City’s resistance to electric buses a mistake

Dec. 13, 2024 – Winnipeg Free Press.  The City of Winnipeg is scaling back plans to electrify its fleet of transit buses. That’s disappointing. Winnipeg was once a leader in the transition from carbon-emitting buses to battery power. The city led the nation in 2015 when it launched a pilot project to put four electric buses on the road.

Winnipeg’s compost drop-off program ‘incredibly successful’, tripling expected totals

Dec 13, 2024 – CBC News – Winnipeg’s community drop-off composting program has exploded in popularity with triple the amount of organic waste being contributed over what was expected.

Higher density key to fixing budget woes

Dec. 9, 2024 – The Winnipeg Free Press – Our city has been growing three times faster in area than in population, meaning overall density has been dropping as it grows. In 2019, the city compared the built-up area of Winnipeg over 50 years and found that the footprint of the city had increased by 96 per cent, almost doubling, while the population increased by only 37 per cent. If Winnipeg had simply maintained the density it had in the 1970s, the city’s footprint, and its corresponding infrastructure would be 30 per cent smaller than it is today.

This would have gone a long way to balancing our civic budgets.

The climate crisis is our greatest health crisis

Dec. 7. 2024 – Winnipeg Free Press – As a physician observer attending the recent United Nations Conference of the Parties (or COP 29) in Azerbaijan, it was clear the deeply unhealthy COP process needs some massive therapy if we aim to curb the single greatest health crisis of our time: the climate crisis.

Winnipeg councillor frustrated after committee rejects motion to study natural gas alternatives

Nov. 22, 2024 – CBC – A Winnipeg councillor is questioning the city’s commitment to its climate goals after a committee voted to take no action on a motion that would have led to a study on ways to phase out natural gas.

Manitoba Hydro Considers Utility-Owned EV Charging Network

Nov. 22, 2024 – The Energy Mix – Manitoba Hydro is considering building a public network of electric vehicle chargers, Electric Autonomy Canada reports. The new network, recommended in the province’s Affordable Energy Plan, released in September, could make EVs viable at longer distances—crucial for connecting rural and Northern communities.

Winnipeg Ponders Gas Phaseout for All Buildings

Nov. 21, 2024 – The Energy Mix – Two years after Winnipeg began implementing its net-zero focused Community Energy Investment Roadmap, a citizen-led committee is pushing the city to study exactly how to implement one of the Roadmap’s core pillars: phasing out natural gas use in all buildings, existing and new.

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.