http://www.zerocarboncanada.ca Sun, 07 Feb 2010 02:41:52 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I’m carrying the Olympic torch on an electric scooter today. I figure it’s a good opportunity to get people that aren’t normally dialed into the climate crisis thinking about zero emissions vehicles, electrifying transportation and especially to start talking about the massive electrification project that’s going to be needed. Many thanks ... http://www.zerocarboncanada.ca/2010/02/05/electrifying-the-world/ So, we've lowered our climate targets to match the Americans. Not that we have any federal plans in place that would come close to meeting them and in fact we are falling dangerously behind US efforts. Great comment from a recent reader: Harper and Prentice love to say that Canada must ... http://www.zerocarboncanada.ca/2010/02/01/will-canada-match-us-budget-spending/ Guest blogger Leslie Malone of Environment Northeast makes the case that Energy Efficiency should be at the core of the upcoming federal budget The Benefits of Action are Impressive Advocates for energy efficiency should have one of the easiest jobs in the world.  Considering the direct and indirect economic benefits, this energy ... http://www.zerocarboncanada.ca/2010/01/28/make-energy-efficiency-cornerstone-of-federal-budget/ The most depressing part of Obama’s speech last night wasn’t the olive branch offered to offshore drilling and other sops. It was the fact that not only Canadian policy but the whole world is hostage to the US Senate. And this is where they’re at (h/t Romm): For want of a ... http://www.zerocarboncanada.ca/2010/01/28/the-most-depressing-and-dangerous-part-of-obamas-speech/ President Obama prioritized a clean energy jobs message in his State of the Union address. “Clean energy” got 10 mentions. The topic actually came ahead of health care in the address. Predictably the overall theme was jobs and recession. And clean energy came early as the prime vehicle to create ... http://www.zerocarboncanada.ca/2010/01/28/obama-state-of-the-union-energy-and-climate-plus-nuclear-and-offshore-oil-bill-this-year/ Preston Manning makes the case: ... the Harper government has not made hypocritical international commitments on GHG reductions as did the Liberals at Kyoto nor has it bungled the presentation of a major environmental initiative (carbon taxes) as did the Liberal opposition under Stephane Dion. At the national level, it is ... http://www.zerocarboncanada.ca/2010/01/26/are-the-conservatives-best-positioned-to-lead-on-clean-energy/ Because we all sometimes need recent facts on hand that tell the bigger story -- here's one for your back pocket when talking with the confused: From the NY Times: WASHINGTON — The decade ending in 2009 was the warmest on record, new surface temperature figures released Thursday by [NASA] show. The agency ... http://www.zerocarboncanada.ca/2010/01/22/last-decade-was-hottest-in-recorded-history/ The Globe has a useful and interesting overview today of the race between provinces to lead on clean energy. But strangely frames the story as a two-way "green energy fight" between Ontario and BC with no mention of Quebec. Quebec is no slouch on the green energy front and keeps charging ... http://www.zerocarboncanada.ca/2010/01/20/ontario-v-bc-but-what-about-la-belle-province/ By Dr. Mark Jaccard, a professor at Simon Fraser University, lead author for sustainable energy policy with the Global Energy Assessment and author for the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The Copenhagen climate summit had great entertainment value and Canada received an impressive share of the limelight. Our government ... http://www.zerocarboncanada.ca/2010/01/14/copenhagen-was-just-a-sideshow/ Surprising really that Satya Das' argument doesn't already have more traction in the public debate. Here's a clip from his piece in yesterday's Globe. Worth reading. I imagine we'll be hearing more and more of this narrative... Who will lead the evolution to a low-carbon future? It must be Canada, the only ... http://www.zerocarboncanada.ca/2010/01/05/green-oil-sands/