A Green Canada Includes The West!

Canada may be out of the Kyoto protocol, but even our own non scientific target of 17% below 2005 levels by 2020 won`t be reached at this rate. Due to Harper`s indifference on climate change Canada is falling behind most nations not only when it comes to environmental action, but also maintaining past successes. Harper made Canada the only country not to stay on the UN convention combating droughts.

In Canada emissions are going up. Canada is way above it`s Kyoto agreements. Right now Canada emits 690 Mega tonnes of CO2. Nearly 20 tonnes of CO2 per capita, which makes us one of the biggest polluters  in the developed world. Who is to blame? Alberta. I think it is an over simplification to blame everything on Alberta. And yes while it is true that Alberta over represents itself in CO2 emissions in Canada compared to it's portion of the population. 

Alberta isn't a bad province, because it has oil, and yes oil isn't a bad thing. Oil is a vital resource in today's modern economy. The problem though is that Alberta's Tar Sands are polluting to much, and will hinder Canada ability to reach any target. The Problem is that Alberta is built on this vital resource. Alberta's low unemployment rate and usually* decent public finances are all due to the cash cow that is the OIL!

Quebec and other eastern provinces who don't have as many resources like Alberta, haven't found it too hard to reduce CO2 emissions. Ontario is 6.5% below 1990 levels (That means Ontario reached it's Kyoto target) Quebec is 2% below 1990 levels. Both these provinces have pledged to reduce CO2 emissions by  15% in Ontario and 20% in Quebec from 1990 levels by 2020. For Quebec and Ontario it is much easier to be green and so far these provinces are leading by example. 

The western provinces don't fair so well. BC emission are up 28% above 1990 levels, Manitoba 10%, Alberta 37% and Saskatchewan 69%!!!!!! Harper has taken no action on these frighting numbers. For me even though I live in Quebec I see that Canada can't reach any target no matter how low emissions are in Central Canada.

My Vision for a green Canada include's the west. In order to create a green Canada we need to get the west off fossil fuels, and yes that means getting rid of the old economy and creating a new economy. For this we can't just say to Alberta your on your own. The federal government must help the west invest in green energy to create a new western economy off fossil fuels. A green Canada doesn't mean high unemployment in Alberta. It means new and sustainable employment in the west. 

Ignorant Ignatieff

Once again, Ignatieff shows ignorance on the tar sands. He continues to say that the polluting source for oil can be sustainable and can reduce its emissions. The tar sands will never be able to become sustainable. It just takes so much force to harvest the oil. If we are not going to shut down the tar sands, then we should at least benefit from their existence. That's what a carbon tax does. We use the money gained to lower income tax. That would make sure that the polluters pay and Canadians gain. The bitumen sands are not a clean source of oil nor will they ever be. While it might be possible for the tar sands to reduce their carbon footprint, it will still be enormous. The only thing we can do is make sure we get rich of this oil instead of the companies getting rich.

Ignatieff said the oilsands provide a great benefit for the entire country and will continue to do so in the future.

"We're going to be in a hydrocarbon future for a long time," said Ignatieff.

"The key thing is to make it sustainable -- to create an industry that has great working conditions for the people in it, that drives down excessive use of water and that gets CO2 under control."

Read more at the Calgary Herald.

Boycotting the Tar Sands

A small town from Washington state has decided to stop using the Canadian tar sands for their transportation needs. Good for them. They have stood up for the environment and their future. Even though this action won't make a big difference alone, this can go to show that there are people who won't tolerate the enormous destruction of the environment that the tar sands promote. The tar sands will never be green and it's a waste of money to invest in Carbon Capture and Storage: it doesn't work. What we need is a carbon tax on polluters. The money gained can then be used to reduce taxes. It makes polluters pay so that Canadians win.

A small, environmentally conscious town in upstate Washington has moved one step closer in its bid to stop using fossil fuels derived from the Alberta oilsands for its transportation needs.

City councillors in Bellingham, Wash., on Tuesday voted unanimously in favour of a motion calling on the city "to identify ways to shift operations and consumption away from fossil fuelled transportation and specifically high-carbon based Canadian tarsands."

