Top conservation groups challenge party leaders to take N.B. from laggard to leader on nature, water protection: Today, New Brunswick sits second-to-last in Canada on total protected land, at only 4.6 per cent.

Past governments have committed to bring protected areas to 10 per cent by 2020, but no new protected areas have been announced publicly, and that will still leave 90 per cent of the province’s land open to commercial and industrial use, including forestry and mining.

Nature NB, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society—NB Chapter, Conservation Council of New Brunswick and Nature Trust of New Brunswick are asking party leaders to define how they will meet the international and national land conservation targets of 25 per cent by 2025 and 30 per cent by 2030, respectively.

The groups’ questionnaire also asks leaders if they will enact long overdue laws to protect water as called for in the provincial water protection strategy, and how they will protect wetlands, coastal habitats and healthy forests in order to give our communities greater resilience from flooding and extreme weather caused by climate change.

Top conservation groups challenge party leaders to take N.B. from laggard to leader on nature, water protection: Today, New Brunswick sits second-to-last in Canada on total protected land, at only 4.6 per cent.Past governments have committed to bring protected areas to 10 per cent by 2020, but no new protected areas have been announced publicly, and that will still leave 90 per cent of the province’s land open to commercial and industrial use, including forestry and mining. Nature NB, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society—NB Chapter, Conservation Council of New Brunswick and Nature Trust of New Brunswick are asking party leaders to define how they will meet the international and national land conservation targets of 25 per cent by 2025 and 30 per cent by 2030, respectively.The groups’ questionnaire also asks leaders if they will enact long overdue laws to protect water as called for in the provincial water protection strategy, and how they will protect wetlands, coastal habitats and healthy forests in order to give our communities greater resilience from flooding and extreme weather caused by climate change.Read More

O’Toole Needs a Credible Climate Plan to Win a Federal Election, Analysts Say – The Energy Mix: Newly-elected Conservative leader Erin O’Toole will have a
harder time delivering on his promise to form a national government if
he can’t convince Canadians he cares about climate change and has a plan
to do something about it, according to opinion analysts cited in The
Narwhal’s explainer on the new leader and his policies.

O’Toole, who won the leadership on a promise of “true
blue” conservatism and a “significant boost” from Alberta Premier Jason
Kenney, is promising to “fight the carbon tax with every last breath”,
build a climate strategy based on market-based measures, and put the
cost of greenhouse gas reduction measures on industry rather than having
Canadians foot the bill directly, the publication reports. He’s committed to prop up Alberta’s severely challenged fossil sector, scrap the federal legislation that established the new Impact Assessment Act
and Canadian Energy Regulator, rescind the federal tanker ban on the
north coast of British Columbia, short-circuit environmental reviews for
projects considered “national strategic”, and criminalize rail
blockades.

O’Toole Needs a Credible Climate Plan to Win a Federal Election, Analysts Say – The Energy Mix: Newly-elected Conservative leader Erin O’Toole will have a
harder time delivering on his promise to form a national government if
he can’t convince Canadians he cares about climate change and has a plan
to do something about it, according to opinion analysts cited in The
Narwhal’s explainer on the new leader and his policies.O’Toole, who won the leadership on a promise of “true
blue” conservatism and a “significant boost” from Alberta Premier Jason
Kenney, is promising to “fight the carbon tax with every last breath”,
build a climate strategy based on market-based measures, and put the
cost of greenhouse gas reduction measures on industry rather than having
Canadians foot the bill directly, the publication reports. He’s committed to prop up Alberta’s severely challenged fossil sector, scrap the federal legislation that established the new Impact Assessment Act
and Canadian Energy Regulator, rescind the federal tanker ban on the
north coast of British Columbia, short-circuit environmental reviews for
projects considered “national strategic”, and criminalize rail
blockades.Read More

Freeland, Carney May Be Canada’s Last, Best Chance for a Green Recovery: In mid-July, Democratic nominee Joe Biden added a US$2-trillion climate plan to his campaign platform. And on August 11, Biden named
a running mate, California Senator Kamala Harris, who’d proposed a
$10-trillion climate plan and boasts a strong record for promoting
environmental justice and prosecuting rogue fossil fuel companies.

Those milestones leave Canada as one of the last Western
democracies with no coherent plan to cut ties with the industries that
brought us a mounting global climate emergency. It’s a position that is helping to shatter Alberta’s fossil fuel-dependent economy, as oil and gas investment declines and jobs evaporate. It will cost Canadians millions of well-paid jobs in every part of the country, as a rapid transition away from carbon picks up speed just about everywhere else.

“If we’re caught flat-footed by a Biden victory, we may
watch as entire sectors of our growing clean energy and cleantech
sectors pack up and move to greener pastures in the U.S.,” Environmental
Defence Executive Director Tim Gray warned
in an early August blog post. “Or they may just wither as they fail to
secure the government support needed to commercialize innovations.”

Freeland, Carney May Be Canada’s Last, Best Chance for a Green Recovery: In mid-July, Democratic nominee Joe Biden added a US$2-trillion climate plan to his campaign platform. And on August 11, Biden named
a running mate, California Senator Kamala Harris, who’d proposed a
$10-trillion climate plan and boasts a strong record for promoting
environmental justice and prosecuting rogue fossil fuel companies.Those milestones leave Canada as one of the last Western
democracies with no coherent plan to cut ties with the industries that
brought us a mounting global climate emergency. It’s a position that is helping to shatter Alberta’s fossil fuel-dependent economy, as oil and gas investment declines and jobs evaporate. It will cost Canadians millions of well-paid jobs in every part of the country, as a rapid transition away from carbon picks up speed just about everywhere else.“If we’re caught flat-footed by a Biden victory, we may
watch as entire sectors of our growing clean energy and cleantech
sectors pack up and move to greener pastures in the U.S.,” Environmental
Defence Executive Director Tim Gray warned
in an early August blog post. “Or they may just wither as they fail to
secure the government support needed to commercialize innovations.”Read More