Top News

Wednesday, November 12, 2014 - 18:52 • Emma Gilchrist ...
Convenient Conspiracy: How Vivian Krause Became the Poster Child for Canada’s Anti-Environment Crusade
Vivian Krause The Province

Today Vivian Krause published an opinion piece in The Province claiming “a vote for Vision is a vote for U.S. oil interests.” So, you might be wondering: just who is Vivian Krause? We’re so glad you asked…

An essential component of all public relations campaigns is having the right messenger— a credible, impassioned champion of your cause.

While many PR pushes fail to get off the ground, those that really catch on — the ones that gain political attention and result in debates and senate inquiries — almost always have precisely the right poster child.

And in the federal government and oil industry’s plight to discredit environmental groups, the perfect poster child just so happens to be Vivian Krause.

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Thursday, November 13, 2014 - 10:33 • Kevin Grandia
Why Does Canada Give Tax Breaks to the World's Richest Polluters?
Oilsand smoke stacks

A really great analysis just posted by CBC's Senior Business Producer, Don Pittis, looks at why Canada (read: taxpayers) is subsidizing oil companies to the tune of $34 billion.

All this money is being spent on some of the world's richest companies to find more oil, which will subsequently pump more greenhouse gas emissions into our air — a viscious cycle that we as taxpayers are actively promoting with our own hard-earned money.

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Wednesday, November 12, 2014 - 15:56 • Kevin Grandia
U.S.-China Climate Pact Leaves Prime Minister Harper With Few Excuses Left Not to Act
President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping

While on a visit to Bejing, U.S. President Barack Obama yesterday announced with his Chinese counterpart President Xi Jinping a new bilateral agreement on hard reduction targets for climate change pollution in those two countries.

The United States agrees to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 26 per cent from 2005 levels by the year 2025 and China commits to levelling off its carbon emissions by 2030.

When China or the United States act on any major global political issue, other countries take notice. And when China and the U.S. work in partnership on a major global issue, other countries definitely take notice. Looking at early analysis of what these announced targets represent in terms of the impact on our climate, it is clear they don't go far enough. However, it is a grand gesture by two powerhouse countries and that will have big ripple effects.

This all leaves Canada and its Prime Minister Stephen Harper in a very awkward position.

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Pipelines
Tuesday, November 11, 2014 - 12:37 • Chris Rose
Kinder Morgan Oversells Benefits of Trans Mountain Pipeline, Underplays Costs, Says New Report

Kinder Morgan has significantly overstated the benefits of its controversial Trans Mountain pipeline expansion proposal while vastly understating risks associated with increasing the flow of oil to Metro Vancouver.

That’s the conclusion of a new economic analysis by Simon Fraser University and The Goodman Group Ltd. which also recommended that the proposed expansion be rejected as it is neither in the economic nor public interest of B.C. and Metro Vancouver.

“The jobs created are nowhere near the number claimed by Kinder Morgan and the costs are grossly underestimated when the risks of a major spill, particularly one occurring in the Vancouver area, are factored in,” said Doug McArthur, director of SFU’s Graduate School of Public Policy, which co-authored the report.

“The whole project is highly questionable from a public policy point of view,” McArthur added.

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Science
Tuesday, November 11, 2014 - 09:40 • Carol Linnitt
Canada’s Union of Federal Scientists Gets Political, Commits to Campaign Against Harper Government

In an absolutely unprecedented move Canada’s Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC) announced it will engage in political activity in the lead-up to and during the next federal election.

“Extraordinary times call for extraordinary actions,” PIPSC president Debi Daviau said in a press release.

“This government has forced non-partisan organizations such as ours to make a very difficult choice: to remain silent or to speak out. We have chosen to speak out,” added Daviau.

PIPSC, Canada’s largest union of federal government scientists and professionals, represents some 55,000 public sector employees across the country.

The organization says the Harper government’s harsh treatment of union employees is damaging the public sector and the nation’s democracy.

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Monday, November 10, 2014 - 23:58 • Brendan Montague
McIntyre's Missing Millions or How Climategate Blogger Missed Out on 'Deal of a Lifetime'

This November marks the fifth anniversary of Climategate – when millions of emails were illegally hacked and spun as evidence that the world's leading global warming researchers were engaged in a dark conspiracy. Six inquiries exonerated the scientists. Over the coming weeks, DeSmog UK will be running a series of articles revisiting the faux scandal to explore the tragic and the farcical. 

Gold mining guru Steve McIntyre has long been accused of taking cash from oil companies to fund his climate denial investigations website Climate Audit.

McIntyre sparked the international Climategate scandal five years ago this month, when his blog inspired a hacker to break into servers at the UEA and steal emails and data shared between the world’s leading global warming scientists.

But DeSmog UK can today reveal for the first time that McIntyre actually lost out on millions of dollars because his almost obsessive pursuit of climate researcher Professor Michael Mann meant he missed out on “the deal of a lifetime” when his old company literally struck gold.

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Climate
Monday, November 10, 2014 - 12:08 • Chris Rose
Canada Urged to Prepare for 'Climate Migrants' in Warming World: New Report
Climate migrants

In a sign of things to come, a report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives says Ottawa should create a new “climate migrants” immigration class to prepare for the inflow of people fleeing extreme climate change.

“Estimates of the number of climate-influenced migrants range widely, but most projections agree that in the coming years climate change will compel hundreds of millions of people to relocate,” the report says. “Climate change is one factor that interacts with many others to drive population movements.”

Many countries are more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change than Canada, said the 26-page report — Preparing BC for Climate Migration — published last week. 

“Industrialized countries like Canada have disproportionately benefitted from the combustion of fossil fuels, whereas others who have contributed least to climate change will disproportionately feel its impacts,” the report states.

Canada is the fourth highest per-capita greenhouse gas emitter in the world according to 2008 World Resources Institute climate data (this estimate does not take into account emissions resulting from the burning of exported coal, oil and gas).

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