Canada’s now official 2030 greenhouse gas emission reduction target is a far cry from what’s needed to avoid climate breakdown, say critics panning the goal for its inadequacy.
Ottawa is setting a new goal for when new cars and trucks will be required to be net-zero in a clear sign to the auto industry that the era of gas-guzzlers is coming to an end.
Despite plans to go electric, major auto manufacturers are focused on polluting SUVs and pickup trucks in the near term, which has one environmental group calling for new levels of federal scrutiny.
The Alberta government is rebuffing an influential International Energy Agency plan to reach net-zero carbon pollution as an “unreasonable” and “unfeasible” proposal “driven by activists.”
“We're finding that (methane) emissions are at least 1.5 times higher than what's currently being reported in official inventory reports,” says Katlyn MacKay, lead author of a recent study.
By 2050, when the federal government has pledged to reach net-zero emissions, the planned highway could have created up to 17.4 million tonnes (or megatonnes) of greenhouse gases, according to a report from Environmental Defence.
Industry is excited about the budget's carbon-capture investments. But the technology is still expensive, and projects have not performed to expectations. Environmentalists worry it will lock us in to fossil fuels. Will Trudeau's wager pay off?
The federal government has an opportunity to change course in about three weeks, when the Liberals table their first budget in over two years, say green groups.
Loblaw Companies Ltd. is winning praise from a coalition of environmental, health and labour groups for its commitment to stop using receipt paper that contains a potentially dangerous chemical.