This article was written by Mitchell Beer and was published in the Energy Mix on February 11, 2023.
Here is the report: Spending what it takes .
This article was written by Chantal Da Silva and was published by NBC News on October 26, 2022.
This article was written and published by the Globe & Mail on July 12, 2022.
Achille Crespiatico examines a corn field Monday at his farm in Spino d’Adda, near Milan. Italy has been hit by an early heatwave and lack of rainfall, particularly in the northern agricultural Po valley. It’s been estimated that 30 per cent of the country’s food production is at risk. Mr. Crespiatico says about 70 per cent of his corn crop has been lost.
This editorial was written and published by the Globe & Mail on May 17, 2022.
There are two big stories in the recent history of power generation in Ontario – how the province lowered its emissions, and how it ended up with higher electricity prices. Both shape how the province’s political parties have approached the issue of electricity in the ongoing election campaign.
Ontario stopped burning coal to produce power in 2014. It was a major achievement that improved Ontarians’ health, with smog alerts going from regular to rare. It’s also the main reason the province’s greenhouse gas emissions are down 27 per cent since 2005. But a long history of government mistakes, from dubious green power contracts to controversial natural gas plants, also sent electricity costs spiralling higher. Rates today are roughly double those of 2006.
And that has led to a strange bipartisan political agreement to use taxpayer dollars to subsidize hydro bills. The Liberals started it in 2017 and Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives doubled down. The province’s Financial Accountability Office estimates that subsidies will cost $118-billion over the next two decades. It’s madness, but popular, so none of the leading parties want to talk about it. Elephant in the room? Where?
The next challenge Ontario faces involves both issues – how to green the grid, without sending electricity costs even higher. Each party has part of an answer, but none is keen to draw too much attention to the difficult choices ahead.
The aging Pickering Nuclear Generating Station, source of one-sixth of Ontario’s power, will close in 2025. The Darlington and Bruce stations can run until the 2060s, but refurbishing them means temporary shutdowns, further reducing Ontario’s capacity to generate clean power.
How to fill the gap? The easy option is natural gas, from the relatively new plants built to act as surge power when demand spikes, or when wind and solar are idle because the wind isn’t blowing, or the sun isn’t shining. But a greater reliance on gas means fossil methane replaces zero-emission nuclear – and Ontario’s currently low emissions from electricity could jump fivefold by 2035, according to the Independent Electricity System Operator. Last fall, in response to big cities calling for the end to gas power, IESO concluded that doing so by 2030 would be expensive and risky. The report was widely criticized, and in April it emerged that other options could work.
Four years ago, it was politically easy for Mr. Ford to promise lower prices while railing against green power. But gas prices are up, and new wind and solar cost a fraction of what they did when a Liberal government first pursued the technologies more than a decade ago.
Mr. Ford these days is a lot less ideological about electricity. Why? Business. His April budget praised clean energy and said it was key to drawing global investments, including support for the auto sector to go electric. The budget spoke of letting businesses tap into solar and wind, developing more nuclear power, and spending more than $1-billion on transmission in southwest Ontario to deliver clean power to industry.
His government is also working on grid battery storage, has struck an electrification and energy transition panel, and has asked the IESO to rethink the natural gas outlook. It’s progress.
The Liberals, meanwhile, are more explicit about their goal – getting off natural gas and moving to 100-per-cent clean power. How will they do it? Through “the right, cost-effective mix of nuclear, hydroelectricity and renewables.” Good destination, but where’s the map?
The NDP are somewhat more specific, promising more hydro, more wind and solar, more grid-scale storage and better links to the excess hydro power of Manitoba and Quebec.
But the NDP doesn’t mention nuclear, which in Ontario is a giant omission. Nuclear is the province’s top power source, the main reason Ontario was able to get off coal, and the main reason its electricity is currently more than 90-per-cent zero emission. That can’t change any time soon: The Canada Energy Regulator’s net-zero electricity outlook sees Ontario’s 2050 power mix including about 40-per-cent nuclear power.
