Sacred places are the oldest form of protected areas on the planet. In my interview with filmmaker, Christopher McLeod we talked about the importance of sacred places to indigenous cultures and the message his documentary series Standing on Sacred Ground has for EuroAmerican culture, the California drought and the Alberta oilsands.
Continue reading The Man Who Made Standing On Sacred GroundBy Roy L Hales
Unconventional drilling creates a huge amount of waste, some of which is being sprayed onto farmer’s fields. A 2005 report from New Zealand stated cows grazing on “dump farms” have elevated levels of hydrocarbons. “Cows are allowed to graze on land with high levels of hydrocarbons without any punishment and their food products are allowed to go to market without government testing,” a Green Party MP said last year. It is happening in Canada too. The field above is northwest of Calgary. Former energy consultant Jessica Ernst said, “We are eating drilling & fracking waste.”
Continue reading We Are Eating Drilling & Fracking Waste
During the thirty years prior to the lawsuit, Ernst was a consultant working in the oil and gas sector. She performed like environmental impact assessments, environmental protection plans and recommended mitigation. Encana was one of her customers. Jessica Ernst doesn’t get paid work anymore. Seven years ago she sued against Encana, Alberta Environment and the Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB). The case has yet to go beyond the question of whether an Albertan citizen can sue government agencies. When Judge Neil Whittmann ruled the case can proceed, last November, he said (paragraph 56) “there is a reasonable prospect Ernst will succeed in establishing that Alberta owed her a primae facie duty of care.” Did Albertan regulators act in bad faith?
Continue reading Did Albertan Regulators Act In Bad Faith?
Canada is one of the top Nations for Renewable Investments. It ranked #5 in the Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index (RECAI) last September. The total for investments jumped 26% in 2014, over the previous year, to $9 billion.
Canada will not meet its emissions targets for 2020. There has been improvements since 2005, but the oil sector is expected to produce 28% more emissions by the end of this decade. Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he would like to regulate the oil sands, but that “would be crazy” in light of economic developments. Despite the global trend towards adopting renewable energy and smart technologies, the Canadian government continued to tie this nation’s economic future to the fossil fuel industry. So what is Canada missing?
Continue reading What is Canada Missing?
