| Canada No Longer a Democracy: Government High on Tar Sand Fumes Doing Nothing But Messing Up Kyoto |
[May. 22nd, 2006|09:49 am] |
Canada will try to block a bid to set stricter emissions targets in the Kyoto Protocol's second phase from 2012 and eventually wants the accord scrapped in favor of a voluntary deal, reports have said. The newspaper said it had obtained private Foreign Affairs Department instructions to Canadian negotiators in Bonn, Germany, where an international 10-day meeting opened this week to plot the second phase of the Kyoto Protocol. "The private instructions from the Foreign Affairs Department to the Canadian delegation show Canada will also oppose the widely held view that targets in the second phase, which begins after 2012, should be tougher than those in the first phase," the newspaper said. According to instructions quoted by the paper, the government advised negotiators: "Canada will not support agreement on language in the work program that commits developed countries to more stringent targets in the future." The 22 pages of instructions "also show that Canada wants the climate-change accord phased out in favor of a separate, voluntary deal," the daily wrote. |
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| ask your mayor to support Resolution 50 |
[May. 22nd, 2006|09:38 am] |
The US Conference of Mayors membership will be voting on final adoption of this Green Building measure during their Annual meeting which occurs the first week of June. As such, we urge you to contact your Mayor as soon as you can, and ask your mayor to support Resolution 50, which is formally titled Adopting the "2030 Challenge" for City Buildings. The Mayors of Chicago, Seattle, Miami, and Albuquerque recently jointly proposed Resolution No. 50, which sets a goal for carbon neutral buildings by 2030. Your mayor needs to hear early and often that they should support this initiative. Your message need not be explanatory; you simply need to ask for meaningful green buildings initiatives. Contact your Mayor by any means possible -personal contact, telephone call or email. |
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| it's official! Bill H.R. 5143 passes 416 to 6 |
[May. 11th, 2006|06:34 pm] |
from private Xprize to public HPrize
Fun times in the House! They just passed a bill funding a Hydrogen Fuel Cell prize. A grand prize of $10 million, and smaller prizes reaching millions of dollars is offered to anyone who can make one of these things viable... it's pretty muchin teh same vein as that Ansari X-Prize. The Energy Department announced earlier this year that it would provide $119 million in funding for research into hydrogen fuel cells, including $100 million over the next four years to projects to improve components of fuel cell systems.I guess the extra couple of million is incentive for the engineers and scientists to quit stalling or something...
[thanks anonymous tipster!] |
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| who? |
[Apr. 7th, 2006|05:47 pm] |
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| harper and his merry band of idiots... go away! |
[Apr. 6th, 2006|07:49 pm] |
CAN WE KICK THE BUMS OUT YET????
[Warning: Canadian politics ahead. Might not be on the International radar scope but aside from killing all those seals, the newly minted canadian government has decided to keep hacking away at eco concerns]
I usually shy away from Right/Left politics. Basically not my game... But these guys are going too far! And I've already had it with Rona. That honeymoon ended very quickly. Anyone who has the gumption and nerve to back out of Kyoto (while heading the damn thing) but not the cojones to actually face the public, and hides behind a letter to the editor, is a lameass who is simply wasting our time.... But now the rest of the sorrid lot are sticking their tongues out of their muzzles, and spewing sibilant disdain at the hardworking climate proactivists, and public interest workers. In fact these cowards, who more often than not hide behind Stephen Harpoo's gag order, have just announced a 40% slash in funding of climate activities through the department of natural resources. "If it's not in the taxpayers' interest to fund programs that are not effective, then we are not going to," Said pasty-assed Natural Resources Minister (of the minute) Gary Lunn (seriously Gary, you will be out of a job before you can even work a good groove into that seat, so don't get too comfortable). ( Read more... ) |
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| That's my Minister of the Environment! |
[Feb. 24th, 2006|08:24 pm] |
happy to report so far everybody was wrong....
Great article from Dennis Bueckert, in the Canadian Press, how they were Once skeptics, but now the Tories are preaching the Kyoto climate-change gospel! They say that even though the Conservatives opposed ratification of the climate treaty while in opposition, they appear to have undergone a conversion, promising to do a better job of cutting emissions than the Liberals ever did (the Liberals said they would, but didn't so pretty much anything is better than what they did on emissions).
