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Wind and Solar Cheaper than Gas Plants in Ontario and Alberta, Study Shows
Wind and solar farms with battery backup are both cheaper to build than natural gas power plants in Ontario and Alberta, and the price of the renewable options is expected to fall another 40% by 2035, concludes a report released last week by Clean Energy Canada (CEC).

February Brings Record Cold, Widespread Power Outages to Much of North America
Swaths of North America are slowly emerging from a bone-chilling first week of February, after a fierce ice storm left 10 people dead and hundreds of thousands without power in some South Central states, and an Arctic blast set a new national wind chill record of -77°C in the Northeast.

Lithium Mine Divides Nemaska Cree Over Impacts, Benefits
Type the word “Nemaska” into a search engine and most results refer to Nemaska Lithium, the company that sought bankruptcy protection in 2019 before being partly bought out by the Quebec government’s investment agency. But Nemaska is above all a Cree community in the heart of the boreal forest that shares its territory with a wide variety of species.

Notley Scorches Federal Just Transition Bill as Fossil CEO Calls for Oilsands Boom
Alberta’s fraught politics around the upcoming federal just transition bill are intensifying, with provincial opposition leader Rachel Notley urging Ottawa to scrap the legislation and a fossil CEO claiming a just transition really means a boom in oilsands extraction.

Albertans Want a Just Transition, Despite Premier’s Grumbling
In early January, Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson announced the federal government would soon be unveiling its highly anticipated legislation for a just transition, including a plan for helping workers and communities in the oil and gas sector shift into renewable energy industries like wind, solar, and energy efficiency.

IRON OXIDE: New Battery Brings Long-Duration Storage to Grids, 750 Jobs to West Virginia
Long-duration storage batteries are beginning to emerge as an alternative to expensive, new transmission lines as power utilities shift to renewable energy, and a town in West Virginia is about to gain 750 jobs as a result.

Dubai Mulls Quitting C40 Cities Over ‘Costly’ Climate Target
Ten months out from hosting the COP 28 climate summit, and weeks away from being censured by the C40 Cities initiative for its underwhelming climate efforts, Dubai is poised to pre-emptively drop out of the flagship green communities alliance.

Bogus Carbon Offsets, A Curious Seal, and £2,150 Per Household in Climate and Energy Costs
A nine-month news investigation by The Guardian, Die Zeit, and SourceMaterial, a non-profit investigative journalism organization, revealed that more than 90% of forest carbon offsets from the world’s leading provider are bogus. Indigenous and locally-controlled lands in the Amazon were storing carbon, while the rest of the rainforest was emitting greenhouse gases. Brazil’s new government confronted the “scorched earth” left behind by the Bolsonaro regime and launched its first raids against illegal tree-cutters.

Gas Stoves Enter U.S. Climate Culture War, Become ‘Bellwether’ for Industry
The protracted culture war over environmental policy in the United States was rekindled earlier this month by a controversy over gas stoves, with Republicans declaring that their beloved cooking appliances would have to be pried from their “cold dead hands”—though nobody was coming for them.

Traffic and Transit, U.S. Gas Bans, Rooftop Windmills, Radioactive Wastewater, and a March 23 Day of Action on Banking and Oil
The U.S. set out to widen more highways, even though traffic planners know it never reduces congestion. Parking lots were falling out of favour, major U.S. subway systems were falling apart, Toronto’s transit plan was falling far short, Toronto’s parking authority fell for the idea of an EV charging network, and urban transit advocates wanted a federal strategy for zero-emission transit, intercity coaches, and rail.

Off-Grid Renewables Expand to Fill Energy Access Gaps
Off-grid energy from technologies like mini-grids, biofuels, and solar may often go unrecorded, but a new report attempting to fill statistical gaps finds that off-grid renewables capacity has continued to grow, despite challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Suncor Safety Violations, the Language of Just Transition, and California Faces Devastating Rainstorms
Suncor Energy and a subcontractor faced 28 charges for safety violations after a bulldozer crashed through thin ice on a frozen tailings pond in January, 2021, killing 25-year-old operator Patrick Poitras. “Someone didn’t do their job and I lost my son because of that,” his dad told CBC. “My son gave his life for that job.”

Trudeau ‘Handcuffs’ Alberta UCP with Carbon Capture Investment Pitch
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau may have “handcuffed” Alberta Premier Danielle Smith by urging her United Conservative Party (UCP) government to invest some of its multi-billion-dollar budget surplus in carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS), a Calgary-based political scientist says.

Scientists Debate Role of Warming Arctic in Winter Deep Freezes
The millions of North Americans who found themselves shivering through late December’s bitter cold snap can surely thank a meandering polar vortex, but whether and how a rapidly warming Arctic might be involved in these intensifying deep freezes remains a subject of fierce scientific debate.

IN CONVERSATION: U.S. Looks to Massive Increase in Rooftop Solar Jobs
Sandy Anuras is Chief Technology Officer at Sunrun, a leading home solar, storage, and energy services company in the United States. In this feature interview last fall, she talked about nine million renewable energy jobs to be created over the next decade, a tipping point for rooftop solar, and the opportunities for workers who are too often left behind.

U.S. Clean Grid Transition Needs More Transmission Lines, Analysts Say
The United States is racing towards a carbon-free grid, but with economic and regulatory hurdles blocking transmission infrastructure, the shift off fossil-fueled power may be too slow to avert the worst effects of climate change.

Canadian Pension Funds Back Renewables, RCMP Spends $50M Policing Protests, Gas Stoves Linked to Childhood Asthma, and a Rogue Geoengineering Experiment Gets Under Way
Two of Canada’s biggest pension funds opened the year with new investments in offshore wind and overseas renewable energy projects, after a year of taking sustained criticism for their continuing commitment to fossil fuels. A leading sustainability consultancy profiled Canada’s clean energy powerhouses, Calgary-based ATCO Ltd. bought $713 million worth of solar and wind projects from oilsands operator Suncor Energy, and bids opened for onshore wind projects across nearly 1.7 million hectares of government-owned land in Newfoundland and Labrador.

New Policies, Political Shifts Produced Climate ‘Inflection Point’ in 2022
After nearly half a century of delaying the shift off fossil fuels, and “with the climate crisis breaching our front door,” 2022 may have been the moment when humanity finally turned a corner on emission reductions, says U.S. climate analyst Dr. Leah Stokes.

Rise of Energy Storage Could Transform Ontario Grid
Ontario is staring down an electricity supply crunch and amid a rush to secure more power, it is plunging into the world of energy storage—a collection of technologies that is poised to transform the provincial grid and change the way energy is used, bought, and sold by homes and businesses.

THE RUNDOWN: U.S. Narrowly Averts Massive Blackout, USPS to Buy 66,000 Electric Delivery Vans, and Twitter Lights Up for Brazil’s New Cabinet
At least 91 people died and the eastern United States narrowly averted a massive blackout after a “bomb cyclone” hit much of the continental United States December 21-26. Facing renewed attention to the vulnerability of the Texas power grid, Governor Greg Abbott demanded a probe of fossil gas supplier Atmos Energy, just months after promising the state was ready to withstand the next round of winter storms. A Ford F-150 Lightning still had two-thirds of its battery capacity available after powering its owner through a two-day power outage in southern Ontario, and California utility PG&E distributed home batteries to help some of its customers get through summer blackouts.

