Is the recession good for the environment? (and why Margaret Wente is wrong)

By Alex Shimo - Thursday, December 18, 2008 at 5:30 PM - 32 Comments

Could an economic recession actually be good for climate change? Such a thought strikes fear into every moderate green’s heart, because if environmentalism is actually antithetical to the capitalist project, if it is incompatible with economic growth and our post-industrial, urbanized society, we might as well fry now and pay later. Reversing centuries of development, infrastructure, jobs, careers, education, the NHL and all the other twenty-first century essentials and luxuries is not going to happen any time soon.

Yet, the incompatibility of these two movements – environmentalism and growth – is often written about like it just one of sad little truths you have to live with. On Thursday of this week, Margaret Wente, wrote in The Globe and Mail:

“Even global warming has moved down the anxiety scale, but that’s okay, because the recession will slow down global warming more than all the carbon-trading schemes put together.”

Wente makes one of those breezy, glib comments that has a modicum of truth, but doesn’t get to the real heart of the issue. Continue…

A Green Christmas

By Alex Shimo - Tuesday, December 16, 2008 at 7:27 PM - 1 Comment

The NY Times just come out with their green gift guide. You can see it here:

What always annoys me about these gifts is that some are utterly ridiculous – clunky, ugly and a little pointless. If you really want to go green, your best bet is to buy gifts that people actually want. If you feel particularly worthy, why not give to charity? Or you could even try making something, like the Brangelinas, who just announced that they make gifts for each of their six kids, pushing them deeper into the realm of annoyingly perfect. Continue…

Carbon self flagellation (complete with thorns)

By Alex Shimo - Monday, December 15, 2008 at 10:43 AM - 2 Comments

If you’ve ever felt guilty about harming the planet, Swiss artist-inventor Annina Rüst has invented just the right Christmas gift for you. According to the New York Times, this translucent leg band monitors how much electricity you use, and once you’ve gone over your threshold, the wireless device inflicts physical punishment and slowly drives six stainless-steel thorns into the flesh of your leg. Continue…

Obama's Green Dream Team and what it means for Alberta's oil

By Alex Shimo - Thursday, December 11, 2008 at 5:59 PM - 14 Comments

Obama announced his energy team yesterday, nominating Nobel physicist Steven Chu to head the Department of Energy. This is an important victory for science and environmentalists, since it is the first time a scientist is heading a major executive branch department since the 1970s, according to Marc Ambinder, political columnist at The Atlantic Monthly. Chu has an impressive resume - he’s a Nobel Prize winning physicist and he’s been the director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory since 2004, where he has pushed aggressively for research into solar power, biofuels, and other alternative energy as a way to combat global warming. Obama also gave former EPA administrator Carol Brower a new White House position overseeing environmental, energy, and climate policies. Lisa Jackson of New Jersey to be his Environmental Protection Agency head and Nancy Sutley, deputy mayor of Los Angeles, will lead the White House Council on Environmental Quality.

What does this mean for Canada? The tar sands and its growing emissions will likely come under more intense scrutiny. Continue…

How we measure up

By Alex Shimo - Wednesday, December 10, 2008 at 3:33 PM - 5 Comments

Canadians are doing moderately well at going green according to a new study by Statcan.

About 45% of Canadian households had made a real switch, according to the study, doing things like composting, switching to low flow toilets, and changing to low flow shower heads.

Another 45% of Canadian households had made some changes, but there were a number of switches they could still make.

About 97 per cent of Canadians with access to recycling programs take advantage of them, but only 30 per cent compost.

Interestingly, whether or not Canadians are taking action is related to how much they earn. About 60 per cent of households with incomes of more than $100,000 were very environmentally active, but only 35 per cent of households with incomes of $28,000 or less, according to the study.

