Daily Archives: March 10, 2015

Cultural Ecocide, Politics, racism

Nunavut Tunngavik, Canada, reach tentative deal in $1B lawsuit

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Cathy Towtongie, president of Nunavut Tunngavik, in her Iqaluit office. In a news release today, she announced that a tentative agreement has been reached in a $1-billion lawsuit filed against the federal government in 2006.
Cathy Towtongie, president of Nunavut Tunngavik, in her Iqaluit office. In a news release today, she announced that a tentative agreement has been reached in a $1-billion lawsuit filed against the federal government in 2006. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)

 

By Bob Weber, The Canadian Press, reposted from CBC News, Mar 9, 2015

A tentative settlement has been reached in a billion-dollar lawsuit that alleges the federal government has never lived up to terms of the Nunavut land claim.

Cathy Towtongie, president of the Nunavut land-claims group that filed the lawsuit against Ottawa, made the announcement in a news release.

Arguments in the lawsuit by Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. were scheduled to begin Monday afternoon. The trial has now been adjourned.

Contents of the settlement were not immediately available.

“Details of the settlement will be disclosed once the agreement has been considered and approved by NTI, the Government of Canada and the Government of Nunavut,” the land-claims group said in the release.

No further comment was available.

Nunavut Tunngavik had been seeking $1 billion in damages, in addition to punitive damages.

The lawsuit dates from 2006. It alleges Ottawa has failed to fund a wide variety of activities guaranteed in the 1993 land claim, including wildlife management and development planning.

It also alleges the federal government underfunded education in the territory. It says that has prevented the territory from achieving its goal of 85 per cent Inuit employment in the public service, a level roughly equal to the percentage of Inuit in the population.

That argument was backed up by a 2006 conciliator’s report written by retired justice Thomas Berger. Berger’s report said the education system was producing graduates that were competent neither in English nor Inuktitut. He recommended a bilingual approach which he said would take an extra $20 million a year.

Ottawa lost an earlier aspect of the lawsuit last year. The Federal Court of Appeal agreed with a lower-court ruling that said the federal government had failed to fund an agency to monitor and report on the new territory’s economic and social progress.

A $15-million award was set aside until the entire lawsuit was settled.

Another lawsuit between a Nunavut agency and Ottawa remains outstanding. The Nunavut Planning Commission has sued the federal government over its decision not to fund public hearings on a land-use plan for the territory.

SOURCE

Politics, Preventing Ecocide, Transportation

Ring of Fire mining project needs First Nations consent, Bob Rae says

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Negotiator for Matawa First Nations says no community can be left behind in development

By Jody Porter, reposted from CBC News, Mar 10, 2015

More than one road will be needed to connect Webequie, Neskantaga, Eabametoong, Nibinamik, Marten Falls and Aroland First Nations to the provincial highway system, Bob Rae says.
More than one road will be needed to connect Webequie, Neskantaga, Eabametoong, Nibinamik, Marten Falls and Aroland First Nations to the provincial highway system, Bob Rae says.

Moving ahead with the Ring of Fire will require not just consultation, but the consent of the First Nations nearest to the mining development area in northern Ontario, according to Bob Rae.

Rae is the negotiator for the nine Matawa First Nations in their discussions with Ontario about the proposed mining project.

Last week the province and the federal government announced they would jointly fund a $785,000 study to look at the viability of a road that would connect four fly-in First Nations to the provincial highway at Pickle Lake, Ont. The route being studied would also provide an industrial corridor for a nickel mine planned by Noront Resources.

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Negotiator Bob Rae says any development in the Ring of Fire must deal with “the isolation, the poverty, the real needs” of the nearby First Nations.

“This can’t be a process that is driven exclusively on the interests of one project or another,” Rae said. “It has to be seen as responding to a broader concern which is the isolation, the poverty, the real needs of these communities.”

To that end, Rae said, more than one road will be needed.

First Nations envision a loop that begins near the provincial highway at Nakina, Ont. travels through Aroland and Marten Falls First Nations, connects with the route currently under study and ends at Pickle Lake, he said.

Despite the waning investment in the project from mining companies, Rae said the First Nations are keeping up “a steady pace of meetings” with the province about the Ring of Fire.

Ontario’s Mining Act requires aboriginal consultation, but Rae sets the standard higher in the Ring of Fire.

It’s “long past” the point where government’s can proceed with development without the “full support of First Nations,” he said.

“Can I imagine a situation where any infrastructure project could be built or would be built in the traditional territory of the First Nations of Matawa without their consent?” Rae asked rhetorically. “The simple answer is no.” SOURCE

 

 

 

democracy, Ecocide, Politics, Preventing Ecocide, solutions

NDP, Liberals and Greens agree on an approach to assess carbon pollution reduction

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The main federal opposition parties are supporting targets and measures that get Canada on track for climate change action

Matthew Kellway (MP, Beaches - East York) put forward Bill C-619, the NDP’s Climate Change Accountability Act. This is an updated version of a bill originally put forward by the late Jack Layton in 2006.

