Dec 8, 2020 – The Daily Climate –
Warming temperatures and human actions, such as peat mining or draining bogs and converting them for agriculture, threaten to turn the world’s peatlands from carbon reservoirs to carbon sources.
+Dec 7, 2020 – National Observer –
The Danish parliament reached a deal Dec. 3 that would see the country cancel its current and future licensing rounds for oil and gas in the North Sea, and phase out all fossil fuel production by 2050.
+Dec 7, 2020 – Winnipeg Free Press –
While the world is focused on flattening the COVID-19 curve, it’s also imperative for the building industry to decrease its reliance on natural gas, replacing it with cleaner methods, including geothermal heating and passive home design, which reduces energy requirements to keep houses and buildings warm.
+Dec 4, 2020 – Winnipeg Free Press –
In order to limit global warming to 1.5℃, we need to see decreases in fossil fuel production of about 6% every year between 2020 and 2030. However, Canadian government plans call for coal, natural gas, and oil production to increase at a rate of about 2% per year.
+Nov 30, 2020 – Global News –
Saskatoon-based Nutrien has announced a new “carbon program”. However, it appears to mostly be a carbon offset program. To properly address emissions from agriculture we need to produce and use less nitrogen fertilizer. (At least of the sort that is currently produced.)
Nov 28, 2020 – Winnipeg Free Press –
There are countless moral reasons to care about the effects of climate change and the potentially devastating consequences for vulnerable populations. If that isn’t enough of a motivator, there is also the argument that climate change will destabilize the world as we know it and become a national security threat to the people of North America.
+Nov 27, 2020 – National Observer –
Most solar panels have a lifespan of around 25 years, which means early adopters are now facing the problem of how to dispose of them. While solar is heralded as a clean, green source of renewable energy, this is only true if the panels are manufactured sustainably and can be recycled and kept out of landfills.
+Nov 24, 2020 – Canadian Press –
A new report from the Canada Energy Regulator projects that if Canada strengthens its climate policies to cut more greenhouse-gas emissions, it could eliminate the need for both the Trans Mountain expansion and the new Keystone XL pipeline.
+Nov 12, 2020 – Autofile.ca
More electric vehicle choices are coming. Ford will soon be offering an electric delivery van. An all-electric Mustang will arrive later this year and the all-electric F150 pickup will be in showrooms sometime mid-2022.
+Nov 12, 2020 – CBC News –
Environment Canada scientists used actual atmosphere measurements to study methane released from oil and gas infrastructure such as pumps, pipelines and valves. Eight years of data from Alberta and Saskatchewan show the previous estimate was way off.
+Oct 26, 2020 – National Observer –
The group “Rewiring America” has released a report that found that rapidly decarbonizing the U.S. by electrifying all aspects of the economy would create 25 million good-paying jobs and eliminate roughly 75 per cent of the country’s carbon emissions in the next 15 years.
+Oct 15, 2020 – Winnipeg Free Press –
Soon Winnipeg Transit will start testing 12 to 20 battery electric and hydrogen fuel cell battery electric buses in both 40-foot and 60-foot lengths.
+Sept 30, 2020 – BBC News –
Chinese President, Xi Jinping has announced that China will cut emissions to net zero by 2060. China accounts for 28% of global GHG emissions. (The US for 15%) They are committing to cut that back to virtually zero within 40 years.
+Sep 11, 2020 – National Observer –
“There are many aspects of the food system that are exacerbating climate change, but it’s the sector that’s been one of the first to be hit by climate change, and it’s also where we can do something to reduce emissions.” – Sophia Murphy, IISD food systems and expert
+Aug 16, 2020 – Bloomberg –
Aug 15, 2020 – Winnipeg Free Press –
Natural gas is often touted as a green alternative, but it’s still a fossil fuel. We need other energy sources to reach our goal of zero GHG emissions
+Jul 13 2020 – CBC News –
This past week, two North American pipelines were dealt legal and regulatory setbacks and another major project was cancelled. These events and others call into question the wisdom of Alberta Premier Jason Kenney’s decision to invest $1.1 billion US in the Keystone XL pipeline, plus $4.2-billion in loan guarantees. Why must Alberta’s leadership continue to tie that province’s economic future so completely on oil?
+Jul 9 2020 – CNN –
There is now one chance in 5 that one of the next five years will be at least 1.5℃ warmer than pre-industrial levels. That probability is “increasing with time.” This flies in the face of the determination of the Paris climate accord – arrived at just 5 years ago. Countries are committed to reduce their carbon output and halt global warming below 2℃ – and if possible, below 1.5℃ – by the end of the century. But here we are…
Jul 8 2020 – Discover –
Last month finished in a virtual tie for warmest June on record. Temperature records now show that last month’s global temperatures were 0.53℃ warmer than the long-term average for June. That’s a virtual tie with June of 2019. In particular, extraordinary warmth in Siberia helped push the global average for the month into that record-tying territory. Temperatures across the entire region averaged about 13℃ above normal last month.
+Jul 6 2020 – Grist –
Two hundred thousand miles is considered a good, long run for a new car today. Recently, multiple EV battery makers have announced the imminent arrival of “million-mile” batteries, power packs that supposedly have enough juice to be driven to the moon and back twice.
+Jun 30, 2020 – GreenBiz –
California’s new Advanced Clean Trucks rule will require truck makers to sell an increasing number of clean, zero-emission trucks in California. Beginning in 2024, manufacturers must increase their zero-emission truck sales to between 30 to 50 percent; by 2030 and 40 to 75 percent by 2035; and by 2045, all of California’s truck fleet must be 100 percent zero-emission.
