Archives

    Archives

    Pope Francis calls for action on climate change & capitalism on a planet “Exploited by human greed”

    Dec 31, 2014 – Democracy Now

    Pope Francis is set to make history by issuing the first-ever comprehensive Vatican teachings on climate change, which will urge 1.2 billion Catholics worldwide to take action.

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    2015: A year for carbon pricing, peer pressure and Paris

    Dec 29, 2014 – Climate Change News

    December 2015, is where negotiators from around the world are set to strike a global deal to tackle climate change. What happens in the next 12 months politically, economically and environmentally could make or break that deal.

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    Caribou hunt industry collapse still haunts northern Quebec

    Dec 23, 2014 – CBC News

    Biologists who study caribou say it is highly unlikely the George River herd will ever be able to sustain a sport hunt again. They don’t know the exact reason for the decline, but suspect a number of factors such as a strain on the habitat, climate change and a high number of predators are to blame.

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    Ice-free Arctic could be just six years away

    Dec 22, 2014 – The Star

    Sea ice has always been highly variable. David Barber, who holds the Canada Research Chair in Arctic System Science at the University of Manitoba, says that variability is growing and makes predictions difficult. Dates for an Arctic free of summer ice vary from 2020 to 2080 and scientists can’t really say how that’s going to play out in different regions.

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    Peak Snow? BC Ski Resorts Brace for Warmer Era

    Dec 22, 2014 – The Tyee

    While climate change will have far direr consequences than harming the quality of recreational snow sports, the industry is a major economic force that provides a livelihood for 12,000 people in BC. The province’s 85 ski areas bring in $600 million in revenue annually.

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    Earth heats up, world cold to deal

    Dec 21, 2014 – India Tribune

    Lima talks have put off the difficult task of negotiating a global agreement on climate change to Paris next year. As India anchors the developing world against the developed countries’ efforts to shift the onus of cutting carbon emissions, environmentalists warn that time is running out. For the sake of planet earth, and global climate justice.

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    Permafrost thaw threatens Arctic infrastructure

    Dec 19, 2014 – Deutsche Welle

    Global warming is changing the Arctic – while some herald the opportunities that come with easier access, the thaw could literally yank the ground out from under communities.

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    Arctic still heating up twice as fast as rest of planet

    Dec 17, 2014 – Christian Science Monitor

    If global warming has paused, someone forgot to tell the Arctic. Annual average temperatures have continued to rise for the region as a whole throughout the recent slowdown in the pace of warming globally, according to a new analysis of conditions above 60 degrees north latitude.

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    Why politicians don’t fight climate change: Walkom

    Dec 16, 2014 – The Star

    Climate change is the issue that Canadians refuse to address. We talk about it. But in the end, too many of us are unwilling to do anything serious about the greenhouse gases that, according to a United Nations scientific panel, threaten to inexorably alter the planet.

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    Latest UN Climate Action Plan ‘Very Weak Indeed’

    Dec 16, 2014 – The Tyee

    With yet another United Nations high level conference making very little, if any, real progress on slowing climate change, a near miracle will be required if countries are to reach a meaningful and binding global agreement on carbon emissions in Paris next December.

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    3 CHARTS: How Canada’s climate change record compares to the rest of the world

    Dec 13, 2014 – CTV News

    So how does Canada actually rank when it comes to climate change? Here are three charts for comparison: absolute emissions, emissions per capita, and projected emissions to 2020.

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    A strange new gene pool of animals is brewing in the Arctic

    Dec 11, 2014 – Nautilus

    Scientists have seen the future and it is “grolar bears.” In September, in the Arctic Ocean, Pacific and Atlantic bowhead whales met in the middle. The fossil record indicates the last time Pacific and Atlantic bowhead whales came into contact was at least 10,000 years ago.

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    Include climate change when assessing pipeline projects, groups urge

    Dec 11, 2014 – The Toronto Star

    The National Energy Board is being asked to include climate change in its assessment of the $12-billion Energy East project, adding momentum to the push to have environmental factors taken into consideration for pipeline projects.

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    Regulating oil and gas industry would be ‘crazy’ under current oil prices: Harper

    Dec 9, 2014 – CBC News

    Prime Minister Stephen Harper made it clear today that Canada will not regulate emissions from the oil and gas industry ahead of the United States.

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    Storm warning: ‘incredible’ subtropical storms to drench B.C.

