Wynne v Obama: sustainable Ontario?
In sharp contrast to Obama’s State of the Union Address, the first Speech from the Throne under Premier Wynne gives little emphasis to environmental issues, including climate change. As we feared from the composition of the transition team, the Ontario Throne speech was modest in its energy …
Continue reading the post titled Wynne v Obama: sustainable Ontario?It is now an environmental offence to kill birds with buildings
Ecojustice has done another important public service by prosecuting Cadillac Fairview for slaughtering migratory birds, including endangered species, with a particularly lethal set of mirrored buildings, the Yonge Corporate Centre (“YCC”) office buildings in Toronto. According to Judge Melvy…
Continue reading the post titled It is now an environmental offence to kill birds with buildingsGolf club fined for taking too much water, providing false records
Mitchell Golf & Country Club Inc. and Alfred John Schmoelzl, its employee, were fined $30,000 (plus 25% victim fine surcharge) for breaching the company’s permit to take water from the North Thames River in West Perth, contrary to the Ontario Water Resources Act. Based on water level da…
Continue reading the post titled Golf club fined for taking too much water, providing false recordsPembina Report: Competing in Clean Energy
The Pembina Institute think tank has issued a report on the opportunities and challenges facing Canada in the global transition to clean energy — a market set to grow to $3 trillion by 2020. Competing in Clean Energy: Capitalizing on Canadian innovation in a $3 trillion economy concludes tha…
Continue reading the post titled Pembina Report: Competing in Clean EnergyAnnual review of insolvency law: Why Abitibi rule is backwards
Dianne Saxe gave a well received presentation on the Abitibi case at the Annual Review of Insolvency Law in Montréal during the big snowstorm. In essence, Dianne believes that the Supreme Court’s decision, that the provincial environmental orders were subject to federal insolvency rule…
Continue reading the post titled Annual review of insolvency law: Why Abitibi rule is backwardsBig fine for dumping waste cooking oil sludge
Green Diesel Canada Ltd. processes waste cooking oil, which generates an oil sludge requiring proper disposal. On two occasions, thousands of litres of an oily substance were found in a local ditch, which led to a creek that flows into Lake Ontario. The City of Hamilton cleaned up the mess b…
Continue reading the post titled Big fine for dumping waste cooking oil sludgeOstrander Point, wind and birds: is it different?
There definitely are places where renewable energy projects should not go. The Prince Edward County Field Naturalists wants me, and you, to know why they think Ostrander Point is one of them, and why wind turbines should not be built there, of all places. This is not about the nocebo effect,…
Continue reading the post titled Ostrander Point, wind and birds: is it different?Anti-wind litigation: is there an end in sight?
After nearly two years of vigorous anti-wind litigation in Ontario, anti-wind activists have failed to satisfy any court or tribunal that wind energy development in accordance with government standards will cause serious harm. Many wind projects have been approved, and wind-based electrical …
Continue reading the post titled Anti-wind litigation: is there an end in sight?National Energy Board and safety rules for construction near pipelines
The National Energy Board (NEB) is proposing changes to three regulations1 governing construction and excavation activities around NEB-regulated pipelines, two of which have not been updated since they came into effect in 1988. For context, according to Alberta’s Energy and Resources Conserv…
Continue reading the post titled National Energy Board and safety rules for construction near pipelinesFederal Environmental Commissioner tables 2012 report
The 2012 Fall Report of Scott Vaughan, federal Commissioner of the Environment and of Sustainable Development, was tabled today at 10:00 a.m. in the House of Commons. This Report focusses on the gaps between federal programs to promote resource development, and the environmental threats pose…
Continue reading the post titled Federal Environmental Commissioner tables 2012 report