+Jun 12, 2020 – CarbonBrief –
This spring has been unusually cool in Manitoba. Meanwhile, it’s been UK’s sunniest spring on record and Siberia has had a dramatic heatwave and “zombie wildfires”. The phenomenon behind this are persistent high-pressure “blocking” weather systems – another indication of how climate change is affecting the jet stream.
+May 28, 2020 – Winnipeg Free Press –
EDITORIAL – Some concerned seniors have formed a group called Manitoba Seniors for Sustainability, and are kicking off their initiative by forwarding their personal $200 and other donations to environmental non-profits that saw their funding suspended by the province.
+May 11, 2020 – Fast Company –
A new feed supplement has been developed that shrinks the amount of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, that cows emit when they belch. Mootral, the Switzerland-based company making the new supplements, will soon be issued the world’s first carbon credits for methane reduction in cows.
+Apr 28, 2020 – Winnipeg Free Press –
Manitoba’s emissions increased by 8.3 % from 2005 to 2018. This marks the third-most significant growth rate among provinces. Alberta’s emissions grew by 14% and Saskatchewan 12% – mostly due to increases from the oil and gas sector in those provinces.
+Apr 15, 2020 – Forbes –
There are three things we need to apply from the COVID-19 crisis to the climate crisis: 1) Scientific facts matter and have to be taken seriously, 2) Delayed response costs lives and hurts the economy, and 3) Globally coordinated policy measures are required.
+Apr 5, 2020 – The Guardian –
It is difficult to escape the conclusion that the oil industry is acting decisively now to expand pipelines like the Keystone XL because it knows this is the one moment when protesters can’t make themselves heard.
+Mar 30, 2020 – New Scientist –
Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg observes: “If one virus can wipe out the entire economy in a matter of weeks and shut down societies, then that is a proof that our societies are not very resilient. It also shows that once we are in an emergency, we can act and we can change our behaviour quickly.”
+Mar 30, 2020 – Forbes –
A Brazilian economist and former chief financial officer of the World Bank says that the immediate danger of coronavirus has a great deal in common with the threat of climate change: “One: it’s global. Two: it affects different people in different ways. Three: it shows the importance of government.”
+Mar 28. 2020 – Winnipeg Free Press –
University of Alberta political science Prof. Laurie Adkin is lead author of an open letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, published this week — and signed by 265 fellow academics, experts and advocates — that decries any move toward backstopping the fossil fuel industry. “We call for federal leadership to support an economic recovery plan that encompasses a green transition, not stop-gap measures, with income security for workers and a strong public sector,” the letter reads.
+
Mar 9, 2020 – National Observer –
Prince Edward Island has pledged to make that province’s entire school bus fleet all-electric. Now a network of parents called “For Our Kids” has organized to convince other provincial governments to do the same. “Reducing our kids’ exposure to harmful diesel fumes is good for their lungs and the planet.”
+Feb 27, 2020 – Winnipeg Free Press –
OPINION – Some have tried to blame the cancellation of the Teck Frontier tarsands project on the federal government’s lack of support for the oil industry in countering massive public protests. It’s much more likely, however, that purely a business consideration — the price of oil — was the overriding factor in Teck’s decision.
+Feb 26, 2020 – CBC News –
This article provides a guide to some of the main Wet’suwet’en people who have emerged as leaders, spokespeople, advocates and opponents of the project, and how they fit into the nation’s elected, hereditary and corporate organizational structures.
+Feb 23, 2020 – Grist –
A new analysis has found that a quarter of all tweets about climate on an average day are produced by bots.
“These findings suggest a substantial impact of mechanized bots in amplifying denialist messages about climate change, including support for Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris agreement,” states the draft Brown University study.
+Feb 12, 2020 – Winnipeg Free Press –
University of Manitoba professor Barry Prentice believes that investing in airships (as Quebec is doing) is exactly what governments should do. “Government has to be involved. It provides the infrastructure and regulates the sector. Trucks don’t provide the roads. The airlines don’t provide the airports.
+Feb 5, 2020 – Canadian Press –
The Québec government is investing $30-million in a French company, Flying Whales and its Quebec subsidiary. The company is hoping to use the airships to transport up to 60 tonnes of material at a time over regions that are difficult to access by road, such as the province’s northern region.
+Feb 4, 2020 – CTV News
“Although abrupt permafrost thawing will occur in less than 20 percent of frozen land, it increases permafrost carbon release projections by about 50 percent” – Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research
+Jan 28, 2020 – CBC News –
In Quebec, Ontario and B.C., public opinion seems to have turned sharply against the Trans Mountain pipeline. Meanwhile, support for the pipeline is up in Saskatchewan and Manitoba over the past 18 months.
+Jan 27, 2020 – World Resources Institute –
BlackRock is the world’s largest asset management firm. In January, it announced that it was changing its investment and engagement approach to focus on climate change risk and action. Here are four indicators to see if this will be a watershed moment.
+Jan 20,2020 – CBC News –
We need to completely eliminate the burning of fossil fuel in the next few decades. That means no more natural gas furnaces. This article suggests alternative heat sources. However, it is missing an essential step – reducing the building’s total energy consumption so that “everyone” can make the switch without having to have a much larger electrical grid.
+
Inspiring local stories & videos
We Really Can Live Without Fossil Fuels! Curt Hull, Director, Climate Change Connection presentation at Speaking Up October 19th, 2023 at X’Cues in Winnipeg.
A project on MakeWay's shared platform