Each of Ontario’s major parties has good idea in their platforms – and if it were possible to pick each of their best ideas, the result would be something close to a solid electricity strategy. Except, of course, for the billions of dollars Ontario taxpayers are spending to pay the bills of Ontario ratepayers. But never mind. That’s the easy thing to agree on.
This article was written and published by the Toronto Star on April 29, 2022.
SPENDING The $198.6-billion spending plan is by far the largest in Ontario history. Health care accounts for the lion’s share — $75.2 billion or almost 38 per cent. Education follows at $32.4 billion, or 16 per cent.
DEFICITS The budget predicts deficits until 2024-25, outlining best- and worst-case scenarios over the next three years. In 202223, the budget documents indicate the deficit could range from $15 billion to $23.2 billion, depending on growth.
LOW-INCOME BENEFITS The low-income individuals and families tax credit (LIFT) has been expanded. Tories are promising to increase the $38,500 threshold so everyone making $50,000 a year or less would receive it.
SENIORS $1-billion increase in home-care spending over the next three years to help seniors remain at home. There’s also a tax credit for lower-income seniors that would rebate them up to $1,500 for private caregivers, hospital-style beds, walkers, canes, hearing aids, glasses or adult diapers. STAYCATIONS Tax credit will cover up to $200 of an individual’s $1,000 hotel, campsite or cottage rental bill and up to $400 for a family spending $2,000.
This article was written by Brittany Peterson and was published in the Toronto Star on March 6, 2022.
With a backdrop of mountain vistas and a rink of natural ice, the annual ice hockey tournament at Grand Lake offers a picturesque snapshot of Colorado’s beauty. What’s not apparent is the problem brewing under players’ skates.
This year’s tournament was held a month later than normal, with thin ice forcing organizers to postpone the event originally scheduled for the third weekend of January.
That is a reality that many communities that live near lakes, which freeze and provide myriad activities during winter months, are increasingly confronting. According to a major UN report on climate released last week as the planet warms, the amount of ice, and amount of time it keeps a body of water solid, are diminishing.
Those changes are forcing communities to adapt and curtail some winter activities while also raising the spectre of long-term environmental and health issues.
Sapna Sharma, an aquatic ecologist at York University, analyzed 100 to 200 years of data for 69 North American lakes, finding that in the last 25 years, “we’re losing ice six times faster than the historical average.” Air temperature, particularly in winter, is the most significant driver of lake ice, she said.
In addition to shorter ice seasons, so-called “winter weirding events” are becoming more widespread, Sharma said.
“You’ll have really cold days and some warm days with rainfall and cold days again and some more rain and the melting of snow,” she said. “That’s exactly the type of winter we’re having in Toronto right now.”
Some impacts of climate change can be addressed through efforts like building fire-resistant homes, reducing overfishing and building infrastructure that can withstand intense storms. But there are no simple solutions for preserving lake ice cover; only sharply reducing greenhouse gas emissions can slow warming, and subsequent ice loss, in the decades to come.
According to handwritten records maintained by Northern Water, a major water provider for northeastern Colorado, the last 20 years at Grand Lake saw a shorter ice season by about 14 days than the prior 20-year period.
There, November’s air temperature has warmed on average about five degrees Fahrenheit, according to data by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This past November was the second hottest on record.
David Gochis, a hydrometeorologist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, says Colorado’s trend of very hot summers and last year’s unseasonably warm fall combined to raise the lake’s water temperature, contributing to a delayed and gradual freeze.
Beyond the hit to recreation activities and economic impacts, longer open water periods will affect “quality and quantity of downstream water resources,” according to a 2021 study from the University of Colorado, Boulder.
“When a lake is frozen, it’s not evaporating water,” said Adam Jokerst, a water manager for Greeley, Colo., a rapidly growing city that just acquired an aquifer to support future growth. Water that’s open for longer periods increases evaporative loss for the year, he said.
Additionally, warm, stagnant water can provide prime conditions for algae blooms, which can be toxic to humans and animals, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
“We can treat any water, but just get out your cheque book,” Jokerst said, reciting a common phrase in the water utility world.
