May 5, 2016
Greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector are growing faster than those from any other sector. With the transportation sector already accounting for nearly one-quarter (23 percent) of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, investing in public transportation is a critical strategy to address global climate change. Strategies to curb transport emissions, such as by transitioning to
...December 8, 2014
The most recent economic “super-cycle,” a decades-long trend of rising commodity prices, has been influenced by the surging growth of China since the turn of this century. Now, as China begins its shift from an export-led growth model to a model based on internal investment and consumption, the super-cycle has slowed. The Worldwatch Institute’s Mark Konold, Caribbean Program Manager, and
...November 10, 2014
Yesterday marked the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. When I still lived in Berlin, my favourite November 9th activity was to go to the bridge where the Wall was first breached in 1989 - the Boesebruecke. I’d sit on the cold damp concrete of the bridge, pop the cork on a mini-bottle sekt (similar to champagne) and just wonder what it was like to be there that night. In recent years, I have become
...October 29, 2014
Hey Mr. Green, My 10-year-old electric water heater uses about 5,000 kilowatt-hours a year. Should I wait until it dies or replace it now? If the latter, what's the most energy-efficient water heater on the market? —Randi, in Putnam Valley, New York Holy starry dynamo of night! Your water heater alone uses almost twice as much electricity as my entire house. At New York's average residential rate
...September 29, 2014
The reality is that the market is changing. Climate responsibility aside, Sierra Club Canada Executive Director John Bennett asks, “is it really wise to stake Canada’s future on dirty, low quality tarry oil that is expensive to produce, expensive to process, expensive to transport and costly to refine?” The message Bennett had in his heart when he took part in The People's Climate March in New York on
...August 21, 2014
Is our Canadian government justified in keeping certain policies under wraps? Sierra Club Canada Executive Director John Bennett claims it is not. "Governments feed us a lot of malarkey about why secrecy is essential, but 9 times out of 10, there’s no justifiable reason," says Bennett. Just last month, at an undisclosed location in Ottawa, 400 delegates from Pacific Rim countries
...August 21, 2014
Hey Mr. Green, An article I read recently claimed that wind farms increase ground warming and drying for miles around. Have you heard such claims before? Is there validated research confirming or denying them. And if the claims are accurate, then how does the impact compare with the impacts of burning coal and oil? —Glen, in Kokomo, Indiana Fox News online made such claims,
...August 20, 2014
The National Energy Board (NEB) is continuing its undemocratic approach to satisfying its most influential stakeholder: the oil industry. On July 11th, the NEB said it was going consider a request from Chevron and Imperial Oil to soften the rules for offshore drilling in the Arctic. Their decision might very well lead to an ecological disaster in the Canadian Arctic where Imperial Oil and Chevron want to
...August 12, 2014
On June 17, 2014, the federal cabinet approved the Northern Gateway Tar Sands pipeline. Sierra Club Canada Executive Director John Bennett says that the Northern Gateway Tar Sands pipeline "could be a turning point because of the huge opposition in British Columbia —unparalleled in Canadian history". Namely: 130 First Nations and over 10,000 residents have said no to the project and told the
...August 11, 2014
As one of only two environmental coalitions present during the hearings on the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline and tanker project, media took a strong interest in Nature Canada's position on the federal government's disappointing decision to give the Northern Gateway the greenlight on June 17, 2014. Speaking on the risks of the Northern Gateway project in an interview with media after the federal
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