News & Announcements

AUC announces details of community hearing sessions for Heartland Transmission Project application

Edmonton... The Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) has set dates and times for community hearing sessions as part of its enhanced public hearing process for the Heartland Transmission Project application. The Commission requires anyone choosing this option to register for one of the sessions by February 28, 2011. Read More

Attend a Southern Foothills Community Stewardship Initiative Public Forum

This month signals the kick-off of the public forums for the Southern Foothills Community Stewardship Initiative, a regional citizen’s initiative to give voice to local priorities and recommendations for the Southern Foothills landscape and watersheds. The intent of the initiative is to inform land use planning and stewardship processes at the municipal and provincial level, and to contribute to building the long term, regenerative capacity of the region’s landscape. The Southern Foothills Initiative focuses on the Alberta landscape from Highway 22X south to Highway 3, and west of Highway 2. Read More

Peter Kent’s green agenda: Clean up oil sands’ dirty reputation

The oil sands have a new defender: freshly minted Environment Minister Peter Kent, who calls Canada’s tarry resource an “ethical” source of energy that should take priority in the U.S over foreign producers with poor democratic track records.

He balked at naming rival overseas suppliers that should take a back seat to Canadian oil-sands petroleum, saying he didn’t want to upset diplomatic relations.

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Minister vows not to let emissions rules hamper oil-sands investment

Citing the tentative economic recovery, new Environment Minister Peter Kent says the Harper government will not impose any greenhouse-gas reductions on the oil patch that discourage investment.

Canada, which has committed to roughly matching U.S. efforts on fighting climate change, is watching carefully as the Obama administration rolls out new emission rules for power plants and refineries.

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Sask. family demands answers on carbon capture and storage risks

REGINA — A Saskatchewan family has demanded a full public investigation of documented problems on its Weyburn property, located on top of a Cenovus Energy carbon capture and storage site, in light of independent research that indicates unnaturally high levels of CO2 in the area’s soil.

Cameron and Jane Kerr first noticed changes in surface water and well water on their property in 2004, one year after CO2 injections in the area began, and reported these incidents to the Saskatchewan Ministry of Energy and Resources. Read More

Matters and others appeal to the EAB to turn down precedent setting transfer on the Bow

Water licence change threatens Bow River: Approval would grant irrigation district power to assign industrial water rights

CALGARY — Ecojustice is appealing recent amendments to the Eastern Irrigation District (EID) water licence that would give the District power to function as a water broker and supplier without accountability to the environmental health of the region’s water quality and ecosystems.

Ecojustice filed the appeals with the Alberta Environmental Appeals Board on behalf of Water Matters, the Alberta Wilderness Association, Trout Unlimited Canada and three individuals. Read More

Pembina reacts to Alberta Environment oilsands monitoring announcement

CALGARY, AB — Nathan Lemphers, policy analyst for the Pembina Institute responded to Alberta Environment's announcement of a provincial environmental monitoring panel.

"It is a step forward for the Alberta government to concede that the current monitoring system for the oilsands is inadequate, but this announcement needs to be kept in perspective. The government has asked for recommendations for a world-class monitoring system, but it's uncertain when or even whether they will be implemented.

 

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