True North Foods plant expansion draws energy from waste

Nov. 14, 2024 – Winnipeg Free Press – The latest expansion includes the first commercial installation of another made-in-Manitoba solution: Rapid Organic Converter (ROC) technology by local company Innovative NRG. The technology developed and patented in Manitoba processes organic waste through a gassification process — it vaporizes the waste — and turns it into thermal energy True North Foods will use to heat the water it needs for its sanitation protocols.

Snow in short supply in Winnipeg despite the city’s Winterpeg nickname

Nov. 13, 2024 – CBC News – Christmas decorations are installed across downtown Winnipeg and shopping mall Santas are set to show up in some stores as soon as this weekend, but one key element of the season is missing: snow. “There was a little bit of snow reported by a few people in Winnipeg, I think it was yesterday morning, but obviously it didn’t stay. We haven’t had snow accumulating in Winnipeg since sometime earlier last winter,” said Natalie Hasell, warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment Canada.

“Generally speaking, we haven’t had a whole lot of snow since the beginning of January, really.”

Canada Failing to Deliver Its Fair Share of Global Climate Finance

Nov. 5, 2024 – The Energy Mix – As the United Nations’ COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan approaches, researchers are urging Canada to take meaningful action on global climate finance that reflects its historical greenhouse gas emissions.

What an effort to preserve Cree homelands in northern Manitoba means to the people behind it

Nov. 7, 2024 – The Narwhal – Kitaskeenan Kaweekanawaynichikatek, the land we want to protect: members of five Cree nations reflect as they seek to protect land devastated by hydroelectricity.

5 takeaways from Canada’s draft rules for an oil and gas emissions cap

Nov. 5, 2024 – The Narwhal – Canadian government ministers introduced new details of their oil and gas emissions cap plan on Monday. If the federal draft rules are finalized as expected next year, they would represent the first time Ottawa has imposed binding obligations on the sector to slow its rising carbon emissions. The oil and gas sector is already Canada’s biggest polluter, and Canada is the fourth-largest oil producer and fifth-largest natural gas producer in the world. On Monday, Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault said the move would set the country apart from its fossil fuel competitors.

Oil, gas companies told to cut emissions by one-third under planned cap

Nov. 4, 2024 – The Canadian Press – OTTAWA – Oil and gas producers in Canada will be required to cut greenhouse gas emissions by about one-third over the next eight years under new regulations being published today by Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault.

A new report outlines six opportunities Manitoba has to become a global leader in the green economy.

Oct. 22, 2024 – Winnipeg Free Press – A new report outlines six opportunities Manitoba has to become a global leader in the green economy. Wind energy, critical minerals and commercial zero-emission vehicles are three opportunities outlined in the report.

’Let’s do something’: city to consider study to phase out natural gas

Oct. 22, 2024 – The city could soon study how to phase out natural gas heat at all Winnipeg buildings and swap in greener alternatives. The city’s Climate Action and Resilience Committee will debate the motion on Oct. 28.

Canada is set to meet — and beat — its goal of reducing emissions 40 per cent from federal buildings and cars

Oct. 21, 2024 – The Narwhal – Minister Anita Anand said reducing government carbon pollution by 719,000 tonnes from 2005 levels is ‘very welcome’ in ‘a world where we have climate deniers’

What a ruling by Ontario’s top court could mean for the future of climate litigation

Oct. 20, 2024 – CBC News – In what some have called a game-changing decision, an Ontario court has ruled that the provincial government’s weakened climate target could violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Two years ago, the world promised to protect nature. Pressure is mounting to deliver

Oct. 21, 2024 – CBC – Two years ago in Montreal, nearly 200 countries signed a landmark agreement to reverse the loss of nature by the end of the decade and raise $700 billion a year to achieve that goal. Over the next two weeks in Cali, Colombia, delegates will meet at the COP16 United Nations biodiversity conference to check in on their progress — and advocates are hoping to see them make good on their promises. The gathering, which begins on Monday and runs until Nov. 1, is viewed as a crucial check-in on efforts to save the Earth’s animal and plant life. Here’s a breakdown of how that’s been going and what’s next.

University of Toronto’s environment school cuts financial ties to fossil fuels

Oct. 20, 2024 – The Guardian – The University of Toronto’s environment school has announced it will financially dissociate from fossil fuel companies, in a landmark win for climate activists.