 

reposted from Environmental Defence, Mar 9, 2015

Alhough there was virtually no media attention paid to it, the House of Commons recently featured an interesting debate on climate change. NDP, Liberal, and Conservative MPs weighed in on the NDP’s private members bill, the Climate Change Accountability Act.

The proposed Act sets Canadian targets for carbon emission reductions for 2025 and 2050 that are in line with what the science says is necessary to avoid the worst climate change impacts. In the short-term, Canada must reduce emissions by one-third (34 per cent to be exact) over the next 10 years.

Just as importantly, the Act would mandate accountability measures: Cabinet must develop a plan to meet those targets (and others set in five-year periods). Every year the environment minister must report to Parliament on the government’s activities to address carbon pollution. And every two years the environment commissioner must assess the government’s progress and provide recommendations. These measures are crucial given that Canadian governments have always been much better at setting carbon pollution targets than actually meeting them. In just the most recent example, the current federal government is on track to miss its 2020 carbon reduction target by a mile.

This version of the Act is modeled on one by the same name that was passed by the House of Commons in 2010 and killed in the Senate. (It may have been the first time in Canadian history that the unelected senate voted down a bill passed by the House before it was even debated.)

What the recent House debate revealed is that, like the 2010 bill, the new Climate Change Accountability Act was supported by all opposition parties. Matthew Kellway, the NDP MP who sponsored the bill, has been calling it Jack Layton’s bill, likely because of Layton’s popularity and how much political capital he invested in the 2010 version. Liberal environment critic John McKay supported the bill on behalf of his party, saying the bill showed “a seriousness on the part of some parliamentarians to actually deal with what many say is the existential threat of our time.” The Green Party has also expressed its support.

The government, meanwhile, made the same nonsensical argument it has been making for years. Colin Carrie, the parliamentary secretary to Canada’s environment minister, implied that the only way to significantly reduce emissions is to shut down major parts of the economy. It’s like members of the federal government have never seen a windmill, heard of electric cars, or understood the incredible energy and money that can be saved by investments in energy efficiency.

Nonetheless, the fact that opposition parties are not only agreeing on action on climate change, but the short-term targets and measures that are needed, is a big step in the right direction. Given that there will be a federal election this fall and the United Nations climate change summit in Paris in December looms immediately afterward, this is not the last time we will hear a debate about what federal politicians will do to tackle climate change and the carbon pollution that causes it.

We just hope that debate turns into action. SOURCE

 

RELATED:

Below, you can also find two infographic accounts, one outlining Bill C-619 and one explaining why our undemocratic electoral and Parliamentary system has been the source of blocking adoption of the Climate Change Accountability Act from 2006 until now.

SEE ALSO:

In November 2010 Bill C-311 was killed in the Senate without debate, representing the first time the Senate voted against the will of the both Members of Parliament and the Canadian public.

FACTSHEET: Bill C-311, the Climate Change Accountability Act

 

conservation, Politics, Preventing Ecocide, Sustainability, Transportation

Europe’s electromobile future – Norway as a model?

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reposted from Bellona Europe, Mar 10, 2015

On 5 March 2015 European policy makers and experts in the field of electromobility met at the Norway Mission to the EU to discuss key challenges and the way forward for clean transport and alternative fuels in Europe. This event comes after the release of the European Commission’s Energy Union Strategy, which calls on Europe to speed up the electrification of its car fleet and become a leader in electromobility. By showcasing the Norwegian experience in overcoming regulatory and financial barriers to electric vehicle (EV) deployment, this event looked at how the success story can be replicated in the EU.

EV eventBellona’s President Frederic Hauge, having imported Norway’s first EV in 1989, shared the story of Bellona’s activist efforts in fostering the adoption of the country’s first incentives to EVs in 1990. Today, 25 years later, Norway has the highest penetration of EVs in the world.

To learn more about Bellona’s history in initiating the electromobility movement and adoption of EV-friendly policies in Norway read the Bellona Brief – Electric Vehicles: The Norwegian Experience in Overcoming Barriers.

The EV incentives scheme, composed of both push- and pull-factors, has rendered EV-ownership a cost-saving opportunity in relation to their fossil fuel-counterparts. Hauge also underlined the significant impact EV batteries will have on electricity markets, when used for the storage of renewable energy. (To learn more read Bellona’s brief ‘The disruptive world of large scale energy storage’).

“Consistent policies are key in triggering a change in consumer behavior towards more environmentally friendly choices”

These words formed part the introductory speech by Norway’s Minister for Climate and Environment, Tine Sundtoft, who highlighted the taxation system put in place by the government as crucial in having enabled the widespread uptake of EVs in Norway. Moreover, in order to build consumer confidence in EVs the government has guaranteed a range of financial incentives to EV-buyers in the form of exemption from high rates of purchase tax and VAT, exemption from road and ferry tolls, free parking in public charging spots as well as the possibility to drive in bus lanes.

