Landmark Court Decisions Acknowledge Citizen Rights to a Healthy Climate (Video)

Ordinary citizens including children are using the courts to force governments to act on climate change. A number of lawsuits and some early judgements suggests that the courts may be able to spur significant climate action.

In August a group of 21 children, supported by renowned climate scientist James Hansen, filed a landmark constitutional climate change lawsuit against the federal government.

Canada's Provincial and Territorial Governments Draft Principles for a Clean Energy Strategy

Canada's provincial and territorial governments have come together and agreed on an energy strategy grounded in clean energy and climate action. At the conclusion of the Council of the Federation meeting in Prince Edward Island on Friday August 29th they released an updated set of principles intended to guide their work on a Canadian energy strategy.

This agreement cites a number of climate friendly initiatives including carbon pricing. The measures were agreed upon by all the provincial and territorial governments including the newly-elected majority governments in Quebec and Ontario.

The principles will serve as the foundation of a strategy that emphasizes cutting carbon pollution and growing Canada’s clean-energy economy.

Canada's Ruling Conservatives Suppress Arctic Ice Loss Research

The ruling Conservative party of Canada under the leadership of Prime Minister Stephen Harper are well known for silencing scientists, cutting funding for environmental research, and gutting environmental oversight. However, their latest attempt to suppress government research on the rapid loss of sea ice in the Arctic has plunged them to a new low.

Conservative ministers are now prohibiting Canadian Ice Services (CIS) from disclosing their research findings. CIS scientists have been denied the right to hold a "strictly factual" press briefing on the catastrophic loss of northern ice. Under the Harper governments new rules CIS and other government researchers must secure nine levels of government approval. The latest attempt to share information paid for by the Canadian taxpayer has been vetoed at the sixth ministerial level.

Canadian Conservatives Undermine Democracy and Environmental Protections

Canada, once a laudable example of an open democracy is rapidly deteriorating under Harper's Conservatives. There is a long list of anti-democratic actions taken by Canada's ruling Conservatives.  One of those is Bill C-38 which weakened federal environmental laws and made it far more difficult for the public and scientists to weigh in on new projects.

Out of 95 countries surveyed by the Centre for Law and Democracy, Canada ranked 56th, which is one place ahead of Rwanda and behind Colombia, Mongolia and Russia.

When it comes to access to information laws, Canada is behind every country in the world, with the exception of Tajikistan, Australia, Iceland, China and Greece. When it comes to how often information is withheld Canada is the 16th-worst in the world, which is only slightly better than Israel, Pakistan, Portugal and Guyana.

© 2014, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

Related Articles
Historic Canadian Supreme Court Ruling Dis-empowers Fossil Fuel Industry
A Not So Happy Canada Day for the Environment
Good News for the Environment on Canada Day
Canada's Conservatives Downgrade Humpback Protection to Move Forward with Pipeline
The Merits of Carbon Pricing in B.C.
Top Canadian Environmental Defense Issues in 2013
Harper Government's Tragic Environmental Record is Cause for National Shame
The Tar Sands Have Higher Emissions Profiles than Previously Thought
Increases in Tar Sands Production Will Guarantee the Worst Impacts of Climate Change
The Tar Sands and IEA's Three Climate Change Scenarios
Scientists and Activists Hold US Press Conference on Conservatives' Tar Sands Agenda
Canada's Ruling Conservatives at War with Science
Canadian Conservatives Cut Research Funding but Spend on Fossil Fuel Pipeline
Taxpayers Money to Promote Fossil Fuels Brought to you by Canada's Ruling Federal Conservatives
Canadian Government Uses Security Agencies to Target Environmental Opposition
Canadian Energy Espionage in Support of the Tar Sands
Video - The Tar Sands Give Canada the Worst Climate Record in the Western World

Canada's Conservatives Downgrade Humpback Protection to Move Forward with the Northern Gateway Pipeline

Canada's ruling Conservatives have bent every rule so that they can move forward with tar sands expansion. One of the most egregious and cynical moves involves the downgrading of the protections afforded the North Pacific humpback whales. They are doing this to make it easier to proceed with the $7.9 billion Northern Gateway pipeline project which would ferry tar sands bitumen to transpacific oil tankers off of Canada's ecologically sensitive West Coast.