Atmospheric river brings heavy rains, localized flooding on B.C. election day

Oct. 19, 2024 – The Canadian Press – An atmospheric river has drenched coastal British Columbia, triggering localized flooding Saturday as voters headed to the polls for the provincial election.

Who Will Be The Next Manitoba Youth Climate Changemaker?

Oct. 4, 2024 – Climate Change Connection – Climate Change Connection Youth Influencer Challenge Calls for Youth to Speak Up! From what to eat, what to drive, young people can have a big influence on what their parents, families and friends do; how they live; and what they buy; and they can be a driving source of positive change, especially when it comes to climate change.

Community garden in Poplar River First Nation sows seeds for more sustainable future

Oct. 4, 2024 – CBC – A community garden program in a remote First Nation in eastern Manitoba, run by a father and son, is growing in more ways than one. It’s helping sow the seeds of sustainability amid concerns about climate change and high food prices.

15 food waste drop-off stations in Winnipeg will help curb impacts of climate change, city says

Oct. 3, 2024 – CBC Manitoba -Winnipeggers will be able to drop off food scraps at one of 15 stations being set up to divert food waste from landfills. The City of Winnipeg and Compost Winnipeg, a Green Action Centre organization that already picks up residential and business compost for a fee, will launch the new project on Oct. 15 to help reduce the impacts of climate change. The 15 food waste drop-off stations will be at the three 4R Winnipeg depots and other locations in the city, mostly at community centres.

Selkirk council told city reduced GHG emissions

Oct. 3, 2024 – Winnipeg Sun – The City of Selkirk reported its corporate and community Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions dropped for 2023.

Seniors take on climate change

Sept. 25, 2024 – Winnipeg Free Press – Oct. 1, unbeknownst to most people, is Canada’s Day for Seniors. It’s a day in which the federal government urges people to be kind to their elders. And a day to propose minuscule adjustments to seniors’ benefits. But this year, seniors are turning Oct. 1 into a day for Seniors for Climate Action.

Wind, ‘clean’ heat to green up Manitoba energy

Sept. 20, 2024 – Winnipeg Free Press – Manitoba’s new affordable energy plan promises “nation- to-nation” wind power partnerships with Indigenous governments, more financial incentives for ratepayers and a shift to “clean” heat, as outlined in a copy obtained by the Free Press.

Manitoba Builds Green

Sept. 14, 2024 – International Institute for Sustainable Development Report – Opportunities for transformational residential retrofits

Transitioning off of fossil fuels in Manitoba’s building sector will require transformative action on energy efficiency. This report investigates the potential to scale up a deep energy retrofit industry in Manitoba to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, create good jobs, spur green industrial growth, and improve housing quality. The study draws on 15 interviews with labour, industry, policy, and finance experts engaged in the building sector in Manitoba.

Canada’s 2023 emissions edged lower but progress slow, report says

Sept. 19, 2024 – Reuters – Canada is aiming to cut climate-warming carbon emissions 40-45% below 2005 levels by 2030. But an early estimate of national emissions, released by the institute seven months before the government’s official national inventory report, shows slow progress towards the target and that emissions from the oil and gas sector continue to rise.

‘She is dying’: Lawsuit asks Lake Winnipeg to be defined as a person

Sept. 19, 2024 – Winnipeg Free Press – A court has been asked to declare Lake Winnipeg a person with constitutional rights to life, liberty and security of person in a case that may go further than any other in trying to establish the rights of nature in Canada.

Will the Manitoba energy strategy include geothermal?

Sept. 6, 2024 – Winnipeg Free Press – Manitoba’s buildings have a massive opportunity beneath them — unused renewable energy. Incredibly, the technology exists to extract it via geothermal heating and cooling.

Finding climate solutions in the dirt

Aug. 22, 2024 – Katherine Hayhoe – Soil is an enormous carbon sink. It’s estimated it contains three times as much carbon as the atmosphere—and we could increase that.

Solar panels reducing high school’s carbon footprint

Aug. 19, 2024 – Flatlander – The Manitoba government approved $91,000 in funding for solar panels as part of a larger, $12.8-million construction and renovation project to address growing enrolment at the French immersion school.