“(In the last 25 years,) we’re losing ice six times faster than the historical average.”
SAPNA SHARMA, AN AQUATIC ECOLOGIST AT YORK UNIVERSITY
This article was written by Bibi van der Zee and was published in The Guardian on December 31, 2021.
This article was written by Sarah Lazarovic and was published in the Globe & Mail on January 1, 2022.
SIERRA BEIN
Do you have to reduce your quality of life if you want to tackle the climate crisis? What steps can you take at home to cut your carbon footprint? When should you talk to your kids about climate change – and when should you not?
Finding answers to tough questions like these can be intimidating – not to mention discouraging and depressing. Environmental activist Sarah Lazarovic believes that when it comes to climate change, the complexity of the issue presents the ultimate dilemma: When we’re given too many problems to solve, and none of the solutions seem clear or simple, we feel as if we can’t do anything. That’s where her newsletter, Minimum Viable Planet (MVP for short), comes in.
Ms. Lazarovic describes her illustrated newsletter as an attempt to help people fight climate change in simple, “undepressing” ways. Vice-president of marketing at Clean Prosperity, a Canadian organization that advocates for carbon pricing as a solution for climate change, Ms. Lazarovic knows that people respond to relatable, actionable information they can use in their own lives. That’s the type of information they’ll share with others, too.
“I’m a big believer in social contagion,” Ms. Lazarovic says. “But we need to get more people comfortable talking about climate change because our lives are on the line.”
In one issue of the newsletter, she depicts her own life with playful drawings and shares her own lessons about how she talks with her two young children about climate change.
“I try not to talk about the climate crisis too much,” she writes. “Which is why I try to talk less about my emotions and more about what we’re doing.” Instead of dwelling on the guilt or anger she feels about the warming climate, she focuses on how the new heat pump they’ve installed in their home will reduce their overall emissions.
Her advice is accessible, straightforward and sometimes even funny, and she provides a list of resources at the end to help emphasize the “doing” part of her advice.
MVP is one of a number of recent initiatives designed to get Canadians talking more knowledgeably – and comfortably – about climate change. Another one that Ms. Lazarovic supports, Talk Climate to Me, offers virtual workshops designed to equip people who care about climate change with the right tools to have challenging conversations about the issue. The sessions are aimed at women, who statistics indicate are more worried about our warming planet, yet feel less confident talking about the facts.
“So many people care about climate and do not say anything,” Ms. Lazarovic says. “We have to awaken that knowledge, that actually more people care, and one way to do that is to make it socially normative to talk about climate.”
Katharine Hayhoe gives an excellent, and current presentation on our Climate Crisis. This webcast took place on November 18, 2021. Thanks to the Halton Environmental Network for hosting this event.
This article was written by Alex McKeen and Omar Mosleh, and was published in the Toronto Star on November 17, 2021.
Michelle Thibodeau’s video call with her parents had lasted all of about four minutes.
Kim Cardinal and Lorn Thibodeau were showing their daughter how the Nicola River next to their dream home was rushing up on their property in the area of Spences Bridge, about 25 minutes outside of Lytton, B.C.
That was Monday, around 3:55 p.m.
Thibodeau says she could hear the worry in her mother’s voice over the video call, the panic that the house might soon be lost to a flood.
Then she heard her mom say, “Oh my God, there goes the pump house!” and the connection was lost.
The river had swept up the little shack holding a pump the couple used to keep water away from their home.
It was agonizing hours — most of a full day — until, finally, Thibodeau would get word that her parents were safe. A BC Hydro helicopter found the couple camping in their trailer on high ground on Hwy. 8 Tuesday afternoon.
“The river completely shifted so that property area will probably be a river now,” said Thibodeau. “I’m just glad that they didn’t get swept away. I just had a feeling that the house wasn’t going to stay.” “The power of water is crazy.” In the wake of historic atmospheric river rains that have flooded much of southern B.C., thousands of people have been left displaced, disconnected, and struggling with what to do next.