BREAKING: COP 15 Seals the Deal on ‘Paris Moment’ for Nature
Countries attending the COP 15 summit in Montreal have adopted a 2030 deadline to protect 30% of the world’s lands, oceans, coasts, and inland waters, cut subsidies that harm nature by US$500 billion, reduce the loss of areas of high biodiversity importance to near zero, and cut food waste in half, in what some participants and observers have been calling a “Paris moment” for nature.

Time to ‘Hack the COP’ for Faster Solutions, Canadian Delegate Says
A municipal climate leader from Halifax came away from this year’s United Nations climate summit, COP 27, with a stronger network of contacts, a wider view of the climate challenges cities face, and a sense that it’s time to “hack the COP” so that participants get more out of the two weeks onsite.

EU Boosts Industrial Emissions Target from 43 to 62% by 2030
European Union governments and lawmakers reached a deal Sunday on key elements of the 27-nation bloc’s green deal, reforming the EU’s trading system for greenhouse gas emissions and creating a new hardship fund for those hardest-hit by measures to curb climate change.

‘Methane Menace’ Produces Massive Emissions in Pennsylvania Leak
A 13-day leak from a 4.1-centimetre vent on a fossil gas storage well in rural Pennsylvania dumped more than 28.3 million cubic metres of methane into the atmosphere last month, enough to erase the emission reductions from half of the electric cars sold in the United States last year.

Biggest Spill in Keystone’s History Dumps Oil into Kansas Creek
A ruptured pipe dumped enough oil late last week into a northeastern Kansas creek to nearly fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool, becoming the largest onshore crude pipeline spill in nine years and surpassing all the previous ones on the same pipeline system combined, according to U.S. government data.

Renewables Advocate Wins Hotly Contested Seat on Louisiana Regulatory Panel
Newcomer Davante Lewis, a Democrat backed by an environmental political action committee, easily won Saturday’s runoff for a seat on Louisiana’s Public Service Commission, an obscure regulatory body that has received national attention from media, celebrities, climate activists, and major public utility companies.

Renewables to Deliver 90% of New Electricity, Become Biggest Source by 2025, IEA Says
Key countries around the world are set to add as much new renewable energy capacity over the next five years as they did over the last 20, as governments look for affordable supplies that can address the overwhelming energy security issues raised by Russia’s war in Ukraine, the International Energy Agency (IEA) says in its Renewables 2022 report released Tuesday.

Small Change in Window Technology Saves Energy, Cuts Costs at U.S. Hospital
A small shift in design approach could lead to solid gains in the energy performance of low- and mid-rise institutional buildings, according to the team behind a recent energy retrofit that covered a single floor of a university hospital in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

Boost Farm Bill Funds for Climate Solutions, U.S. Advocates Urge Lawmakers
Farmers in the United States need more tools and support to be part of the climate solution, say advocates, urging lawmakers gearing up to draft the new 2023 Farm Bill to increase funding for a rural renewables and energy efficiency.

Shooting Attack on North Carolina Grid Leaves Thousands Without Power
A weekend shooting attack on two electric substations in Moore County, North Carolina, is raising questions about grid security in the United States, after 40,000 people—including seniors and people in need of medical care—lost power amid freezing winter temperatures.

Ontario Could Cut Emissions 85%, Save $9.5B by Replacing Gas Plants with Efficiency
Ontario could cut projected climate emissions 85% by 2035 and reduce its use of carbon-heavy, gas-fired power plants to less than 3% of power production if its grid met rising electricity demand with energy efficiency, solar, wind, and energy storage, according to an analysis released last week by The Atmospheric Fund (TAF).

Fuel Disruptions, Price Surge Produce Energy Efficiency ‘Turning Point’: IEA
Russia’s war in Ukraine was the catalyst for a surge in global energy efficiency investments this year, as governments and consumers “turned to efficiency measures as part of their responses to fuel supply disruptions and record-high energy prices,” the International Energy Agency (IEA) says in its Energy Efficiency 2022 report released Friday.

Solar Microgrids, Canadian Pylons Pitched as Solutions for War-Wrecked Ukraine
Microgrid and electricity system infrastructure providers are stepping up to support civilians left powerless in the dark and cold, after Russia spent weeks blitzing Ukraine’s grid to demoralize the population and force surrender.

Reject Fossil Development, Honour Climate Commitments, B.C. Groups Urge Eby
As liquefied natural gas (LNG) interests press for political support, British Columbia Premier David Eby must double down on his acknowledgement that any further fossil buildout will sink the province’s climate goals, the president of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs says, in an op ed co-published with other leading climate advocates.

Ending the War on Nature Delivers Prosperity, Economic Justice: Torrie
This year’s devastating floods in Pakistan are one front in our clash with the planetary boundaries that define the rules for everything we do, but the war with nature will come to your doorstep soon, writes Corporate Knights Research Director Ralph Torrie.

Ontario New Housing Act Slammed for Promoting Sprawl, Weakening Protections
As Ontario’s newly-minted More Homes Built Faster Act is decried by Indigenous leaders, municipalities, farmers, and health experts alike, elected officials are questioning the “suspicious” link between developer titans buying parcels of protected Greenbelt land and Premier Doug Ford’s push to turn them into housing subdivisions.

Heat Pumps Primed for Take-Off, Could Cut 500M Tonnes of Carbon by 2030
Countries could cut carbon dioxide emissions by 500 million tonnes by 2030—the amount produced by all the cars in Europe today—by adopting heat pump technology that already supplies 10% of the world’s space heating and is poised for faster growth, the International Energy Agency concludes in a report released this week.

Community Energy Fund, 100% Renewable Utility Deal Boost U.S. Energy Transition
The United States clean energy transition received two boosts this month from the Biden administration—a US$550 million cash infusion for community-based clean energy initiatives, and a first-ever 100% carbon-free electricity agreement with a utility.

Green Jobs Make the Case for Energy Transition in Conservative U.S. States
Green factories—and the green jobs they bring—are shifting attitudes in some of the most conservative parts of the United States, and the trend is set to accelerate with the Biden administration planning US$25.7 billion in clean manufacturing, much of it in deep-red Republican districts, Bloomberg News reports.

‘Incredibly Dangerous’: U.S. Coal Plants Ignore Disposal Rules for Toxic Coal Ash
More than nine out of 10 coal ash impoundments in the United States are contaminating groundwater in violation of federal rules, according to environmental groups’ comprehensive analysis of the latest industry-reported data.

Cities Take a Lead in Canada’s $1.6B Climate Adaptation Strategy
Cities are at the centre of Canada’s five-year, C$1.6-billion climate adaptation and resilience strategy, with Ottawa looking to local governments to deliver supports to Canadians increasingly facing the threat of wildfires, heat waves, and catastrophic storms and flooding.

New LNG Projects Would Stop B.C. from Meeting Climate Targets
Doubling down on liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to Asia could destroy British Columbia’s chances of meeting its emission reduction targets and make the province vulnerable to a rapid drop in global gas demand, two expert authors argue in a recent op ed for the Vancouver Sun.