Global Warming of 1.6C Now Best Case Scenario, New Research Shows

Aug. 19, 2024 – New Scientist -Humanity’s goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, which has been totemic in climate policy for the past decade, is now almost certainly out of reach.

Every building sits on a thermal asset how networked geothermal power could change cities

Aug. 9, 2024 – The Guardian – Along with earthworms, rocks, and the occasional skeleton, there is a massive battery right under your feet. Unlike a flammable lithium ion battery, though, this one is perfectly stable, free to use, and ripe for sustainable exploitation: the Earth itself.

As Canadian River Shrivels, Northern Communities Call for a Highway

Aug. 7, 2024 – Yale 360 – With the Mackenzie River too low for barge traffic, villages in the Northwest Territories are flying in food, fuel, and other essentials. A proposed highway could offer a lifeline as climate change further reduces flows, but the project faces big challenges in a warming Arctic.

Rally for better bike safety blocks Winnipeg intersection

July 31 2024 – CTV News – Protestors shut down the Maryland Bridge on Tuesday as they called for better bike safety.

Trudeau outlines details of $30B, 10-year fund for public transit

July 17, 2024 – CBC – Applications opened Wednesday for two streams in the federal government’s new $30-billion public transit fund, even though the money won’t start flowing for another two years, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.

Attributing Canada’s June heat wave to climate change is an important step in adapting to a warmer world

July 16, 2024 – The Conversation – This June saw major heat waves across Canada with peak temperatures — measured over a three-day period — of 7.4 C in eastern Ontario, 10.7 C in southern Québec, 7.2 C in northern Québec and 10.6 C in Atlantic Canada. On June 19, more than 100 locations across Canada set new heat records for that day, with Bathurst, N.B., being the hottest at 37.6 C. The year 2023 was the globally hottest year on record.

City unveils vision to cut residents’ car trips by half by 2050

July 15, 2024 – Winnipeg Free Press – The city is reimagining how Winnipeggers will move in the next 26 years and has set a goal for people to walk, cycle, take transit or rideshare for half of their trips by 2050.

The World Is Moving Away from Fossil Fuels. Canada Is Holding On for Dear Life

July 15, 2024 – The Walrus – We’ve proudly failed to plan for what comes next. Last month, Alberta didn’t just announce it had transitioned entirely off coal as an energy source; the province kicked the fossil fuel six years ahead of a wildly ambitious schedule. The scale of achievement this represents defies exaggeration—and contains a warning for oil fans everywhere.

We’ve had 12 months of record-breaking global heat. How close are we to passing the 1.5 C limit?

July 8, 2024 – CBC News – While the last 12-month period globally reached 1.64 C above pre-industrial levels, according to the latest data from the Copernicus climate research program, that isn’t quite the same as breaching the 1.5 C limit set in the 2015 Paris Agreement.

But it’s a major alarm that we’re close, and that global warming has continued to speed up in the past few years.

Climate Action Network created in Pembina Valley

July 6, 2024 – Winniipeg Free Press – The Discovery Nature Sanctuary on the eastern edge of Winkler will be a hive of activity this summer as a roster of volunteers take turns tending to its new pollinator garden. The promotion of that garden and its need for volunteers is just one of several eco-friendly initiatives recently undertaken by the Pembina Climate Action Network in Southeast Manitoba.

Manitoba shifts EV purchase rebate into drive

July 2, 2024 – Winnipeg Free Press – $25M, four-year program ‘crucial step’ in reaching greenhouse gas targets: climate minister. The NDP government’s rebate program for electric vehicles, disclosed in its April budget, came into effect July 1, with the hope it will give the sale of zero-emission vehicles a charge in Manitoba. A $4,000 purchase rebate can apply to any new electric vehicle (EV) or plug-in hybrid that costs $70,000 or less. There is a $2,500 rebate on pre-owned EVs. Manitoba EV purchasers can also access a $5,000 federal rebate on top of the new Manitoba one.

Climate change is pushing up food prices — and worrying central banks

July 2, 2024 – Financial Times – Shifting weather patterns are reducing crop yields and squeezing supplies, creating what could become a permanent source of inflation.

