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LATEST NEWS ON THIS TOPIC

Global Push for Hydrogen Sidesteps Knowledge Gaps on Climate Impacts
As the global push for a hydrogen economy accelerates, researchers are urging policy-makers to address new knowledge and fill in some profound data gaps, with recent studies revealing the considerable global warming potential of a fuel that many fossils see as their industry’s best hope for a second life.

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.

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.

Fossils Dismiss Federal Emissions Cap as ‘Aggressive’, ‘Unrealistic’
Canada’s biggest fossil companies are lining up to dismiss the federal government’s new emissions cap for their sector as “very aggressive” and “almost unrealistic”, even as Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault hastens to offer them flexibility and an extended deadline to hit the long-awaited target.

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.

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.

UN Declares Healthy Environment a Human Right
Fifty years in the making, the United Nations’ recent overwhelming approval of a resolution recognizing the right to a “clean, healthy, and sustainable environment” is being heralded as a “victory for people and planet,” and a potential foundation for future legal action.

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.

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.

‘Watchful Optimism’ from Climate Analysts as Canada Energy Regulator Plots Net-Zero Future
With the Canada Energy Regulator still months away from completing its next projection of the country’s future oil and gas production, climate policy watchers are cautiously optimistic that the analysis will chart a real course for a low-carbon future—and rooting for the CER to get its modelling right.

Global Gas Expansion Endangers Climate Targets, Renewables Transition
Rebuffing the still widespread narrative that natural gas is a “bridge” fuel, a team of German energy economists is warning that the massive global expansion of gas infrastructure now under way puts both climate mitigation efforts and the transition to renewable energy at risk.

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”.

‘Devil in the Details’ as Ottawa Releases Options for Oil and Gas Emissions Cap
An initial proposal for an oil and gas emissions cap that is a cornerstone of Canada’s 2030 climate strategy is generating glimmers of hope but early skepticism on all sides, after Environment and Climate Minister Steven Guilbeault opened public consultations on the plan earlier this week.

‘Huge Political Embarrassment’ as High Court Declares UK’s Net-Zero Target Unlawful
Britain’s High Court has declared the country’s net-zero emissions strategy “unlawful”, capping a successful court challenge by Friends of the Earth UK, environmental law charity ClientEarth, and the Good Law Project.

India Sees Renewables Boom Amid Global Energy Crisis
Rising clean energy investments and an expanding offshore wind sector are pointing toward a new renewable energy boom in India, as the falling cost of clean technologies paired with the global energy crisis siphons investment away from fossil fuels.

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).

Indigenous Leaders Point to Inaction on Escazú Agreement as UN Urges Signing
The United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) is urging its member states to support the Escazú Agreement following the release of its final report last month, though some say there’s a lack of political will to implement the world’s first legally binding instrument to include provisions on environmental human rights defenders.

$6 TRILLION CLIMATE DEBT: U.S., 4 Other Big Emitters Could Face Litigation for Harm to Other Countries
Fossil fuel burning by the United States, China, Russia, India, and Brazil caused more than US$6 trillion in economic harm to other countries between 1990 and 2014, according to a study team that set out to lift the “veil of deniability” that has shielded big emitters from “climate liability and national accountability” for their actions.

UK Climate Action Could Wane After Johnson Resigns as PM
Boris Johnson’s imminent departure as British Prime Minister is raising concern that the country will soon begin backsliding on its climate and nature commitments—even if those commitments consisted primarily of grand gestures, with relatively little practical action to back them up.

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.

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.

EU Adds Gas, Nuclear to Green Finance Taxonomy, Reversing Earlier Vote
The European Parliament looks likely to face legal challenges after voting yesterday to temporarily include natural gas and nuclear energy in its “taxonomy” of green energy technologies, potentially triggering billions of Euros in green investment for the two technologies.

Australia’s New Government Plans Legislated Emissions Cut, EV Incentives
Australia’s new government is putting climate change at the top of its legislative agenda when Parliament sits later this month for the first time since the May 21 election, with bills to enshrine a cut in greenhouse gas emissions and make electric cars cheaper, a minister said last Wednesday.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

U.S. Supreme Court Expected to Gut Emission Controls as Climate Scientists Petition for Plan B
With the United States Supreme Court widely expected to turn its ideological wrecking ball on the country’s greenhouse gas emission controls, a group of climate scientists is pitching a new approach to regulating carbon as a toxic substance.

Soaring Fertilizer Prices Could Deliver ‘Silver Lining’ for Emissions, But Farmers Struggle to Limit Use
The sudden rise in fertilizer prices since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could have implications for global emissions by reducing how much of it farmers use in their fields. But experts say there’s more to the picture, with non-monetary variables like human capital making a big impact on farming decisions.

Pandemic Drives Up Support for Climate Action, Pessimism About Elected Leaders
As spiking inflation converges with an unequal post-pandemic recovery and an ever-escalating climate crisis, economists warn of widespread public pessimism about the future that is rapidly curdling into violent despair, especially among young men in many of the world’s poorer countries.

Japan, Korea Sell Vietnam on Gas Amid Crackdown on Climate Activists
In a shifting landscape of climate policies in Vietnam—as indicated by the recent arrest of anti-coal activist Nguy Thi Khanh—Japanese and Korean lobbyists are seizing the moment to push gas infrastructure into the country’s energy planning.

U.S. Renewables Industries Scramble to Reuse, Recycle Before Waste Volumes Skyrocket
There’s a categorical difference between the raw materials of the clean energy economy and those from fossil fuels, writes Canary Media. But to be considered truly sustainable, renewable industries need to restructure to allow their products to be recycled at the end of their lives.

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.

China Has 9 Times the Wind, Solar Potential It Needs for Carbon Neutrality
China’s wind and solar potential is a whopping nine times what it would need to become carbon-neutral, according to new research conducted to help policy-makers figure out whether they can expand the two technologies from combined capacity of 630 gigawatts to a target of 1,200 GW by the end of the decade.

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.”

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.

Oceans Are ‘Powerful Solution’ in Climate Fight, 93-Member Coalition Tells Biden
Delivering “a message of hope and action,” a 93-member coalition of environmental groups, aquariums, and outdoor recreation companies is urging the Biden administration in the United States to recognize that restoring and protecting the world’s oceans can help limit global heating to 1.5°C.

‘LET’S SUE BIG OIL’: Legal Team Launches Class Action Campaign for B.C. Municipalities
An environmental law non-profit in Vancouver is inviting British Columbia municipalities to join a class action lawsuit to hold some of the world’s biggest fossil companies responsible for their share of the climate damages local communities are experiencing.

B.C. Building Code Changes ‘Insufficient’ Against Deadly Hot Summers
The British Columbia coroner’s report on last year’s 619 extreme-heat-related deaths in the province recommends building codes be updated to require cooling systems, but experts call that measure a “necessary but insufficient action” as Canadian summers grow dangerously hotter.

Net-Zero Transition Can Open Jobs to Marginalized Groups
As Canada’s oilpatch scrambles to fill 2,000+ job openings created by shifting geopolitical and economic winds, new analysis is calling on governments to ensure workers aren’t unduly disrupted by the country’s climate pledges, and that clean energy jobs are available to groups that have been shut out in the past.

Gas, Nuclear May Be Dropped from Europe’s Green Finance Standard
Two committees of the European Parliament voted earlier this week to exclude natural gas and nuclear power from the continent’s new green “taxonomy” for sustainable finance, in what one legal charity calls the “final nail in the coffin” for efforts to define gas—and its corresponding methane emissions—as a green energy option.

