As many countries move away from big hydro projects, B.C.’s government must decide whether to continue work on the Site C dam. The controversial megaproject would flood a 100-kilometre stretch of the Peace River Valley and provide enough power for the equivalent of about 500,000 homes. The BC Utilities Commission, an independent body responsible for […]
environment
Posted inNews + Opinion
LED streetlight project delayed, millions of dollars over budget
The light at the end of the tunnel is costing Halifax an extra $8 million. The municipality’s budget for installing energy-efficient LED streetlights has increased from $47 million to $55 million—a result of several operational delays in the massive public works project. Council approved the increase as part of a yet-to-be-declassified staff report back in […]
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SCIENCE MATTERS: U.S. climate report leaves little room for doubt
It seems odd that a major U.S. government climate report released November 3 didn’t receive more media attention. But then, the main thing newsworthy about the Climate Science Special Report is that it was released at all, apparently without political interference. Although the U.S. government is required by law (enacted by President George H.W. Bush […]
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SCIENCE MATTERS: Government for the people, not fossil fuel corporations
I consider voting a privilege and a responsibility. But I wish politicians would take their responsibility to voters more seriously. We elect them to represent us. Sometimes our interests coincide with corporate priorities. After all, corporations create jobs and economic opportunities and often develop products and services citizens need. Corporations can’t vote, but by putting […]
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SCIENCE MATTERS: Government inaction, industry tactics increase caribou risks
October 5 came and went, and Canada’s boreal woodland caribou are still in trouble. That was the deadline the federal government gave provinces and territories five years ago to come up with caribou range plans for the iconic animals. Not one met the deadline. Why should we care about caribou? Beyond the fact that we […]
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SCIENCE MATTERS: Oil spills pose unacceptable threats to marine life
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says oil pipelines have no place in B.C.’s Great Bear Rainforest. Opponents of the approved Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion to the West Coast and the cancelled Energy East pipeline to the East Coast argue pipelines and tankers don’t belong in any coastal areas. Research led by the Raincoast Conservation Foundation confirms […]
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SCIENCE MATTERS: It’s time to nix neonics
The Canadian government is banning plastic microbeads in toiletries. Although designed to clean us, they’re polluting the environment, putting the health of fish, wildlife and people at risk. Manufacturers and consumers ushered plastic microbeads into the marketplace, but when we learned of their dangers, we moved to phase them out. Why, then, is it taking […]
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In memoriam: Energy East (2013-2017)
Energy East, the gargantuan, $16-billion pipeline project that would have transported over one million barrels of oil a day from Alberta to New Brunswick, has died. It was four-years-old. Parent company TransCanada announced the death of its 4,500-kilometre pipeline baby on Thursday morning. Chief executive officer Russ Girling offered his thanks to the businesses, Irvings and […]
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The Donald Marshall decision and Digby’s lobster wars
A debate over illegal fishing has reached a boiling point in southwest Nova Scotia. Amidst accusations from non-Indigenous fishers about black market lobster sales, the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaq Chiefs is calling on the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to finally clarify the policy surrounding a legal case nearly 20 years old. Mi’kmaw fishers […]
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Clearcutting our losses
In June, the residents of Wentworth Valley awoke to an unfamiliar—and unwelcome—noise. Tree-harvesting machinery had made its way up the western slopes of the valley and was chewing through the mixed Acadian forest atop the mountain. By the time the media reported the story, the machines—working day and night—had already clearcut nearly 200 acres and […]
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SCIENCE MATTERS: Bye-bye, bug splatter
Masses of monarch butterflies fluttering across Toronto’s waterfront. Painted ladies (often mistaken for monarchs) descending on Montreal. Combined with the hottest September ever recorded in the Great Lakes region, it’s been a strange time in Eastern Canada. We should savour the joys of these captivating critters while we can, because their future—and that of insects […]
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10 things that happened at city council
ACCESSIBILITY INACCESSIBLE Steve Craig is fed up with the lack of accessible transportation options in HRM. It’s been three years since the Lower Sackville councillor tried to expand the city’s door-to-door paratransit service, and now he’ll have to wait at least a few more months for an outside consultant’s strategic review of Access-a-Bus service. “I’m […]