Parliament grilled Canada’s Big Five banks on their fossil fuel financing – here’s why it matters

July 3, 2024 – Corporate Knights – Last month there was a rare meeting, where the chief executives of Canada’s five largest banks testified before Parliament about their climate commitments. Their testimonies proved why new rules to shift finance away from polluting investments are urgently needed.

Forget Planes, Your Kitchen Waste Is The Bigger Climate Culprit. Here’s One Way To Change It

July 1, 2024 – Forbes.com – New stats from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) reveal that food loss and waste generate up to 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions. To put that in perspective, it’s nearly five times what the entire aviation industry produces. And the real kicker? More than half of this food waste comes straight from our kitchens.

Millions of litres spilled and not a single fine: 16 years in a little-known Canadian oilpatch

Jun. 27, 2024 – The Narwhal – Manitoba’s environment minister says the ‘decimation’ of her department under the previous government led to oversight gaps in the province’s oil industry. Experts say that spells big risks.

Shell gives go-ahead to 2 carbon capture and storage projects in Alberta

Jun. 26, 2024 – CBC News – Shell Canada has announced it will forge ahead with a pair of carbon capture projects in Alberta, after recent setbacks for other proposed projects in the sector have cast doubt on the technology.

Ontario company FuelPositive casts eye on Manitoba for ‘green ammonia’ production system toehold

Monday, Jun. 17, 2024 – Winnipeg Free Press – Over the past few years, Curtis Hiebert has watched the price of his farm’s fertilizer skyrocket. Now he’s trying to produce the plant food on his own land.Hiebert is piloting a system Ontario-based company FuelPositive hopes will revolutionize Manitoba farm operations.

Feds release carbon pricing impact data as cost debate rages

June 14, 2024 – Canadian Press – Canada’s greenhouse-gas emissions will be 12 per cent lower in 2030 with carbon pricing in place than they would be if it was scrapped, new federal data published Thursday suggest.

Major overhaul of Winnipeg Transit routes in 2025 a ‘huge’ but needed change: transit advocate

June 11, 2024 – CBC News – Major changes to the city’s transit route system next year were up for discussion at city hall on Tuesday, and while some are in favour of the overhaul, not everyone is on board.

Are Canadians paying ‘wacko’ high gasoline taxes?

June 7, 2024 – The National Post – Canada’s Opposition leader, Pierre Poilievre, has repeatedly attacked our national carbon tax-with-rebate policy. This policy places a rising fee on many sources of climate pollution, including the emissions from burning gasoline. That’s the “tax” part. The “rebate” part is cheques sent to Canadians that more than cover the costs for about 80 per cent of families.

The Arctic is Warming Faster Than Anywhere Else on The Planet

June 7, 2024 – High North News – As the effects of global warming are felt around the world, nowhere is experiencing such drastic changes as the Far North. Scientists estimate that the Arctic is warming two to three times quicker than any other place on Earth. In Under Thin Ice, a documentary from The Nature of Things, extreme diver and underwater explorer Jill Heinerth travels to Greenland and Canada’s Far North to document what’s happening both above and below the Arctic’s quickly disappearing ice.

Human-caused global warming at all-time high, new report concludes

June 4, 2024 – Space.com – Global temperatures are still heading in the wrong direction and faster than ever before. Last year alone, human activities — such as burning coal for cheap power — led to our planet warming by 1.3 degrees Celsius (2.34 Fahrenheit), according to a new report. If we continue pumping heat-trapping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere at our current rate, scientists say we have about five years before we drive global warming beyond the 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) set by the Paris Agreement.

Oil CEOs tell House of Commons committee they support carbon pricing

June 6, 2024 – Oil CEOs testify before parliamentary committee.

Disaster survivors bring pleas for climate change action to Parliament Hill

June 6, 2024 – The Canadian Press – Disaster survivors plead with MPs to act.

UN Chief Calls on Advertising and PR Agencies to Stop Fuelling Climate Disinformation

June 6, 2024 – In a pivotal speech at the American Museum of Natural History in New York to mark World Environment Day, UN Secretary-General António Guterres called on countries to ban fossil fuel advertising in the same way they restricted tobacco.

“Many in the fossil fuel industry have shamelessly greenwashed, even as they have sought to delay climate action – with lobbying, legal threats, and massive ad campaigns. They have been aided and abetted by advertising and PR companies – Mad Men fuelling the madness,” the UN chief said.