    Dec 8, 2014 – CBC News

    Environment Canada is warning West Coast residents to brace for an ‘incredible’ series of storms that will bring an extraordinary amount of rain this week. A warm subtropical weather pattern “will bombard the mountains of Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland from today through Thursday morning,” according to a weather warning issued by Environment Canada.

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    Typhoon Hagupit makes landfall in Philippines

    Dec 6, 2014 – Associated Press

    Typhoon Hagupit slammed into the central Philippines’ east coast late Saturday, knocking out power and toppling trees in a region where 650,000 people have fled to safety, still haunted by the massive death and destruction wrought by a monster storm last year.

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    Ban Ki-Moon says Canada must do more on climate change

    Dec 5, 2014 – CBC News

    Ban Ki-moon, in an exclusive interview with CBC News, says Canada needs to stop stalling on setting climate change goals, and instead become “ambitious and visionary.”

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    Green energy sector jobs surpass total oil sands employment

    Dec 2, 2014 – Globe and Mail

    Canada’s green energy sector has grown so quickly and has become such an important part of the economy that it now employs more people than the oil sands.

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    Canada’s climate inaction leaves it ‘increasingly isolated’ ahead of COP 20

    Dec 1, 2014 – CBC News

    Canada is looking “increasingly isolated” as former climate policy laggards such as the U.S. and China take action to tackle climate change, policy experts say.

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    Climate change survey reveals Canadians’ fears for future generations

    Nov 28, 2014 – CBC News

    A new Environics poll of 2,020 people revealed 50 per cent of respondents are “extremely” or “definitely” concerned about a changing climate, and 78 per cent of those fear the kind of legacy it will leave for future generations.

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    Winnipeg’s first battery-powered electric bus goes into service

    Nov 27,2014 – Winnipeg Free Press

    Winnipeg has zapped itself to the head of the pack of battery-electric bus service with the first battery-electric bus in regular service starting Friday morning on — you guessed it — route 20 Watt.

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    David Suzuki delivers fiery speech to Kinder Morgan protesters

    Nov 23, 2014 – Vancouver Observer

    Legendary environmental leader David Suzuki walked up to a police line defending Kinder Morgan drill crews on Burnaby Mountain on Sunday at a protest gaining world-wide attention.

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    Ontario and Quebec governments sign cooperation agreements on Energy East, climate change

    Nov 21, 2014 – Canadian Press

    TORONTO – Ontario has joined with Quebec to set out the conditions, including the prickly issue of greenhouse gas emissions, TransCanada Corp. must comply with to secure a positive response from the provinces regarding its Energy East project.

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    Snow-covered Buffalo area faces risk of roof collapses, flooding

    Nov 21, 2014 – CBC News

    A snowfall that brought huge drifts and closed roads in the Buffalo area finally ended Friday as the looming threat of rain and higher temperatures through the weekend and beyond raised the possibility of floods and more roofs collapsing under the heavy loads.

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    Dramatic arrest of Kinder Morgan protesters met with defiance and pride

    Nov 20, 2014 – Vancouver Observer

    Thursday was the most dramatic day in a months-long battle between citizens and Texas-based Kinder Morgan over the company’s controversial Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project. In a rapid sweep, RCMP arrested as many as two dozen Kinder Morgan protesters on Burnaby Mountain.

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    Global Warming is probably boosting lake-effect snowstorms

    Nov 19, 2014 – Slate

    In the aftermath of a massive lake-effect snowfall event in western New York state, it’s worth asking: Is climate change playing a role here? The short answer is: yes

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    Monsanto wants to help you beat climate change…with your phone

    Nov 19, 2014 – Mother Jones

    You probably know Monsanto as the world’s leading producer of genetically engineered seeds—a global agribusiness giant whose critics accuse it of everything from boosting our reliance on pesticides to driving Indian farmers to suicide. Now, there’s a new evolution on the horizon: Monsanto is making a big move into big data.

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    US Senate narrowly defeats Keystone XL pipeline bill

    Nov 18, 2014 – New York Times

    WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats, by a single vote, stopped legislation that would have approved construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, one of the most fractious and expensive battles of the Obama presidency. But the events of this week suggest that the president may eventually approve the pipeline.

