Go Green » Climate Change

Alberta Tarsands welcoming committee

Michelle — Tue, 11 May 2010 17:37:38 +0000

This is an excellent video from Al-Jazeera which shows how a reporter was harassed and followed as he tried to get some answers at the Alberta Tar sands.

BC’s silent crisis: NSR

Michelle — Fri, 07 May 2010 17:29:00 +0000

There is a reforestation crisis in British Columbia and very few people know about its existence. Over 700,000 hectares once logged for timber are now barren landscapes; a gaping void on a sheet of statistics. On top of this, an additional 673,000 hectares of crown land has been burned due to forest fires. On top of everything are 7 million hectares of dead trees killed by the mountain pine beetle infestation. All of these areas need re-planting. Some of these areas were logged years ago. It’s a condition known as “Not Satisfactorily Restocked.”

Why is this a big deal? As fewer of these areas are re-forested, timber companies push for other areas to be logged; old-growth areas that were previously off-limits. Witness the Avatar Grove. Witness the Koksilah Rainforest.

In 2001, public reforestation was budgeted at $45 million, now the budget has been slashed to $3 million. Growers of seedlings have closed up shop and laid off hundreds of workers. Tree planters aren’t needed.

This has become such a huge issue that the Pulp, Paper and Woodworkers of Canada are working alongside with the Sierra Club of BC and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. Something must be done. I’ll leave you with their words:

Forest provide an incredible array of environmental services, such as protecting the lands surrounding our drinking water reservoirs. Maintaining healthy forests is also one of the few ways we have to store and pull carbon out of the atmosphere. Planting trees, then is one of the soundest green infrastructure investments we can make.

For more information, go www.policy-alternatives.ca/coolforests.

Canada denies polar bears vote

Michelle — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 13:00:40 +0000

This week is Polar Week (March 15-19) and the polar bears won’t be celebrating.

Polar bears and Bluefin Tuna have a lot in common. They are both endangered species – one from climate change and the other from over fishing and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) has announced that it’s okay to keep exporting their parts for sale. The government of Canada supported these decisions.

Canada is the only country that allows the export of polar bear parts for sale. Other countries such as Greenland and Norway only allow indigenous cultures to kill them for their own use. The Canadian delegates argued that trophy hunting and the sale of polar bear skins are an important economic lifeline to the Inuit. This is in spite of the fact of the diamond mines and gas exploration projects which have radically altered living in the far north.

While some are celebrating the decision at the CITES conference, others are attending the State of the Arctic Conference (March 16-19) underway in Miami.

The need for cheap green power

Michelle — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 13:00:28 +0000

Solar energy accounts for only .01 % of U.S. generating capacity. Don’t hold your breath waiting for a solar provider to take the place of your gas station anytime soon. Why is that?

Green power needs investments for start-up and development. Where are the government subsidies? Right now, wind power costs 50% more than power generated by coal and yet the hidden costs of fossil fuels come back to haunt us in the name of climate change.

Global Trends in Sustainable Energy Investment 2009, reports that investment in clean energy companies declined significantly in 2007 and further declined in 2008.

Renewable Energy Certificates are one way to support the development of wind farms by encouraging consumers to buy a certificate for each megawatt hour of electricity the generator produces. Others are considering Power Purchase Arrangements – long term energy contracts that fund construction of independently owned power generators.

From the report:

Canada’s clean energy stimulus package is almost entirely targeted on carbon capture and storage. The country’s generation portfolio is already highly decarbonised, virtue of its massive hydro and nuclear portfolios. However, its exceptionally carbon-intensive oil sands operations are a serious carbon risk, a risk compounded by Alberta’s atypically coal-heavy generation portfolio. The national government effectively views carbon capture and storage as the only way to salvage the Alberta economy in the long run, and is devoting funding accordingly.

Will BC forests look like Britain?

Michelle — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 13:00:07 +0000

British Forestry Commissioner Tim Rollinson gave a lecture recently at the University of British Columbia highlighting the importance of forests as the world’s population grows to an estimated 8 billion people in the next fifteen years. Forests are at the forefront in the fight against climate change, to lock up carbon, oxygenate the atmosphere and conserve water. This new view of forests is a big change from how they were viewed in Britain at one time.

“By the time the Romans arrived in Britain around 2,000 years ago, forest cover had been reduced to around half of its original state. Even so, when Julius Caesar arrived he was recorded as saying that ‘the whole island is one horrible forest’! At the beginning of the 20th century, our forest cover was at an all time low – just 5% of the land area.

Using examples from Britain, Mr. Rollinson emphasized the need for foresters need to be able to conserve, harvest and manage forests sustainably, and restore the forests that have been lost.

Mr. Rollinson chairs the Global Partnership on Forest Landscape Restoration, a collaborative network of people that promotes responsible forestry and reforestation.

It would be interesting if he had any words to say about British Columbia’s decision to axe away at its own forest policies. Whereas Britain can be proud of its reforestation, whereas the coastal Douglas firs on British Columbia’s west coast have almost been eradicated because there has been no incentive to reforest over the years.

In the meantime, one of the larger seedling growers, Pacific Regeneration Technologies, has closed several locations due to changes in BC’s forestry practices.

2010 – International Year of Biodiversity

Michelle — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:00:25 +0000

Celebrate our earth’s biodiversity this year by appreciating and taking action to preserve our flora and fauna.

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature has an excellent website featuring biodiversity, climate change and sustainable energy. You can also see beautiful photos on their site Species of the Day www.iucnredlist.org.

Climate Change and the Mountain Pine Beetle

Michelle — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 13:05:37 +0000

Here is a really good video that talks about the effects of climate change on the mountain pine beetle population. These tiny little beetles normally are killed off during cold winters but British Columbia hasn’t seen cold weather for over ten years now. As a result, the mountain pine beetles are multiplying at an exponential rate, killing pine trees with the potential to spread to Canada’s boreal forest.

Cool wet weather delayed prairie harvest

Michelle — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 23:45:33 +0000

Farmers in western Canada felt the effects of cool, wet weather last fall, causing them to delay harvesting by at least three weeks.

In November, Saskatchewan Agriculture reported that nearly 40 percent of oats, 30 percent of canola, 22 percent of spring wheat, and 14 percent of barley was still on the field. In Alberta, a sizeable portion of canola still remained on the field. Manitoba experienced similar delays in its soybean harvest.

Farmers were forced to buy grain dryers to bring down the moisture level as well as regularly moving it around in storage areas to prevent spoilage. Canola is considered damp when the moisture content exceeds just 12.5%.

Could cool wet weather be a sign of things to come?

Copenhagen Summit websites

Michelle — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 20:09:28 +0000

Here are some organizations that are pushing for change during these climate talks in Copenhagen:

http://hopenhagen.org – “Turn Copenhagen into Hopenhagen”

http://tcktcktck.org – “Tck Tck Tck – The world is ready”

www.sealthedeal2009.org – Seal the Deal – United Nations Environment’s website for Copenhagen

Great sites for Copenhagen coverage

Michelle — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 20:30:31 +0000

The Guardian has a comprehensive website on the Copenhagen Climate Summit. Visit www.guardian.co.uk/environment

Another informative site is the Green Detectives www.greendetectives.net which talks about the climate talks from an American perspective.