Here’s how climate social scientists are finding their way in the era of climate crisis

June 4, 2024 – Winnipeg Free Press – The acceleration of the climate crisis has been breathtaking and talking to experts in a time of crisis is a good thing. But these articles are problematic. They seek to motivate through fear while usualy offering only vague notions of absent “political will” to diagnosis the problem and little beyond “listen to the scientists” as a solution.

Rate of global warming caused by humans is at an all-time high, say scientists

June 4, 2024 – Phys.org – University of Leeds – The second annual Indicators of Global Climate Change report, which is led by the University of Leeds, reveals that human-induced warming has risen to 1.19 °C over the past decade (2014-2023)—an increase from the 1.14 °C seen in 2013-2022 (set out in last year’s report).

Liberal MP calls out PBO for error in carbon price analysis, asks for correction

May 28, 2024 – The Canadian Press – The parliamentary secretary for Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland is criticizing the parliamentary budget officer for not issuing a more-public correction to its carbon price analysis after finding an error in it. The PBO published a note on its website on April 17 admitting its economic analyses of the consumer carbon price, done in both 2022 and 2023, erroneously included the impact of the industrial carbon price, too. The PBO says it plans to publish an updated analysis in the fall.

This senator wants Canadian banks to fight climate change

May 27, 2024 – CBC News – Rosa Galvez has taken on a Herculean task: force Canadian financial institutions to prioritize the fight against climate change. More than two years ago, the independent senator from Quebec proposed legislation that would force banks and pension funds to steer away from emissions-intensive investments, such as the oil and gas sector. It would also increase regulatory oversight to determine whether the climate plans laid out by institutions are credible, and limit the presence of fossil fuel executives on the their boards.

Half-measures not good enough

May 18, 2024 = Winnipeg Free Press – Emissions data for Manitoba were just released via the National Inventory Report, once again highlighting the reality that our province is falling behind in the global race to net zero. Manitoba and Alberta are the only Canadian provinces whose emissions have not decreased below 2005 levels — the baseline year used to track progress.

The great Canadian climate divide

May 17, 2024 – The National Observer – Western Canada has a lot of explaining to do. Canada’s recently released greenhouse gas inventory shows that every western province has increased its climate pollution since 1990, the international baseline year for measuring climate action. On the other side of the country, every eastern province has reduced its emissions.

New Report: Gas Does not Belong in A Canadian Sustainable Finance Taxonomy

May 15, 2024 – Environmental Defense – Natural Gas is not green. There is serious concern that fossil fuels like liquified natural gas (LNG) and CCUS (carbon capture, utilization, and storage) could be labeled as sustainable by the Canadian Government. A new report aims to ensure they do included into a sustainable finance taxonomy.

Canadian banks still huge fossil fuel investors

May 14, 2024 – The National Observer – Canada’s five biggest banks are among the 20 largest fossil fuel financiers in the world, according to new research, leading parliamentarians and climate advocates to warn the country is setting itself up for major risks through the energy transition.

He floated banning fossil fuel ads in Canada. Then came the threats.

May 13, 2024 – Corporate Knights – MP Charlie Angus says his proposed Fossil Fuel Advertising Act is designed to take on “the lies” of oil and gas, in much the same way parliament zeroed in on Big Tobacco decades ago.

Earth at risk: An urgent call to end the age of destruction and forge a just and sustainable future

May 13, 2024 – PNAS Nexus – Human development has ushered in an era of converging crises: climate change, ecological destruction, disease, pollution, and socioeconomic inequality. This review synthesizes the breadth of these interwoven emergencies and underscores the urgent need for comprehensive, integrated action.

‘It’s absolute terror’: Wildfire forces entire Manitoba community to retreat

May 13, 2024 – CBC – First detected on Thursday, fire quickly grew by Sunday to 35,000 hectares.

Getting climate action on the education agenda

May 6, 2024 – Winnipeg Free Press – Last school year, a student of mine posed a question that reverberated through my thoughts long after the class had ended: “So, how are you advocating for climate action as an adult?” It’s the kind of question that I hope many of us are thinking about, but frankly, I think many of us are unsure about how to answer. As adults who care for the well-being of children and the environment on which we are all dependent, it’s crucial that we are able to respond to this question. One place requiring these kinds of action-oriented answers is our education system.