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    Mayor has friends in rapid-transit plans

    Nov 18, 2014 – Winnipeg Free Press

    WINNIPEG – John Norquist, the former mayor of Milwaukee, was in Winnipeg Monday at a a one-day summit on transit-oriented development (TOD). He told about 70 participants that newly elected Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman is on the right track with his plan to develop six rapid-transit corridors in Winnipeg by the year 2030.

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    Breakthrough? US, China set new goals for cutting greenhouse gas emissions

    Nov 12, 2014 – The Associated Press

    BEIJING, China – The United States and China pledged Wednesday to take ambitious action to limit greenhouse gases, aiming to inject fresh momentum into the global fight against climate change ahead of make-or-break climate talks next year.

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    Alaska storm brings frigid weather to swath of US

    Nov 9, 2014 – Associated Press

    JUNEAU, Alaska – A massive storm fueled by the remnants of Typhoon Nuri is anchoring a system that will push a frigid blast of air into the mainland United States and send temperatures plunging early this week.

     

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    Climate change and freedom of expression on trial in Kinder Morgan lawsuit

    Nov 7, 2014 – Vancouver Observer

    In what has been perhaps one of the more entertaining days of a high-profile court hearing regarding Kinder Morgan’s lawsuit against several citizens, a lawyer openly mocked the company in court for its description of how protesters behaved towards company crews.

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    Will Polar bears become extinct?

    Nov 7, 2014 – BBC Earth

    Polar bears, most scientists agree, are in trouble. “The best estimates we’ve got indicate that we’ll probably lose somewhere around two-thirds of the world’s bears somewhere around mid-century, just based on the simple fact that we’re losing sea ice,” says Andrew Derocher, a professor of biological sciences at the University of Alberta.

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    Study finds no link between wind turbine noise, perceived health effects

    Nov 6, 2014 – The Canadian Press

    TORONTO – A Health Canada study has found no evidence to support a link between exposure to wind-turbine noise and health effects reported by people living near the towering structures.

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    US elections a ‘bloodbath’ for environmental policy, advocates say

    Nov 6, 2014 – Al Jazeera America

    Just days after a United Nations panel warned that failure to dramatically and quickly curb the burning of fossil fuels would do “irreversible damage” to the planet, the U.S. electorate on Tuesday voted in a Congress even more committed to the carbon status quo.

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    Energy executive quits Trans Mountain Pipeline review, Calls NEB process a ‘public deception’

    Nov 3, 2014 – DeSmog Blog

    An energy executive is weighing in on the federal review of Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain oil pipeline expansion with a scathing letter that calls the National Energy Board’s review process “fraudulent” and a “public deception”.

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    David Suzuki Foundation says Canada must move quickly to clean energy

    Nov 2, 2014 – Canadian Press

    VANCOUVER – The UN’s panel on climate science report released Sunday in Denmark says climate change is happening, and it’s almost entirely man’s fault. The David Suzuki Foundation says Canadians must respond quickly to ensure that clean energy becomes a national priority in order to prevent the most serious effects of climate change.

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    IPCC: rapid carbon emission cuts vital to stop severe impact of climate change

    Nov 2, 2014 – The Guardian

    Climate change is set to inflict “severe, widespread, and irreversible impacts” on people and the natural world unless carbon emissions are cut sharply and rapidly, according to the most important assessment of global warming yet published.

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    Kinder Morgan serves legal papers to pipeline opponent via Facebook

    Oct 31, 2014 – Vancouver Observer

    The battle over Burnaby Mountain took an unusual turn Friday in a Vancouver courtroom where it was revealed that Kinder Morgan had served several residents with legal papers using hasty methods. “I was served papers via Facebook”

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    U of M students approve transit U-Pass

    Oct 31, 2014 – Winnipeg Free Press

    Students at the University of Manitoba have voted 53 per cent in favour of the U-Pass, the special Winnipeg Transit pass system that would give university students an 8-month pass at a special rate of $260 that would be added to their annual fees.

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    Energy East pipeline proposal facing many foes

    Oct 30, 2014 – Vancouver Observer

    For his “Along the Pipeline” project, Montreal photographer Robert van Waarden visited people from the proposed Energy East pipeline’s start in Hardistry, Alberta all the way across country to St.John, New Brunswick. “I think we were being fed by many officials that this was a ‘done deal’ – and I actually really think many Canadians and First Nations think differently.  I wanted to discover what that was about.”

