Environment

Advancing Canada’s Arctic Agenda?

September 1, 2010
Prime Minister Stephen Harper toured Canada's Arctic last week for the fifth time since he took office, in an effort to reaffirm Canada's claims to the region. In 2009, Harper's tour resulted in the establishment of an official Northern strategy and the creation of CanNor, a regional economic development agency, in the interest of supporting socio-economic development, Canada's Northern sovereignty, the improvement of Northern governance, and the protection of the Northern environment. This year Harper's weeklong tour demonstrated that the federal government aims to reinforce these goals.

Featured Report: Linkages Among Climate Change, Crop Yields and Mexico–US Cross-Border Migration

August 4, 2010
Researchers from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University have concluded a study drawing on ten years of data quantifying the effects of climate change on migration patterns in North America. Specifically, the study analyzes Mexico-US emigration statistics from 1995 to 2005 and examines the correlation between climate change, crop yields and migration.

Mexico Pursues Leadership Role in Climate Change Debate

July 21, 2010
In preparation for high level climate change talks set to take place in Mexico at the end of this year, the Mexican government launched its COP 16: Mexico 2010 website in early July.  On November 29, 2010 leaders from around the world will descend on the resort city of Cancun, Mexico for the two week COP 16 United Nations Climate Change Conference. The meeting will build upon negotiations that took place in Copenhagen at the end of 2009.

Beyond Petroleum: The Broader Effects of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

September 1, 2010
The leak at the ill-fated Deepwater Horizon well appears to have been stopped. Of course, the oil that has been released into the environment has done, and may continue to do, damage to the region’s ecosystems and tourist and fishing economies—damage that continues, justifiably, to reverberate in the public discourse. Yet while it has been called the "greatest environmental disaster" in American history, the effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010 go well beyond direct environmental and economic damages Read more

Wind turbine factory to create 300 jobs

August 13, 2010
Siemens Canada will set up a factory employing up to 300 people in Ontario to build blades for wind turbines. The plant's location hasn't been set, but it's likely to be somewhere between Hamilton and Windsor, Siemens senior vice president Bill Smith said in an interview. The company is looking both at existing facilities and greenfield locations and "we've got it down to a short list," Smith said. Siemens will be supplying the blades for a massive wind and solar power development led by Samsung C&T Corporation, with its partner Pattern Energy. Read the full story    

The Age of Deconsumerism

August 12, 2010
Representing a growing proportion of the GDP since 2000, especially in the US, personal consumption is a major component of the economy of the largest industrialized nations. A discussion paper from the Policy Research Initiative discusses the financial and environmental impacts of the recession, along with the divide between the rich and poor. Read    

The Economic Benefit of Refurbishing and Operating Ontario's Nuclear Reactors

August 9, 2010
According to a report released by the Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters, the refurbishment and continued operation of nuclear reactors in Ontario offers substantial employment and economic benefits to the province. The report, featured by the Canadian Nuclear Association, provides an economic impact analysis of the benefits of refurbishment. Read

Confronting the Crisis of International Climate Policy: Rethinking the Framework for Cutting Emissions

August 5, 2010
Copenhagen failed to produce an agreement on climate change commensurate with the scale of the problem, highlighting the fundamental weaknesses in the existing UN framework. Progress on a new agreement is agonizingly slow, with fundamental disagreements remaining on nearly ever aspect of the negotiation agenda. Weightier commitments by the major emitters are necessary, but calls for 'greater ambition' ignore the structural problems embedded in the institutions, processes and policy models of the UN climate regime. Read more

Biggest provinces push plan to cap emissions

August 3, 2010
Canada's three largest provinces are forging ahead on a cap-and-trade system to stem global warming emissions, a move made just after a similar plan was abandoned by the U.S. Senate. The system, set to start in January, 2012, would cap emissions on large industrial facilities in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia in Canada, and in California and New Mexico in the United States. Read more