http://www.zerocarboncanada.ca Sat, 06 Mar 2010 23:22:52 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Chris Turner let 'er rip at the TEDx event in Calgary recently and the video is now available. The Geography of Hope author takes us through a tour of the world we need in 15 minutes. From ocean acidification to solar thermal, renewable energy grids, peak oil, high speed rail, ... http://www.zerocarboncanada.ca/2010/03/06/chris-turner-video-the-great-leap-sideways/ The federal budget was more disappointing than expected. The federal scene is so depressing that I have to share Tim Weis’ take -- he has found a silver lining: “The good news is, we can only improve from here.” We must be close to a turning point in investing in the ... http://www.zerocarboncanada.ca/2010/03/05/federal-budget-its-gotta-get-better-from-here/ Jeremy Leggett argues that Monbiot has feed-in-tariffs all wrong: The companies who manufacture solar PV in the UK have shown that putting solar panels on all available building surfaces would generate more electricity in a year, under typical cloudy British skies, than the entire electricity consumption of our energy-profligate nation. Some ... http://www.zerocarboncanada.ca/2010/03/05/the-case-for-feed-in-tariffs/ Feed-in-tariffs have become the holy grail of clean energy policy in some circles. But if they're being used to stimulate roof-top solar and other small-scale renewables, then Monbiot thinks they amount to A Great Green Ripoff: On April 1st the government introduces its feed-in tariffs. These oblige electricity companies to pay ... http://www.zerocarboncanada.ca/2010/03/01/the-case-against-small-scale-feed-in-tariffs/ Update: CBC has obtained an English copy including sections cut by La Presse Former Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier is publicly defending climate change “skepticism” and argues "What is certain is that it would be irresponsible to spend billions of dollars and impose overly stringent regulation to solve a problem when ... http://www.zerocarboncanada.ca/2010/02/24/ex-foreign-affairs-minister-defends-skeptics-condemns-climate-alarmism/ Bill Gates argues for complete decarbonization of energy systems by 2050 at TED... Even among those that grok the necessity of the zero carbon vision, Gates' emphasis on innovation and next-gen nuclear is not an uncontroversial prescription. The Breakthrough boys like it though. http://www.zerocarboncanada.ca/2010/02/23/bill-gates-zero-carbon-vision/ Chris Rose argues for a serious post-Copenhagen strategy rethink: Einstein famously said that to go on doing the same thing and expect a different result, is the definition of insanity. Climate campaigners immersed in rethinking after the 2009 Copenhagen Conference need to keep calm and carry on [1] but not in ... http://www.zerocarboncanada.ca/2010/02/22/keep-calm-but-dont-carry-on/ Imagine there's a big asteroid and NASA projects its most likely trajectory will hit the Earth in 2050. Pembina's Marlo Raynolds wonders how would we respond to an equal threat that wasn't called climate change: No, this is not a flashback to one of the best Atari games of the 1980s. ... http://www.zerocarboncanada.ca/2010/02/22/what-if-it-was-an-asteroid/ Vancouver’s Athletes’ Village has just been awarded LEED Platinum certification. The only other neighbourhood in North America to receive that honour is Victoria, British Columbia’s Dockside Green. Mayor Gregor Robertson exults that "the LEED Platinum certification for the 2010 Olympic Village and Southeast False Creek is the highest ever for a ... http://www.zerocarboncanada.ca/2010/02/17/vancouvers-olympic-village-%e2%80%9cgreenest-neighbourhood-in-the-world%e2%80%9d/ The Canadian government was “conniving” at the Copenhagen climate talks in the words of an internal Chinese government report obtained by the Guardian.  And doing so as part of a "conspiracy to divide the developing world" according to the report’s authors. Matt Price at Environmental Defence thinks the “...choice of the word ... http://www.zerocarboncanada.ca/2010/02/12/canada-conniving-to-undermine-climate-negotiations-says-chinese-government-report/