Alberta Municipalities Push Back on Royalty Breaks for Oil Well Cleanups
Municipal politicians in Alberta are troubled by a proposed provincial program that would give oil and gas companies public dollars to clean up abandoned wells, saying the companies owe outstanding taxes and need to clean up after themselves anyway.

New Screening Tool Flags 27,000 U.S. Communities for Climate Investment
A new screening tool that prioritizes 27,000 disadvantaged U.S. communities for billions of dollars in federal climate and energy investments is being criticized for leaving out racial makeup—one of the strongest predictors of environmental burden—as a criterion.

Back Low-Income Energy Savings, Efficiency Canada Urges Ottawa [Sign-On]
Provincial energy efficiency programs and national energy savings rebounded after the COVID-19 pandemic, but energy savings for low-income households still need a lot more attention, Efficiency Canada concludes in the latest edition of its annual Provincial Energy Efficiency Scorecard.

GTHA Emissions Rising to Pre-Pandemic Levels, Putting Reduction Targets at Risk
Buildings, transportation, and industry are all contributing to a rise in emissions in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton area (GTHA) that is moving the region farther from meeting its emission reduction targets, The Atmospheric Fund warns in a new report.

Put Energy Sovereignty, Gender Justice Ahead of ‘False Solutions’, Community Panel Urges
The COP 27 climate summit has been dominated by “false solutions” that ignore the needs of underrepresented people and shun vital principles like energy sovereignty, gender justice, and land rights, according to a panel of community experts on the front lines of the climate crisis.

Unlock Municipal Green Finance in Global South, C-40 Cities Urges
Mainstreaming climate action into city financial systems, applying a climate budget to all decisions, and encouraging private sector investment in climate adaptation are strategies that all municipalities, regardless of their situation, can implement to unlock green financing, says C-40 Cities.

Climate Action Gains, ‘Red Wave’ Fizzles in U.S. Midterm Elections
With the partisan tilt of the next U.S. Congress still uncertain nearly a week after midterm elections last Tuesday, a few things are clear: there was no “red wave” propelling Trump-friendly candidates into office, a strong youth vote was a decisive factor in the election result, and climate action was a winning issue for campaigns in several key U.S. states.

Competition Bureau to Probe Industry Greenwashing of ‘Clean’, ‘Natural’ Gas
Competition Bureau Canada has opened an investigation into allegations that the Canadian Gas Association is greenwashing fossil methane as clean, following a C$10-million complaint filed in September by the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE).

Coastal Homes Collapse, Hundreds Seek Shelter as Storm Nicole Hits Florida, Bermuda
Tropical Storm Nicole sent multiple homes in Florida toppling into the Atlantic Ocean Thursday and threatened a row of high-rise condominiums in places where Hurricane Ian washed away the beach and destroyed seawalls only weeks ago.

Experience, Empathy Heighten Climate Concern
With extreme weather events increasing around the globe, concern about climate change is creeping up, but slowly. Canadians still maintain an emotional or psychological distance in their perceptions of the personal risk of harm posed by climate change, with some exceptions.

CCUS Mostly Shut Out, Renewables Get Tax Credit in Federal Economic Statement
A pitch for private investment in emission reduction projects, including tax credits for renewable energy, low-carbon heating, and clean hydrogen, is one of the highlights of the fall economic statement released Thursday by Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland.

Texas Oilfields Gush Methane Despite Best Available Prevention Tech
Pipelines, compressor stations, and other fossil equipment in Texas and across the United States continue to gush climate-busting methane into the atmosphere, even when companies have installed equipment that’s meant to get the emissions under control.

EXCLUSIVE: Canada Pitches European Gas Exports, But Europe Won’t Be Buying
Canadians are being sold on a future of natural gas exports to Europe just as European countries speed up their exit from all fossil fuels, says a leading energy transition researcher who’s just finished a series two-week fact-finding visits to Ireland, Denmark, and France.

Local Green Building Laws at Risk as Ontario Fast-Tracks New Housing Bill [Sign-On]
Municipal climate and energy leaders in Ontario are scrambling to protect energy-efficient building standards that may be at risk in the provincial government’s rush to push through its More Homes Built Faster Act, Bill 23.

Louisiana Wetlands Case Could Open U.S. Fossils to Dozens of Lawsuits
U.S. federal judges have ordered a nine-year-old lawsuit calling on oil and gas companies to pay for damage to Louisiana’s wetlands to be returned to state court for trial, potentially clearing the way for at least 41 similar lawsuits to move forward.

New Ontario Bill Set to Gut Land Conservation, Public Consultation
Those who have the most to lose under the Ontario Ford government’s proposed More Homes Built Faster Act—which, if passed, will effectively gut the province’s land conservation and public consultation policies—include neighborhoods and civil society organizations determined to have a say in how development proceeds, municipalities looking to implement sustainable design initiatives, and especially Ontario’s wetlands, early analysis shows.

Indoor Farming Could Boost Food Security, Ease Supply Chains
Whether it was pandemic-driven supply chain delays, Russia’s war in Europe driving up grain prices, or flooding in British Columbia disrupting rail lines and highways, the past 2½ years have shone a light on how vulnerable Canada’s food system is to climate change and other global factors.

Nova Scotia Power Declares ‘Pause’ on $5B Atlantic Loop Scheme
Nova Scotia Power’s decision to “pause” its participation in the proposed Atlantic Loop megaproject is just a temporary setback in the bid to end the region’s reliance on coal, says the federal cabinet minister charged with moving the electrical grid off fossil fuels.

Ottawa Pours $970M into Ontario Small Modular Reactor
The Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) is pouring nearly C$970 million into Ontario Power Generation’s plan to build the country’s first small modular nuclear reactor (SMR), a 300-megawatt unit on the site of the existing Darlington nuclear station off Lake Ontario.

Coastal GasLink Builders Sued for Millions in Unpaid Work
Coastal GasLink and a former prime contractor with alleged links to organized crime are being sued by four companies, working in partnership with three First Nations communities, for allegedly failing to pay an outstanding C$10 million for services rendered.

EXCLUSIVE: Rumoured Keystone Pipeline Sale Could Increase Spill Risk
Analyst chatter about TC Energy considering selling off the controversial Keystone pipeline could raise the risk of a major spill or leak, but still improve the Calgary-based pipeliner’s rating for environmental responsibility, The Energy Mix has learned.

Cities Must Slash Emissions 50% by 2030 for 1.5°C Pathway
Cities must halve their per capita emissions by 2030 to remain on a 1.5°C trajectory, finds a new report that prescribes low-emissions mass transit, better waste management, decarbonized grids, and energy-efficient buildings as the way forward.

Research Shows Big Knowledge Gaps on Climate Solutions, Nature Loss
The federal government is busy consulting us now, gathering input from Canadians on policy proposals for a just transition to renewables, a carbon emissions cap for the oil and gas sector, a clean electricity grid, and more. But how well informed do Canadians think they are about these potential solutions?

Elementary School’s Bike Bus Brings ‘Sheer Joy’ to Portland Neighbourhood
A weekly “bike bus” to school gives 170 elementary students, a 65-pound golden doodle named Phoebe, and the Portland, Oregon neighborhood through which they ride a jolt of “sheer joy,” while helping to build a stronger, safer, more connected community.