The uneasy intersection of oil and climate

May 7, 2024 – The Globe and Mail – Oil production – Canada’s largest export – reached another record level in 2023, at almost five million barrels a day, up nearly 30 per cent since the Liberals took office. Forecasts suggest oil output could make its biggest-ever jump this year, as many as 500,000 barrels a day, propelled by new capacity on Trans Mountain.

Climate change is an added barrier to youth physical activity, report says

We might be closer to changing course on climate change than we realized

April 25, 2024 – Vox.com – Greenhouse gas emissions might have already peaked. Now they need to fall — fast.

Gas companies tell us mixing gas and hydrogen is a climate solution. New research shows it’s not

April 25, 2024 – National Observer – Plans by Canadian gas utilities to blend hydrogen into their natural gas supplies to purportedly reduce their climate impact will in fact generate more than double the amount of harmful emissions than using natural gas alone, researchers have found.

Province restores funding to environmental groups

April 22, 2024 – Winnipeg Free Press – The Manitoba government announced on Earth Day that it is restoring funding to three environmental non-profit organizations.

Canadian banks are not fighting climate change on their own. They must be legislated

April 21, 2024 – Globe and Mail – Modernizing financial policy for climate action remains the missing piece of Canada’s climate plan. The Climate-Aligned Finance Act is the puzzle piece ready to fill this gap. Policy makers should seize the opportunity to future-proof Canada.

Carbon Dioxide Levels Have Passed a New Milestone

Apr. 20, 2024 – New York Times – According to data released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Global Monitoring Laboratory earlier this month, last year had the fourth-highest annual rise in global carbon dioxide levels.

Canada faces another grim wildfire season

April 18, 2024 – Counterfire – The wildfires in Canada kept burning all winter, and a new season is set to be catastrophic, as climate feedback loops accelerate disaster, warns John Clarke.

How extreme cold events fit into the global warming model

April 19, 2024 – Earth.com – Global warming is undeniable, yet recent winters have witnessed record-breaking, extreme cold temperatures in unexpected areas. This paradoxical situation has scientists investigating the Warm Arctic-Cold Continent (WACC) phenomenon and its far-reaching impacts.

How agroecology can be part of a ‘just transition’ for Canada’s food system

April 3, 2024 – The Conversation – Problems in Canada’s food system are being felt from field to fork — and they are increasingly hard to swallow.

Manitoba Food Rescue Grocery grows, to save more food and more money for customers

Apr. 6, 2024 – Every pallet of bread, potatoes or beef that arrives at the Food Rescue Grocery in Brandon, Man., keeps good food from going to waste. Even better, the operation has been so successful it has been moved to a bigger location.

The National Interest, Part 1: the Carbon Tax, Inflation & Climate Change Policy in Canada

Apr. 9, 2024 – Dougald Lamont – The math is clear: the carbon tax is not the cause of people’s economic misery. We need real investments that answer the real concerns of Canadians.

Conservatives to challenge PM to hold ‘carbon tax emergency meeting’ with premiers

Apr. 9. 2024 – IPOLITICS AM – With the spring supply cycle now officially underway, the Conservatives are set to devote their first designated opposition day of the season to a motion that puts a new twist on the party’s ongoing call for an end to the federal pricing regime by challenging Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to “convene a carbon tax emergency meeting with all of Canada’s 14 first ministers.”

What to expect from forest fire season

Apr. 8, 2024 – CTV News Winnipeg – Curtis Hull with Climate Change Connection talks about how this year’s warm, dry winter will affect forest fire season.

Big government, big trouble? Defending the future of Canada’s climate policy

Apr. 7, 2024 – The Conversation – The costs of climate change are piling up, yet almost 70 per cent of Canadians oppose the recent increase in the federal carbon price.

Letter: Blaming carbon tax for inflation in Canada is ludicrous

Apr. 7, 2024 – Saskatoon Star Phoenix – Pierre Poilievre and a number of premiers are campaigning hard to gather votes around the consumer carbon tax. And make no mistake, this is — for the federal Conservative Party particularly — the wedge issue that has found traction and boosted their election chances in 2025.