Storage Can Deliver Carbon-Free U.S. Grid, MIT Study Finds
Deploying different energy storage technologies can optimize the use of increasing but intermittent renewable energy sources and enable the United States to fully shift off fossil-fuelled generation systems by mid-century, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology Energy Initiative (MITEI) study concludes.

Farmers, Indigenous Groups, Environmentalists Unite Against Midwest CO2 Pipeline
An “unlikely” alliance of rural conservatives, environmentalists, and Indigenous groups is resisting the potential use of the eminent domain doctrine—a legal tool that allows private land to be seized for perceived public good—to build America’s largest carbon dioxide pipeline.

‘Surge of Investment’ Brings Record Growth to Alberta Renewables Market
Unprecedented growth in Alberta’s renewable energy sector signifies a vital shift in the province’s energy economy, says the Pembina Institute, but another expert notes that Alberta’s power market also needs to be fixed—so that consumers aren’t overcharged for new grid infrastructure in the renewables boom.

In Conversation: ‘Sue Big Oil’ to Pay Its Share for Climate Disruption, B.C. Legal Centre Says
British Columbians should expect their governments to hold fossil fuel companies accountable rather than passing the costs of climate change on to citizens, said Andrew Gage, Staff Lawyer at West Coast Environmental Law, in a feature interview just days before WCEL’s unveiling of the new Sue Big Oil campaign this Wednesday.

Leak Detection Technology Catches Fossils Underreporting Methane
Regulators around the globe are using monitoring tools, from infrared cameras to satellites, to call out oil and gas companies for methane leaks that are often underreported by fossil producers, with one group of U.S. legislators concluding that fossils are not concerned that the technology could fail—but rather that it might succeed.

Takaro Doesn’t Deserve Prison for Tree-Sitting Pipeline Protest, Boothroyd Argues
Public health doctor, pipeline protester, and renowned tree-sitter Tim Takaro doesn’t deserve four weeks in prison for violating a court injunction against blocking construction of the controversial Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, climate communicator James Boothroyd writes in an op ed for the Toronto Star.

Big Seven European Airlines Lag on Reducing Sky-High Emissions: Report
With pressure continuing to mount on the aviation industry to get serious about its sizable carbon footprint, self-interested greenwashing remains the order of the day for many of the world’s major carriers, particularly European ones.

Europe’s Renewable Energy Communities Offer Lessons on Energy Equity
Europe’s decades-old renewable energy communities (RECs)—where a group of residents produce their own energy instead of buying it from a third-party—can offer policy-makers valuable lessons on how to match renewable energy targets with the goal of energy equity.

Vanishing Great Salt Lake Will Leave Behind a Bed of Toxic Dust, Scientists Warn
As a devastating drought threatens to dry up Utah’s Great Salt Lake, scientists warn of environmental apocalypses to ensue: millions of migratory birds will go hungry after losing their feeding grounds, and nearby residents will be exposed to dust clouds filled with arsenic.

Ban Fossil Fuel Ads Like Tobacco Promos, Doctors Urge Ottawa
With air pollution from fossil fuels responsible for up to 34,000 premature deaths in Canada, but the fossil industry still allowed to market its products as a boon to all, Ottawa must put an end to the spin-doctoring, says the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE).

Canada, California Agree to ‘Modest Expansion’ of 2019 Climate Action Plan
Canada and California are kindred progressive spirits on climate change, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Thursday, as he and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau unveiled a new blueprint for working together to stave off the worst consequences of a warming planet.

U.S. Coal Utility Knew About ‘Massive’ Climate-Fueled Extinction, Still Funded Climate Denial Ads
Years after receiving multiple credible warnings about climate risk, Southern Company paid over US$62 million to organizations with a long record of spreading climate disinformation, a report released Wednesday by the U.S. Energy and Policy Institute has found.

EU’s Plans for New Gas Infrastructure Breach Climate Rules, Lawyers Say
The European Union’s plan to build new natural gas infrastructure is illegal under its own climate laws and won’t solve the fossil energy crunch triggered by Russia’s war in Ukraine, climate lawyers with London, UK-based Client Earth are arguing.

Dismantle Nord Stream 2 Pipeline to Head Off Ecological Damage, EU Groups Urge
Environmental groups are warning that the 1,200-kilometre Nord Stream 2 pipeline under the Baltic Sea could become an environmental hazard and a source of atmospheric methane if it is left to decay after stopping routine service and maintenance.

SOLAR GAIN: Biden Announces Tariff Relief for Imported Panels, New Supports for Domestic Manufacturing
U.S. President Joe Biden has announced a two-year pause on a controversial tariff that was hobbling his country’s solar panel installation industry and imperiling his administration’s 2035 clean energy goal.

Glasgow Summit Was Most Polluting COP Ever
While the Boris Johnson government congratulates itself for orchestrating the world’s first climate-neutral COP 26 climate summit, a sustainability report produced for Whitehall shows the Glasgow event was also the most polluting COP ever. And an accompanying report points to serious holes in that climate boast.

ELECTORAL ROUT: Ontario Climate Hawks Look to Next Steps as Ford Surges to Second Majority Government
Climate policy analysts and campaigners were looking to next steps last night as they absorbed the results of a provincial election that delivered a second legislative majority for Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative government, after the climate emergency barely scratched the surface of the campaign agenda.

B.C. Charges 15 Wet’suwet’en Defenders with Criminal Contempt
The British Columbia Prosecution Service said 15 people are being charged with criminal contempt of court following protests last fall over a natural gas pipeline being built near Houston in northern B.C. Those charged are alleged to have breached a B.C. Supreme Court injunction granted to the controversial Coastal GasLink pipeline in 2019 that prohibited […]

EU Turns to Methane-Leaking Algeria in Bid to Cut Russian Fuel Imports
As the European Union rushes to wean itself off fossil fuels from Russia, it is exploring a “you collect/we buy” scheme to import more liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Algeria, while simultaneously addressing massive methane leaks in the North African nation’s facilities.

New U.S. Bill Could Spur Heat Pump Uptake, Speed Up Decarbonization
The recently-proposed HEATR Act could accelerate heat pump adoption in the United States, deliver cost savings for consumers, and attract support from both sides of the aisle, say two commentators from opposite sides of the country’s fraught political spectrum.

Climate Disasters Force Care Workers to Double as First Responders
With long-term care workers and nursing assistants increasingly taking on the role of first responders during climate-driven disasters like wildfires and heat waves, California has launched a pilot project to train them for the new responsibility, while their union pushes for better wages and benefits to match the added work load.

Officials Visit Melting Glaciers in Peru in Climate Case Against German Utility RWE
A groundbreaking climate lawsuit—filed by a Peruvian farmer who alleges high-emitting German utility RWE knowingly contributed to climate change and the flood threat he faces—entered a decisive phase last week as German court officials travelled to Huarez, Peru, to examine melting glaciers.

Vanuatu Declares Climate Emergency, Urges ‘Responsible Nations’ to Respond
The tiny south Pacific nation Vanuatu has declared a climate emergency, hoping to garner global support for its bid to have the International Court of Justice (ICJ) affirm that vulnerable nations must be protected from climate change.