UK Can Shake Gas Dependence, Study Finds, as Truss Greenlights Fracking
As the United Kingdom pursues fracking as a solution to its energy independence, new analysis finds the country’s power sector can reduce its reliance on gas from 40% to 1% by 2030, with a rapid renewables switch bringing £93 billion (C$142 billion) in savings.

Fertilizer Lobby Disavows Convoy Backing, Maintains Opposition to 30% Emissions Cut
The lobby group whose policy paper helped trigger a wave of misinformation and conspiracy theories about a supposed federal “ban” on nitrogen fertilizer is disavowing attempts to connect its research to a “freedom movement 2.0” follow-up to last winter’s convoy occupation in Ottawa.

EXCLUSIVE: Pension Fund Gambles Retirement Savings on Alberta Oilfield Buy
A deal to sell 38,000 hectares of Alberta oil and gas lands to a company controlled by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) is shining a light on large fossils’ favourite path to decarbonization: rather than shutting down some of their assets, they hand them off to smaller operators that then keep them in production.

Toronto Corporate Landlords Use Cosmetic Upgrades to Raise Rents
Ten years of aggressive “gentrification by upgrading” has left Toronto’s Parkdale neighbourhood increasingly unaffordable, forcing lower-income tenants to compromise on basic needs like medicine and food to pay soaring rents, finds a recent study.

BREAKING: ‘Very Nasty Trade-Off’ as Ontario Picks Gas, Nuclear Over Renewables
Ontario can deliver enough distributed energy resources (DER) to clear a large electricity shortage over the next decade, but a prominent analyst says the provincial government is still pivoting between two equally “catastrophic” options—relying more on methane-heavy gas plants, or extending the life of an aging nuclear station outside Toronto.

Critics Slam Ontario Power Generation Clean Energy Credit Deal
Ontario Power Generation’s (OPG) latest sale of clean energy credits to Microsoft Corporation raises questions about whether the credits meet the basic criteria for genuine carbon offsets—especially given Ontario’s plan to increase gas plant use and resulting emissions.

Flooding ‘Calamity’ in Pakistan Prompts Call for Reparations
As Pakistan deals with the aftermath of devastating floods and links with global warming become clearer, a demand for climate reparations from the world’s top emitting countries is gaining momentum ahead of next month’s COP 27 climate summit in Egypt.

‘Yes, We Love Our Heat Pump’: Fossil-Free Household Cancels Contract with Gas Company
“To answer a question I am often asked—Yes, we are still happy with the decision, five years ago, to replace our gas furnace with an air-source heat pump,” writes engineer and renewables advocate Bill Nuttle. “It is one of the best decisions we ever made.”

Atlantic Canada Reels as PM Links Storm Fiona to Climate Change
With post-tropical storm Fiona taking its place as one of the biggest catastrophic events in Atlantic Canada history, communities began to pick up the pieces while Prime Minister Justin Trudeau connected the storm to climate-induced mayhem.

Ian Slams Into Florida as Category 4 Hurricane
Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday in southwest Florida as one of the most powerful storms ever recorded in the U.S., swamping streets with water and smashing trees along the coast while moving at a crawl that threatened catastrophic flooding across a wide area.

One Dead, Atlantic Without Power as Hurricane Fiona Slams Region
Hurricane Fiona has killed one person, destroyed dozens of homes, and left hundreds of thousands in Atlantic Canada without power—after causing five deaths and widespread destruction in the Caribbean. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warned Canadians that things will only get worse as extreme weather becomes more frequent, linking the devastating post-tropical storm to climate change.

5 GW of Offshore Wind Won’t Stop NS Hydrogen Plant from Starting with Coal
A blockbuster, five-gigawatt commitment to offshore wind, announced Tuesday by the Nova Scotia government, will be mostly devoted to producing “green” hydrogen for export, and won’t come online in time to stop a hydrogen and ammonia project in Cape Breton from relying on coal-generated electricity, The Energy Mix and Halifax Examiner have learned.

Alaska Storm Floods Remote Villages, Knocks Homes Off Foundations
Authorities in Alaska were making contact Monday with some of the most remote villages in the United States to determine their food and water needs, as well as assess the damage after a massive storm flooded communities on the state’s vast western coast this weekend.

Quebec Parties Appease Voters, Downplay Climate Action
Quebecers tend to talk big on environmental issues, but they’re not so keen to walk their talk, finds a recent poll, and so politicians across the spectrum—with eyes on the ballot box—are happy to punt meaningful climate action on to future generations.

EXCLUSIVE: Nova Scotia Start-Up Touts ‘Green’ Hydrogen Plant Powered by Coal
A green hydrogen/ammonia facility planned in Point Tupper, Nova Scotia is being touted as a blessing for the province’s climate goals, even though it will initially be powered by a coal-fired grid—with all the ammonia slated for export overseas.

Ontario Climate Plan is Just a ‘Glossy Brochure’, Ontario Lawyer Says
Ontario’s climate plan is just a “communications product” and a “glossy brochure” with no legal force, not anything for which citizens or the courts can hold the Doug Ford government accountable, a provincial lawyer told a judge last week.

Climate Change Made ‘Disastrous’ Pakistan Rains Even Worse: Study
Climate change likely juiced rainfall by up to 50% late last month in two southern Pakistan provinces, but global warming wasn’t the biggest cause of the country’s catastrophic flooding that has killed more than 1,500 people, a new scientific analysis finds.

UK Must Tackle Energy Efficiency or Risk Larger Crisis: Report
Britain’s new policy of capping home energy bills and subsidizing energy giants fails to address the country’s old, inefficient housing stock, says a new report—with one critic warning such an impractical energy policy could “play into the hands” of Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

WHO, 192 Global Health Associations Back Fossil Fuel Phaseout
The World Health Organization and nearly 200 global health associations have endorsed the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty (FFNPT), calling for an end to new fossil infrastructure and a “fair and equitable” phaseout of existing production.

First Person: Pakistan Floods a ‘Wakeup Call’ on Loss and Damage
Witnessing a human being swept away by cruel waves of flood waters while saving five stranded children is not something everyone can bear. This was my experience in early July after a torrential rainfall event in Islamabad and adjoining areas, only a short walk from my house, just a couple of months after a devastating heat wave.

Vehicle-to Grid Tech Stabilizes New England Grid, Cuts Power Cost
Cities and utilities in New England are experimenting with bi-directional charging technology, pulling power from parked electric vehicle batteries during peak demand to stabilize the grid and boost reliability while delivering cost savings to customers.

Factory in China Boasts World’s Largest Building-Integrated Solar Project
An architectural ceramic factory in China is now the world’s largest building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) project, where 665,000 square metres of solar panels built into 11 rooftop applications will provide all the electricity the facility uses.

Wisconsin Judge Backs Indigenous Band, Stops Short of Shutting Down Line 5 Pipeline
The Line 5 pipeline has won a stay of execution in Wisconsin, where a federal judge sided with an Indigenous group’s complaint but stopped short of ordering the controversial cross-border energy link shut down entirely.