Time to get serious about energy transition

April 9, 2024 – Winnipeg Free Press – Premier Wab Kinew’s commitment to bring the working class along with his pitch to replace the federal carbon tax and rebate system with robust measures to reduce Manitoba’s dependence on fossil fuels is an idea worth consideration. But significantly reducing our carbon footprint will require new and aggressive decisions well beyond what the government has announced to date. And we have a lot of catching up to do, given the disinterest of the previous Tory administration.

Food Rescue Grocery builds on its success, moves to bigger location in Brandon

Apr. 6, 2024 – CBC News – Food Rescue Grocery builds on its success, moves to bigger location in Brandon. Store has kept over 740,000 pounds of edible food from landfills since opening in 2022: operations manager.

Detached from reality’: researchers say Pathways Alliance misleading public with greenwashing

Apr. 4, 2024 – Canada’s largest oilsands companies are “misleading” the public about their industry’s environmental impact, according to new peer-reviewed research.

We’re heading for uncharted climate territory

Apr. 2, 2024 – Winnipeg Free Press – Gavin Schmidt, the director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, wrote last month: “If the anomaly does not stabilize by August, then the world will be in uncharted territory.”

Fossil fuel fouls clean-grid future

March 28, 2024 – Winnipeg Free Press – Despite its reputation as one of Canada’s cleanest electric grids, Manitoba Hydro used more natural gas-fuelled electricity in the last 12 months than it has in a decade.

NDP replaces nine-tenths of Efficiency Manitoba’s Tory-appointed board

Mar. 24, 2024 – Province of Manitoba – The Manitoba government has appointed a new board of directors for Efficiency Manitoba and issued a new mandate letter to the Crown Corporation. New board members include: Curtis Hull, Climate Change Connection, Cindy Choy, Chair of Sustainable Building Manitoba, John (Jack) Winram, Manitoba Environmental Industries Association, Kimberley (Kim) Laycock – dean of University College of the North, Steven Sobering, the City of Dauphin, Chantel Henderson, Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, Dudley Thompson, Dudley Thompson Consultancy, Duane Nicol, the City of Selkirk, and Stewart Hill, Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak (MKO).

Canada’s warmest winter on record

March 19, 2024 – National Observer – The warmest winter on record could have far-reaching effects on everything from wildfire season to erosion, climatologists say, while offering a preview of what the season could resemble in the not-so-distant future unless steps are taken to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

UN weather agency issues ’red alert’ on climate change after record heat, ice-melt increases in 2023

March 19, 2024 – Associated Press – GENEVA (AP) — The U.N. weather agency is sounding a “red alert” about global warming, citing record-smashing increases last year in greenhouse gases, land and water temperatures and melting of glaciers and sea ice, and is warning that the world’s efforts to reverse the trend have been inadequate.

Fill ’er up. Burn it down

Feb. 9, 2024 – The National Observer – Fuelling our rising horde of gas-guzzlers in Canada is burning down our nation’s climate promises and our kids’ future.

How the mild weather will impact the upcoming forest fire season in Manitoba

Feb. 7, 2024 – Though most Manitobans have been enjoying the mild winter, the warm weather may have some negative impacts in the coming months. According to Curtis Hull with Climate Change Connection Manitoba, the dry weather could have “really serious consequences” in the spring and summer, including increasing the risk of forest fires.

Landfill gas conversion will reduce pollution, make money: city

Feb. 6, 2024 – Winnipeg Free Press – A long-awaited city agreement to convert potent landfill gases into renewable energy, with a goal to raise millions of dollars by selling it off, appears on track to begin in about two years.

Environment groups urge NDP to turn to geothermal heating

Feb. 6, 2024 – Winnipeg Free Press – A coalition of Manitoba environmental groups is calling on the NDP government to launch a new geothermal utility to switch over electrically heated homes to ground-source heat to meet the province’s surging electricity needs.

Why climate action groups are calling for geothermal heating in Manitoba

Feb. 3, 2024 – CTV News – Manitoba’s Climate Action Team (CAT) is calling on Manitoba Hydro to create a geothermal utility as a way to save residents money and reduce electricity demand.

Climate scientists raising concerns over Alberta’s groundwater levels amid Prairie drought

Jan. 22, 2023 – CBC News – About 600,000 Albertans depend on groundwater, and scientists and rural officials say not enough is known about the effects years of drought have had on the unseen flows beneath our feet.

