What else happens to the environment December 31?
The news today are consumed by the US “fiscal cliff“, and its implications for the economy (and the environment) of the US and the world. The environmental implications could be enormous. But there are other important environmental deadlines today.
Continue reading the post titled What else happens to the environment December 31?New Cycling Strategy for Ministry of Transportation
As ghost bikes (marking the site of a cycling death) multiply around Toronto, the Ministry of Transportation has announced its plans to respond to the Chief Coroner of Ontario’s “Cycling Death Review”. Comments on EBR posting 011-7552 are invited until January 31, 2013. As a first step, MTO …
Continue reading the post titled New Cycling Strategy for Ministry of TransportationToxin in your tank: lead and violence around the world
Looking back, it's hard to think of any public policy error worse than putting lead in gasoline.
Continue reading the post titled Toxin in your tank: lead and violence around the worldLethal buildings slaughter migratory and threatened birds
It’s a horror story – the beautiful glass-walled building you may work, shop or live in are wastefully killing millions of migratory birds. Many readers are likely familiar with the distressing thud of a bird breaking its neck or wing on those lovely glass panes, often at night when the ligh…
Continue reading the post titled Lethal buildings slaughter migratory and threatened birdsAustralian Parliament Senate rejects anti-wind bill, notes nocebo effect
An anti-wind nocebo response is developing, caused by the reproduction and dissemination of claims about adverse health impacts – claims not grounded in the peer-reviewed literature
Continue reading the post titled Australian Parliament Senate rejects anti-wind bill, notes nocebo effectAbitibi wins, Newfoundland cleanup order unenforceable after insolvency
Provincial governments must do more to ensure that cleanup costs are provided by financial assurance during the active life of a business, and not rely on getting innocent third parties to pay for cleanups after the fact.
Continue reading the post titled Abitibi wins, Newfoundland cleanup order unenforceable after insolvencyNew voluntary standard for carbon storage
The Canadian Standards Association has released a voluntary standard for the Geological Storage of Carbon Dioxide, CSA Z741. The CSA Z741 Geological storage of carbon dioxide standard is the first of its kind, and is intended to ensure a clear minimum standard for geologic (long-term, underg…
Continue reading the post titled New voluntary standard for carbon storageWhen can municipalities regulate environmental impacts?
Eleven years after the landmark Spraytech case, how far have municipalities been able to go in regulating environmental impacts of federally and provincially regulated activities? The people who must live closest to a resource or energy project often turn to their municipalities to protect t…
Continue reading the post titled When can municipalities regulate environmental impacts?New Guidance for Excess Soil management
The Ministry of the Environment has released its draft Best Management Practices for Soil Management in Ontario for two more months of public comment. The document outlines the MOE’s “recommendations” and “expectations” for managing the reuse of excess soils, a hugely important issue for the…
Continue reading the post titled New Guidance for Excess Soil managementCanada must answer: why aren't we protecting polar bears?
As the polar bears of the Beaufort Sea face record low ice, the Secretariat of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) has issued a determination, requiring a response from Canada to submission SEM-11-003 (Protection of Polar Bears). A year ago, on 5 December 2011, the US Center f…
Continue reading the post titled Canada must answer: why aren't we protecting polar bears?