"There's an action plan that we are going to move on very quickly," Minister of the Environment Rona Ambrose said in an interview with The Canadian Press today. Noting that the action plan will include an emissions-trading system for large polluters, and will try to engage the public in a new way.
"I'm very committed. The prime minister has given me a very strong mandate. ...I think we not only have the political will from the prime minister, and from myself and my colleagues, on this issue, we also have the public will on our side." ((And that was what was needed all along. See, they won't do it without us gasping for it... but if they want *our* votes and we let them know we want it.... well the sky's the limit!)) "We feel very strongly that we need to engage the public both in terms of our strategy and outreach but also in creating incentives ((oooh!)) and programs that reach the individual level in Canada." Ambose isn't just our
A lot of eco-peeps were worried that she was going to be pretty much the opposite of this. She os from Alberta after all (big Canadian oil), but our Minister of the Environment (and, BTW, president of COP the Conference of the Parties which is the UNFCCC group that made the Kyoto Accord) has been doing a great job so far! Good for you Rona! Let's rock! |
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| new group aims to be a pain in the G8's neckl! |
[Feb. 24th, 2006|08:16 pm] |
what could be scarier?
A brand new group called the "Climate Change Dialog initiative" comprised of lawmakers from all G8 countries has been formed and vows to push governments on climate change initiatives! "Climate change is both a national and a global problem and an issue that transcends political affiliations," Joan Ruddock, British parliamentarian and co-chair of the new initiative, told a news conference. "There is an urgency that not all players grasp or share," he said in a thinly veiled reference to the United States' refusal to ratify the Kyoto Protocol.
Ruddock said the group would shadow and feed into the twice-yearly meetings of G8 leaders and environment and energy ministers with the aim of producing concrete policy proposals for the G8 summit in Japan in 2008. Oooooh! What could be scarier than being shadowed by hundreds and hundreds of lawyers? This might actually work.... |
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| ....in the "waste = food" department: |
[Feb. 12th, 2006|02:16 pm] |
Governor visits Carson for announcement about plant that reuses refinery wastes and captures greenhouse gasses.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger joined oil company and electric utility executives in Carson today to announce plans to build a new hydrogen-burning power plant that reuses refinery wastes and captures greenhouse gasses. The $1 billion electric-generating station at the BP Carson refinery would run on hydrogen extracted from wastes created in the routine production of gasoline, and would vastly reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the process.
"Ve set the most ambitious goals for reducing greenhäus gases of any state," Schwarzenegger said. “Ve vill not meet these greenhäus goals vithout a strong commitment from the private sektor.”
( continue la vista, baby ) |
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| MAKING GREEN ROOFS HAPPEN!!! FYEAH! |
[Feb. 2nd, 2006|08:10 am] |
After 60 smog days and finding out how much money
they will save... the T.dot gets greener. En Masse!
Toronto City Council approved "Making Green Roofs Happen", its green roofs strategy The recommendations that Council approved today include a commitment to install green roofs on new and existing buildings owned by the City, green roofs are to be considered for existing municipal buildings when roofs are due to be replaced. For new City-owned buildings, the Green Roofs strategy sets a target of green roofs covering 50 to 75 per cent of a building's footprint. The council also recommended that a pilot program of financial incentives be initiated this year for the construction of green roofs. City officials will also work with Toronto Hydro and the Toronto Atmospheric Fund on the possibility of offering building owners additional financial incentives for retrofits.
Joe Pantalone, Deputy Mayor and Chair of the City's Environmental Round Table said, "Torontonians have asked us to do more to promote green roofs. In response, the City has approved a comprehensive approach - from establishing standards and building our capacity to support Green Roofs at the City level, to offering education, funding, expert advice and promotion." Yeah that's all it takes, ask. Oh and save the city $300M.. The City recently commissioned a multi-disciplinary green roof benefits study by Ryerson University. Researchers found that an eight-percent coverage of existing rooftops with extensive green roofs would generate over $300 million in initial cost savings in areas such as storm water management, combined sewer overflow reduction, building energy savings, and the urban heat island reductions. Operational cost savings for the city from this level of coverage were calculated at approximately $40 million per year. So remember kids, all you have to do is ask:p Still as we say up here; Awesome news, eh?
[CNW Group] |
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