By Patrick Moore

              When I helped found Greenpeace in Vancouver in the 1970s, my colleagues and I were firmly opposed to nuclear energy. But times have changed. I now realize nuclear energy is the only non-greenhouse gas-emitting power source that can effectively replace fossil fuels and satisfy Canada’s growing demand for energy.

              Nuclear power plants are a practical option for producing clean, cost-effective, reliable and safe baseload power in Alberta’s oilsands.

              Nuclear energy is affordable. According to the Canadian Energy Research Institute, nuclear is one of the most cost-effective energy sources available. At less than five cents per kilowatt-hour, nuclear…

By David Schindler and Marlo Raynolds

              Several prominent environmental scientists are grudgingly contemplating a role for nuclear power in the Alberta electricity system, a testament to just how catastrophic and certain the implications of accelerating global warming are. As the recent G-8 Summit revealed, virtually everyone has started taking climate change seriously.

              Unfortunately, that is not yet true of the Alberta government. Our federal government is also still falling short on most counts.

              The federal and provincial governments’ failure to rein in the growth of Canada’s emissions has fed the notion we need to search more widely for technologies that might…

              VANCOUVER – Canada should not participate in a cap-and-trade emissions exchange market, says the head of a consortium that has helped large final emitters acquire carbon offsets.

              Aldyen Donnelly, president of the Vancouver-based Greenhouse Emissions Management Consortium (GEMCo), told a Fraser Institute lunch session on climate change that a cap-and-trade system will leave Canadian companies vulnerable to takeovers from large European companies that have plenty of emissions cap room under terms of the Kyoto treaty. GEMCo was once among the world’s largest emission-credit speculators, but has pulled out of the market because of uncertainty over most credits’ ability to offset…

By Stephen Kaufman

              Climate change has emerged as the foremost environmental concern of our times. As a significant emitter of carbon dioxide, industry understands the challenge at hand – and is taking the lead in developing a potential technology-based solution.

              A coalition of 14 major Canadian corporations, representing a variety of emitters, is working on a large-scale application of a technology known as carbon capture and storage. This process involves trapping carbon dioxide (CO₂) from industrial sources before it is emitted and storing it in deep geological formations. The proposed Integrated CO₂ Network (ICO₂N) holds the potential of reducing CO₂ emissions…

VANCOUVER – Fossil fuel producers are not the enemy when it comes to preventing climate change, says a leading Canadian executive who attended Al Gore’s environmental ‘boot camp.’

              Dave Mowat, president and CEO of Vancity Credit Union, told a Vancouver Board of Trade symposium on climate change that oil and gas production does not have to end for Canada to help offset global warming. “We talk about fossil fuels as if they’re the bad guys in all of this,” he said. “The flip side of that is – fossil fuels have created civilization.”

              Mowat made the comments just before…

              Love it or hate it, the new Climate Change and Emissions Management Amendment Act has made reducing greenhouse gas emissions a routine part of economic activity for companies in Alberta, and in doing so, may have paved the way for the province to be a leader in carbon capture and storage.

              The legislation and its accompanying Specified Gas Emitters Regulation requires that companies that emit more than 100,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases per year must reduce their emissions intensity by 12 per cent starting July 1, 2007.

              The regulations apply to about 100 facilities, which represent about 70 per…