EnviroNewsandIssues Newsletter - Edition 8

April 24, 2005
Kyoto targets out of reach - Calgary Sun
The federal government says Canada can and will meet its Kyoto targets.
Not to be indelicate, but that is a lie.

If Canada were to remove every plane, train and automobile from service and were to shut down every manufacturing plant in the country, we would still not meet our Kyoto target.

After waiting more than eight years for a plan from the dithering federal Liberal government on how Canada is going to meet the impossible targets set out in the Kyoto protocol, not surprisingly, the feds have come up with yet another incompetent and wildly costly plan.

U.S. Loan Proposed to Rescue Alaska Power Plant - Washington Post
House Energy Bill Includes Help to Convert Experimental Coal Project That Failed
Years ago, the federal government spent $117 million on an experimental "clean coal" power plant in Alaska designed to generate electricity with a minimum of air pollution -- but the project never got up and running.

The plant, built in the late 1990s just outside Denali National Park and Preserve, never worked as it was supposed to, cost too much to operate and provided power only intermittently when it was tested, according to the utility company that was supposed to run it. Five years ago, the state closed it down.

Last week, the House came up with a solution: spend an additional $125 million in the form of government loans to convert the experimental "clean coal" facility into something that works.
Alaska officials say they expect that a retrofitted plant would spew no more air pollution than the original was designed to emit. But some environmentalists concerned about pollution in the park are skeptical.


April 23, 2005
Tories poised to win - Windsor Star
Ontario backing Harper, poll shows
OTTAWA - The Conservative party, buoyed by a surge in support from Ontario voters unseen in 20 years, is poised to win an election if it is held now, a new poll has found.

The survey by Ipsos-Reid, provided exclusively to CanWest/Global, reveals Stephen Harper's Tories hold a "solid" five-point lead over the Liberals under Prime Minister Paul Martin. Thirty-five per cent would vote Conservative nationally, compared to 30 per cent for the Liberals, 18 per cent for the NDP, 12 per cent for the Bloc Quebecois, and five per cent for the Green Party.

Glaciers on Antarctic Peninsula shrinking - Globe and Mail
London — The first comprehensive survey of glaciers on the Antarctic Peninsula has shown that the rivers of ice are shrinking, mostly because of warming of the local climate.

It is unclear, however, whether the increased temperature causing the shrinkage is a natural regional effect or a result of global warming, said the scientists who conducted the study, published this week in the journal Science.

Researchers from the British Antarctic Survey and the U.S. Geological Survey analyzed more than 2,000 aerial photographs dating from 1940 and more than 100 satellite images from the 1960s onward.

Ethanol plant has promise - Saskatoon StarPhoenix

WEYBURN -- A former whisky distillery on the outskirts of Weyburn will be reborn as a $16-million ethanol plant this fall, NorAmera BioEnergy announced here Friday.

The facility is being retrofitted and expanded to allow for an ethanol facility that pumps out 25 million litres a year, said Brad Hill, NorAmera president and chief operating officer.
Hill said the plant expects to employ 20 people when it is completed this September.

Company Spin:
The City of Ottawa Receives $130,378 from the Green Municipal Funds for a Comparative Trial of Diesel-Electric Hybrid Technology
OTTAWA, April 22 - Mayor Bob Chiarelli of the City of Ottawa; Township of Lanark Highlands' Mayor Larry McDermott, representing the Federation of Canadian Municipalities; and the Honourable Mauril Bélanger, Deputy Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and MP for Ottawa-Vanier, on behalf of the Government of Canada, will announce a $130,378 Green Municipal Funds' grant for Ottawa. The grant will help the City undertake a feasibility study on diesel-electric hybrid bus technology with a view to reducing emissions generated by the City-owned fleet of transit buses.

Two diesel-electric hybrid buses will be on hand at the event, along with technical experts to answer questions about the technologies and their environmental benefits.

Earth Day - Environmental regulations are harming the environment
MONTREAL, April 22 - The best way to promote sustainable development is to remove barriers to free-market forces, according to an Economic Note published today by the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI). Price- distorting subsidies that favour the use of raw materials and environmentalregulations that prevent the development of by-products from waste are discouraging innovations in recycling, author Pierre Desrochers concludes.

The view that increased profitability is incompatible with environmental protection is "historically inaccurate ... not only are higher profits and a cleaner environment compatible, but much historical evidence suggests that industrial recycling is a long-practised, productive and, indeed, essential element of the market system," writes Desrochers, who is an assistant professor in the Department of Geography at the University of Toronto and Research Associate at the Montreal Economic Institute.

"As a society becomes more technologically and commercially advanced, the increased diversity of the technical, managerial and trading capacities of its members will provide for many different ways of turning residuals into resources. Meanwhile, many new and different potential markets for these resources will be created," writes Desrochers.