The Minister also noted that governments should play an important role in building the necessary re-charging infrastructure for EVs, as a guarantee for car manufacturers’ having invested into making EVs available on the market.

“Need for a top-down mandate and a bottom-up adoption”

This was the key message delivered by Olivier Paturet, General Manager for Zero Emission Strategy at Nissan Europe. Paturet highlighted the importance of placing consumers at the center of the electromobility initiative, and the need for EV-incentives to be seen as a community-wide investment rather than as a sunk cost.

The importance of seeing citizens as key drivers of electromobility was also underlined by Hugues Van Honacker, Senior Expert in Electric Mobility from DG Transport of the European Commission. He pointed to the importance of raising consumer awareness of the cost-saving and environmental benefits offered by EVs.

While the overall picture in the EU is less positive than in Norway, momentum has been building and a number of decisive pieces of legislation will be formulated in the coming years.

Van Honacker also announced the Sustainable Transport Forum to be taking place later this year. The forum will aim to facilitate the preparation of national plans, as mandated by the recently adopted Alternative Fuels Directive. The Directive requires EU Member States to draw up national plans for the market development of alternative fuels and their infrastructure by the end of 2015. The establishment of EU-wide standardised re-charging infrastructure is a key pre-condition for the large-scale deployment of EVs in Europe.

Greg Archer, Programme Manager for Clean Vehicles at Transport & Environment, noted that while EVs are without a doubt an important factor in the decarbonisation of our economies, electrification should focus on all other modes of transport, including rail and bikes. Moreover, he argued that attaining a wider deployment of EVs would necessitate a shift to more sharing, and less ownership of vehicles.

“We only have one planet, let’s live on it as if we mean to stay”

These words concluded the presentation of Green MEP Keith Taylor. Taylor underlined that the transport sector is one of the main sources of air pollution, which in turn is a firmly established cause for mortality and respiratory diseases. Poor air quality yearly causes half a million premature deaths in the EU. Combating air pollution and climate change will be impossible without the widespread uptake of EVs. Taylor, moreover, argued for the need to promote non-motorised modes of transport, such as walking and cycling. SOURCE

 

biodiversity, climate science, conservation, Ecocide ALert

Warming Could Hit Rates Unseen in 1,000 Years

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Credit: Several Seconds/Flickr

 

By , reposted from ClimateCentral.org, Mar 9, 2015

“Essentially the world is entering a new regime where what is normal is going to continue to change and it’s changing at a rate that natural processes might not be able to keep up with,”Steven Smith, a researcher at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, said.

Historical records show temperatures have typically fluctuated up or down by about 0.2°F per decade over the past 1,000 years. But trends over the past 40 years have been decidedly up, with warming approaching 0.4°F per decade. That’s still within historical bounds of the past — but just barely.

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By 2020, warming rates should eclipse historical bounds of the past 1,000 years — and likely at least 2,000 years — and keep rising. If greenhouse gas emissions continue on their current trend, the rate of warming will reach 0.7°F per decade and stay that high until at least 2100.

Global rates of temperature change in high and declining greenhouse gas emission scenarios. Click image to enlarge. Credit: Smith et al., 2015

 

The northern hemisphere will be the first region to experience historically unprecedented warming. The Arctic, which is already the fastest warming part of the planet, will see temperatures rise 1.1°F per decade by 2040. North America and Europe will see slightly lower, though equally unprecedented, warming.

“With those high rates of change, there’s not going to be anything close to equilibrium,” Smith said, underscoring the profound potential impacts on both the natural world and society.

“The authors have demonstrated that we are currently headed into uncharted waters when it comes to the rate of climate change we are now seeing,” Michael Mann, who runs Penn State’s Earth System Science Center, said. “While past studies have focused on the unprecedented nature of the current warmth in the context of the past millennium, there has been less attention to the equally — if not more — critical issue of the rate of warming.”

The research comes on the heels of two recent papers — one which Mann co-authored — projecting that rapid warming is likely to resume in the next decade. That growing body of research has hypothesized that oceans have been stashing extra heat in their depths, leading to a slowdown in the rise of surface temperatures around the globe. But a coming shift in the Pacific trade winds could remove the cap holding that heat down and lead to increased surface warming.

Smith’s work didn’t specifically address this issue, but he said the global warming slowdown isn’t surprising given its comparatively short time frame. That’s partly why he chose to focus on 40-year intervals, which strip away year-to-year noise and represent an important time horizon for infrastructure planning.

“The normal will keep changing over time and that’s something we’ll have to expect and adapt to,” Smith said. SOURCE