Tag Archives: Natural Resources Defense Council

Animals, Energy, Rivers & Oceans

Feds urged to use emergency order to save endangered orcas

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Emergency protections for endangered southern resident killer whales are urgently needed because of increased oil tanker traffic from the expanded Trans Mountain (TMX) pipeline, says a coalition of conservation groups.

Six environmental organizations are formally petitioning Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault and Fisheries and Oceans Minister Diane Lebouthillier, urging them to recommend that cabinet issue an emergency order under the Species at Risk Act (SARA) to save the remaining 74 whales, said Margot Venton, nature program director of Ecojustice, a legal charity working for the environmental groups. 

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Forests

Burning trees is not a clean energy option: climate advocates

Editor’s note: According to the Strathcona Regional District Engagement Summary Report, “In Electoral Areas A, B (Cortes), and C (primarily Quadra and the Outer Islands), about 50% used wood heat and 40% used electric with the remaining 10% using an alternative.”

By Natasha Bulowski, Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

With the annual United Nations climate conference just around the corner, environmental groups are calling for an end to subsidies that support burning forest biomass to generate electricity.

In an open letter to Natural Resources and Energy Minister Jonathan Wilkinson and Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, the groups say financial support for the industry is at odds with the federal government’s pledge to phase out subsidies that harm biodiversity. The 24 signatories urge the government to “reverse course and choose true climate solutions” instead of “simply shifting from burning fossil fuels to burning forests for fuel.”

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Forests

Logging pollution is on the rise — but don’t expect to find it on the accounting books

By Natasha Bulowski, Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

As the world uses more and more wood over the next few decades, the planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions associated with logging will rise, new research predicts.

Yet many of these emissions are not currently attributed to the logging industry because widely used accounting methods leave the impression that wood harvests only marginally increase carbon emissions or don’t increase them at all, according to new research published in Nature.

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Forests

Leaked letter puts focus on Canada’s forestry trade priorities ahead of COP15

By Natasha Bulowski, Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Canada supports the goals of the European Union’s forestry trade rules, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault says, after a leaked letter recently revealed the country’s efforts to water down proposed EU regulations right before the United Nations’ global biodiversity conference kicks off in Montreal.

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Forests

Enviro groups say Canada’s climate goals are based on flawed forest carbon accounting

By Natasha Bulowski, Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Last week, the federal government announced Canada’s 2020 greenhouse gas emissions dropped, in part thanks to trees removing carbon from the atmosphere. However, environmentalists are quick to point out this calculation excludes a huge chunk of emissions from the logging industry.

Nearly seven megatonnes of CO2 were removed by the land use and forest sector, an amount that reduced the country’s total emissions by one per cent, according to the federal government. Environmental groups, however, say the sector’s true GHG emissions are underreported by a staggering amount — approximately 80 million tonnes of CO2 each year.

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