Big fees for renewable energy approvals
The Ontario Ministry of the Environment has announced its intention to start charging significant fees for applications for renewable energy approvals: EBR 011-1203. The new Renewable Energy Approval fee structure will come into effect on March 15, 2011.
Continue reading the post titled Big fees for renewable energy approvalsMisinformation fouls the wind debate
There are many heartfelt disputes about wind, and some legitimate issues on which reasonable people may differ. However, it is also true that a great deal of misinformation is being peddled. Mike Brigham, chair of the Toronto Renewable Energy Cooperative, wrote a letter to the Editor respon…
Continue reading the post titled Misinformation fouls the wind debateBody Burdens
Considering how long we have known about their dangers, toxic heavy metals remain an astonishingly widespread threat. The stories are in Slow Death by Rubber Duck. The numbers are starting to show up (for mercury, cadmium and lead in blood across Canada) in the Canadian Health Measures Surv…
Continue reading the post titled Body BurdensFirst "permit by rule" approval sectors
Ontario’s new environmental approvals system is proposed to have two streams: a detailed Approvals Process (to be called Environmental Compliance Approval) for more complex situations, similar to the current certificates of approval. In this stream, applications for activities outside …
Continue reading the post titled First "permit by rule" approval sectorsFielding suing Canada re PCB waste export ban
Fielding Chemical can now sue the federal government for damages, for the extra costs it incurred in disposing of PCB waste because of federal orders closing the US border to PCB exports, and as a result of storing the PCB waste at its facility for additional years while losing the opportuni…
Continue reading the post titled Fielding suing Canada re PCB waste export banBerendsen v. Queen in the Supreme Court
The important case on contaminated sites, Berendsen v. the Queen, was scheduled to be argued in the Supreme Court of Canada today. But they settled at the last minute. This leaves the Court of Appeal’s decision (rejecting the claim) as the last word.
Continue reading the post titled Berendsen v. Queen in the Supreme CourtClimate change lawsuits
Climate change creates winners and losers. When the losers look for someone to blame, and someone to pay, whom will they find? A few cases have begun to explore how the common law can be used, either to seek damages for climate destruction, or to enjoin further emissions. As with any new sci…
Continue reading the post titled Climate change lawsuitsHow warm was 2010?
2010 tied with two other years (1998 and 2005) as the warmest years ever recorded, according to the World Meteorological Organization. Arctic sea-ice cover in December 2010 was the lowest ever measured. WMO is the United Nations’ authoritative voice on weather, climate and water.
Continue reading the post titled How warm was 2010?Brownfields: Better information, fewer errors?
The Ontario Ministry of the Environment has updated its Brownfields information webpage, as part of its massive IT overhaul. Meanwhile, the ministry is considering whether to fix some problems with regulation 153/04 (records of site condition and contaminated sites) before major changes come…
Continue reading the post titled Brownfields: Better information, fewer errors?Hanna v. MOE, wind energy in the Divisional Court
Ed Hanna’s attack on the Ontario renewable energy approval system for wind turbines is before the Ontario Divisional Court this week. Richard Blackwell quoted me about it in Monday’s Globe.
Continue reading the post titled Hanna v. MOE, wind energy in the Divisional Court