Economic Readiness Frame Prompts Reluctant Canadians to Back Climate Action: EcoAnalytics
Amid current concerns about the cost of living, the economy, and health care, communicators may not know how to frame their efforts to drum up support for action on climate change and biodiversity loss among receptive audiences, let alone those with a history of hostility to climate action.

74% Want More EV’s in Canada as Automakers Face Supply Chain Snags
A new poll concludes that 74% of Canadians want car manufacturers pushed to increase zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) production, even if it harms their profits. But an industry representative warns that regulations targeting Canadian automakers could disrupt the North American auto market.

U.S. Clean Grid Needs Speed, Scale, and Supply, Study Finds
Research and development, manufacturing, and infrastructure investment decisions over the next decade will determine how the United States achieves a 100% clean electricity system by 2035, say the authors of a new report that finds multiple pathways to hit the target.

California Votes $54B for Climate Action, Limits Oil Wells Near Homes
A 90% clean power target by 2035, $54 billion in new spending on clean energy and drought resilience, quicker approvals for power grid upgrades and clean energy projects, and a long-awaited phaseout for oil and gas wells near homes and schools are highlights of a climate package adopted last week by the California state assembly.

Vancouver Struggles to Plant Trees in Poorest, Hottest Neighbourhood
Four years after Vancouver pledged to double street tree density in the Downtown Eastside by 2030, lethal summer temperatures and high rates of mental illness among residents show how necessary and challenging it will be to keep its promise.

B.C. Zinc Air Battery Maker Announces First Manufacturing Plant in Upstate New York
Vancouver-based Zinc8 Energy Solutions Inc. has confirmed plans to build its first commercial manufacturing plant—not in Canada, but in the Upstate New York, motivated by production credits under the Biden administration’s newly-adopted climate action plan.

Alabama Coal Ash Pond a ‘Disaster Waiting to Happen’ as Flood Risks Rise
Upstream from one of the United States’ most biologically diverse wetlands sits a coal ash pond leaking toxic metals into the groundwater, imperiling ecosystems and threatening drinking water supplies as climate change increases flood risks.

Alberta UCP Leadership Hopeful Spins Fake Conspiracy Theory About Trudeau ‘Climate Cops’
United Conservative Party leadership hopeful Danielle Smith in Alberta is being accused of sowing misinformation with her unsubstantiated claim that the Trudeau government plans to hire “climate cops” to enforce federal decarbonization policy.

RBC Passes Texas Test for Fossil-Friendly Financial Institutions
The Royal Bank of Canada may soon be at risk of being kicked out of Mark Carney’s Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net-Zero (GFANZ) when the global coalition begins toughening up its rules next year. But not to worry—the bank’s climate policies have been deemed mild enough to pass a Texas government test of whether financial institutions are sympathetic enough to oil and gas companies.

Deadbeat Fossils Dodge Property Taxes Despite Record Profits, Rural Alberta Suffers
Six months after the Alberta government admitted its efforts to make the Canadian oilpatch pay C$253 million in outstanding taxes had failed, rural communities that depend on the revenue have been forced to cut staff and suspend critical infrastructure repairs.

California to Set 2035 Ban for New Gasoline, Diesel Vehicles
California plans to require all new cars, trucks, and SUVs to run on electricity or hydrogen by 2035 under a policy approved Thursday by regulators that seeks a dramatic cut in carbon emissions and an eventual end to gasoline-powered vehicles.

Climate Change to Make ‘Dangerous Heat’ Three Times More Common
What’s considered officially “dangerous heat” in coming decades will likely hit much of the world at least three times more often as climate change worsens unless countries move faster to curb their greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new study.

Fossils Can Cut Methane Emissions to ‘Near-Zero’ When Regulators Get Serious, Study Shows
A new case study from Alberta shows that when regulators force the issue and producers of fossil fuels get serious, the companies can drastically reduce their methane emissions without any immediate reduction in their oil and gas extraction.

Electric Vehicles Carry Carbon Cost, Won’t Ease Car Dependence, Critic Warns
As policy-makers—and the industries that stand to benefit—shift into high rhetorical gear promoting electric vehicles as a silver bullet in the climate fight, a technology writer is warning that EVs are not as planet-friendly as they seem.

U.S. Petrochemical Industry Lobbies States to Dodge Environmental Protection Rule
America’s petrochemical industry is pushing hard—and with considerable success—to have states reclassify the controversial “chemical recycling” of plastics as a manufacturing process to avoid environmental protection regulations that apply to waste disposal, says a new report by the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA).

Mixed Messages on LNG as Canada, Germany Ink Green Hydrogen Deal
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz signed on to a highly-anticipated but non-binding “hydrogen alliance” during a ceremony Tuesday in Stephenville, Newfoundland, capping three days of meetings that delivered new momentum for green energy development but mixed messages on the two countries’ future interest in liquefied natural gas (LNG) development.

Eastern Canada Aims for Clean Energy Hub as 3 Communities Vie for Investment
Canada’s East Coast emerged this week as a hotbed of clean energy investment, with a high-profile green hydrogen announcement in Stephenville, Newfoundland by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz augmented—and possibly one-upped—by a new green ammonia project in Nova Scotia and talk of a third production plant in New Brunswick.

Eby ‘Frustrated’ After Climate Hawk Appadurai Enters B.C. NDP Leadership Race
British Columbia NDP leadership candidate David Eby is declaring himself “frustrated” after Anjali Appadurai, director of campaigns at the Climate Emergency Unit, entered the race and turned a coronation for provincial premier into a two-candidate contest.

People in Appalachia ‘Refuse to Be Sacrificed’ for Mountain Valley Gas Pipeline
Environmental advocates celebrated when U.S. President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law earlier this month. But the joy is tempered by lingering caution about a murky side bargain purported to streamline oil and gas projects, Energy News Network reports.

Prison Inmates Face ‘Extreme Risk’ in Climate-Driven Heat Waves
With extreme heat on the rise in many parts of the world, prison inmates are especially vulnerable to the health and safety risks that result, writes J. Carlee Purdum, research assistant professor at Texas A&M’s Hazard Reduction and Recovery Center, in a post for The Conversation.

Canada Pledges ‘Aggressive’ Hydrogen Target, Clings to Fossil Option as Scholz Visit Begins
An energy pact between Canada and Germany expected to be signed this week in Newfoundland and Labrador will set aggressive timelines and targets for exporting hydrogen to Germany, Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said Friday.

Nova Scotia Approves 5 New Wind Projects, Receives Pitch for Green Hydrogen Plant
Wind and green hydrogen projects saw a sudden wave of interest in Nova Scotia last week, with the province approving 372 megawatts of new Indigenous-owned wind capacity and a private developer seeking a permit for a green hydrogen and ammonia plant on Cape Breton Island.

U.S. Judge Squashes Michigan’s Bid to Keep Line 5 Case Out of Federal Court
The international dispute over Enbridge Inc.’s Line 5 pipeline belongs in federal court, a Michigan judge declared Thursday, dealing a critical blow to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s bid to shut down the controversial cross-border oil and gas line.

Gwich’in-Owned Solar Farm in Inuvik to Deliver 1 MW, Cut Carbon, Boost Local Air Quality
A Gwich’in-owned company in Inuvik, Northwest Territories, is building a one-megawatt solar farm that will reduce the community’s greenhouse gas emissions by 380,000 tonnes per year, cut annual energy costs by $1 million, and improve air quality by replacing local diesel generation.