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    Young US voters like candidates who favour environment, but may not show up to vote

    Oct 28, 2014 – Huffington Post

    WASHINGTON – Young voters are much more likely than senior citizens to say they’ll vote for candidates who support cutting greenhouse gas emissions and boosting renewable energy, according to a poll released Tuesday by the University of Texas at Austin.

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    Winnipeg campuses voting on U-Pass

    Oct 28, 2014 – The Manitoban

    Students at the University of Manitoba and University of Winnipeg are currently voting in a referendum to determine whether or not a Universal Bus Pass (U-Pass) will be implemented in Winnipeg. The U-Pass is a transit pass that would give eligible students unlimited access to Winnipeg Transit services for fall and winter academic terms (September-April) for a set price.

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    Keystone foes energized as price pinches Oil Sands allure

    Oct 26, 2014 – Bloomberg

    Falling oil prices have energized opponents of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. U.S. benchmark crude has tumbled 10 percent this month, closing at $81.01 a barrel in New Yorktrading last week, and further declines are forecast. At $75, a government analysis said producers may be discouraged from developing Canada’s oil sands without pipelines like Keystone.

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    Burnaby loses its legal fight against Kinder Morgan for now

    Oct 24, 2014 – Vancouver Observer

    In a sea-saw legal conflict over the future of a multi-billion-dollar oil sands pipeline, the National Energy Board said it has ruled against the City of Burnaby in its attempts to block Kinder Morgan from doing its test pipeline drilling on Burnaby Mountain.

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    Ontario aims to join forces with Quebec on climate, electricity

    Oct 24, 2014 – The Star

    NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE — Fuelling a growing alliance aimed at strengthening mutual interests, Ontario and Quebec will hold a joint cabinet meeting November 21 on climate change, electricity needs, internal trade and ‎infrastructure.

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    Stop denying, start adapting to global-warming disasters

    Oct 22, 2014 – Winnipeg Free Press

    CBC/Doc Zone film Weather Gone Wild accepts the fact that the frequency of severe weather events is only going to increase. Instead, it focuses on what needs to be done in order to mitigate the damage caused by those “once-in-however-many-hundred-years” storms that seem to have become commonplace events early in the 21st century.

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    Simushir incident raises concerns over readiness of B.C. emergency services

    Oct 22, 2014 – Globe and Mail

    VANCOUVER – When a Russian cargo ship lost power and dead-drifted off Haida Gwaii for two days, it raised concerns because proposed oil and gas development could soon increase tanker traffic.

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    Scientists resurrect treasure trove of satellite data from the 1960s

    Oct 21, 2014 – Mashable

    A group of climate scientists has brought satellite imagery from the 1960s back from the dead, not only extending the record of Arctic and Antarctic sea ice by at least another decade compared to what researchers had previously known, but also providing new opportunities for studying the planet to a wide range of researchers.

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    Ship carrying 450 tonnes of fuel adrift off B.C. coast

    Oct 17, 2014 – The Globe and Mail
    The 135-metre bulk carrier Simushir hauling bunker and diesel fuel has lost power and is drifting off the B.C. coast toward Haida Gwaii. The Canadian Coast Guard received a call about the vessel at about 11 p.m. Thursday night. The ship, which had been travelling from Everett, Wash., to Russia, is carrying 400 tonnes of bunker fuel and 50 tonnes of diesel fuel.

     

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    Deadly storm system knocks out power to thousands in southern USA

    Oct 14, 2014 – AP

    ATLANTA – A severe storm system rolled across the southern US for a second day Tuesday, knocking out power to thousands. The storm, which claimed two lives a day earlier after spinning off tornadoes in Arkansas and Missouri, sent heavy thunderstorms across much of Georgia. Large areas of the state were under a tornado watch.

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    Study finds millennials’ shift away from driving is ‘more than temporary’

    Oct 14, 2014 – Baltimore Sun

    The nation’s largest generation — the so-called “millennials,” born between 1983 and 2000 — have shown less dependence on driving to get around in recent years and aren’t likely to change their ways, according to a new study released Tuesday by the Maryland PIRG Foundation and the Frontier Group.

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    Pentagon signals security risks of climate change

    Oct 13, 2014 – New York Times

    WASHINGTON — The Pentagon on Monday released a report asserting decisively that climate change poses an immediate threat to national security, with increased risks from terrorism, infectious disease, global poverty and food shortages. It also predicted rising demand for military disaster responses as extreme weather creates more global humanitarian crises. The Pentagon’s characterization of climate change as a present-day threat demanding immediate action represents a significant shift for the military.