Ford Government Pushes Urban Sprawl, Rural Communities Push Back
With Ontario voters going to the polls tomorrow, the battle is still on to protect the province’s rural communities from urban sprawl, amped up by Ministerial Zoning Orders (MZOs) that have enabled the Ford government to rezone land without a municipal council’s permission.

Provinces Show Mixed Results in Shift to Net-Zero
While British Columbia, Ontario, Alberta, and Quebec all have clear momentum in their preparations for the global transition off carbon, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, and especially Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland & Labrador need to put pedal to the metal, says a new report from the Canadian Climate Institute (CCI).

‘Modern-Day Gold Rush’ to Floating Offshore Wind Could Drive California Toward 85% Clean Power by 2030
California is gaining pace on its clean energy targets, with five leases for a combined 380,000 acres of floating offshore wind development a step closer to being auctioned. The most populous state in the United States could serve as a “guiding light” in the energy transition, with research estimating that California could achieve 85% clean electricity by the end of the decade.

EXCLUSIVE: Ontario Regulator Refuses New Pipeline, Tells Enbridge to Plan for Lower Gas Demand
The Ontario Energy Board sent minor shock waves through the province’s energy regulatory and municipal energy communities earlier this month with its refusal to approve the final phases of a $123.7-million pipeline replacement project in Ottawa proposed by Enbridge Gas.

UK Bundles 25% Levy On Fossil Profits with Tax Incentives For Oil Extraction
Shouts of “about time” and “what took you so long?” met British Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak’s announcement in Parliament of a 25% windfall tax on oil and gas profits, even as critics slammed simultaneous tax relief for oil extraction as a “bone-headedly stupid” move during a climate emergency.

Climate Inaction Would Cost $178 Trillion by 2070, Deloitte Warns
Business-as-usual inaction on climate change could cost the world’s economy US$178 trillion by 2070, while a concerted and collaborative global push for net-zero could see $43 trillion in economic growth over the same period, says a new report from the Deloitte Center for Sustainable Progress.

Energy Shortages, Searing Heat to Produce Widespread Blackouts This Summer
A lethal combination of energy shortages and searing heat is poised to generate enormous suffering in many parts of the world this summer, especially for the poor, the elderly, and those living in Asia, southern Africa, eastern Europe, and the American Midwest.

Curb Non-CO2 Pollutants to Avert Climate Crisis, Study Urges
To keep global heating below 2°C, the world must cut short-lived climate pollutants like methane, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), black carbon (soot), and low-level ozone in tandem with carbon dioxide emissions, says a new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Alberta Oil Operations Leak Billions of Litres of Toxic Waste Per Year, Study Finds
Forty years of largely unregulated growth have left 1.4 trillion litres of toxic tar sands/oil sands tailings sloshing around in “ponds” on the shores of the Athabasca River, devastating ecosystems and First Nations communities with neither plan nor budget for reclamation, says a new report from Environmental Defence.

Canada Can Hit 100% Zero-Emission Electricity by 2035 Without Nuclear, CCS, Report Finds
Canada can achieve 100% zero-emission electricity by 2035 with an electricity system that prioritizes renewable energy, storage, energy efficiency, and interprovincial transmission and avoids the pitfalls of nuclear generation, fossil gas, carbon capture and storage, and carbon offsets, the David Suzuki Foundation (DSF) concludes in a modelling study released this week.

Exxon Investors Demand Audit of Climate-Related Risk
Colossal fossil ExxonMobil faced three financial and legal setbacks in 48 hours earlier this week, with shareholders demanding a formal audit of the company’s climate-related risk and a Massachusetts court rejecting its bid to dismiss a legal challenge to its climate transparency.

Humanity Faces ‘Twin Crises’ of Environmental Threats, Growing Armed Conflict, SIPRI Warns
Environmental degradation and rising insecurity are twin crises that, together, threaten to turn back decades of economic and social progress while governments look away instead of taking action, a new report warns.

Alberta Fossils Log Emission Cuts by Exporting Them
The current linchpin in Canadian Big Oil’s plan to be carbon neutral by 2050 is its apparent success at reducing the emissions intensity of each barrel of oil produced, a claim that relies on a form of creative accounting that treats a tonne of emissions exported to another country as a tonne removed from the atmosphere.

B.C. Eliminates ‘Broken’ Royalty System, Offers Fossils a ‘Money-Back Guarantee’
British Columbia is changing its decades-old royalty system, the fees it charges companies to extract publicly owned oil and gas, in an effort to align with provincial climate goals, but still maintaining subsidy support for fracking wells.

Economic Opportunity, ‘Freedom’ Drive Red State Buy-In for Renewables
Invoking economic opportunity while avoiding language that conjures reduced choice or increased regulation—including the polarizing term ‘climate change’—is a key strategy to get renewable power projects approved in Republican states, say the authors of a new study.

Mounting Drought Risk Confronts London, Other World Cities
With many of the world’s cities, and especially their poorest citizens, facing increasing risks of drought and water shortages, faster emissions cuts and the long overdue establishment of an international fund for loss and damage are needed, says a new report.

U.S. Can’t Drill Its Way to Energy Security, Jenkins Warns
The war in Ukraine is increasing gasoline prices in America despite the country’s status as the world’s largest oil producer, demonstrating why the United States “cannot drill its way to energy security” and should instead invest in renewables, writes Princeton University energy specialist Jesse Jenkins.

Texans Urged to Conserve Energy as Successive Heat Waves Strain Power Grid
After six power plants in Texas unexpectedly failed on Friday, causing a loss of about 2,900 megawatts of electricity—enough to power 580,000 homes—the state’s main grid operator is asking residents to conserve energy as they head into another weekend of record-high temperatures.

UK Activists Block Russian Oil Tanker From Docking in Essex
Police in the United Kingdom arrested 15 Greenpeace activists on Monday after they blocked a Russian tanker from docking in Essex. The campaigners said the tanker contained diesel fuel worth US$36.5 million that would fund Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Op Ed Slams Ford’s ‘Dismal’ Climate and Environment Record in Ontario
Ontario voters concerned about global heating and other environmental problems will find no champion in Doug Ford, given his track record of catering to developers and heavy industry at the expense of the public good, warns a recent op ed in the Toronto Star.

Floating Tidal Project Linked to Nova Scotia Grid in Canadian First
A floating tidal energy project in the Bay of Fundy has been successfully connected to Nova Scotia’s grid, an undertaking that marks a milestone for Canada’s marine energy ambitions, say proponents, as the bay’s tidal resources could be harnessed for thousands of megawatts of clean energy in the future.

California Subpoenas Exxon in Probe of Global Plastics Crisis, Alleges ‘Decades-Old Deception’
California’s attorney general subpoenaed ExxonMobil late last month as part of what he called a first-of-its-kind broader investigation into the petroleum industry for its alleged role in causing a global plastic pollution crisis, allegations that the company called meritless.

EXCLUSIVE: Bid to Revive Doomed Nova Scotia LNG Project Collides with Germany’s Net-Zero Plans
The Trudeau government is talking up prospects for a new gas export deal to Germany involving a project that has already been proposed and withdrawn, a gas field in the Alberta foothills that has drawn scrutiny from provincial regulators, a financing scheme that will likely need federal backing to succeed, a route that may need U.S. regulatory approval, and a timeline that will likely be cut short by Europe’s rapid decarbonization plans, The Energy Mix has learned.

