The White House today announced the creation of a unifying national ocean policy that will protect key natural resources and ensure that sustainability will drive future economic activities offshore and close to shore. “Our planet is 70 percent blue, and our national economic and environmental policies should keep it that color,” said Chris Mann, senior officer for the Pew Environment Group.

A month following the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion off the Gulf of Mexico, US Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) unveiled a climate change bill which aims to utilize alternative fuels such as natural gas, nuclear energy, and various green sources of power in an effort to cut US carbon dioxide emissions. The proposed American Power Act (APA), a modified version of the Waxman-Markey bill that passed in the House of Representatives on June 26, 2009, calls for the reduction of carbon emissions by 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050.

In the recent edition of the Estey Journal, Marc D. Froese's article, Trade Friction, Dispute Settlement and Structural Adjustment, Or, Why Canada-Wheat Doesn't Matter in North American Trade Relations, discusses state trading enterprises (STEs) and the World Trade Organization's (WTO) attempt to regulate their behaviour.

The Oil Sands Monitor is an initiative of the Canada West Foundation which seeks to track and quantify traditional and internet media coverage of the Alberta oil sands. Analyzing stories from varied media outlets in Canada and around the world, the Oil Sands Monitor focuses on the world's perceptions of the environmental and economic impacts of the oil sands and ascribes positive, negative, and neutral labels to the reviewed postings.

If offshore drilling were permitted, the US' access to the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) alone could provide an approximate 86 billion barrels of crude oil and 420 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Given that the US currently imports about 540,000 barrels of crude oil each day via the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), offshore drilling in the US could essentially provide enough oil domestically for 159,259 days.

Natural Resources Canada2010/19April 16, 2010 Canada and U.S. Expand Clean Energy Collaboration WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the Governments of Canada and the United States took another step on the development of clean energy technology under the Canada-U.S. Clean Energy Dialogue. The Honourable Christian Paradis, Minister of Natural Resources, and Steven Chu, U.S. Secretary of Energy, signed the Declaration of Intent (DOI) for Cooperation in Energy Science and Technology.

At one time deemed too dangerous, the utilization of nuclear energy is a prospect increasingly discussed by North American and world leaders. In recognition of global warming and the need to replace coal and oil-based energy sources, the Canadian and American governments have recently breathed new life into their clean energy agendas with spending commitments that will see the continuation and increase of nuclear energy projects on both sides of the border.

Recent activity by the Calderón administration indicates that Mexico may be attempting to move away from its large dependence on trade with the United States through promoting relations with fellow Latin American states. Mexico has suffered a major recession due to the global economic collapse and the retraction of the American market.

Mexico is suffering "from severe environmental devastation," which may be the "worst witnessed in the world," according to Mexico's National Assembly of Environmentally Affected Groups (Asamblea Nacional de Afectados Ambientale or ANAA).  The Americas Program published a translated copy of the ANAA's warning of environmental disaster on February 1, 2010.