Homeowners were also more likely to be very environmentally active than renters. About 54% of homeowners were “very active” compared with 22% of renters. Continue…

Tar Sands Leaking

By Alex Shimo - Tuesday, December 9, 2008 at 12:24 PM - 18 Comments

The tailings ponds from the Alberta tar sands are leaking enough contaminated water every year to fill the Rogers stadium two and a half times every year, according to a new study. A report released today by two environmental groups estimates the leakage is 11 million litres every day. The ponds are filled with known toxins and carcinogens, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and copper, zinc and iron.

The Toronto-based Environmental Defense fund and the Pembina Institute estimated the leakage by using industry data provided and other university studies. Matt Price, who authored the report says it may take a generation for the contaminated water to build up enough in the ground water system to leak into the water system. By that time “it will be too late to stop it.”

Alberta Environment admit there is leakage, but have disputed the volumes. It says the toxic water drips into aquifers so deep that they themselves are contaminated by flowing through the oil sands.

You can read the full report here.

Canada wins six ignoble awards at UN Climate Change talks

By Alex Shimo - Monday, December 8, 2008 at 11:57 AM - 8 Comments

Canada has earned the dubious distinction of winning several awards for being the most obstructionist country at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Poznan, Poland. The “Fossil of the Day” is awarded to a country that is viewed as having the most backward policies on global warming. To date, Canada has won a total of six of these ignoble awards.

“This means we are obstructing the negotiations that are essential to save the planet from climate change, said Stephen Hazell, the executive director of the Ottawa-based Sierra Club of Canada. “Canada is really an embarrassment internationally, because we have been consistently opposing progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.” Continue…

Wakeboarding in Venice

By Alex Shimo - Friday, December 5, 2008 at 2:28 PM - 4 Comments

Here’s a fun video of wakeboarding in St. Mark’s Square in Venice. Duncan Zuur was pulled by 20 horsepower motor winch, which was covered and hidden under the arches of a building. Once finished,  he receives a standing from tourists.

On a more serious note, Venice has been flooded twice so far this week, the worst floods for 22 years. And the problem is growing worse as sea levels rise with climate change and the foundations of Venice gradually sink. The tides rise about 2.7mm per year. Continue…

Recyclers are in trouble

By Alex Shimo - Friday, December 5, 2008 at 1:53 PM - 1 Comment

A number of recycling depots across the country are reporting serious financial difficulties because of the falling price of recycled goods. The recycling depot on Bowen Island, just north of Vancouver says it won’t take low-grade plastics and glass jars because it has no more room for them and can no longer sell them. In Tofino, Son Bird Refuse and Recycling is stockpiling all its recycled goods because the bottom has fallen out of the market. This is due to a global slump in the price of recycled goods. Many recyclers used to be paid for their goods, but are now choosing to stockpile them instead of paying contractors to remove them and use them or just take them to a landfill.

Part of what’s happening is the collapse of the price of oil and the price of most other goods, including recyclables. For example, cardboard used to go for about $25 per tonne, but some recyclers say they have to pay $37 per tonne to have the waste removed. And since the economy doesn’t look like it’s going to get better in the immediate future, this problem is likely to worsen.

The first victim of climate change

By Alex Shimo - Wednesday, December 3, 2008 at 1:26 PM - 5 Comments

Scientists think the white possum might be the first ever victim of global warming. The nocturnal animal hasn’t been sighted for three years despite extensive searches. Researchers say the animal could be the first ever extinction brought about rising temperatures. The tree-dwelling white possum is native to the Daintree rainforest in Tropical North Queensland, Australia. It is particularly vulnerable to changing temperatures because they are unable to regulate their body temperature in extreme heat. Professor Stephen Williams of James Cook University in Queensland said the mammal had not been seen in its natural habitat since the area experienced a temperature rise of more than 0.5 of a degree.

Of all the animals endangered/extinct this has got to be one of the cutest.