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    Mayoralty candidates’ Transit platforms: Get real

    Oct 11, 2014 – Winnipeg Free Press

    Winnipeg’s mayoralty candidates have differing ideas of how we should proceed with Rapid Transit. The Free Press’s Bartley Kives gives us a roundup of the candidates’ positions.

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    Lego ditches Shell after Arctic oil protests

    Oct 9, 2014 – CNN Money

    COPENHAGEN – Lego is set to ditch a 50-year relationship with Shell after coming under intense pressure over the oil giant’s drilling in the Arctic. A Greenpeace video criticizing the marketing deal went viral, and the environmental activists staged several public protests.

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    Scathing report details Canada’s environmental shortfalls

    Oct 7, 2014 – Globe and Mail

    Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government is not doing enough to reduce carbon emissions, fight climate change and regulate oil and gas emissions, a series of audits from a federal watchdog have found.

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    CN Rail train derails in Saskatchewan; two cars of distillate burn

    Oct 7 – Reuters

    A freight train travelling from Winnipeg to Saskatoon derailed in Saskatchewan on Tuesday, setting two cars carrying petroleum distillate on fire. Derailments have become a particularly sensitive issue in Canada since the crude oil train crash in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, in July 2013 that killed 47 people.

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    Climate change makes it harder to save Lake Erie

    Sep 29, 2014 – Toledo Blade

    Although not the primary source of Great Lakes algae, climate change is exacerbating the problem and making it harder to reduce phosphorus and other nutrients that help algae grow, experts say.

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    SaskPower to launch carbon-capture power plant

    Sep 28, 2014 – Canadian Press

    REGINA – Saskatchewan’s government-owned power utility is set to launch its flagship carbon-capture-and-storage project. While its proponents say the project represents a way to burn coal more efficiently with less greenhouse gas, critics argue carbon capture simply enables the status quo and does little to mitigate the damage caused by carbon emissions.

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    Statoil puts oilsands project on hold for at least three years

    Sep 25, 2014 – Canadian Press

    CALGARY – Statoil has put its Corner oilsands project on hold for at least three years as it grapples with rising costs. “Market access issues also play a role — including limited pipeline access which weighs on prices for Alberta oil, squeezing margins and making it difficult for sustainable financial returns.”

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    Canada’s big announcement at UN climate summit: Follow the U.S.

    Sep 24, 2014 – Canadian Press

    UNITED NATIONS, – Barack Obama didn’t just make announcements for his own country at a United Nations climate summit Tuesday — he got to make Canada’s, too.

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    Protesters rally to ‘stop capitalism,’ Corporate leaders plot a low-carbon future

    Sep 23, 2014 – Daily Climate

    NEW YORK – Thousands of protesters converged on lower Manhattan in a “flood Wall Street” action, with a rallying cry to “stop capitalism”. At the same time, executives from some of the most successful companies on Earth pledged to lead the way to a low-carbon future.

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    David Suzuki launches ‘Blue Dot’ tour

    Sep 19, 2014 – Vancouver Observer

    Legendary activist David Suzuki has recruited an Obama strategist, Neil Young and Margaret Atwood to launch a national effort to push for the protection of a healthy environment in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

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    Floods shut down Philippine capital, thousands evacuated

    Sep 18, 2014 – Canadian Press

    MANILA, Philippines – Torrential monsoon rains worsened by a tropical storm flooded large swathes of the Philippine capital and nearby provinces Friday, leaving at least three people dead and displacing tens of thousands just days after the region was drenched by a typhoon.

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    Challenging the economics of climate solutions

    Sep 16, 2014 – Daily Climate

    Nations don’t have to choose between promoting prosperity and tackling climate change, according to a report released today by an international panel of government and business leaders.

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    NASA ranks this August as warmest on record

    Sep 15, 2014 – Climate Central

    While this summer may have felt like fall across much of the eastern half of the U.S., worldwide the overall picture was a warm one. This August was the warmest August on record globally, according to newly released NASA temperature data, while the summer tied for the fourth warmest.

