Canada's Environmental Voice
Solar panels, wind turbines and hydroelectric dams are not cheap. Countries can afford them, but national ownership does not tend to foster local pride. Individuals, organizations or corporations can purchase smaller systems, but they need a bunch of money up front. Communities, on the other hand, may be just […]
The “Not in My Backyard” (NIMBY) problem can put a real lid on wind energy uptake if a sufficient number of backyards are marked as off-limits. And we need those yards. A windmill can’t exactly function to peak capacity when tucked furtively away in one’s garage. But what creates the […]
OUR OCEANS are in deep, deep trouble. Only ten percent of the large fish are left, food webs are in tatters and pollution and invasive species threaten marine ecosystems. Coastal communities are also in trouble. From Petty Harbour, Newfoundland, to Musgamagw Tsawataineuk, British Columbia, people struggle to make a living from […]
Editorial: Back to the Future In the 1970s the Middle East was in crisis and most Canadians thought and talked about energy use, especially after oil prices quadrupled in 1979. Big station wagons and tail-finned behemoths became yesterday’s vehicles. Thirty years later, the Middle East is in a crisis not […]
By Nicole DufraineOriginally posted at The Green Student
While working as CIBC’s Chief Economist for World Markets, Jeff Rubin told the bank’s CEO that he wanted to write a book about how triple-digit oil prices could reverse globalization. All he got in return was “an icy stare” and a warning about the need for legal permission. It was […]
FOR MOST CANADIANS, energy efficiency is synonymous with light bulbs. Switching to compact fluorescents might be simple and inexpensive, but it is not the only cost-effective way to reduce energy use in homes, businesses and utilities. Reducing water use, especially the hot stuff that flows from showers and cleans our […]
IN A RUGGED KNOT of mountains in the remote reaches of Northern British Columbia lies a stunningly beautiful valley known to the First Nations as the Sacred Headwaters. There, on the southern edge of the Spatsizi Wilderness, the Serengeti of Canada, are born in remarkably close proximity three of Canada’s […]
OUR COLLECTIVE IDENTITY as Canadians and our conception of the environment is largely one of endless forests, untamed rivers and free-ranging wildlife. This vision, however, no longer reflects the reality of most of our lives. Four out of five Canadians live in major cities or their suburbs, far from the […]
Rick Hyndman, the senior climate change policy adviser to the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers in Calgary, has written this article in response to Michael R. King’s thoughts on carbon trading (“No Carbon Copy,” 34:6, 2008). That Canada should mimic the European Union and necessarily develop a carbon trading system […]