Dr. Evil: I demand the sum of $1 billion dollars

By Alex Shimo - Tuesday, December 2, 2008 at 5:06 PM - 10 Comments

This from Reuters: an environmental activist is suing the world’s leaders for $1 billion for failing to prevent global warming. Activist and blogger Dan Bloom is launching a class action lawsuit at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for for “intent to commit manslaughter against future generations of human beings by allowing murderous amounts of fossil fuels to be harvested, burned and sent into the atmosphere as CO2.″He intends to lodge the lawsuit in the week starting Sunday, Dec. 6.

Since the ICC will likely not take the case, the case is probably more a publicity stunt than anything else.

Question: is this case more or less ridiculous than the woman who sued McDonalds because her coffee was too hot?

Amazon v. Boreal deforestation

By Alex Shimo - Monday, December 1, 2008 at 11:37 AM - 3 Comments

The rate of Amazon deforestation has accelerated. This year is worse – almost 12,000 km sq were deforested this year (until July), which is the equivalent to the size of 20 Torontos, including the city’s suburbs. That rate is about 4 per cent higher than last year. It’s the first increase in four years, according to Brazilian officials.

What’s driving the deforestation? Same factors as usual – demand for land for cattle and crops like soy. The Brazilian government says the deforestation is a serious problem, and has acknowledged the link to climate Continue…

The tree hugger in all of us, revealed at last

By Alex Shimo - Friday, November 28, 2008 at 5:42 PM - 0 Comments

James Fallows, a columnist at The Atlantic has this excellent analysis of a recent report by
American Physical Society. It’s a rare bit of good news on the environment, and it says a number of things of note:

First, that lower energy use can happen; California’s energy consumption has stayed about flat for the past thirty years through “an ambitious program of appliance standards and other innovations in building design….” (Fallows).

Second, people are changing their habits, albeit slowly. Continue…

Skyscrapers as energy plants

By Alex Shimo - Friday, November 14, 2008 at 1:54 PM - 2 Comments

Within three years, skyscrapers might be powering our homes. A team from MIT has been figuring out how to make solar cells cheap and small. They’ve come up with a type of paint that concentrates the solar power and directs it to a solar cell. They predict that the new dye could be applied to existing buildings, like skyscrapers, so you could retrofit a building into a solar generator without even changing the glass. Once applied, you’d have to tack on a few solar collectors and voila…instant electricity.

The glass lets in about 10 percent of sunlight, so from the inside, it would look like you were sitting behind a smoked glass window. It would make solar energy about 50 percent more efficient, say the MIT scientists.

“The main benefit is with the cost, explains Professor Marc Baldo, one of the researchers on the team. “You use a far smaller amount of solar cells. For the same area of solar cells, you get much more electricity.”

The latest climate change solution

By Alex Shimo - Monday, November 10, 2008 at 4:00 PM - 15 Comments

Two New York scientists – geologist Peter Keleman and geochemist Juerg Matter say they’ve found a rock that can be harnessed to soak up billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide. The rock, Peridotite, is found under the earth’s mantle, but it is also found in Oman, the Pacific Islands of Papua New Guinea and Caledonia, and along the coast of the Adriatic and in smaller amounts in California.

Capturing CO2 in this form is a technique many researchers are examining. Its called geosequestration, and a number of scientists are doing research into this possible solution to climate change. However most schemes suffer because they need copious amounts of energy to mine the rock and carry it to the power plant, or to purify the carbon dioxide and transport it to the rock. Columbia’s scientists, who are both at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, have three things in their favour:- Continue…

Dear Mr. Obama

By Alex Shimo - Friday, November 7, 2008 at 3:01 PM - 1 Comment

In one of his election promises, Obama said he would implement a cap-and-trade policy on emissions. This can be an efficient way of cutting carbon, but it can also lead to real problems, depending on the details of how it is done. If Obama is really going to implement a cap and trade policy, he should learn from Europe’s mistakes. Continue…

McCain v. Obama on the environment

By Alex Shimo - Monday, November 3, 2008 at 11:55 AM - 3 Comments

Environmentalists have generally come out in favour of Obama, and while  there is much similarity between the two presidential candidates on the environmental, with these issues, the details really matter.

