In 2008, BC’s government put one of the world’s highest prices on carbon by introducing a carbon tax on fuel. The evidence from the past four years shows that BC sales of fuels subject to the tax have been dropping – in fact, the average British Columbian’s consumption of them has dropped 15.1% since
BC ‘carbon tax shift’ a success, says think-tank report
By Adam Pez The Hook/TheTyee.ca B.C.’s carbon tax has worked to cut down the fossil fuels use of British Columbians to the lowest in Canada with little economic damage to show for it, according to a new report. The study, entitled British Columbia’s Carbon Tax Shift, weighed the B.C. carbon tax’s impact on provincial fuel use against
Council of Canadians: July 1 – Upcoming TCoC Events
The Council of Canadians Founded in 1985, the Council of Canadians is Canada’s largest advocacy organization, with members and chapters across the country. If you believe that our social programs and public services should be strengthened, not privatized; that our foreign and trade policies should be independent, not subservient to the United States; and that
International Energy Agency says current pace of clean energy development won’t cut it to avoid worst of climate impacts
My latest Clean Break column: Tyler Hamilton Climate-change skeptics like to call environmentalists “alarmists” because of their call for urgent action to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. The skeptics say the science is too uncertain, that there’s no rush to act, and those who argue otherwise are sanctimonious lefties out of touch with reality. For them it’s
‘Climate Change Is a Huge Opportunity’
der Spiegel SPIEGEL Interview with Richard Branson: In an interview, British entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson argues that climate change will only be taken seriously when companies can find ways to profit from it. The battle to prevent global warming, he argues, requires brains and creativity. MORE
In Tokyo, Thousands Protest the Restarting of a Nuclear Power Plant
By MARTIN FACKLER NY Times TOKYO — Shouting antinuclear slogans and beating drums, tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered in front of the Japanese prime minister’s residence on Friday in the largest display yet of public anger at the government’s decision to restart a nuclear power plant. The crowd, including women with small children and
Doctors condemn move, but miners and residents applaud it
BY WILLIAM MARSDEN The Gazette MONTREAL – Quebec’s decision to reopen an asbestos mine will kill thousands of people in Third World countries where the product is sold, according to the Canadian and Quebec Medical associations. CMA president Dr. John Haggie of Gander, Nfld., said: “I can’t really understand the decision in terms
URGENT ACTION: COMMUNITY ORGANISATION IN DANGER, TWO SHOT
Council of Canadians Press Release June 2012 Two members of a community organisation that opposes mining operations in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca were shot and wounded on 16 June. They and other members of the organisation are at risk of further attacks. Bertín Vázquez Ruíz and Guadalupe Andrés Vázquez Ruiz were shot
Kitchener-Waterloo is calling you
Angela Bischoff Ontario Clean Air Alliance For our provincial political leaders, the place to be is K-W. With a razor-thin minority government hanging in the balance, all parties will be focusing on the upcoming by-election in Kitchener-Waterloo, likely to take place in September. This is a golden opportunity to draw attention to the major
Moving Towards Climate Justice, Overcoming Barriers to Change
Seth Klein’s speech to the Institute for New Economic Thinking Climate Justice Project Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives CCPA-BC Director Seth Klein speaks at the annual meeting of the Institute for New Economic Thinking (an international gathering of leading economists) in Berlin. His 12-minute speech summarizes some of the key lessons to date from our
Enbridge Safety Standards Not Yet ‘World Class’: Employee
Understaffing and hostile work culture contributed to US spill, operator testimony shows. By Andrew Nikiforuk, Today, TheTyee.ca A senior Enbridge employee has admitted to U.S. regulators investigating its $725-million bitumen spill in Michigan that the company won’t be able to achieve world class pipeline safety standards for years to come. The dramatic testimony, contained in
ACTION ALERT: Don’t Gamble With Municipalities: Take cities, towns and school boards out of CETA
Council of Canadians Action Alert Victoria, Lashburn, Toronto, Baie Comeau, Sackville… Across Canada, more than 30 local governments representing over 5.5 million people want the Harper government to stop gambling with their futures through the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). Another 30 to 40 municipal councils, school boards or associations have asked for
Canada’s Fisheries Act after Bill C-38
By Andrew Gage, Staff Lawyer West Coast Environmental Law Postmedia reporter, Mike DeSouza, has recently released several slides from Fisheries and Oceans Canada staff explaining how the current Canadian Fisheries Act is intended to protect fish habitat, including a slide clearly setting out the current legal protection for fish habit. Readers of our Environmental
High mercury levels prompt health advisory in Nunavut
“We are advising women to avoid eating ringed sealed liver” DAVID MURPHY NunatsiaqOnline.ca You may want to think twice when slicing off a piece of ringed seal liver. Five years after the 2007-08 Inuit Health Survey examined more than 1,500 Nunavummiut for a contaminants assessment, health officials are finally advising women of child-bearing
Tides, critics clash over charity’s claims of transparency
Kathryn Blaze Carlson National Post An environmental charity at the centre of the climaxing battle between green groups and the Conservative government opened its books on Wednesday, coming out on the offensive with an unprecedented, detailed account of its key grant recipients and major international donors. Tides Canada, a Vancouver group that runs a
