Greta Thunberg carried away by police at German mine protest:

(The photo of the town of Lützerath in 2019, was taken by Arne Müseler from Salzburg, Austria / www.arne-mueseler.de, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=106933639)

BERLIN (AP) —
Police in western Germany carried Swedish climate activist Greta
Thunberg and other protesters away Tuesday from the edge of an open coal
pit mine where they demonstrated against the ongoing destruction of a village to make way for the mine’s expansion, German news agency dpa reported.

Thunberg
was among hundreds of people who resumed anti-mining protests at
multiple locations in the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia
a day after the last two climate activists holed up in a tunnel beneath the village of Luetzerath left the site.

The
German government reached a deal with energy company RWE last year
allowing it to destroy the village in return for ending coal use by
2030, rather than 2038. Both argue the coal is needed to ensure
Germany’s energy security that’s squeezed by the cut in supply of
Russian gas due to the war in Ukraine.

But environmentalists say bulldozing Luetzerath will result in vast greenhouse gas emissions. Germany is expected to miss its ambitious climate targets for the second year in a row.

Amid the heated coal debate in Germany, the European Union pushed forward on Tuesday with a major clean tech industrial project designed to boost its plans for a greener future as the 27-nation bloc pursues the goal of being climate neutral by 2050.

Canadian military chief promotes war, arms build up: He has claimed that we are at war with China and Russia, who could
soon seize Canadian territory in the Artic, and a recent year-end review
interview,
Eyre added that Canada may have to militarize like it did at the start
of World War II. “I often challenged the team [military planners] to
look at history. What did we do in 1939?”

The recent warmongering by the head of Canada’s military is a
troubling escalation that must be called out. But it is erroneous to
frame his reaction as a fundamental change. Instead it is part of the
Canadian Force’s longstanding bid to further militarize society and
deepen ties to the world’s preeminent military power.

Over the past three decades Canada has openly participated in a
series of unprovoked, large-scale wars (Iraq 1990-91, Serbia 1999, Libya
2011 and Afghanistan 2001-14). The military also quietly participated
in another large-scale war (Iraq 2003) and medium scale war (Iraq/Syria
2014 – 2023) in which the Ottawa Citizen reported recently that Canadian special forces were involved with the US military team accused of killing many civilians.

The Canadian military has also invaded to overthrow an elected
government (Haiti 2004) and returned six years later partly to ensure a
popular president didn’t return from exile. Canadian Forces have also
been involved in violent UN missions (Somalia 1993, Yugoslavia 1991–95).
Over the past three decades the Canadian military has participated in
dozens of other politically charged or belligerent deployments such as training Palestinian security forces to oversee Israel’s occupation and strengthening
the Ukrainian military as part of a low-level proxy war with Russia.
They’ve also participated in naval missions that tested Nigerian,
Iranian, Chinese and other countries’ sovereignty.

What makes Eyre’s current bombast particularly troubling is the
geopolitical ramifications. At the end of October the head of the
Canadian military told Parliament that nuclear armed China and Russia
considered themselves at war with the West and two weeks later added that those two nations will increasingly challenge Canada’s “tenuous hold”
over its territory in the Arctic. Simultaneously, he’s calling for
industry to be placed on “wartime footing” and for military planners to
prepare for a WWII style conflict.

Doctors prescribe fines for natural gas ‘greenwashing’ | Corporate Knights: If you follow @FuellingCanada on Twitter,
you might have read recently that “Canada ranks as a world leader in
responsible natural gas production.” If you click on the link to their
website, you’ll find a host of disinformation describing how “Canada’s
natural gas industry works 24/7 to ensure affordable, clean, and
reliable energy for families and businesses.”

This might seem like typical fossil fuel industry marketing. But not
to Canadian physicians, who are increasingly concerned about the
climate-warming dangers of methane, the primary ingredient in natural
gas production, and the health risks of burning natural gas in home
appliances such as stove tops and water heaters. Rather than dismiss
“clean gas” propaganda as the last gasp of a desperate industry, the
Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) is
fighting the industry’s climate claims with an ambitious bid to
establish “greenwashing” as unacceptable – and maybe, eventually,
illegal.

In November, the federal Competition Bureau announced it will investigate a complaint filed in September
by six doctors, nurses and public health advocates who accused the
Canadian Gas Association (CGA) of misleading consumers by aggressively
promoting its products as “clean” and “affordable.” The complaint asked
the bureau to force the CGA and its member companies (which include
Enbridge, Epcor and TC Energy) to stop advertising natural gas as clean
and affordable, issue a retraction and pay a $10-million fine.

While it’s unclear how long the bureau’s investigation will take,
CAPE is gearing up for a battle, says campaign director Leah Temper.
“We’re trying to de-normalize the fossil fuel industry, so there will
certainly be a lot of pushback.”

In two study scenarios for 2035 [pdf] that
rely on ambitious energy conservation measures, compared to a third one
that doesn’t, the province saves up to C$9.5 billion on wholesale
electricity costs compared to a plan where new wind and solar
installations are replaced with gas. That’s after factoring in the cost
of efficiency measures that save 23 terawatt-hours of electricity per year.

“We have the once-in-a-generation opportunity to build an electricity
system that expands Ontario’s clean electricity advantage and meets the
needs of both urban and rural communities,” TAF CEO Julia Langer said
in a release. “A modernized and decarbonized grid would remove barriers
and expand opportunities for businesses, communities, and
municipalities that want to reach their climate targets and develop
their own energy projects.”

The report by the Concord, MA- and Toronto-based Power Advisory consultancy coincides with the Ontario government’s plans
to build new gas-fired power plants to meet an expected electricity
shortage. It arrives just a couple of weeks before the province’s
Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) is due to release its own
Pathways to Decarbonization study.