No Path for Canadian LNG Exports to Europe, IISD Analysis Concludes
With the European Union striving to slash its demand for Russian gas by two-thirds by the end of this year and end all its dependence on Russian fossil fuels by 2027, there’s no path for liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Canada to help the continent meet its short-term energy needs, the International Institute for Sustainable Development concludes in a policy brief released Tuesday.

Guilbeault Considering Alternatives to Releasing Toxic Tailings into Athabasca River
Releasing treated tar sands/oil sands tailings into the environment isn’t the only solution being considered to clean up the massive toxic ponds in northern Alberta, federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault says.

Midwestern U.S. Grid Investment Supports Massive Increase in Renewables
The transmission organization that operates the United States’ largest multi-state grid has greenlighted a US$10.3-billion investment in high-voltage transmission lines to clear bottlenecks that have impeded nearly 100 gigawatts of new solar and wind capacity.

Toronto Housing’s Flagship Green Retrofit to Deliver 70% Drop in Energy Use
As the Toronto Community Housing Corporation embarks on an ambitious retrofit that will benefit its tenants and the climate, residents sweltering in a privately-owned low-income building across town are battling a landlord threatening eviction if they turn on the air-conditioning.

22-Year Drought, Overuse of River Drive Water Restrictions in Arizona, Nevada, Mexico
For the second year in a row, Arizona, Nevada, and Mexico will face cuts in the amount of water they can draw from the Colorado River as the Western United States endures an extreme drought, U.S. government officials announced Tuesday.

New Fee Model Would Turn Licence Bureaus into ‘Climate Champions’
The United States needs a 45% drop in transportation emissions by 2030 to meet its climate pledges, and the country’s web of Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) branches is ideally positioned to help make that happen, says a new report from the Rocky Mountain Institute.

Historic Climate Bill Passes U.S. House, Goes to Biden for Signature
U.S. climate hawks declared victory, Congressional Democrats got credit for a newly pragmatic approach to climate action, community campaigners demanded more ambitious action, and attention shifted to implementation after the U.S. House of Representatives passed the country’s $370-billion climate and clean energy plan and sent it to President Joe Biden’s desk for signature.

State-Wide Megastorm Driven by Global Heating Could Drench California for a Month
Ferocious winds. Weeks of drenching rain and snow. Communities “ravaged beyond resettling” and irrigation dams at risk. Californians have always thought of earthquakes or, lately, wildfires when talk turns to the Big One. But new research points to the devastating impacts the state would face from a future superstorm driven by global warming.

Solar On Track for ‘Staggering’ 30% Growth This Year
New solar installations around the world are poised to grow by a “staggering” 30% this year, and the industry can look ahead to double-digit growth each year through 2025, according to a Bloomberg.com analysis that predates the ambitious clean energy provisions in the US$369-billion Inflation Reduction Act adopted by the U.S. Congress last week.

Distributed Energy Gains Ground With Mobile Microgrids, Vehicle-to-Grid Technology
A suite of recent policy and technology advancements is allowing for the growth of distributed energy resources (DERs) in the U.S., with innovative approaches like transportable microgrids and vehicle-to-grid programs gaining momentum.

Researchers Study Carbon Loss, Forest Impacts of Northwest Territories ‘Zombie Fires’
The 385 wildfires during the Northwest Territories’ “summer of smoke” in 2014 were just the beginning. Researchers are now collecting the first field data on the “zombie fires” that have been smouldering underground and periodically reigniting ever since.

Survival of Majestic Sequoias Depends on Human Tenacity, Hobbled by Government Bureaucracy
Sequoias are the largest trees on Earth, can live for more than 3,000 years, but are being increasingly affected in recent years by fire. But management of the giant sequoias in Yosemite National Park and elsewhere has shifted the vulnerability of the huge, mature specimens in the groves.

Trans Mountain Work Site Blocks Early Salmon Run on Coquihalla River, Local Observers Say
Campaigners and local residents are using photos, video, and drone footage to document a Trans Mountain pipeline work site they say is impeding an early salmon run and leaving dead fish along the Coquihalla River in British Columbia.

Focus Blame for Climate Change on Fossils and Governments, Ecoanalytics Advises
This month’s EcoA Tip highlights some useful data showing who Canadians tend to blame for climate change. The research comes from a national survey conducted by EcoAnalytics, a non-profit initiative that provides data, analysis, and guidance to strengthen Canada’s environmental movement.

Ontario Pension Giant May Be Getting the Memo on Fossil Divestment, Members Say
As the burning of fossil fuels presents us with yet another summer of catastrophic impacts, the pressure is growing for pension funds to either phase out their oil, gas, coal, and pipeline assets or explain how they’re aligned with a safe retirement future for their beneficiaries. And Canada’s seventh-largest fund, the C$121-billion Ontario Municipal Employees’ Retirement System (OMERS), may be getting the memo, three of its members write for Corporate Knights.

Stranded Communities Hope for Emergency Food Supplies as Newfoundland Wildfires Rage
The reopening of a Newfoundland highway that had been closed for days because of raging wildfires provided hope Tuesday that much-needed supplies would finally arrive in stranded communities along the island’s south coast.

Ontario Gains from U.S. EV Tax Credit, But Plans No Incentives for Local Drivers
Plans to expand the proposed U.S tax credit on electric vehicle purchases to cover North American-made cars are a boon for the auto sector, says Ontario’s economic development minister, but the province still isn’t planning any buyer incentives for local drivers.

Cape Breton’s Donkin Mine Pays No Penalty for Exceeding Provincial Emissions Cap
Two years after it closed, and as it contemplates reopening, the Donkin coal mine in Cape Breton is still exceeding Nova Scotia’s greenhouse gas emissions cap without incurring any penalty, as it has since it began operations five years ago.

U.S. Boomers Mobilize to Support Climate Action
Baby boomers are often derided for not taking the climate crisis seriously enough, but many do feel responsible for the climate crisis, Nexus Media News reports. Some of them say they plan to dedicate the next stage of their lives to the climate movement.

Canadians Share Stories of Fear, Vulnerability from 2021 Heat Dome
British Columbia and Alberta residents who endured last summer’s lethal heat dome say they feel fear, anger, and guilt in its aftermath, testifying to the urgent need for Canadians to take personal and political responsibility for climate change as extreme weather threatens the vulnerable.

U.S. State Treasurers Use Public Office to Thwart Climate Action, Investigation Finds
Slamming climate action as “irrational” and “woke,” and positioning themselves as saviours of local economies, many Republican state treasurers have spent the last 18 months working to hobble and punish private and public sector efforts to wean the United States off fossil fuel dependence.

Koch Network Pressures Manchin, Sinema as Advocates Praise ‘Game Changing’ Climate Deal
Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity turned up the heat on swing-vote senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, a wider network of business groups stepped up to defend the deal, and environmental justice campaigners decried concessions to oil and gas as advocates absorbed the details of the $369.75-billion climate and clean energy package announced last week by Manchin and Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer.

