Tag Archives: Stand.earth

Burning trees is not a clean energy option: climate advocates

Editor’s note: This article is of interest to residents of Cortes, Quadra and the neighbouring islands because firewood is often our primary source of heat. Wood pellets are sometimes suggested as a more environmental 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.”

Continue reading Burning trees is not a clean energy option: climate advocates

On third anniversary of B.C’s promise to protect old-growth, ancient trees still falling

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Conservation groups are alarmed that endangered old-growth forests continue to fall three years after B.C. promised to protect the ancient ecosystems and transform the province’s approach to forestry.

The province hasn’t fully met any of the 14 recommendations of the 2020 Old Growth Strategic Review (OGSR), said Torrance Torrance Coste, national campaign director for the Wilderness Committee.

Continue reading On third anniversary of B.C’s promise to protect old-growth, ancient trees still falling

First Nations leader celebrates evolution of stewardship in Great Bear Rainforest

A model for environmental protection may become much more.

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

There are new measures to better protect bear and fish habitat in the globe’s largest remaining coastal temperate rainforest, thanks to First Nations’ increasing role in stewarding the Great Bear Rainforest (GBR).

The new protections resulted from the latest five-year review of an agreement between the B.C. Ministry of Forests and two First Nations alliances — Coastal First Nations and Nanwakolas Council — which represent 11 of the 26 Nations with territory in the rainforest.

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New online ‘Forest Eye’ will daylight old-growth logging in B.C.

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

There will soon be no way for old-growth logging to go undetected in B.C. 

An online tracking system developed by an international environmental group goes live today. It will enable the public to monitor where old growth is being logged and is designed to hold the province accountable for promises to reform forestry, said project lead Angeline Robertson, a senior investigative researcher with Stand.earth. 

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Canada’s new cruise ship rules don’t plug loopholes for major source of wastewater pollution

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The federal government says some new cruise ship pollution measures are now mandatory, but environmental groups say the move still doesn’t plug gaps that permit the ongoing contamination of some of Canada’s most sensitive coastlines.

Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra announced Friday that voluntary measures established last April on the discharge and treatment guidelines for sewage (black water) and grey water — which includes kitchen water, laundry detergent, cleaning products, food waste, cooking oils and grease as well as hazardous carcinogens and other pollutants — will be mandatory immediately under an interim order

But the largest source of acidic waste water from cruise ships and other vessels will continue to flow into the ocean unabated, said Anna Barford, shipping campaigner for Stand.earth Canada. 

Continue reading Canada’s new cruise ship rules don’t plug loopholes for major source of wastewater pollution