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    Formula E racing is in infancy but will drive broader innovation

    Sep 15, 2014 – CBC News

    The World’s 1st electric racing series was held Saturday in Beijing. Sylvain Filippi, Virgin’s head technology officer and an electric car race pioneer, says the only thing holding back Formula E cars from being as fast as their Formula One cousins (the two race series are linked) is the power supply.

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    Stakes higher than ever, UN Climate Summit aims to be turning point for global action

    Sep 12, 2014 – Inside Climate News

    There are ample grounds for pessimism as preparations begin for the September 23 UN summit on climate change, being held in New York City. But that doesn’t make it any less urgent for negotiators trying to keep the world from warming more than 2 degrees Celsius, that elusive diplomatic grail.

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    Red River becomes ‘flashier,’ creating international headaches

    Sep 11, 2014 – ClimateWire

    The northern Great Plains doesn’t attract much attention when it comes to climate change. It’s not besieged by rising seas like the East Coast or threatened by prolonged drought and wildfires like the far West. Webbed with rivers, the region is the heart of North America’s crop production, and its problem is that it’s getting wetter.

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    Solar-power system to run airship hangar may one day produce hydrogen

    Sep 11, 2014 – Winnipeg Free Press

    There are no cargo airships flying into northern Manitoba these days. Indeed, there are no cargo airships of any kind currently flying here. But there is a research entity and a for-profit company called Buoyant Aircraft Systems International (BASI) that is developing airship technologies.

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    Vermonters mobilize for NYC climate march

    Sep 10, 2014 – Burlington Free Press

    The invitation has been circulating for months: If you want to goad global leaders to slow Earth’s climate changes, vote with your feet Sept. 21 in New York City. Notably, the invitation to the People’s Climate March is an open one.

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    Half of North American birds in peril from climate change

    Sep 9, 2014 – AFP

    Iconic North American birds like the Bald Eagle and Brown Pelican are among hundreds of mankind’s feathered friends facing threats to their survival due to climate change, researchers said Tuesday.

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    Does responsible consumption benefit companies more than consumers?

    Sep 9, 2014 – Fast Company

    Fair trade coffee and hybrid cars don’t solve our environmental and social ills. But they do shift responsibility for big problems to consumers, two researchers argue–leaving businesses and politicians a free pass.

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    As Energy East application nears, communities weigh risks, benefits of pipeline

    Sep 9, 2014 – Canadian Press

    CALGARY – For the mayor of North Bay, Ont., it’s all about protecting the city’s sole source of drinking water from a pipeline spill. When TransCanada Corp. files a regulatory application later this month for its $12-billion Energy East pipeline, Al McDonald says he’ll be looking for assurances that Trout Lake, and the creeks that feed into it, won’t be harmed by an oil spill.

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    Hundreds die in India, Pakistan after heaviest rain in 50 years

    Sep, 9, 2014 – Reuters

    The death toll from the heaviest rain to fall on Kashmir in 50 years rose to more than 400 on Tuesday. An official at Pakistan’s State Disaster Management Authority, said the volume of rainfall had rendered contingency plans useless. He said the district of Haveli had received 400 millimeters (15.75 inches) of rain in a day, which had “no parallel in the past 50 years”.

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    New technologies being used to extract bitumen from oil sands

    Sep 6, 2014 – Economist

    In the past decade high oil prices have made the oil sands profitable to exploit. But the oil industry, whose reputation for protecting the environment is already poor, has come under pressure to find more efficient and cleaner ways to extract the oil. The results of that innovation are now starting to be deployed.

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    World’s last remaining forest wilderness at risk

    Sep 5, 2014 – IPS

    UXBRIDGE, ON – The world’s last remaining forest wilderness is rapidly being lost – and much of this is taking place in Canada, not in Brazil or Indonesia where deforestation has so far made the headlines.

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    As Keystone awaits fate, other tar sands projects move forward

    Sep 4, 2014 – Aljazeera

    The US federal government has quietly approved major tar sands transportation projects with unstudied environmental effects — managing to circumvent the executive branch’s impact analysis that paralyzed development of the Keystone XL pipeline and bolstered activists’ claims that the project is dangerous and damaging to the environment.

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    Indigenous Peoples at forefront of People’s Climate March in New York City

    Sep 4, 2014 – Indian Country

    The weekend before the U.N. Climate Summit, the rank-and-file are descending upon New York City to demand action in the People’s Climate March, to be held on Sunday, September 21. Foremost among them will be Native activists standing side-by-side with environmentalists and others interested in keeping Mother Earth habitable. According to some of the activists on the ground, the climate march is shaping up to be the largest yet.