3,800 Residents Ordered to Evacuate after Flooding in Hay River, NWT
As they struggle with the immediate impacts of the flooding that has inundated HayRiver, Northwest Territories, anxious locals are questioning their municipality’s ability to respond in a climate-changed world where such disasters are growing more common and severe.

India Halts Wheat Exports to Protect Food Security as Southeast Asia Faces Deadly Heat Wave
The international community is gearing for global market shocks after India, the world’s second-largest wheat producer, halted most wheat exports to protect its national food security, while advocates call for greater attention to the entire Southeast Asian region gripped by the same deadly heat wave.

Ontario Pushes EV Charging, Leaves Out Vehicle Incentives in Run-Up to June Vote
Ontario Conservative leader Doug Ford is promising to install new charging stations for electric vehicles (EVs) if his government is returned to office in provincial elections June 2, but has no plans to reinstate the EV rebates it cancelled when he took office in 2018.

Methane Emissions Far Exceed Reported Levels as Ontario Plans Gas Ramp-Up
With Ontario on the cusp of locking in its reliance on natural gas infrastructure, The Atmospheric Fund says emissions of climate-busting methane due to the province’s existing gas consumption are nearly double the amounts reported in Canada’s latest emissions inventory report.

U.S. Cancels Oil and Gas Lease Sales in Gulf of Mexico, Alaska, with Five-Year Drilling Plan in Doubt
The Biden administration is cancelling three scheduled oil and gas lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and off the coast of Alaska, removing millions of acres from possible drilling as U.S. gas prices reach record highs.

Cities Must Prepare for Waves of Climate Refugees: Panel
The current narrative linking international human migration with increased security risks should not be accepted at face value, say experts, and policy-makers must focus on building cohesive strategies and support systems for migration within borders in anticipation of large influxes of climate refugees, a conference audience heard last week.

Distributed Energy Matches New Gas Capacity in the U.S., Lags in Canada
As distributed solar that put the technology closer to consumers, rather than at a centralized generating station, gains serious ground in the United States, distributed energy resources (DERs) are running into barriers in Canada, especially in Ontario.

Trade Protection for Fossils Could Add Hundreds of Billions to Cost of Climate Action
Fossil fuel companies have access to an obscure legal tool that could jeopardize worldwide efforts to protect the climate, and they’re starting to use it. The result could cost countries that press ahead with those efforts billions of dollars.

Canadian Solar Announces Probe into Forced Labour Allegations
Canadian Solar Inc. has announced an investigation to determine whether any workers at its photovoltaic plant in China’s Xinjiang region were hired against their will, though the company claimed in the past it would be impossible to determine if its supply chain used forced labour.

Quebec Ignores Caribou Herds on Verge of Extinction
Canada’s collective failure to protect endangered boreal caribou herds and the forests on which they depend owes to a longstanding determination to put jobs and profits above the health and well-being of wildlife—a determination on particularly short-sighted display in Quebec, a new analysis concludes.

Lawsuit Targets Ottawa, Equinor Over Bay du Nord Project Approval
Environmental law charity Ecojustice launched a suit in federal court and local opponents staged a rally outside the St. John’s office of Norwegian state fossil Equinor as opposition to the controversial Bay du Nord offshore oil and gas megaproject entered a new stage.

Coal Mining Communities Could Decide Result of Australia Election
Campaigners in Australia’s federal election are caught in a balancing act between appeasing the majority of citizens who want the government to prioritize climate goals—and seducing voters in a handful of constituencies where a major source of livelihood is the world’s dirtiest fuel.

Court in India Rules Nature has Legal Rights on Par with Humans
A recent state court ruling in India that Nature has the same legal status as a human being is being celebrated for breaking with environmental law as usual, but also criticized as a missed opportunity to invoke the less legally vexing but still evolving principle of “legal naturehood”.

Ford Government Leans on Climate Denial to Defend Against Youth Lawsuit
The Doug Ford government in Ontario is relying on a “known climate change denier” to defend against a youth-led constitutional challenge to its climate change policies, Toronto-based Environmental Defence Canada contends, citing one of two affidavits filed as part of the province’s response to the case.

Warming Could Boost Food Security in Northern Canada, But Major Questions Remain
The changing agricultural landscape of Canada’s Northwest Territories is showing how rising global temperatures could affect food production, as growing conditions in the North become increasingly favourable, while heat waves and drought desiccate farmland in other regions.

Texas Recovery Program Leaves Black, Hispanic Communities Waiting after Hurricane Harvey
A Texas state program to allocate federal aid for rebuilding after Hurricane Harvey unfairly overlooks Houston’s Black and Hispanic neighborhoods after it designed a competition-based application process that favoured smaller, predominantly white counties, community advocates say.

Wisconsin Band Seeks Ruling to Evict Enbridge Line 5 from Indigenous Territory
A Wisconsin Indigenous band is seeking a permit to immediately evict the Line 5 pipeline from its land, creating a second shutdown risk for a piece of fossil infrastructure that has already faced closure threats from the Michigan government, as well as other Indigenous and environmental groups.

‘Terrifying’ Regulatory Gaps Leave U.S. Unprepared for Massive CO2 Pipeline Expansion, Experts Warn
Carbon dioxide pipelines supporting a fast uptick in carbon capture and storage (CCS) could threaten the safety of countless communities across the United States, say experts, due to federal pipeline safety regulations that are woefully inadequate to cover the “flurry of multibillion-dollar CO2 pipeline proposals” now eligible for tax credits.

‘Collective Complacency’ to Produce 560 Disasters Per Year by 2030, UN Report Warns
“Collective complacency” in the face of the climate crisis and other human-caused catastrophes is setting the world up for 560 disasters a year by 2030, according to a new UN report that says humans are overly optimistic and have made short-sighted decisions so far.

Lithium Mining Review Urges Protections for Environment, Local Communities
Mining of lithium in South America’s Atacama Plateau creates “severe” impacts for local communities and the environment that need to be addressed as production surges to meet growing demand for electric vehicle batteries and other power storage.

‘Deep Entanglements’ Connect Canada’s Biggest Pension Funds with 76 Fossil Companies, New Analysis Concludes
The “deep entanglement” between Canada’s 10 biggest pension funds and a roster of 76 fossil fuel companies raises serious questions about whether fund managers and trustees are looking out for the best interest of the beneficiaries who depend on them, according to a scathing, 40-page report released yesterday by Toronto-based Shift Action for Pension Wealth and Climate Health.

89 Groups Endorse Climate-Aligned Finance Act as Lenders Risk Fossil Fuel Default
More than 85 investment firms, academic organizations, and environmental groups from across Canada and around the world are lending their support to a climate-aligned finance bill introduced by Sen. Rosa Galvez (ISG-Quebec) in late March.

Ontario Election Candidates Seize on Hamilton’s Urban Boundary Freeze
The City of Hamilton’s decision to freeze its urban boundary has become an issue in Ontario’s provincial election, with the incumbent Progressive Conservatives denouncing it as municipal overreach and the opposing New Democrats defending it as local democracy in action.

‘Tail Wags the Dog’ as BC Hydro Accused of Ignoring Habitat Conservation Duties
BC Hydro is falling short of its obligations to fund habitat conservation under the Fish & Wildlife Compensation Program, according to a brief from the B.C. Wildlife Federation and the University of Victoria Environmental Law Centre that asks the provincial auditor general to look into the matter.