 Read more at CBC.

Ignatieff supports Tar Sands

Michael Ignatieff has once again said he supported the Alberta tar sands as long as they become cleaner towards the environment. The tar sands will never be clean. So far, there has been no innovations designed to reduce the environmental footprint of the tar sands besides Carbon Capture and Storage. Except that it doesn't work. The only solution to the problem of the tar sands is to let the companies exploit the resource. If they choose to use the tar sands, they will be taxed. There should be a carbon tax and multiple other taxes on those businesses instead of tax cuts like Harper's been giving them. Therefore, they will have an incentive to clean up, they will be able to continue exploiting the resource, while making all of us richer.

On the oilsands, Ignatieff said the resource and entire energy sector is a matter of national unity because it creates jobs and wealth across the country. However, there's growing environmental concerns in the oilsands -- including rising greenhouse gas emissions as well as the ecological footprint on air, water and land -- that can't be ignored, he said.

Read more at the Calgary Herald.

Bitumen Bird Death

On April 28, 2008, more than 1 600 birds died after landing into one of those tar sands waste ponds which look like this:

I doubt even humans could survive that. An expert has testified that this Syncrude pond is smack in the middle of the breeding area of the waterfowl. In fact, it's the second most important area for the waterfowl in North America. This is the kind of ecological meltdown the tar sands can create. Proponents of the tar sands continue to deny its effects. Not one tar sands project has ever been denied. Continuation like this will lead to more disasters.

Read about it at the Vancouver Sun.

Save the trees! Save the animals!

A new project called the Enbridge project would make a pipeline to transport oil from Edmonton to the north west of BC. This idea has been attacked by first nation groups saying it will damage the wild life and the people living their. I think knowing that there is a major protected area in kitimat their should not be a continuing of this project. A U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says there are about 70 oil spills per day. these are very small oil spills but this can of course wreck the housing prices of all the people living their and also this shows the people of Kitimat that oil is worth more than there protected areas

Coastal First Nations executive director Art Sterritt says after five years of scientific research and community consultations, the groups have found "no good" can come from the project.

The Enbridge pipeline would stretch more than 1,000-kilometres from the tar sands near Edmonton to the northwestern B.C. coastal town of Kitimat, before crude would be loaded onto tankers for export across the ocean.

http://www.cbc.ca/cp/national/100323/n032365A.html


http://www.kitimat.ca/EN/main/visitors/regional-attractions/marine-parks-protected-areas.html

Slow High Speed Rail

A nice article by Fraser Harland showing the benefits of HSR. He also brings to light some facts that even I didn't know before such as that Canada is the only G8 country without HSR. This fact means that all other superpowers in the G8 want to include high speed rail for their future because they know it supports the economy and is environmentally friendly. Canada is the only country yet to devote itself to a network. Even a group in Alberta is promising to run the trains, so long as the government constructs and leases out the tracks. It's now up to the government to decide if we want to be left behind or not.

There is even a group called Alberta High-Speed Rail that has said it would own and operate the trains, if the provincial government would build and lease the tracks. Its President and CEO Bill Cruickshanks argues that, “If you want to start an airline or a bus company, you don’t have to build an airport or a highway. We take the attitude that if government is going to build infrastructure for on industry it should do so for the other.”

http://www.argosy.ca/view.php?aid=42530

There is no propoganda!

The energy minster of Alberta said they will combat what it called "propaganda campaign". That is simply not true there is no propaganda about Alberta oil sands by environmental groups. The truth of the matter is the Alberta oil company's are not doing enough to conserve energy for the future, and that these company's are not doing enough to transition to a environment friendly industry

He says the announcement reducing provincial royalties was a turning point for the relationship between the government and the industry.

He says people outside Alberta need to understand how Canada's oil sands benefit them financially.

I feel that the minister should understand that the oil company's can still provide wealth for the province or even more by becoming more greener, and that just letting the oil industry's do what ever they want will not help any one but the oil company's
  http://www.cbc.ca/politics/story/2010/03/17/calgary-alberta-oilsands-liepert-speech-propoganda.html