National Newswatch

Why China isn’t an excuse for climate inaction

Jun 6 2023 — Max Fawcett — Canada’s conservatives have spent decades denying the fundamental scientific reality of climate change and disputing the central role human activity plays in creating and exacerbating it. But as those arguments became increasingly untenable with the public, they’ve had to retreat to attacking the proposed solutions for it, most notably carbon pricing. Now, it seems, they’ve […]

How to mandate clean heat in our buildings

Jun 5 2023 — — Decarbonizing buildings is a necessary step to achieve net-zero emissions. Countries that take climate change seriously are introducing clean-heating requirements. Stand-alone fossil fuel heating systems will no longer be installed as early as 2024 in Germany and 2026 in the Netherlands. In Canada, the federal government has for decades ratcheted up the requirements for the […]

Canada unveils plan for regulating offshore wind energy projects in Atlantic Canada

May 30 2023 — Paul Withers — Canada’s offshore accords with Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador are being updated to promote development of offshore wind farms, but it’s not clear yet whether any compensation will be paid to fishermen displaced by wind farms. Amendments introduced Tuesday in Ottawa by the federal government assign regulatory authority for wind power to jointly managed […]

Leaders from low-carbon sectors descend on Ottawa for an attempted show of strength

May 29 2023 — Adam Radwanski — Executives from an array of low-carbon industries are attempting a show of strength on Parliament Hill this week, at a precarious point in Canada’s efforts to keep pace with the United States and other countries prioritizing low-carbon economic growth. Although representatives of specific sectors frequently show up in Ottawa to press members of Parliament for […]

How the PBO is fuelling opposition to Canada’s climate policies

May 24 2023 — Max Fawcett — Stephen Harper is, without question, one of his generation’s sharpest political minds. But even he couldn’t have foreseen the Parliamentary Budget Officer role he created as part of his 2006 Federal Accountability Act would play a leading role in undermining support for climate policy in Canada in 2023. After all, its stated mission revolved around […]

Wildfire conspiracy theories spread faster than flames

May 23 2023 — — For the past three weeks, thousands of Albertans have been forced to evacuate their homes while firefighters and even Canadian troops battle massive wildfires. But in some corners of the province, there are whispers that the soldiers’ presence has nothing to do with the fires. In a video posted to Twitter on Tuesday and viewed […]

The cost of turning older buildings into climate-fighting machines

May 11 2023 — — While Canada has set a deadline to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, several provinces and cities, including Toronto and Prince Edward Island, have made commitments to reach that goal a decade earlier. To do so, all of their existing buildings and houses will need to be retrofitted so they no longer use fossil […]

The inescapable math of climate change

Apr 23 2023 — Aaron Wherry — The latest political skirmish over the carbon tax left out the most important facts. Judged only by its title, the “national inventory report” sounds like something produced by a furniture retailer. In fact, it might be the second-most significant document published by the federal government each year — surpassed only by the annual budget. The […]

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