The Muskoka Association of Fire Chiefs have issued a total fire ban for all of Muskoka and moved the forest fire danger rating to extreme effective immediately. With increasing temperatures, dry conditions and the threats taking place in much of the country, a total fire ban is needed to ensure the health and safety of the community.
During a total fire ban,
- NO fires of any type are permitted at any time including for cooking and warmth; and
- NO fireworks are allowed.
The Muskoka EV Show was amazing! Thank you to organizers Peter Love and Lesley Hastie and the many volunteers at Muskoka Conservancy and CAM who made the day a success. Thank you to keynote speaker Steve Lapp. Thank you to the EV dealers, the EV owners and the many organizations that came out to share info and news. Thank you to Wheelie Good Coffee for the best coffee ever. Thank you to the folks at Bracebridge Fairgrounds. And thank you to everyone who came out!
First electrical vehicle show draws a good crowd – Doppler online
Tony Seba talks about the rapid switch to EVs
“The market share of electric vehicles will hit 50 per cent in China this year”
Listen to the Driven podcast interview.
Toyota under fire for anti-climate lobbying as protestors storm VW annual meeting
May 11, 2023
The world’s two largest automakers have been accused of climate wrecking policies by protestors and their own shareholders, and have been urged to accelerate their transition away from fossil fuel vehicles and to provide more transparency around anti-EV lobbying. – More
- Create YOUR Personal Action Plan to reduce your carbon footprint!
- Visit the Challenge page for ideas to get you started.
- Let’s take action together.
“Natural” gas or methane: which would you choose?
FYI – Natural gas is primarily methane. In addition, various amounts of higher alkanes and low levels of trace gases like carbon dioxide, nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide, and helium are present.
Update: Judge Dismisses Youth Court Challenge, Scorches Ontario Climate Plan
April 19, 2023 – the Energy Mix
Applicants in a landmark youth-led climate lawsuit against the Doug Ford government are vowing to appeal their loss this week, buoyed by the judge’s rebuke of Ontario’s emissions targets and its cynical bid to skirt litigation by declaring its own climate plan to have no status in law.
Ecojustice lawyer Danielle Gallant compared Queen’s Park inadequate efforts on climate change to “bringing a glass of water to put out a house on fire
From The Energy Mix
Ontario integrity commissioner, auditor general to launch Greenbelt investigations
Jan 18, 2023 – Toronto Star
Ontario’s integrity commissioner and auditor general both announced Wednesday that they would conduct separate investigations into the government’s decision to open protected Greenbelt lands up to housing development. Read Toronto Star story. (If this link requires a subscription, try your Muskoka Region / TorStar login.)
From The Narwhal: More fallout over Ontario’s environmental cuts, as watchdogs launch Greenbelt investigations. Read story.
Warning: This is not the good news department
Good news can be found – here
Temperatures soared 10°C to 16°C above average in the Northwest Territories and the northern Prairies provinces. – May 15, 2023 – Western and northern Canada witnessed record-breaking temperatures over the weekend, as dozens of records were shattered.
Governments Spent Record $1 Trillion Last Year Subsidizing Fossil Fuels
Feb 16, 2023 – Bloomberg –
Even as global governments raise their ambitions to cut fossil fuels in the future, they spent a record $1 trillion last year subsidizing energy
Exxon scientists in the 1970s accurately predicted climate change – Jan 12 2023 – NewScientist – Exxon scientists accurately predicted the pace and scale of climate change more than 40 years ago, according to a study that its authors say adds weight to claims the oil firm knew about and sought to downplay the risks posed by continued fossil fuel use.
Atmospheric levels of all three greenhouse gases hit record high – Oct 26, 2022 – The Guardian – Scientists warn world ‘is heading in wrong direction’ amid rise in nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide and methane
Fossils, Fertilizers, and False Solutions: How Laundering Fossil Fuels in Agrochemicals Puts the Climate and the Planet at Risk – Oct 2022 -CIEL – Synthetic nitrogen fertilizer and pesticides are fossil fuels in another form … an underrecognized but significant driver of the climate crisis.
U.N. Secretary−General António Guterres warns of a “dangerous disconnect” between what scientists and citizens are demanding to curb climate change, and what governments are actually doing about it.