Coastal GasLink Cost Skyrockets 70% to $11.2B
The projected cost of the contentious Coastal GasLink pipeline spanning northern British Columbia has skyrocketed 70% to C$11.2 billion in the wake of a freshly-inked deal between operator TC Energy Corporation and the group building a liquified natural gas (LNG) terminal on the West Coast.

Canadian Construction Giant Expects $800 Million in Solar Project Revenue
Alberta-based PCL Construction’s 2021 solar construction revenue increased 60% over the previous year, totalling more than half a billion dollars. By the end of 2022, the company expects solar revenue to hit just under $800 million.

Analysis: Lax Offshore Oil Regulation Puts Atlantic Canada Ecosystems, Communities at Risk
Offshore oil and gas activities in Atlantic Canada are a genuine threat to the ocean ecosystem and exacerbate climate change, but the federal government is falling short in its plans to regulate that activity, writes Mark Brooks, senior specialist, oil and gas at WWF-Canada, in a recent post on the WWF blog.

BREAKING: Senate Democrats Finalize Biggest Climate Spend in U.S. History as Schumer, Manchin Outfox McConnell
The United States is back on the cusp of the biggest climate investment in its history after Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) and coal state Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) agreed to a US$370-billion climate and clean energy package, ending months of negotiations on what one elated advocate called the “best-kept secret in Washington”.

Canada Faces Pushback Over Proposed Fertilizer Emissions Cuts
A campaign of misinformation is working to undermine a 30% fertilizer emissions reduction target in Canada’s next Agriculture Policy Framework (APF), says a national farmers’ coalition, contending that recently announced emissions policies actually don’t go far enough.

Record Temperatures Trigger Heat Alerts for Over 100 Million in U.S.
As brutal, extended heat waves bring record temperatures across the United States and put millions of residents at risk of heat stroke and death, the government has launched a website aiming to support heat resilience amid a climate crisis.

Trudeau Announces $255M for Nova Scotia Wind, Battery Projects, Keeps LNG Option Open
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was in Nova Scotia last Thursday to promise green energy funds for the province, but he also said the idea of upgraded facilities to help ship liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Europe in the “very short term” is back on the table.

Canada Needs Firm 2030 Target for Aviation Emissions, Advocates Tell Ottawa [Sign-on]
With Canada lagging far behind Europe and the United Kingdom in tackling carbon pollution from aviation, the country’s upcoming 10-year climate plan for the sector must be developed with public input and enforce a 30% emissions reduction target by 2030, climate advocates say.

Your Climate Shadow Matters More Than Your Carbon Footprint
Long promoted as the best metric of a sustainable life, the carbon footprint should be understood as just one part of everyone’s “climate shadow”—the sum of how our life choices, good and bad, intersect with the climate crisis, writes climate journalist Emma Pattee.

Neighbours Probably Want to Talk Climate, But Rarely Do, U.S. Research Finds
If you’ve been hesitating to talk with your neighbours about climate change, a number of recent studies suggest they’d likely be up for the conversation—as long as you’re ready to really listen, not lecture, and keep the focus local.

BREAKING: Vancouver Votes to Fund Lawsuit Against Big Oil
Vancouver City Council voted 6-5 late Wednesday afternoon to help fund a class action lawsuit to hold the world’s biggest fossil companies responsible for their local climate impacts, in what West Coast Environmental Law (WCEL) is hailing as a “historic win”.

Biden Announces New Funding, Holds Off on Climate Emergency Declaration
U.S. President Joe Biden visited a former coal plant in Massachusetts yesterday to announce new areas for offshore wind farms, funding for home energy subsidies, and support for communities facing heat emergencies and other climate impacts. But he fell short of declaring a full-scale climate emergency, keeping a door open instead for an accommodation with renegade Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV).

AMERICAN CLIMATE FAILURE: Time for ‘Beast Mode’ as Manchin Torpedoes Biden Clean Energy Package
Millionaire coal baron Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) played his final card and the White House conceded defeat on ambitious U.S. climate legislation, after the renegade senator declared he wouldn’t support any climate or energy provisions in President Joe Biden’s signature clean energy package.

Hundreds Dead From Heat as Extreme Temperatures Scorch North Africa, Asia, Europe, China
Hundreds are dead from heat-related causes, tens of thousands are displaced by raging wildfires, and global food security is yet further threatened as vast swathes of western Europe, North Africa, and China continue to suffer in the grip of lethal heat.

Firefighters Lose Ground Against Wildfire Threatening Lytton, B.C.
Firefighting crews lost ground Sunday after successfully holding back a blaze threatening the village of Lytton in southern British Columbia—barely one year after it was burned to the ground by a raging wildfire that took two lives and displaced hundreds of residents.

Carbon Roadmap for Agriculture May Face Uphill Fight at Federal-Provincial Ministers’ Meeting
A detailed carbon reduction roadmap for agriculture will have to compete with a menu of other farm sector priorities at a high-level meeting in Saskatoon this week, as federal, provincial, and territorial ministers hash out the details of Canada’s next Agriculture Policy Framework (APF).

Newfoundland Wind Farm Would Power Coastal Green Hydrogen Plant
An environmental assessment for a one-gigawatt, 164-turbine wind farm/green hydrogen and ammonia park in rural Newfoundland is generating local concern about potential habitat impacts, while picking up some high-powered support for the community benefits the project would bring.

Europe’s Fast Pivot to Renewables Means No Long-Term Need for LNG
The European Union’s need for natural gas will peak in about three years and begin declining before any new, fixed liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals can be brought online, and EU countries are deliberately trying to avoid the kind of long-term supply contracts that Canadian gas producers are looking for, a UK-based fossil fuel specialist says.

Oil’s Decline Endangers Jobs Far Beyond Alberta’s Fossil Sector, New Study Finds
Changes in global oil prices and markets will continue to destabilize jobs in Alberta, and declining oil demand due to the shift off carbon will have job impacts far beyond the province’s fossil sector without the right mix of just transition policies, an Oxford University research team concludes in a paper published this morning in the journal Climate Policy.

Michigan Regulator Probes Safety Risks of Line 5 Pipeline Tunnel
A Michigan regulatory panel said Thursday it needs more information about safety risks before it can rule on Calgary-based Enbridge Energy’s plan to extend the Line 5 pipeline through a tunnel beneath the Straits of Mackinac. The state Public Service Commission voted 3-0 to seek further details about the potential for explosions and fires involving […]

Wildfires Torch Parts of Northern Canada Triggering Smoke, Evacuation Alerts
With extreme heat continuing to feed an increasing number of wildfires in northern Canada, Yukon authorities say some residents must prepare to evacuate within two hours of notification, while in the Northwest Territories a government with stretched resources has asked locals to do their part to prevent unnecessary fires.

U.S. Could Slash Inflation, Double Renewables with Better Grid Technologies
The electricity system regulator in the United States could help slash inflation and double the country’s renewable energy supply by encouraging technologies to reduce the “absurd” 3.5-year wait times delaying interconnections between regional power systems, the Rocky Mountain Institute argues in a new analysis.

Calgary Adopts Net-Zero Climate Strategy, Ottawa Endorses Fossil Non-Proliferation Treaty
Two of Canada’s most influential cities stepped up this week with serious action on the climate emergency, with Calgary adopting a new emissions reduction strategy that includes a 2050 net-zero target and Ottawa endorsing the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty.