May 3 Day of Action Pushes Canada to End Fossil Fuel Subsidies
Most Canadian politicians still don’t understand the most important thing about fossil fuel subsidies, writes UNB’s Jason MacLean: Eliminating all financial support for the fossil fuel industry is a necessary first step in completely phasing out fossil production and consumption in Canada.

U.S. Could Cut Transportation Emissions 34% by 2030, Analysis Finds
State, local, and federal emissions policies already stand to cut United States transportation emissions in 2030 by 19% from 2019 levels, but an expanded “all-in” climate strategy could boost the cuts to 34% by the end of the decade, new analysis finds.

New Research Shows Higher Methane Emissions from Hydropower
A growing body of research published over the past two decades has found that most reservoirs, including those used for hydropower, aren’t emissions-free. Despite the green reputation of hydropower among policy-makers, some reservoirs emit significant amounts of methane, along with much smaller amounts of nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide.

Victoria Councillor Pushes for Free Transit for All
After persuading his colleagues to support free transit for under-19s and low-income seniors, Victoria city councillor Ben Isitt is working hard to push his city to join the 100 or so municipalities around the world that already make public transit free for all riders.

Montem’s Switch From Coal to Renewables Has Alberta Advocates On Alert
South Melbourne, Australia-based Montem Resources has announced plans to pursue a renewable energy project at its Tent Mountain site in Alberta’s Crowsnest Pass instead of its planned coal mine, but some environmental advocates remain suspicious of the company’s plans.

‘Overly Optimistic’ Hydrogen Target Sows Doubt on Canada’s 2030 Climate Plan, Environment Commissioner Warns
Canada’s latest climate plan makes “overly optimistic” about the role of hydrogen, fails to map out a just transition for fossil fuel workers and communities, relies on “aspirational numbers” for carbon capture and storage technology, and may ultimately fall short of the country’s 2030 emission reduction target, Environment and Sustainable Development Commissioner Jerry DeMarco warned Tuesday.

125 Ontario Groups Target Provincial Election Candidates with Emergency Climate Campaign
Binding, science-based climate targets, respect for Indigenous sovereignty, and investment in a “thriving, regenerative, zero-emissions economy” are the top demands from more than 125 organizations that were scheduled to launch the Ontario Climate Emergency Campaign at the provincial legislature later today.

U.S. Scraps Incandescent Bulbs, Cuts 222 Megatonnes of Emissions Over 30 Years
The Biden administration is scrapping old-fashioned incandescent light bulbs, speeding an ongoing trend toward more efficient lighting that officials say will save households, schools, and businesses billions of dollars a year.

Laws that Make Plastic Producers Pay for Recycling ‘Achieve Nothing’, Experts Warn
United States laws that make plastic manufacturers bear some responsibility for recycling their ocean-clogging products are actually inhibiting progress, say experts, and bear the fingerprints of plastic lobbying groups that are determined to prevent effective restrictions.

Ottawa, Newfoundland Squabble Over Bay du Nord Royalties as Guilbeault Declares Future Projects Unlikely
The federal and Newfoundland and Labrador governments are in a squabble over who will pay hundreds of millions of dollars in royalties on the Bay du Nord offshore oil development, even as Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault declares the controversial megaproject may be the last ever approved in the province.

Ontario Expands Solar Net Metering as Electricity Shortage Looms
With pre-election announcements in full swing ahead of a June 2 vote, Ontario has shifted its net metering regulations to make it easier for homeowners, farms, and businesses to generate income from rooftop solar or other renewable energy systems by selling surplus electricity back to the grid.

Campaign Promises Dashed as Biden Opens Public Lands to Oil and Gas, Hikes Fees
U.S. President Joe Biden has gone back on his campaign pledge of “no more drilling on federal lands, period. Period, period, period,” with the Interior Department announcing plans earlier this month to auction off drilling leases on 145,000 acres of public lands in nine states.

Campaigners Vow to Stop ‘Low Emission’ Woodfibre LNG Facility in B.C.
A new liquified natural gas (LNG) project advertised as the “lowest-emission LNG export facility in the world” is set to proceed in British Columbia, but environmental groups say the facility will increase fracking in the northeastern part of the province, with adverse effects on water, climate, wildlife, and human health.

Pandemic Year Cuts Canada’s Emissions 9%, Oil Sands Show Only Modest Drop
Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions fell by 66 million tonnes during the first year of the pandemic. But not all of those gains likely survived the economic recovery in 2021, and only a small share of the emission cuts came from the Alberta tar sands/oil sands, according to the government’s latest National Inventory Report released late last week.

New Ontario Climate Plan ‘Coasts on Federal Action’, Doesn’t Recognize Climate as a Crisis
Less than two months shy of the next provincial election, the Doug Ford government has quietly watered down the climate plan it announced with great fanfare in 2018, while claiming it’s still on track to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 30% from 2005 levels by 2030.

OPINION: ‘Reckless’ Emissions Reduction Plan Won’t Deliver Results, Inspire Canadians, MacLean Says
Canada’s new Emissions Reduction Plan is “reckless”, doesn’t meet the criteria of credible net-zero emissions plans, and lacks any vision of a future capable of inspiring Canadians to change their lives, says Jason MacLean, assistant professor of law at the University of New Brunswick.

Quebec Becomes World’s First Jurisdiction to Ban Oil and Gas Exploration
In what campaigners are calling a world first, Quebec’s National Assembly voted Tuesday afternoon to ban new oil and gas exploration and shut down existing drill sites within three years, even as the promoters behind the failed Énergie Saguenay liquefied natural gas (LNG) project try to revive it as a response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Analysts List Five Steps to Hit Canada’s 2030 Emissions Target
Canada’s new 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP) is a comprehensive, ambitious, and transparent policy roadmap for achieving Canada’s climate goals. It uses credible modelling to demonstrate a path to 2030 targets. It’s a big step forward. It’s also not enough, write Dave Sawyer, principal economist, and Dale Beugin, VP of research, at the Canadian Climate Institute.

Alberta Caribou Recovery Plan Delays Tough Decisions by a Decade
The Alberta government has released recovery plans for two herds of threatened caribou in the province’s north that it says will bring the amount of usable habitat on their ranges up to the level required by a deal signed with Ottawa, The Canadian Press reports.

Ottawa Issues ‘Slap in the Face’ to Climate Science, Approves Bay du Nord Offshore Oil Megaproject
The federal cabinet administered what one critic called a “slap in the face” to climate science with a decision today to approve the massive Bay du Nord oil and gas megaproject off the Newfoundland coast.

‘Master Class in War Profiteering’ as Big Oil Pads Pockets on Russia Invasion: Report
Fossil fuel companies are using stock buybacks to profit from Russia’s war on Ukraine—at the expense of consumers, workers, and just about everyone else, says a new report released by advocacy groups just as the United States holds hearings to scrutinize oil and gas profits.

‘Nation-Building’ Development of East-West Grid Will Enable Renewables, Cost Billions
A price tag in the tens or hundreds of billions of dollars, and a project scope akin to that of the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway in the 1800s. That’s the scale of the massive investment in Canada’s electricity grid that experts say will be required in the near future, as the phaseout of fossil-fired power generation combined with a rapid increase in demand for electricity puts never-before-seen demands on this country’s electrical grid.

LAND USE: Policies Must Break Down Silos, Listen to ‘Multiple Users’ to Meet Climate Targets
Land management for forestry and agriculture can support global climate targets if it is backed by strong domestic and international policies, but will need to consider a “wide range of landowners” and “billions of consumers in diverse contexts,” the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concludes in yesterday’s report on climate change mitigation.