If it goes forward, the pipeline will transport crude oil from Alberta to Kitimat in British Columbia where hundreds of oil tankers will transport the bitumen overseas.

Good News for the Environment on Canada Day

The Canadian federal government led by Harper's Conservatives may be notorious for their utter contempt for the environment and unflinching support for fossil fuels, but Canadian provinces and municipalities are putting forth initiatives to meet the challenge of climate change and environmental degradation.

In addition to carbon pricing schemes in some provinces, municipal governments are leading regional efforts to combat climate change in the country. Hundreds of communities across our country are coming together to oppose Harper and protect the people and places that make Canada one of the world's great nations.

Historic Canadian Supreme Court Ruling Dis-Empowers Fossil Fuel Industry

On Thursday June 26th, 2014, the Supreme Court of Canada rendered a ground-breaking decision that recognizes the land claim of a B.C. First Nation. This ruling has national implications and will most certainly impede the rush to exploit fossil fuels and extractive industries in general.

The unanimous ruling granted B.C.'s Tsilhqot’in First Nation title to a 1,700-square-kilometre area of traditional land outside its reserve. However, the decision also sets a game-changing precedent. Going forward, logging, fossil fuel extraction and mining operations on or near aboriginal lands must have the consent from affected aboriginal groups. This has a direct bearing on projects like the Northern Gateway pipeline which crosses four territories with aboriginal claims.

A Not So Happy Canada Day for the Environment

Under Harper's Conservatives, Canada has amassed a lamentable rap sheet of environmental abuses. In addition to failing to meet its GHG reduction commitments the ruling Canadian government has gutted environmental oversight, expanded dirty energy exploitation, killed environmental dissent, silenced climate scientists, withdrawn from the Kyoto protocol and from UN efforts to combat desertification. The Conservatives have even used Canada's intelligence services to spy on peaceful environmental groups.

A Washington-based group, the Center for Global Development, ranked Canada 27th on the environment out of the world's wealthiest 27 countries. Even China the world's largest carbon emitter is improving while Canada continues its downward spiral.

A 2013 national Environics Institute telephone poll in partnership with the David Suzuki Foundation found that public confidence in government as the lead actor in addressing climate change has declined from the 59 percent in 2012 to 53 percent in 2013.

Canadian Government Approves Northern Gateway Pipeline Despite Widespread Opposition

The contentious regulatory process for Enbridge's Northern Gateway Pipeline project, which began in May 2010, was finally approved by the government of Canada on Tuesday June 17th. The National Energy Board (NEB) has given the green light to the $7 billion pipeline project that would ferry tar sands bitumen from Bruderheim, Alta., to Kitimat, B.C.

The project is subject to 209 conditions recommended by the Joint Review Panel in In December 2013. However, the panel's independence is questionable given that they approved the project even though 1,159 people spoke against the pipeline at community hearings while only two spoke for it.

US Supreme Court Ruling Makes it Easier to Buy Election Outcomes

A recent ruling by the Republican-appointed majority on the US Supreme Court has freed uber-wealthy to flex their financial muscles so that they can buy electoral outcomes. The ruling on the McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission case upholds the $2,600 limit per candidate, however, limitations on the number of candidates that can be given money has been lifted. This means that those with the financial means can now interfere with the democratic process.

US Senators Climate Change Slumber Party

On the night of March 10 into the morning of March 11, Democratic and Independent US Senators pulled an all-nighter to discuss climate change. A total of 28 Senators spoke all night to urge action on climate change.

Democrats May Have Renewed Interest in Tackling Climate Change

We may be seeing renewed interest in climate change advocacy from Democrats. While Republicans have made their contempt for climate change legislation known, many Democrats are also guilty of dereliction of duty on the subject of climate change. Four years ago there were not enough votes in the Democrat controlled Senate to move forward with climate change legislation.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid recently told reporters that, "Climate change is the worst problem facing the world today." This is a reiteration of comments he made last June, when he said in a speech on the Senate floor that "we have no more important issue in the world than this issue, period."

Event - Making Waves: The Second Annual Canadian Association of Environmental Law Societies (CAELS) Conference

The Environmental Law Conference will take place on February 21 - 22, 2014 at the University of Ottawa’s new Faculty of Social Sciences building in Ottawa, Ontario. The Canadian Association of Environmental Law Societies (CAELS) is an exciting new networking project connecting environmental law students across the country.