Titled Reconciling Profits and Sustainable Development: Industrial Waste Recycling in Market Economies, this Economic Note is available at http://www.iedm.org/

Making a child's wish come true continues as Saskatchewan CPR employees recycle 100,000 water bottles
MOOSE JAW, SK, April 22 - A unique fundraiser that had more than 800 Canadian Pacific Railway employees in Saskatchewan recycling plastic water bottles in support of the province's Children's Wish Foundation has hit the 100,000-bottle mark, which means more dollars to make another child's wish come true.

CPR showcases success in greenhouse gas reductions
CALGARY, April 22 - Showcasing its commitment to the environmentduring Earth Day 2005, Canadian Pacific Railway outlined measures it has takento address climate change and greenhouse gas emissions as part of day-to-dayoperations.Notable CPR air emission reduction measures include the following: - The addition of new high-powered, energy-efficient AC traction road locomotives to its fleet of more than 1,600 locomotives - one of the youngest fleets in North America; - Increased use of distributed power, which involves putting locomotive units in the middle or rear of a train. The result has been more fuel-efficient trains operated when distributed power is used. - Majority of the locomotive fleet outfitted with fuel saving devices, such as stop/start technology that automatically shuts down and restarts locomotives within specified parameters - reducing emissions and fuel consumption. - The recent purchase of 35 hybrid yard locomotives known as the Green Goat(R), which reduce fuel consumption by up to 60 per cent and cut smog-causing oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and diesel particulates by as much as 90 per cent.

Nunavut Earth Day protest gets star support - CBC.ca
IQALUIT - Hollywood actors Selma Hayek and Jake Gyllenhaal joined hundreds of Canada's Inuit for a group photo-shoot in Iqaluit to protest against global warming.
It was part of the worldwide Earth Day celebrations.

The large crowd, which assembled on the frozen surface of Baffin Island's Frobisher Bay, formed the shape of a giant Inuit drum dancer and the words "Arctic Warning" for an aerial photograph.

INDEPTH: CLIMATE CHANGEGlobal warming
CBC News Online
March 24, 2005

Switch on the TV or radio these days, and you'll learn about icebergs melting and be bombarded with ads for movies depicting catastrophic weather disasters.A hundred years ago, the phrase "climate change" would not likely have set anyone's spine tingling, but today it has become fodder for the latest thrillers and disaster scenarios. The reality is likely to be less sudden, but possibly no less dramatic.

Bad Weather Forces Change in Bush's Earth Day Plans - New York Times
KNOXVILLE, Tenn., April 22 - President Bush's plans to celebrate Earth Day in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park were undone by nature on Friday, as stormy weather in the area forced him to cancel and instead speak about the environment from inside a hangar here at the McGhee Tyson Airport.

Conservation by all - Ottawa Citizen - Sound Off!
Recent government and court decisions affirming the right of aboriginal and Metis peoples to hunt and fish for subsistence, without regard for normal conservation practices or regulations, are troubling.

In October, the Alberta government passed its Metis Interim Harvesting Agreement, allowing the province's 31,200 registered Metis to harvest fish and game without the licences, quotas or seasonal restrictions that apply to non-native hunters and anglers. Conservationists are rightly worried the bill could devastate fish and wildlife populations, some of which, including grizzly bears and bighorn sheep, are already stressed. Metis Nation of Alberta president Audrey Poitras, rejected the concerns, stating that Metis are conservationists who "believe in the wise use of our natural resources."

Oil tapping out: Crude shortage looms - National/Financial Post
CALGARY - World oil production is set to peak in the next two years, at which point there will not be enough new projects coming on stream to offset global oilfield declines, according to a new study.

The report, by the London-based Oil Depletion Analysis Centre (ODAC), shows there are 73 major oil projects under development around the world -- 24 inside the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and 49 outside, including Canada's oilsands. These projects will boost oil production to a peak of 85 million barrels a day in 2007 to 2008, from 82.5 million barrels a day in 2004, when world oil producers were running flat out and used up all excess capacity.

Asia's gathering storm - National Post
A long-festering Sino-Japanese rivalry is becoming increasingly apparent. If tensions between the Asian giants continue to increase, Northeast Asian peace and stability may crumble, provoking serious consequences for Western interests.

Long-standing territorial disputes are erupting, as well. Both Tokyo and Beijing claim a string of islands in the East China Sea, known as the Senkaku (in Japanese) or the Diaoyutai (in Chinese).
Though uninhabited, the islands are thought to shelter significant undersea gas (and possibly oil) reserves. With China and Japan being the world's second and fourth largest consumers of energy, control of this chain is a huge deal for both.

The U.S. returned the islands to Japan, along with Okinawa, in 1972. Despite Japanese complaints, China began drilling near the islands last year. Last November, a Chinese sub was also discovered in the area, within Japan's exclusive economic zone.

The situation worsened last week after Tokyo decided to retaliate, allowing Japanese companies to begin exploration in the same gas fields. Not surprisingly, Beijing denounced the move as a "serious provocation."

End of narcissism in foreign policy - Toronto Star
A good rule of thumb when reading some report, document, study or speech — even a newspaper column — is that if you come upon the phrase, "We must build today for the world of tomorrow," switch instantly to something more intellectually demanding, like American Idol on TV.