TRANSPORT: Sector Needs Major Overhaul to Meet Climate Targets, Says IPCC
If global warming is to be limited to 1.5°C by 2050, the world’s transport emissions need to fall by 59% from 2020 levels, says the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), calling for “transformative” changes in the sector in its latest mitigation report.

Climate Action Depends on Cooperation between Developed, Developing Countries, IPCC Finds
International cooperation on climate action has grown since the 1997 Kyoto Protocol to yield modest progress, says the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), but stronger collaborations are needed to overcome barriers in countries with limited capacity.

Carbon Sequestration on Indigenous, Local Lands Makes 2030 Climate Targets Possible, Report Finds
Lands held by Indigenous peoples and other local communities (IPLCs) sequester emissions equivalent to about 30% of the 2030 carbon reduction targets in four countries that are the focus of a new study by the Forest Declaration Platform.

Provincial Energy Efficiency Programs Fail to Tackle Energy Poverty, New Analysis Warns
Provincial and territorial energy efficiency programs are failing to reach the 20% of Canadians who are struggling to cover their home energy costs, but federal investment can stop those households from being left behind in the push for net-zero emissions, Efficiency Canada says in a new report.

U.S. Regulator Walks Back Plan to Assess Gas Projects for Climate, Environmental Justice Impacts
Amid pushback from industry groups and both Republican and Democratic politicians, U.S. energy regulators scaled back plans late last month to consider how natural gas projects affect climate change and environmental justice.

U.S. Restores Tougher Fuel Economy Rules for New Cars
New vehicles sold in the United States will have to average at least 40 miles/64 kilometres per gallon of gasoline in 2026, up from about 28 mpg, under new federal rules unveiled Friday that undo a rollback of standards enacted under Donald Trump.

Fossils Fret About ‘Uncertainty’ in Federal Emissions Plan
Canada’s oil and gas industry says it’s been left in the dark about exactly how much it will be required to reduce its emissions in the coming decade, after the federal government’s new Emissions Reduction Plan made it clear that fossils must bring their carbon pollution down 42% from 2019 levels by 2030.

Limit Reliance on ‘Reckless’ Negative Emissions Tech, WCEL Analysis Urges
The inclusion of “anthropogenic removals” in the legislation establishing Canada’s climate goals leaves ministers with “considerable latitude” to develop plans that lean on negative emissions technologies (NETs) instead of prioritizing emissions reductions, legal experts warn.

Biden Asks Congress for Ambitious $11 Billion in International Climate Aid
With midterm elections looming, the success of U.S. President Joe Biden’s push for Congress to approve $45 billion in climate funding in the White House budget is expected to set the tone for future domestic and international climate policy.

Nordic Cooperation on Electricity Holds Big Lessons For Canada, Case Study Finds
As it seeks to decarbonize the grid, Canada’s “balkanized” power sector has much to learn from longstanding Nordic co-operation, policy advisor Shawn McCarthy writes in a recent case study for the Canadian Climate Institute.

Easier Ride for Fossils, But $9.1B in Climate Funding as Ottawa Releases 2030 Plan
The fossil and transportation sectors get a relatively free ride and electricity producers do the most to decarbonize in the much-anticipated 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan released yesterday by Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault.

New Model Building Code Shows Steps to Net-Zero Ready Buildings by 2030
Canada’s National Research Council has quietly released a new set of national building codes that show how provincial and territorial governments—which actually hold authority for codes and standards—can make new buildings net-zero ready by 2030.

India’s 2070 Net-Zero Goal is Fit to the Challenges it Faces, Experts Say
Experts say renewables will be a critical component of India’s climate plan—which rightfully sets its net-zero deadline two decades later than wealthier high-emitters like the United States and Europe—as the country balances urgent climate adaptation alongside pressing support for food security.

Michigan Utility Takes ‘Critical Step’ to Expand Low-Income Energy Efficiency Programs
An agreement by a Michigan public utility to expand its low-income efficiency programs and study how the energy burden of vulnerable households can be reduced is being hailed by environmental justice advocates as a crucial move towards fighting energy inequality.

Op Ed Charts Private Sector Role in Financing Climate Resilience
Weeks away from Canada’s first federal budget announcement following a natural disaster-ridden year, governments and private investors will need to collaborate to fund climate adaptation and prevention at the municipal level, a Globe and Mail op ed asserts.

New Senate Bill Targets Financial Institutions that ‘Fuel Climate Risk’
Federal financial institutions and federal-regulated entities would have to line up their investment activities with Canada’s climate commitments under Bill S-243, the Climate-Aligned Finance Act introduced in Senate yesterday by Sen. Rosa Galvez (ISG-Quebec).

Fossils Must Pull Their Weight, Cut Emissions 45% This Decade, Analysts Say
Canada’s long-awaited 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP) must set legally-binding limits for the oil and gas industry that are “coherent with national targets”, since “other sectors would be required to do even more for Canada to achieve its target” if fossils failed to pull their weight, the country’s Net-Zero Advisory Body said in its official advice to the government earlier this week.

Bay du Nord Won’t Help Europe, Guilbeault Says, as NDP Questions Offshore Oil Project
The controversial Bay du Nord exploration project off the coast of Newfoundland is running into new headwinds in Ottawa, with Environment and Climate Minister Steven Guilbeault busting the myth that new oil and gas wells can help Europe free itself from Russian supplies and the NDP questioning how any new fossil project can align with the government’s climate promises.

Groundwater Breaks During Line 3 Construction Release 200 Million Gallons Near Minnesota Indigenous Reservation
The damage to public groundwater resources in Minnesota from missteps during construction of the Line 3 oil pipeline is more severe than previously known, state environmental regulators said earlier this week.

Liberal-NDP Deal Delivers More Stability, Not Enough Climate Action, Analysts Warn
The federal Liberals and New Democrats must make good use of the next three-plus years of political stability by embracing more decisive climate action than they promised in the supply and confidence agreement (CSA) unveiled yesterday, leading climate policy analysts have told The Energy Mix.

Local Groups Declare Bay du Nord a ‘Huge Mistake’, Urge Ottawa to Ditch Offshore Oil Plans
A group of civil organizations has called on Ottawa to reject the Bay du Nord offshore oil venture in Newfoundland and Labrador, recalling the province’s gutted cod fishing business as a lesson on the long-term impacts of environmental devastation.

Cities Must Use Their Authority for Bold Climate Action, Miller Says
Canadian cities already have the authority to take bold action on climate solutions, and the world’s best municipal climate leaders have shown how other communities can cut their emissions and embrace climate and environmental justice, former Toronto mayor David Miller told an online community meeting in Ottawa Monday evening.

Chambers of Commerce Back Line 5 Pipeline as Michigan AG Scorches Corporate ‘Propaganda’
Business leaders from the United States and Canada are again wading into the fray over Line 5, citing the energy crisis brought on by Russia’s war in Ukraine to accuse the state of Michigan of dragging its heels to keep the controversial cross-border pipeline in a state of legal limbo.

EU Economy Ministers Adopt World’s First Carbon Border Adjustment Rule
Economy ministers across the European Union have adopted the world’s first carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM), bringing the continent one step closer to a levy on imports in emissions-intensive industries like electricity, steel, cement, aluminum, and fertilizer.