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    The case for a moratorium on Tar Sands development

    Sep 4, 2014 – Yale 360

    In a widely publicized commentary in Nature this summer, aquatic ecologist Wendy Palen and seven colleagues were sharply critical of the way that Canada and the United States have gone about developing Alberta’s vast tar sands deposits and the extensive infrastructure of pipelines and rail networks needed to transport those fossil fuels to market.

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    Flood watch issued for southwest Assiniboine River amid heavy rain

    Sep 3, 2014 – CBC News

    WINNIPEG – A rainfall flood watch has been issued for the southwest Assiniboine River, provincial officials warned. Water levels on the Assiniboine and Souris rivers are rising due to heavy rainfall. The two rivers got between 280 to 300 per cent more precipitation than normal from Aug. 19 to Sept 1.

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    Keystone ads mislead on Canada’s deep cuts to environmental monitoring

    Sep 2, 2014 – Inside Climate News

    Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government has set aside $22.7 million for an advertising blitz this year to promote oil and Canada’s other natural resources in the United States, Europe and Asia. But scientists and environmental groups say the advertising message is misleading its target audience about the Canadian government’s failure to clean up the oil sands, Canada’s fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions.

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    Students to vote on U-Pass in 2014 fall referendum

    Sep 2, 2014 – Manitoban

    WINNIPEG – Members of UMSU and University of Winnipeg Students’ Association (UWSA) will vote this upcoming fall term on the universal bus pass (U-Pass) that could give post-secondary students access to more affordable transportation at reduced rates starting in the fall 2015 term.

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    Shorter blasts of rain to blame for flooding

    Sep 2, 2014 – Winnipeg Free Press

    Winnipeg’s Aug. 21 rainstorm was about a 10-year event according to analysis produced by the city. That analysis was based on a 24-hour period. However, this was actually a once in 100-year storm if you consider the short time period in which the precipitation was delivered.

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    Widespread flooding as storm swamps city

    Aug 22, 2014 – Winnipeg Free Press

    WINNIPEG – Torrential downpours Thursday night caused the cancellation several events, flooded buildings, washed out roads and trapped drivers in flash floods. Environment Canada received reports from 25 mm to 50 mm of rain throughout the city.

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    Why in ‘remote, cold corners’ of the world, melting ground is giving way

    Aug 20, 2014 – PBS

    When holes opened up in the earth recently in Siberia, a wave of speculation was set off as to their cause. Scientists are now pinpointing a dramatic increase in arctic thawing, which may have released methane once trapped below the frozen ground. For a better understanding, Judy Woodruff talks to Tom Wagner of NASA.

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    At least 36 dead, 7 missing in landslides in Hiroshima in western Japan

    Aug 20, 2014 – Associated Press

    TOKYO – Rain-sodden slopes collapsed in torrents of mud, rock and debris Wednesday on the outskirts of Hiroshima city, killing at least 36 people and leaving seven missing, Japanese police said.

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    The fork in the road: Climate change here to stay

    Aug 20, 2014 – Winnipeg Free Press

    For Manitobans, climate change is not something in the distant future that we might avoid if we all start driving electric cars. It is right here, right now. Get used to it. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) forecasts that our climate will get even wetter during winter and spring over the next four decades.

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    Government memo criticized top biologist for comments on Oilsands

    Aug 19, 2014 – Huffpost Alberta

    One of Canada’s top biologists says he will not stop talking to the media after a government memo accused him of bias and speaking out of turn about the environmental impact of Alberta’s oilsands.

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    Flip-flop summer caused by strange jet stream

    Aug 18, 2014 – Scientific American

    The data is in and headlines are everywhere the past few days: temperatures across the Northeast have been unusually cool, and they have been unusually hot across the northwest. A strange jet stream is behind the flip-flop between summer conditions in the two northern corners of the country.

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    Shifting climate has North Dakota farmers swapping wheat for corn

    Aug 13, 2014 – NPR

    Overall, climate change is predicted to hurt agriculture around the world. It could even threaten corn production in the US Corn Belt. But in North Dakota conditions are now better for raising corn, and that’s a big benefit for farmers.