In a rare exception to this rule, the just-released Canada's International Policy Statement is still worth ploughing through.

Hookers are society's dirty little secret - Edmonton Sun
"I picked prostitutes as my victims because I hate most prostitutes and I did not want to pay them for sex. I also picked prostitutes as victims because they were easy to pick up without being noticed. I knew they would not be reported missing right away, and might never be reported missing. I picked prostitutes because I thought I could kill as many of them as I wanted without getting caught." - Green River Killer Gary Ridgway, convicted of murdering 48 prostitutes in the Seattle area over a period of two decades.

Charlene Gauld was a likable 20-year-old who desperately wanted to straighten her life around and get off the streets. Her drug addiction was the millstone that kept her mired in a spirit-draining quagmire.

She was the second local sex-trade worker to be found murdered in 2005, and the sixth whose body had been found dumped outside the city in the past two-and-a-half years.

To some people, she was just another throw-away junkie whore - another statistic to be clucked over before turning to the sports page, all but forgotten by the time the morning coffee is finished.

Kyoto should be more than a war of words - Halifax Herald
By LEAH SANDALS
WHO KNEW that Kyoto itself could generate so much hot air?

The past few weeks have seen a 180-degree turn from Stephen Harper on the global warming accord - not that he would ever admit there's been a change, of course. With the opportunity to force an election well in sight, Harper has gone from climate-change naysayer to Mr. Wind Power in less than a month. Someone should really set up a turbine on his lower lip, so consistent and ardent are the gales of sensible (and, oh yes, poll-itically popular) quotes on climate change.

While some may be fooled by Harper's recent flip-flop, overshadowed as it currently is by the testimony at the Gomery inquiry, many are not - or at least, shouldn't be - after considering some of his past comments.

April 22, 2005

Netherlands reports first Creutzfeldt-Jakob case - Globe and Mail
Amsterdam — A 26-year-old Dutch woman has been diagnosed with variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, health authorities said Thursday, the first known human case of the fatal disease in the Netherlands.

Seventy-seven Dutch cows are known to have been infected since 1997 with bovine spongiform encephalopathy, commonly called mad cow disease, which is believed to cause variant CJD in humans.

Poll: Conservatives would win in Canada
OTTAWA, April 11: Had an election been held in Canada Monday, Conservative leader Stephen Harper would have been prime minister, found an EKOS Research Associates poll.

The poll found that 25 percent of respondents nationwide would vote for Liberals, compared to 36.2 percent for the Conservatives, 20.5 percent for NDP -- Canada's social democratic party, the Bloc Quebecois -- running in Quebec only -- got 12.6 percent and the Green Party 5 percent.

EKOS surveyed 1,125 Canadians, 18 years and older, between Thursday and Saturday. The poll has a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points.The poll was conducted immediately after testimony at in inquiry last Thursday by former Montreal advertising executive Jean Brault, who alleged gross misconduct by the Quebec wing of the federal Liberal Party, reported the Toronto Star. In June 2004, the Liberal Party won a minority government with about 37 percent of the vote.

Kazakh Environmentalist Wins Goldman Prize
Kaisha Atakhanova, a Kazakh environmentalist who energized a campaign by 100 nongovernmental organizations in Kazakhstan to block the commercial importation and storage of nuclear waste, has been awarded the 2005 Goldman Environmental Prize.

Atakhanova, a biologist specializing in the genetic effects of radiation, is founder and director of the Karaganda Ecological Center, also known as EcoCenter. In 2001, she launched a public campaign to sink draft legislation which would have allowed commercial importation of nuclear waste into Kazakhstan. She won, and in 2003 the Parliament voted down the bill.

Kazakhstan, which was home to the Soviet nuclear testing site at Semipalatinsk, had endured almost 500 nuclear explosions at the site with a total impact equal to 2,500 Hiroshima sized bombs. More than 1.5 million people are believed to have suffered from the effects of radiation, producing high rates of cancer and birth defects. Lands the size of Germany are contaminated with radiation to one level or another.

The original reasoning for the proposal to bring in foreign nuclear waste to a country which already had 237 million tons of its own was the US$40 billion it could bring over several years which could be used to clean up the contamination left by the Soviets. Thousands of people across Kazakhstan, energized in a grassroots campaign, wanted none of it and got their way.

Atakhanova became one of the group of six individuals selected by an international jury from across world for the 16th annual Goldman Environmental Prize. The prize, including US$125,000, is the world’s largest for grassroots environmentalists and is sometimes referred to as the “environmentalist Nobel prize”.

The awards were presented in San Francisco on April 18, and two days later the National Geographic Society in Washington hosted a special program in the U.S. capital honoring the recipients.

Speaking at the Washington event, Mrs. Atakhanova said she and her colleagues in other Kazakh NGOs call themselves “Democracy in Action” and are keen to continue their work.

Moments later, visibly moved and joined by her husband, she said she had “unbelievable feelings of responsibility and pride for herself and her country.”