The second annual CAELS conference will focusing on Canadian environmental law issues. The conference will bring together law students, academics, and practitioners from around the country to learn and network. This student-run conference will feature keynote addresses from Gord Miller (Environmental Commissioner of Ontario) and Maude Barlow (Council of Canadians). In addition, the conference will have multidisciplinary panels of speakers featuring graduate students, practitioners, and academics.

The Environmental Implications of the US Omnibus Spending Bill

A new spending bill may have bipartisan support but it has both good and bad implications for the environment. On Monday January 12, 2013, the House and Senate appropriations committee chairs announced that they had agreed on an omnibus appropriations bill (FY14). The bilateral agreement put together by House Appropriations Chair Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) and Senate Appropriations Chair Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) allocates $1.012 trillion in federal spending.

Video - Nature is Canadians' Identity Lets Protect it by Law

Canadians love the plethora of natural beauty that surrounds them but Canada is at the bottom of the OECD list on environmental performance. Canada is one of the last pristine wild places on earth. The nation is home to 20 percent of the world's fresh water and 20 percent of the world's natural forests but our environmental protections have been systematically eroded by Harper's Conservatives.

Top Canadian Environmental Defense Issues in 2013

This report from Environmental Defense reviews some of the top Canadian environmental stories of 2013.

Environmental Defence has been working since 1984 to protect Canadians' environment and human health. They have accomplished a great deal in the last 30 years.

They are Canada's most effective environmental action organization. They seek to create a world Canadians are proud to pass on to their children. To bring this about they challenge and inspire change in government, business and people to ensure a greener, healthier and prosperous life for all.

Here are some excerpts from the report including the section on Highlights and the section on Energy.

Canadian Anti-Oil Event: Defend Our Climate, Defend Our Communities

On November 16, Canadians are coming together to say "no" to the Harper government's dirty energy plans. The Conservative government's fossil fuel obsession has devastating environmental consequences and the tar sands are a leading source of global warming causing greenhouse gases. This Saturday, Canadians from coast to coast to coast will resist the Canadian government's unbridled exploitation of dirty energy. Communities are taking action to strive towards a better future. Help build a united wall of opposition to pipelines, reckless tar sands expansion and runaway climate change at local events across the country.

Conservative Convention Ignores the Environmental Abuses of Harper and His Government

The environmentally abusive Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his entire government are in Calgary for the Conservative Party convention which started on Thursday, October 31 and runs until Saturday, November 2. The convention is mired in the corruption controversy surrounding Harper's Senate appointments, while ignoring the far bigger issue of the Conservative's historic environmental abuse. This government has done more to undermine environmental protections and a science based policy than any government in Canadian history.

This government is fixated on securing as many petro-dollars as it can and in light of what we know about the irrefutable connection between fossil fuels and climate change, this is unconscionable. Canada's ongoing exploitation of the tar sands ensure that the country will not be able to meet its promised GHG targets.

Supreme Court to Review EPA's Right to Limit GHGs

The United States Supreme Court has indicated that it may limit the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) efforts to regulate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. On Tuesday, October 22, 2013, the US Supreme Court indicated that it would hear arguments against the EPA's right to regulate GHGs under the Clean Air Act (CAA).

This is in response to six separate petitions for ‎certiorari (a writ or order by which a higher court reviews a case tried in a lower court). The litigation is titled Coalition for Responsible ‎Regulation, Inc. et al., v. Environmental Protection Agency (D.C. Cir. Index No. 09-1322). Those who filed the petitions are putting the interests of the old energy economy ahead of efforts to combat climate change. They include the State of Texas, the US Chamber of Commerce, and predictably industry associations ‎of energy producers and users.‎

Scientists and Activists Hold US Press Conference on Conservatives' Tar Sands Agenda

Canadian scientists and activists want Americans to know about the Conservatives' hell-bent agenda to exploit Canada's tar sands reserves. On October 8, 2013 a delegation of Canadian scientists and activists participated in a briefing at the National Press Club in Washington, DC in which they shared a litany of environmental abuse being perpetrated by the ruling Canadian government.

Canada is doing everything in its power to increase exploitation of fossil fuel reserves. According to a Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Sierra Club press release, the ruling Conservatives want to triple tar sands production.