U.S. Looks to Other Options After Supreme Court Undercuts EPA Carbon Rules
(Part 2 of a series) In the wake of last week’s Supreme Court decision limiting government regulation of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, climate analysts and campaigners are now turning to other legislative options, state and city governments, market forces, and ultimately the ballot box for solutions.

Conserving Water Saves Energy, Cuts Emissions, U.S. Utilities Find
As utilities and municipalities rush to conserve water so that no one is left thirsty, the Chicago-based Alliance of Water Efficiency is reminding policy-makers and the public that saving water also means saving energy and reducing carbon emissions.

BREAKING: No Public Finance for East Coast LNG Projects, Wilkinson Says
There will be no federal financing for two companies vying to export Canadian liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Europe from terminals on the East Coast, Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said in a recent interview with the Globe and Mail.

Dire Living Conditions, Climate-Driven Heat Wave Produce Deadliest Human Smuggling Event in U.S. History
The 53 migrants who died from heat exhaustion in Texas after being abandoned in a sweltering tractor-trailer in 100°F heat were victims of vicious smugglers, inhumane laws, dire conditions at home, and a climate crisis that continues to pick off the world’s most vulnerable first.

Conservative Women Far More Likely Than Men to Support Green Transition, EcoAnalytics Research Finds
The first of our EcoA Tips, a new monthly series in The Energy Mix,highlights a surprising bit of data from a major survey by EcoAnalytics, a non-profit market research initiative that uses data and analysis to strengthen Canada’s environmental movement.

Montreal to Host New NATO Climate Centre as Military Analyst Confronts Global ‘Hyperthreat’
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has confirmed Montreal as the headquarters for its new Climate Change and Security Centre of Excellence, just weeks after a retired Australian military officer published an analysis of the “hyperthreat” humanity faces due to the global climate emergency.

Indoor Farming Revolution Comes with Significant Carbon Cost
Indoor farming could be a powerful solution for producing food in a volatile climate, but the benefits for the food system will come at the cost of a large carbon footprint as long as those new systems depend on natural gas for heat and power.

Southern Quebec Towns Scramble for Solutions as Water Sources Dwindle
As early spring heat, increasingly dry summers, and high demand for water drain rivers and aquifers, municipalities across southern Quebec are sounding the alarm on what they know will be a long-term problem they currently have neither the data nor the tax base to resolve.

Ex-Fossil Workers Convert Old Oilfields to Solar Farms After ‘Rapid Upskilling’ in Alberta
A group of 15 trainees will be heading out into the field to begin converting two Alberta oilfield sites into solar farms, after graduating from a rapid upskilling program for fossil industry and Indigenous workers hosted by Iron & Earth and Medicine Hat College.

London Becomes Biggest City to Sign Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty
London has become the biggest city so far to endorse the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty—a signal that experts say must be matched by action in the United Kingdom capital, where the London Stock Exchange (LSE) holds gigatonnes of embedded carbon emissions in listed companies.

Ottawa Demands Deeper Fuel Emissions Cuts, Offers Fossils a Double-Dip on Tax Breaks
The federal government is delaying new greenhouse gas emissions standards on gasoline and diesel by another year but will demand the oil and gas sector make bigger cuts to fuel emissions by 2030 given how much more money the companies are now making.

Comox Joins Municipalities Seeking Ban on New Gas Stations
Less than a year after Petaluma, California, became the first city in the world to ban new gas stations, four others have passed similar policies, and at least six more are working on it, including the infamously car-centric Los Angeles—and the British Columbia town of Comox.

Advocate Urges Ottawa to Intervene Before Ontario Builds Highway 413
Citing the Ontario government’s poor track record on endangered species protection, as well as the need to address First Nations’ concerns and respond to the imperatives of the climate crisis, Environmental Defence Canada is urging Ottawa to conduct a full environmental impact assessment of Highway 413.

Refocus Agriculture Spending to Cut Emissions, Boost Productivity, OECD Urges Governments
While global spending on agriculture has increased, critical support to help the sector build resilience and reduce emissions has decreased, an international agency concludes, even though effective policies are vital to avert a global disaster as food supplies are threatened by climate disasters and the war in Ukraine.

Public Vigilance Key to Protecting Greenbelts for Climate Resilience, Report Finds
Public vigilance will be vital to preserving the well-being of the world’s greenbelts, which are needed more than ever but increasingly under threat, says a new report produced by the Ontario-based Greenbelt Foundation.

Climate Solutions Deliver ‘Widespread Benefits’ Amid Global Crisis
Hydroponic farms in shipping containers and software poised to turn electric vehicle (EV) owners into well-paid electricity providers are among the ingenious innovations that are signs of a better world to come—despite all the evidence to the contrary, the Toronto Star reports.

Suspend Transit Fares, Not Gas Tax, Climate Advocates Urge Biden
The Joe Biden administration in the United States should be pushing for a transit fare holiday—and a windfall profit tax on fossil revenues—not a gas tax holiday, a measure critics are panning as anti-climate action that will do nothing to help consumers cope with inflation.

North American Steel, Aluminium Giants Lumber Toward Green Transition
Canadian steel giant Dofasco and United States aluminium titan Alcoa are trying to “green” their notoriously polluting industries, as climate and public health concerns escalate. But with technology and energy gaps are complicating the effort.

Canadian Farmers Offer Ottawa a Roadmap to Cut Agriculture Emissions
With ministers meeting in one month to negotiate Canada’s next Agricultural Policy Framework (APF)—an agreement that will govern agriculture spending for the next five years—a farmer-led coalition has released a roadmap to boost adoption of climate-friendly farming practices from coast to coast.

PG&E Risks Greenwashing with Definition of ‘Scope 4’ Emissions
The decision by mammoth California utility Pacific Gas & Electric to report avoided emissions due to its operations could be a progressive step towards climate accountability, but unofficially framing them as “Scope 4 emissions” could open the door to corporate greenwashing, experts warn.

Toronto’s New Backyard Homes Will Help Fight Sprawl
A late winter vote by Toronto’s city council permitting homeowners to build a small secondary residence in their backyards is being received as a positive step to loosen a very tight rental market and reduce the city’s carbon-intensive, resource-gobbling tendency towards “tall and sprawl.”

BREAKING: UN Nature Summit, the ‘Paris Conference for Biodiversity’, Moves to Montreal in December
Montreal will host a long-delayed United Nations nature summit December 5-17 that has been described as the Paris Conference for biodiversity, after Canada and China agreed to relocate the high-stakes negotiating session that was originally meant to take place in Kunming, China in October 2020.

Europe Outshines North America in New Sustainable Cities Ranking
When it comes to sustainable cities, Scandinavia is knocking it out of the park, according to the world’s first-ever crowdsourced urban sustainability index, with Stockholm scoring highest and Oslo, Copenhagen, and Lahti, Finland close behind on a list of 50 high- and middle-income cities.

Lacklustre Policies in Ontario Force Ottawa to Lead on Climate: Winfield
With the Ford government situated firmly in office for a second term after an election that saw the lowest voter turnout in Ontario’s history, it’s likely that any future climate action will need to be led by the federal government, says Mark Winfield, a professor of environmental and urban change at York University, in a recent op ed.