Activist Investors Want Annual Shareholder Votes on Banks’ Climate Risk Strategies
An activist investor group in Montreal is calling on Canada’s seven biggest banks to conduct annual “say-on-climate” votes to let shareholders pass judgement on their climate risk strategies. The Globe and Mail says the banks aren’t keen on the idea.

Nature-Based Solutions Could Help Newfoundland Homes Weather Coastal Erosion, Experts Say
Experts are suggesting nature-based solutions for coastal erosion while Newfoundlanders look to save homes and cemeteries from rising sea levels, but Canada’s coastal risk management policy is not keeping pace with the impacts from climate change.

Cap-and-Trade Could Add to Environmental Injustice, Undermine Emission Reductions, California Studies Say
Two recent reports have raised questions about California’s carbon cap-and-trade program, concluding that the system worsens environmental justice disparities and could undermine progress towards the state’s emissions reduction targets without effective policy reforms.

Just Transition Advocates See Legislation on the Horizon after Federal Roundtable
An April 30 deadline for the federal government’s just transition consultation, announced as part of a virtual roundtable last Thursday, is being taken as a sign that Ottawa will be getting started on legislation to help fossil fuel workers and communities navigate the shift off carbon, more than two years after then-environment minister Jonathan Wilkinson’s pre-pandemic promise to make it happen.

2030 Climate Plan May Fail Without Faster Emissions Cap, Deeper Cuts for Fossils, Analysts Warn
The Trudeau government may be left with big gaps in its 2030 climate strategy if it delays its oil and gas emissions cap until 2023, or holds off on setting tough carbon reduction targets for the industry, according to news reports this week.

Worker Safety Is Biggest Worry at Ukraine’s Nuclear Sites, Atomic Energy Agency says
As power loss at Chornobyl’s power plant became a prominent media concern over the last few days, experts responded that their immediate concern wasn’t a nuclear meltdown, but rather Russia’s continuing control over Ukraine’s nuclear sites.

End ‘Hefty’ Fossil Subsidies at Home and Abroad, Op-Ed Urges Ottawa
Advocates are urging Ottawa to fully and rapidly phase out all financial support for fossil fuel development—at home and abroad, abated and unabated—to correct Canada’s abysmal record of being the worst climate performer of all G7 nations since the landmark Paris Agreement was adopted in 2015.

16 First Nations Sign Up for 10% Share of Coastal GasLink Pipeline
Sixteen Indigenous communities along the Coastal GasLink pipeline route have signed option agreements for an equity stake in the project, a move that one Indigenous leader hopes will set a precedent for future energy infrastructure projects in Canada.

Philanthropies Can Help World’s Most Vulnerable Adapt to Climate Change
Philanthropic organizations must step up and fund climate adaptation, say advocates, in light of the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report warning that vulnerable people and regions are enduring the worst of the climate crisis due to systemic inequalities.

EU to Cut Russian Gas Use 65% This Year as Analysts Urge Faster Shift to Renewables
Following a dramatic pledge yesterday to reduce its dependence on Russian gas by 65% this year and phase out all Russian fossil fuels “well before 2030”, the European Union is under pressure to replace gas from all sources through a rapid transition to energy efficiency and renewable energy.

Hawaii Offers Cash Bonus for Solar Homes Sending Power to the Grid
Hawaiian households with rooftop solar will soon be rewarded for sharing electricity with the grid at peak hours, while in California, three utilities are pushing to make solar-equipped homes pay extra fees as their monthly power bills go down.

Expert Traces Trade Agreements’ ‘Profound’ Impact on Climate
As a Canadian expert urges governments to address the climate impacts of their trade and investment policies in light of a grim report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a small shift is already under way in the United States, with Republicans extolling the benefits of carbon border adjustments to thwart Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Alberta Extends Rocky Mountain Coal Exploration Ban Pending New Land Use Plans
The Alberta government is renewing and expanding its restrictions on coal mining in the province’s Rocky Mountains in response to a strong public outcry and two reports written following extensive consultations on the issue.

Climate Hawks Fracture on CCS Subsidy, McKenna Questions Tax Credit as Federal Budget Looms
The prospect of a new tax credit for carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) technology in this year’s federal budget has battle lines drawn across the Canadian climate community, with sharp disagreements on whether fossil companies should qualify for taxpayer support and a former federal environment minister maintaining it’s time for them to pay their own way.

Ottawa Delays Bay du Nord Decision to Study ‘Significant Adverse Effects’
Environment and Climate Minister Steven Guilbeault has announced a 40-day delay, until April 13, in his assessment of Norwegian state fossil Equinor’s plan to extract up to a billion barrels of crude from its proposed Bay du Nord oilfield off the coast of Newfoundland.

U.S. Fossils Severely Under-Report Methane Flaring, Investigation Finds
With new satellite data revealing that some United States oil and gas operators are flaring nearly double the volume of natural gas they self-report to regulators, observers are urging the Biden administration to keep its COP 26 pledge to regulate methane emissions.

U.S. Utilities Underestimate Cost of Carbon, Climate, Deloitte finds
Investor-owned utilities in the United States have underestimated the financial risks of stranded assets, future carbon costs, and penalties for inaction, which will cost them more than the expenses of rapidly decarbonizing now, according to a Deloitte report.

New Brunswick Auditor General Rebukes Funding Gap for Energy Retrofits
New Brunswick’s provincial utility and its government must work together to ensure that low- and middle-income households can afford energy retrofits, a new report says, in a critique of the province’s failure to make energy efficiency accessible to all.

Think Tank Calls for Steep Carbon Cuts in Fossil and Power Sectors, Says Canada Will Still Miss 2030 Goal
Canada cannot realistically expect to hit its current target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions 40 to 45% by 2030, and should instead set a more modest goal while leaning heavily on the electricity and fossil fuel sectors for deep carbon cuts during this decade, a new think tank report concludes this week.

Canada Plans Mandatory Energy Audits Before All Home Sales
Canada’s push to require energy efficiency audits for houses before they’re listed for sale is drawing flak from the real estate sector, even if it’s a basic building block for the amped-up energy efficiency effort the country needs to pursue.

Chicago’s Bronzeville to House America’s First Community Microgrid
Bronzeville, the epicentre of Chicago Black history and culture, will soon be home to America’s first community microgrid, after concerted efforts resolved the question of how to smoothly connect and disconnect a microgrid serving more than 1,000 buildings from the larger state electricity system.

‘Harrowing’ IPCC Report Cites Limits to Climate Adaptation, Stresses Climate Justice
With climate dangers coming on faster, ranging wider, and hitting harder than scientists previously expected, and major impacts unavoidable in the immediate future, a United Nations agency report described by observers as “grim”, “harrowing”, and “unflinching” is looking at how humanity can adapt to climate risk, how much climate adaptation can achieve—and how climate justice has moved to the centre of the conversation.

‘Crucial’ Adaptation Finance Falls Far Short of What’s Needed
Finance emerged as a key enabler of climate change adaptation, and the concept of loss and damage took its place as an “important topic in international climate policy”, in sections of this week’s mammoth, 3,675-page assessment report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

IPCC Delegates Defy U.S. with Loss and Damage Language, Raise ‘Issues of Colonization, Marginalization’
Despite efforts by the Biden administration in the United States to strike loss and damage language from this week’s climate impacts and adaptation report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is standing by its finding that the world’s poorest and most marginalized are unfairly paying the highest price for human-driven climate change.

