Data from the US Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration suggests that methane levels rose between 2006 and 2007 after remaining stable for almost a decade;
• The US National Research Council has warned that even small amounts of ozone pollution can cause premature death.

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This week:

• We dedicate the program to a lecture delivered by Dr. David Suzuki, Director of the David Suzuki Foundation and a figurehead of the Canadian environmental movement. The lecture was delivered at the University of Toronto’s Convocation Hall and was organized by the University of Toronto Students Union and the Canadian Union of Public Employees.

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** Whether you’re a radio or web listener, your support is needed to keep Canada’s only environmental news hour on the air. Help us get green information out there: click here to pledge or call toll-free at 1-888-204-8976. Be sure to specify your donation is for The Green Majority. **

** Pledges of $25 or more to CIUT specifying support for The Green Majority will be entered for a draw for $100 gift certificate to The Big Carrot Natural food market and a $20 gift certificate to Fertile Ground environmental Bookstore. Pledges must be placed before April 18 to be eligible. **

This week:

• We run our very important spring fundraising drive.
• Dr. Quentin Chiotti of Pollution Probe speaks with Danny Leskiw about why it’s necessary to support environmental community radio
• TGM team members Danny Leskiw, Rosemary Mosco, Alex Nursall and Kevin Farmer join Jordan Poppenk to discuss the program, its mandate, and why it’s worth supporting.

The headlines in brief:

• Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. has withdrawn from the competition for a new reactor design in Britain;
• Labrador’s Inuit government has voted 8-7 to impose a moratorium on uranium mining and production on its land for the next three years;
• More than 1,700 boil-water advisories are in effect across the country;
• Experts have linked an incident Northwest Territories incident involving starving polar bears with global warming;
• Statistics Canada has reported that the number of organic farms in Canada increased by almost 60 per cent in five years;
• Porter Airlines has announced an expansion of its Toronto Island operations to include travel to the US.

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