Before I get to the differences, here’s a brief overview of their similarities. It’s worth a mention, because there have been a number of articles that talk about the real change that is going to happen in Washington with either candidate (probably because it would hard to be more obstructionist on the  environment than the Bush presidency).

First, both support a cap and trade system, a system that sets a ceiling on emissions, Continue…

China Changes its Tune (a little)

By Alex Shimo - Monday, November 3, 2008 at 11:53 AM - 3 Comments

In its first ever policy paper on climate change, China has admitted that its carbon emissions are now equal to those of the United States. (Well, they are actually a little more, but let’s not quibble).

Beijing now acknowledged the environmental problem. “Extreme climate phenomena, such as high temperatures, heavy precipitation and severe droughts, have increased in frequency and intensity,” the paper says.

Unfortunately China is unlikely to take any real action in the near future because lifting people out of poverty remains the top priority. China depends on coal, and “the coal-dominated energy mix cannot be substantially changed in the near future.”

Looking ahead, China would consider switching to alternative energy, but only if developed countries help out. China’s top climate change negotiator, Xie Zhenhua, said Beijing would consider limits on its worst polluting industries if rich nations handed over the technology to help clean them up. Developed nations should commit 0.7 per cent of their GDP to helping developing countries fight climate change, he says.

Betting on Climate Change

By Alex Shimo - Monday, October 27, 2008 at 6:01 PM - 12 Comments

Today was not a good day for the TSX  – down 500 points at the time of writing and its lowest close in four years. With the markets whipsawing daily, investors are looking for is a safe place for their money. The climate change sector could be that haven, Continue…

Green Money

By Alex Shimo - Monday, October 20, 2008 at 10:22 PM - 4 Comments

It’s been just over a year since HSBC set up the first climate change index. This is an index of 390 companies that profit from tackling global warming. The firms were from a range of fields including renewable energies, biofuels, carbon trading, power storage and building insulation.

After a year, the index is doing well – Continue…

NDP has largest carbon campaign footprint

By Alex Shimo - Tuesday, October 14, 2008 at 5:35 PM - 4 Comments

The David Suzuki Foundation monitored the carbon footprints of the three of the main political parties this year. Measured in tons, they were:

NDP: 586.1
Conservatives: 514.4
Liberals: 503.4
Green Party: 2.5

Elizabeth May’s footprint was extremely small because Continue…

The Green Shift, part two

By Alex Shimo - Tuesday, October 14, 2008 at 5:13 PM - 0 Comments

Thank you to every one who posted comments – almost every one took the time to write thoughtful and well-researched criticism.

I’d like to address the comment from that “Canada’s 2.3% of global emisions” don’t actually matter “in respect to the fate of the planet.” As a small country, it is quite easy to feel irrelevant, especially when you’re stuck next to an elephantine super power. However, Canada Continue…

Can The Green Shift Work?

By Alex Shimo - Friday, October 10, 2008 at 12:26 PM - 0 Comments

The Pembina Institute, one of Canada’s leading environmental think tanks, has just released their analysis of the political parties’ green plans. You can find it here.

To sum up, it says The New Democrat’s green plan is a little ambitious, and it’s essentially a tax hike, since it’s not revenue neutral. (The money goes towards green technology, rather than lowering income and business taxes.) The Green Plan is the most strict, with emissions priced at $50 per tonne. The Conservative plan is complicated, and will allow overall emissions to rise: it allows emissions from the Alberta Tar sands to triple over the next decade. By contrast, Continue…

Feist's (and other's) arctic photos and blog

By Alex Shimo - Wednesday, October 8, 2008 at 3:53 PM - 0 Comments

The A-list arctic tour has wrapped up and arrived back in the real world on Monday. Celebrities Feist, KT Tunstall, Vanessa Carleton, ex-Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker,  Martha Wainwright and rock legend Lou Reed’s artist wife Laurie Anderson were in Greenland to see the fast-melting Jakobshavn Glacier Continue…