Toxics/ GHG reporting deadline put off
On May 14, 2011, Environment Canada issued a notice extending a filing deadline for their federal GHG and National Pollutant Release Inventory programs until June 17, 2011. The Ontario Ministry of the Environment has authorized a matching delay for the 2011 annual reports under the Toxics R…
Continue reading the post titled Toxics/ GHG reporting deadline put offWas I right about air?
Was I right about air regulation 419/05? Ten years ago, the Ministry of the Environment asked for my opinion on the regulatory reform initiative that culminated in the new air regulation, O.Reg. 419/05. I wrote a column about it in the August/September 2001 issue of Hazardous Materials Manag…
Continue reading the post titled Was I right about air?Do turbines affect property values?
The Assessment Review Board has heard an appeal from the tax assessment of a couple who say their valuation should be reduced because of a nearby wind farm. Appeal 318664 was launched by Wolfe Island residents Ed and Gail Kenney, and is opposed by the Municipal Property Assessment Corporatio…
Continue reading the post titled Do turbines affect property values?Gas from fracking dirtier than coal?
Hydraulic fracturing, in pursuit of shale gas, can cause serious groundwater problems, which are sometimes excused on the ground that the climate needs natural gas to displace coal. It’s therefore shocking to learn that shale gas could have worse GHG emissions than coal, according to a…
Continue reading the post titled Gas from fracking dirtier than coal?The Green World Economy
The question for Canada is: will we be one of the winners, or one of the losers of this great transition?
Continue reading the post titled The Green World EconomyDrive Clean relaxes a bit
Ontario is proposing changes to the Drive Clean auto emission testing program. The changes would exempt all vehicles–cars, trucks and busses—less than 7 years old from being tested as part of their registration renewal. Any vehicle plated as historic would be exempted too (Vehicles pla…
Continue reading the post titled Drive Clean relaxes a bitCanada's last again on GHGs
Canada has yet to release its GHG numbers to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (or at least they aren’t yet posted on the UNFCCC site) despite a reporting deadline of April 15. We now have the dubious distinction of being the only Annex I (developed) country that hasn…
Continue reading the post titled Canada's last again on GHGsFracking and hazardous waste
Nova Scotia has followed Quebec, and has launched its own investigation into the potential environmental hazards of hydraulic fracturing to produce shale gas, especially the impacts on water. Meanwhile, the US EPA is anxious to formally start its own review. Its Science Advisory Board will …
Continue reading the post titled Fracking and hazardous wasteCongratulations to the new MPs
Well earned congratulations go to all three winners of yesterday’s federal election: the Harper Conservatives, who got their majority and may now succeed the Liberals as Canada’s “natural governing party”; the Layton NDP, who became the Official Opposition with a chan…
Continue reading the post titled Congratulations to the new MPsFracking, drinking water and regulation
Jessica Ernst has launched a multi million dollar lawsuit against Encana Corporation, the Alberta Energy Resources Conservation Board, and the Alberta government for contamination of her property and drinking water due to Encana’s fracking program. Encana fractures rock to extract coal…
Continue reading the post titled Fracking, drinking water and regulation