Disrupted Food Systems Imperil Women, Indigenous Peoples, Small Producers
Ecosystem-based adaptation strategies are essential to address climate disruptions to agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and aquaculture, but with the caveat that incautious strategies can have “maladaptive outcomes” that further harm the most vulnerable groups, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says in its report this week on climate impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability.

Ukraine Invasion Heightens Nuclear Fears at Chornobyl and Beyond
With the occupation of Ukraine by Russian military forces, observers fear for the safety of the country’s nuclear installations, beginning with the infamous Chornobyl station—shuttered but still radioactive—but also extending to nuclear waste facilities, and operating reactors responsible for over half of the country’s electricity generation.

B.C.’s ‘Fantasy’ Emissions Reduction Plan Will Lead to Energy Crunch, Experts Warn
British Columbia’s emissions reduction plan is “based on a fantasy” of bountiful hydroelectric power, and should be replaced with an effort to expand solar and wind capacity while promoting energy efficiency, a new report urges provincial policy-makers.

UK Climate Committee Punts Decision to Politicians on North Sea Oil Drilling
The United Kingdom’s highly-esteemed Committee on Climate Change has declared that ministers must have the final say on further North Sea oil exploration, despite finding that new drilling permits will harm the country’s climate reputation while doing little to combat domestic energy prices.

Harvesters Warn of ‘Dire Effects’ as Minister Aims to Protect Fish Stocks from Climate Disruption
A recent appearance by Fisheries Minister Joyce Murray at an industry annual meeting has set off a sea squall of controversy, with harvesters and unions warning of the “dire social and economic effects” of federal catch limits and Murray stressing her interest in keeping fish stocks sustainable in an era of climate disruption.

Dakota Access Pipeline Headed for Environmental Review After Striking Out at U.S. Supreme Court
The operator of the contested Dakota Access pipeline in North and South Dakota has failed in its effort to sidestep a new environmental review that could ultimately shut it down, after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case.

Big Cities Must Lead in Accommodating Climate Migrants, Study Advises
A study of climate migration in Mexico and Central America says big cities in the region must prepare for a huge influx of internal climate migrants, with lessons for all metropolitan areas on how best to accommodate new arrivals seeking better climate conditions and livelihoods.

BREAKING: Fossils Emit 70% More Methane than Governments Report: IEA Tracker
Emissions of climate-busting methane from fossil fuel operations are 70% higher than national governments are reporting, according to the 2022 edition of the Global Methane Tracker released this morning by the International Energy Agency (IEA).

U.S. Delays New Fossil Permits After Judge Quashes Social Cost of Carbon Calculation
The Biden administration is delaying decisions on new oil and gas drilling on federal land and other energy-related actions after a federal court blocked the way officials were calculating the real-world costs of climate change.

NL NDP Leader Urges Just Transition as Debate Heats Up on Bay Du Nord Oilfield
Pressure is beginning to build against Newfoundland and Labrador’s latest offshore oil venture, the 200,000-barrel-per-day Bay du Nord offshore oil development, with provincial NDP leader Jim Dinn speaking out about the climate costs of the proposal and demanding a just transition for the province’s oil and gas work force.

‘Out of Control’ Trans Mountain Pipeline Will Cost $21.4B, Still Need Taxpayers to Back Private Investors
There’s virtually no chance private financiers will put up billions of dollars to complete the Trans Mountain pipeline without a federal loan guarantee, analysts say, despite Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s assurance Friday that “no additional public money” will be invested in a project whose cost has now ballooned from $5.4 to $21.4 billion.

Mudslides Gut Brazilian Town, ‘Sting Jet’ Winds Lash Northern Europe, as Weather Grows Extreme
As Brazil mourns the more than 120 people killed and nearly as many missing after mudslides hit the mountain city of Petropolis, experts are warning that the country’s land use policies are severely deficient in the face of extreme weather.

FERC Introduces Tougher Impact Assessments, New Climate Rules for Gas Infrastructure
The U.S. regulator responsible for natural gas infrastructure is taking a closer look at whether new projects are needed and how they affect people and the environment, and floating new policy to address the climate impact of fossil gas development.

Italian Parliament Enshrines Biodiversity, Ecosystems Protection in Constitution
WWF Italy is hailing a recent amendment to include the safeguarding of ecosystems and biodiversity in the Italian constitution as an “important first step” in harmonizing the country’s legal system with European and international environmental principles.

Report Undercuts Enbridge Claim that Line 5 is Crucial for Oil Delivery
There are viable, cost-effective shipping alternatives to the contested Line 5 pipeline in Michigan—both for crude oil and natural gas—according to a new report that contradicts Enbridge’s claim the pipeline is a critical piece of infrastructure for refineries in Michigan, Ontario, and Quebec.

Corn-Based Ethanol May Be Worse for Climate than Gasoline, Study Reveals
Corn-based ethanol may have worse environmental impacts than fossil fuels, according to a new study that concludes the United States biofuel program has failed to meet emissions targets while delivering negatives impacts on water quality, land used for conservation, and other ecosystem processes.

As U.S. Car Crashes Surge, Experts Urge Fixes for Land Use, Transit
As United States officials offer road safety policies to address the 20,000 car-related deaths in just the first half of 2021, transport experts say streets will be much safer for everyone only when the government invests more in public transit and rethinks old patterns of land use.

Deep Dive: Bolsonaro’s Assault Drives Massive Rise in Amazon Deforestation
Every day, thousands of miners, loggers, farmers, and ranchers burn or cut roughly 10,000 acres of forest, working to satisfy a growing demand for the resources it contains. They are tiny cogs in a sprawling global machine that has destroyed nearly one-fifth of the Brazilian rainforest over the last 35 years.

New Study Deflates Conflict Between Renewables Development, Protected Areas
The conflict between using land for renewable energy and protecting land essential for biodiversity isn’t as severe as it sometimes seems, according to new research that recommends policy and regulatory controls as a solution.

Expenses Mount, Frustrations Rise as Lytton, B.C. Slowly Rebuilds
Frustrations are mounting over the slow pace of recovery in wildfire-ravaged Lytton, British Columbia, though hopes remain that the town will be rebuilt into a sustainable, resilient community, despite the loss of its property tax base.

‘Build Back Softer’, Expert Advises, as Climate Disasters Lay Waste to Infrastructure
As British Columbia responds to recent extreme weather events with pledges to “harden” their communities against climate impacts, sustainability expert Alison Shaw is urging them to “build back softer,” in ways more attuned to nature’s determined ebb and flow.

Guilbeault Takes Heat as Ring of Fire Regional Assessment Sidelines Indigenous Communities
In the vast peatlands of Ontario’s James Bay Lowlands, a new region-wide approach to considering the potential impacts of northern mining development is dangerously close to sliding completely off the rails. And it may take Canada’s new “activist” Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault with it.

Biden Extends Trump Solar Tariff, Loosens Restrictions on Bifacial Panels
U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday extended tariffs imposed by Donald Trump on most solar panels imported from China and other countries. But in a nod to his efforts to combat climate change and boost clean energy, Biden loosened restrictions on some panels used in large-scale utility projects.

Japanese Youth Sue Over Post-Fukushima Cancer Diagnoses
A group of six young people who developed thyroid cancer in the years following the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster are suing the plant operator for US$5.4 million, citing irreparable damage to job prospects and higher education hopes as a result of exposure to radiation from the plant.