Why I think we are absolute idiots if we approve CNOOC take-over of Nexen

It is hard to know how else to put it. I don’t want to get anyone freaked out or overly alarmed, but are we paying any attention? Attention should be paid to the fact that the Prime Minister has signed a deal with President Hu of China that promises investor protection. The text of said ...

Canada still has no plan to address climate change

There is no shortage of compelling issues to discuss in a Hill Times Environmental Policy briefing.  Even listing, without describing, the catalogue of assaults on environmental law and policy by the prime minister in the last 12 months is enough to occupy the whole issue. Canada undermined global climate negotiations in Durban in December, negotiated ...

Theatre of the Absurd

Last night in the House, there was a Committee of the Whole until 1:30am. On the option of the NDP, two departments of government can be submitted to examination of the main estimates (or the Department’s 2012 budget) through a Committee of the Whole.  This entails the whole of the Commons being converted from Parliament ...

Adjournment Proceedings – The Environment

Elizabeth May: Mr. Speaker, I am rising today to pursue a question that I put to the Minister of the Environment in November of last year and it has only now come forward for adjournment proceedings. I am grateful for the opportunity to pursue the matter that I raised at the time, although some time ...

Canada must set example for the world

Publication Source: Goldstream News Gazette Source Link: View the full original article >> Author: Elizabeth May The Kyoto Protocol is an international treaty, not merely a document signed by a former prime minister. It was ratified by a vote in the House of Commons. If Canada legally withdraws, it will be the first time in ...

Canada needs to return to Kyoto

Publication Source: Saanich News Source Link: View the full original article >> Author: Sonya Ignatieff I share Ms. May’s concern about our federal government’s withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol. As an international treaty, with years of careful negotiation behind it, the protocol represents the best and most timely opportunity of reducing global greenhouse gas emissions. ...

Making sense of climate agreements: a Kyoto Protocol primer

A few people have asked me to provide a basic primer on the climate agreements that Canada has ratified. Four years ago, I co-authored Global Warming for Dummies, so this could be seen as an update, but no one who reads Island Tides is a ‘dummy.’ So this is a ‘Kyoto Primer for Smarties.’ 1992—The ...

Fact Check on Kyoto Distortions 2

When I wrote “Fact Check on Kyoto Distortions” on November 28, 2011 for my blog, I covered the most frequently cited, misleading/dishonest bits of spin on the subject. That blog covered the top 5, but now there are more. It’s time for “Fact Check on Kyoto Distortions—The Sequel.” Distortion number six:  If Canada does not ...

Durban and the road ahead

I have been home on Canadian soil for the last few weeks, happy to enjoy Christmas in Sidney, but having trouble shaking the residual depression from Prime Minister Harper’s decision to legally withdraw from Kyoto.  Naturally, most Canadian media coverage focussed on Canada’s role in Durban, not on the results. To give you a sense ...

Kyoto withdrawal: There must be a political price to be paid

I am just back from Durban and COP17.  So is Peter Kent.  Only he came back and announced that Canada will strike a blow at the fragile agreement that was just produced.  As I am sure you have heard, Canada has filed the legal paperwork to withdraw from Kyoto. Never before in Canadian history has ...