BANFF – Canada’s oil and gas industry needs realistic, affordable targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and a flexible plan that doesn’t hurt companies’ global competitiveness, says an industry expert.

              Achieving annual cuts in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is less important than getting industry onside to reduce emissions over the long run, Rick Hyndman, senior policy advisor on climate change for the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, told the Canadian Prairie and Northern Section (CPANS) Air & Waste Management Association’s annual conference. “If you do it right, industry’s all for it. If you do it wrong, industry’s all opposed to…

           There is mounting opposition to BC Hydro’s potential Site C hydroelectric dam, including from community groups and First Nations.

           Critics charge that BC Hydro’s current public consultation process is seriously flawed and that the dam would be built mainly so surplus electricity could be exported to the U.S. But Hydro insists it is sharing all information as it becomes available, and that Site C needs to be considered to meet B.C.’s future energy needs.

           “There is a growing number of . . . residents who do not want Site C, and are not satisfied with the structured and inadequate…

VANCOUVER – Governments need to think about sustainability in terms of economic opportunities rather than economic risks, four government ministers told GLOBE 2008.

            “There is gold in going ‘green.’ It is the right decision and B.C. is stepping up to the plate,” B.C. Economic Development Minister Colin Hansen said at the “Ministerial Dialogue on Sustainability.”

            B.C. “is firmly in the forefront” in pursuing a vision for the future that ensures both economic prosperity and sustainability, Hansen said. The province has “the most aggressive strategy of any jurisdiction in North America” in leveraging green technologies into economic growth, because “(the) green economy presents…

           British Columbia intends to cut greenhouse gas emissions by one-third by 2020, on its way to becoming a North American leader in sustainable environmental management, says B.C. Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources Minister Richard Neufeld.

           “We put out the challenge to the rest of Canada to stand up and meet what we’ve set,” Neufeld said in an interview.

           The province will also require, effectively immediately, any coal-fueled project to capture and sequester 100 per cent of the carbon it produces, the B.C. government said in a Throne Speech in February. “That means…

           A provincial report that found deteriorating water quality in southern Alberta rivers shows the government’s Water for Life water-management strategy won’t work without more funding and new regulations to protect watersheds, critics say.

           The Alberta government’s annual progress report, Measuring Up: Progress Report on the Government of Alberta Business Plan, released at the end of June, looked at the province’s performance last year on 14 goals and 65 performance measures – including environmental indicators.

           According to the report, water quality in the river systems from Edmonton south – the North Saskatchewan, Red Deer, Bow and Oldman basins – was rated…

           Lack of clarity over which jurisdiction has authority to manage air quality in Prince George, B.C. has contributed to the city having some of the worst air in the province, according to a task force report and local residents.

           The Prince George Mayor’s Task Force on Air Quality Improvement, released in October, says the city has among the highest levels of dangerous particulate matter (PM₁₀ and PM_2.5) in the province. It recommends that the city ask the provincial government to create a standard for fine particulate matter that can be used to issue air quality advisories, and that both jurisdictions…

           The Alberta government is providing $30 million for research on water, amid warnings by a U.S. expert that the province needs to learn from California’s mistakes to ensure the long-term, sustainable management of water resources.

           The research funding is being provided through Alberta Ingenuity by the Alberta Water Research Institute, which has issued its first call for proposals to tackle some of Alberta’s most pressing water-related environmental issues, including habitat decline, biodiversity loss, water flow and water quality.

           “What we are really looking for is research that can be translated directly into stakeholder information and practical applications for water management…

              The Montana government’s petition for a Canadian federal environmental assessment of a proposed open-pit coal mine in the Flathead River watershed in British Columbia is premature, says a senior B.C. government official.

              Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer wrote a letter in March to Environment Canada Minister John Baird and Foreign Affairs Minister Peter McKay to request a comprehensive review of the project under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act. Schweitzer said he believes that the proposed mine violates the intent of the Environmental Cooperation Agreement between Montana and B.C. by threatening “the protection, conservation and enhancement of our shared environment for the benefit of current and…

              Officials with a rural district building a $1-billion shopping centre and entertainment complex just north of Calgary believe they have secured a water supply for the project, after the City of Calgary rejected tapping into its water supply.

              But the project’s developer, Ivanhoe Cambridge, has temporarily suspended construction on parts of the project in the Balzac area until a long-term water supply can be guaranteed. To open in the fall of 2008, the shopping centre will be about 1.4 million square feet, the entertainment complex and racetrack will hold about 7,850 patrons, while the racing facility’s barns will house about…

              The first Alberta government budget under Premier Ed Stelmach received kudos for addressing some infrastructure gaps, but critics say it largely ignored the environment.

              In its throne speech, the government said it was allocating a 10-per-cent increase for its operating budget, and 35 per cent more for its capital spending – for a total of $33 billion. Commitments include legislation to set targets for large industrial emitters to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. “By fall 2007, Alberta will have a new climate change action plan to move beyond what’s been accomplished so far,” the government said.

              The government also committed nearly…

           Alberta produces the most greenhouse gas emissions in Canada, while Canadians are recycling more but also generating more waste and using about the same amount of pesticide on lawns and gardens, new surveys by Statistics Canada found.

           Alberta now emits 39 per cent of the country’s total greenhouse gases (GHGs), according to a StatsCan survey released in early March. (See http://www.ec.gc.ca/pdb/ghg/onlinedata/downloadDb_e.cfm)

           Kim Hunt, director of communications for Alberta Environment, said the survey results come as no surprise to the department. “We are aware of the fact that we are the largest emitter of greenhouse…