Feasibility study will determine the status of protecting Manitoba’s Seal River Watershed

Jan. 18, 2024 – Global News – The Seal River Watershed is one of the is one of the few large remaining intact watersheds in the world. Spanning thousands of kilometres of land in northern Manitoba, it could soon become protected land.

Kinew opens door to carbon tax talks with Ottawa

Jan. 18, 2024 – Winnipeg Free Press – Premier Wab Kinew is interested in working with Ottawa to examine the federal carbon tax in Manitoba.

Draft plan calls for industry-funded recycling system across province

Jan. 18, 2024 – Winnipeg Free Press – A draft plan now calls for the non-profit, industry-funded organization to take over processing the materials and let municipalities choose if they’d like to continue providing residential recycling collection or shift that responsibility over to the association, as well.

BREAKING: Greenland losing 30m tonnes of ice an hour, study reveals

Jan. 17, 2024 – The Guardian – Total is 20% higher than thought and may have implications for collapse of globally important north Atlantic ocean currents.

Global Emissions Could Peak Sooner Than You Think

Jan. 17, 2024 – Wired.com – Global deployment of solar and wind power, plus a surge in EV sales, means emissions from fossil-fuel-derived energy will finally hit the downward slope.

Scientists explain why the record-shattering 2023 heat has them on edge. Warming may be worsening

Jan. 12, 2024 – Associated Press – The latest calculations from several science agencies showing Earth obliterated global heat records last year may seem scary. But scientists worry that what’s behind those numbers could be even worse.

Competition Bureau launches investigation into Enbridge over deceptive marketing

Jan. 11, 2024 – The National Observer – Enbridge is being investigated by the Competition Bureau for misleading promotional materials in Ontario that claim fossil/natural gas is the cheapest way to heat homes and is “low carbon”.

Manitoba couple embraces green living in province’s sole certified passive home

Jan. 10, 2024 – Global News – Randy Webber and Mavis Lewis-Webber are embracing green living in Manitoba’s sole certified-passive home. The property looks like a regular home about an hour north of Winnipeg but it is rather unique. “The east, west, and south walls are 18 inches thick, and the north walls are 24 inches thick,” said Randy. The home is energy-efficient and uses geothermal energy for temperature control and solar power is used for the rest.

What climate scientists are predicting for the globe in 2024

Jan. 3, 2024 – Washington Post – As a year of surprising global warmth came to a close, a record high annual average temperature was already assured. Now, some scientists are already speculating: 2024 could be even hotter.

Much to think about — electrically

Jan. 3, 2024 – Winnipeg Free Press – Canada’s Environment and Climate Change Minister Stephan Guilbault recently announced that as of 2035, new vehicles sold in Canada will be zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) — electric, fuel cell, and plug-in hybrid. He also announced that Canada would be supporting the installation of thousands of new electrical charging stations.

Hannah Ritchie: ‘Doomsday predictions are a dream for climate deniers

Jan. 2, 2024 – The Guardian – The scientist, whose book Not the End of the World offers a data-based analysis of environmental problems and their solutions, on how being informed and engaged can prevent defeatism.

Remote northern Manitoba communities anxiously wait for winter road openings

Jan. 1, 2024 – CBC – Northern Manitobans are nervously eyeing the sky and their thermometers hoping for the right conditions for winter roads to open. Ralph Harper of St. Theresa Point First Nation, Man., is watching the river in his community hoping it will soon turn to ice. The river needs to freeze so the community’s 294-kilometre winter road can connect to Berens River. But, the weather is not co-operating in the Northern Manitoba community. “We depend on the winter road for our supplies, our materials, our food, our gasoline,” Harper said. “We only have a short window.” Typically the road opens around the first week of January and closes around the first week of March. He says that likely will not happen this year.

How companies are using artificial intelligence to tackle global warming

Jan. 1, 2024 – NPR Illinois – All sorts of companies and researchers have embraced artificial intelligence, and that includes people working on climate solutions. Julia Simon from NPR’s Climate Desk is with us to explain how AI is being used to tackle global warming. So, Julia, climate change means more wildfires, and I understand some companies and researchers think AI can help with that.

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.

Archives

Archives

FRESH Stories