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    Astounding, record-smashing rainfall swamps Long Island; 11 inches in 3 hours

    Aug 13, 2014 – Washington Post

    In just a few hours this morning, Long Island witnessed a jaw-dropping downpour unprecedented in New York state history. Islip logged 13.26 inches of rain from the event, the greatest amount of rain to fall within 24 hours in a single storm in New York weather records.

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    California has hottest start to year while Midwest chills

    Aug 12, 2014 – Climate Central

    The heat records keep falling for California. The state has had its hottest first seven months of the year, crushing the previous mark. Neighboring states have also baked, though not quite at record levels, helping contribute to both the spread of drought and large wildfires. At the same time, cool weather had a number of Midwest states experiencing July temperatures that were closer to September norms.

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    Keystone XL will spike oil demand and CO2, study says

    Aug 10, 2014 – Climate Central

    A new study published Sunday in the journal Nature Climate Change says the State Department may have underestimated the pipeline’s CO2 emissions by as much as four times. That’s because the consumer demand for oil will rise as new crude oil coming on the market from of Keystone XL will drive global prices down, the study says.

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    ExxonMobil starts drilling for oil in Russia’s Arctic

    Aug 9, 2014 – Japan News

    SOCHI, RUSSIA – U.S. oil giant ExxonMobil began drilling in Russia’s Arctic on Saturday, despite Western sanctions imposed on its Russian partner Rosneft, and was hailed by Russia’s president as an model of “cooperation.”

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    A tale of two premiers: while Redford exits, Clark’s LNG dreams fade

    Aug 7, 2014 – Edmonton Journal

    Just 14 months ago, British Columbia Premier Christy Clark and Alberta Premier Alison Redford were riding high, and vowing to resolve their differences over proposed new oil pipelines to the west coast. Nine months later, a beleaguered Redford stepped down as Alberta’s premier. Meanwhile, the pipeline standoff between “Canada’s best friends” rages on, with no sign of an end.

    (article no longer available)

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    Bakken oil pipeline would bisect Minnesota, cross 144 waterways

    Aug 6, 2014 – Inside Climate News

    An oil pipeline route proposed by Enbridge has already passed an initial review by the state’s Department of Commerce. Yet the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) has faulted the proposed route, saying it “shows a significantly higher potential for environmental damage” than other possible routes.

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    Cleanup underway in Burlington after flash floods

    Aug 5, 2014 – Toronto Star

    BURLINGTON, ON – Cleanup is underway in Burlington after floods swept through the city Monday, closing major roadways and flooding homes. The Weather Network estimates at least 125 mm of rain fell on Burlington Monday, which is the amount normally expected to fall in two months.

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    World’s top PR companies rule out working with climate deniers

    Aug 5, 2014 – the Guardian

    Some of the world’s top PR companies have for the first time publicly ruled out working with climate change deniers, marking a fundamental shift in the multi-billion dollar industry that has grown up around the issue of global warming.

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    Mysterious craters are just the beginning of Arctic surprises

    Aug 5, 2014 – Scientific American

    It’s not just craters purportedly dug by aliens in Russia, it’s also megaslumps, ice that burns and drunken trees. The ongoing meltdown of the permanently frozen ground that covers nearly a quarter of land in the Northern Hemisphere has caused a host of surprising arctic phenomena.

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    Aussie advocacy crackdown echoes Canadian charity fears

    Aug 4, 2014 – The Tyee

    As the Canada Revenue Agency continues its 52 audits of charities’ “political activities,” including probes of Amnesty International, the United Church of Canada, the David Suzuki Foundation, Oxfam and dozens of prominent critics of federal energy and foreign policies; environmental, human rights and public interest legal organizations in Australia say something remarkably similar is underway.

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    Nova Scotia’s fracking pioneer doubtful that province will lift ban

    Aug 3, 2014 – Cape Breton Post
    HALIFAX – The man who pioneered hydraulic fracturing in Nova Scotia says he doesn’t expect the province to lift a two-year moratorium on the contentious practice, mainly because the government is afraid of upsetting a vocal but misinformed minority.

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    Conservative government renews ad campaign promoting oilsands

    Aug 1, 2014 – Toronto Star

    OTTAWA – The Conservative government is beefing up a multimillion-dollar international public relations campaign promoting the oilsands and other Canadian resources, despite research suggesting the ad blitz has been ineffective.

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