Banking on Climate Chaos -Fossil Fuel Finance Report
The world’s 60 biggest banks poured over $5,500,000,000,000 over 7 years into the fossil fuel industry, driving climate chaos & causing deadly local community impacts.
Bank funding for fossil fuels often brings dire threats to the lives and livelihoods of local communities around the world — harming Indigenous Peoples, Black and Brown communities, and poor and working-class communities first and worst.
Enbridge plans multibillion-dollar gas expansion in Ontario — and wants customers to pay for it
Feb 14, 2023 – National Observer
In a 7,000-plus-page application, the Calgary-based fossil fuel company is asking the Ontario Energy Board to approve a rate hike for customers that would fund a dramatic spending increase to expand its gas network with new pipes across the province.
Windsor gets taken for a ride by dirty fossil fuel developer
Jan 17, 2023 – Ontario Clean Air Alliance
Mayor Dilkens and Windsor City Council chose to listen to a fossil fuel power developer rather than the citizens of Windsor, who reminded them that the city has declared a climate emergency and has endorsed the call for the province to phase-out gas fired power. – more here
This is the good news department
Repsol Abandons Plan to Ship Canadian LNG to Europe
Mar 17, 2023 – Spanish oil and gas giant Repsol SA has dropped its plan to ship liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Europe from a terminal in New Brunswick,
Purolator Pledges $1B to Electrify Last-Mile Delivery – Mar 14, 2023 – …with the purchase of more than 3,500 electric last-mile delivery vehicles and electrification of more than 60 terminals.
Forests flourish under community control, and NASA has the satellite imagery to show it.
Feb 10, 2023 – The Verge
NASA published a set of maps yesterday showing the incredible recovery Nepal’s forests
Record solar and wind output is crushing coal in EU – and is already beating gas
Feb 1, 2023 – In 2023, Europe is set to witness a huge fall in fossil fuels – of coal power, yes, but especially gas power.
We May Not Actually Need All That Lithium –
Jan 25, 2023 – USA – Achieving Zero Emissions with More Mobility and Less Mining
Electric buses hitting London streets as school returns
Jan 9, 2023 – London Ontario – Families heading back to school this morning may notice something new on London roads — electric school buses.
Electricity prices plunge as Greens hail cap and “beginning of the end of gas”
Dec 15, 2022 – Australia, Renew Economy – Giles Parkinson
Prices of electricity futures have continued their fall as the federal government’s controversial gas price cap legislation passed through parliament, along with measures that will urge and help households to quit gas and go electric.
U.S. States, Cities Turn to Zoning Reform to Slash Emissions – December 18, 2022 “Conversations about reducing emissions typically focus on electric Vehicles … But increasingly, are aiming not just to get Americans into different kinds of cars, but to radically reduce the need to drive in the first place.”
Busiest ferry routes inside Arctic Circle go electric – Norway’s successful transition to zero-emission transport sector continues. By the end of 2022, the last remaining ferry connection along European route E6, Bognes-Skarberget, will operate on batteries.
Lion Electric buses to power P.E.I. relief centres in emergencies
May 9, 2023
School buses in Prince Edward Island have an additional use beyond transporting students.
The government of P.E.I. is collaborating with Lion Electric on a pilot project to use the province’s 82 LionC electric school buses to provide electricity to emergency community disaster relief centres in the event of a power outage. – more
Ocean treaty:
Historic agreement reached after decade of talks
Mar 5, 2023 – BBC News
Nations have reached a historic agreement to
protect the world’s oceans following 10 years of negotiations.
The High Seas Treaty aims to place 30% of the seas into protected areas by 2030, to safeguard and recuperate marine nature.
The last international agreement on ocean protection was signed 40 years ago in 1982 – the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
This story was also reported in Common Dreams as ‘The Biggest Conservation Victory Ever!’
Aggressive Net-Zero Plan Puts PEI at ‘Centre of Energy Transition Universe’
February 14, 2023 – the Energy Mix – Mitchell Beer
A clever series of presentation slides at a conference in Ottawa last week placed small communities at the centre of the energy transition and spotlighted Prince Edward Island as Canada’s next source of breakaway climate leadership.