The Star spoke with some of those Tuesday were willing to share their stories of anguish and uncertainty.
‘There was a huge slide in front of us, it was so scary’
Sonya Foulds spent Sunday night stranded on the side of a highway sleeping in her vehicle with her husband and 20-month-old daughter while eight weeks pregnant.
But on Tuesday, she said she still feels blessed.
She’s grateful they survived a harrowing journey during which they encountered multiple mudslides and saw what appeared to be cars sinking underwater — and, she said, for the acts of kindness by random strangers and assistance from police and first responders.
The family had left their five-acre farm north of Aldergrove to drive to Summerland to pick up the cows, a rare breed known as Zebus.
Upon their return, they hit traffic jams before rerouting onto a different highway. They were told to drive through Hope, a town of about 6,000 people now cut off from the rest of the province, which they did. Then they came to a stop ahead of Agassiz.
“We’re driving on Hwy. 7 and we come to a complete stop. And that was when we hit the first landslide,” Foulds said.
She said there were about 10 vehicles in front of them and turning back wasn’t an option.
“There was a huge slide in front of us,” Foulds said. “We’re certain there’s vehicles that were buried. We know there are people that have passed. There’s no way that that slide could have not covered a couple of vehicles,” she speculated. “It was devastating to look at.”
The family was stuck. Foulds’ husband surveyed the area and found what seemed to be a safe place to park.
“We also only had a little bit of fuel left so we didn’t want to burn it all in case we could drive ourselves out of there,” Foulds said. “But then we realize we’re not driving ourselves out of there tonight … so then we made the decision to use our fuel to keep us warm all night in the truck.”
The family was air-lifted out by helicopter Monday, with Foulds and her daughter being flown out first.
‘My life as I knew it is gone’
Paige Walkus and her family loved living off the grid.
They spent Saturday night enjoying a movie in their RV like they usually do, appreciating that their four-year-old son has never been glued to electronics.
“We chose this life, we could have rented another space, or stayed in my two-bedroom basement suite but we wanted more, to get out of debt and be able to acquire property,” Walkus told the Star over Facebook on Tuesday.
“So buying an RV and living outdoors seemed perfect,” she added.
“Until the river started swallowing our home.”
The family noticed the river rising Sunday morning and decided to move their RV. As they did, the water kept coming. By the time they packed their belongings and called a towing company, they were told the company was already overwhelmed.
When it seemed unlikely anyone would come to their rescue, they decided to salvage what they could and escape.
The water continued to rise, so they fled to the highway.
“We then stayed on the highway with the rest of the convoy, filled with pipeline emergency workers, flaggers and pedestrians, a total of 22 people,” Walkus said. “We barely slept, maybe two hours all night as we listened to trees breaking and crashing into the Coquihalla River and boulders being pushed by the river.”
While they made it out safely, the RV the family lived in has “washed down the river” along with Walkus’s Chevy Cavalier, her truck and her fiancé’s company truck.
“My life as I knew it is gone. … We are going through the emotions for sure; we see the positive one minute and are overwhelmed by sadness the next,” Walkus said.
“It’s our son’s birthday today and we’re just trying to be in the present for him.” ‘It was like a tidal wave, it just came through’
The mayor of Princeton, a town with a population of about 3,000 people nearly 200 kilometres east of Vancouver, said the water levels there rose at least two feet in an hour.
Spencer Coyne said once the water overtook the dike on the Tulameen River it was unstoppable.
“The force was so much, it broke people’s doors open when it came through,” Coyne said.
“It was like a tidal wave, it just came through.”
Princeton’s core rests on a chunk of land where two rivers — the Similkameen and the Tulameen — converge.
With parts of the town centre flooded by the Tulameen, Coyne said Tuesday if the Similkameen had also flooded, “We wouldn’t be here right now.”
He said a number of houses will be destroyed, but didn’t want to guess how many.
By Tuesday, floodwaters were receding but 295 homes were still under evacuation order with 300 on alert, and officials were monitoring the water levels. Water pressure had also been restored in parts of the town.
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