Canada
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Critical List: Iran could block oil shipping; presidential candidates can criticize ethanol in Iowa
If America and its allies put sanctions on Iran, the Iranian navy could block the Strait of Hormuz, an important channel for international oil shipments. Have Republicans ensured the death of Keystone XL by pushing Obama to decide one way or another about the pipeline? The EPA is scaling back requirements for cellulosic ethanol in […]
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Critical List: Funding for climate research drops; USDA approves drought-resistant corn
The federal budget crisis is turning climate denialism into a vicious cycle: Skepticism contributes to lower funding, which means less research, which means less information, which means more skepticism. The USDA approved a drought-resistant corn, developed by Monsanto. Congress is cutting a federal program that helps low-income people with heating costs by about 25 percent. […]
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Here’s a parking garage that doubles as an urban farm
Even the most utopian visions of a low-carbon world include cars, and even if they're fueled on electricity or ethanol, cars need places to park. But if parking structures have to exist, at least they can double as urban farms. In Vancouver, a company called Valcent Products is building a high-density "VertiCrop" farm on the […]
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Why is Canada withdrawing from Kyoto? Two words: Tar sands
Canada is pulling out of the Kyoto Protocol, ostensibly because it's so far from meeting its goals it'll have to pay high penalties. Also it’s all Bill Clinton’s fault. In reality, though, this is all about tar-sands oil. For starters, it’s not exactly true that fines would be inevitable if Canada can’t meet its goals […]
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Critical List: Canada out of Kyoto; the Napsack should be on your Christmas list
Canada is officially out of Kyoto, because it has no chance of meeting its targets and doesn't want to pay the fines. A Russian research team has found plumes of methane bubbling out of the Arctic Ocean. But maybe we should chill out about it, because methane's not as horrible as carbon dioxide? The EPA […]
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Durban dispatch: Climate deniers rip Tutu
Canadian climate deniers gave Archbishop Desmond Tutu flack for speaking out against Canada’s oil sands.Photo: Greater Tacoma Community FoundationCross-posted from ThinkProgress Green. Activists used hundreds of LED emergency lights to spell “climate fail” across the Canadian Parliament lawn in huge, illuminated letters to send Prime Minister Stephen Harper the message that he must listen to […]
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Durban dispatch: Canada blames Canada
Cross-posted from ThinkProgress Green. The Canadian Youth Delegation has publicly apologized for the actions of the Canadian government and their negotiators at Durban, publishing an apology letter in a local newspaper. The Persian Gulf nation of Qatar, which has the highest per-capita greenhouse gas emissions in the world, has been selected as the site of […]
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Hey, other tar-sands pipelines also suck!
Lest you get too caught up in Keystone XL and forget that tar-sands oil is super-destructive in general, NRDC has a new report about how a completely different pipeline will also lead to ecological disaster. The Northern Gateway pipeline, which would run from Alberta to British Columbia, has the potential to be just as destructive […]
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Critical List: 2011 was pretty darn warm; dams could exacerbate climate change
2011 will be the tenth or eleventh warmest year on record, depending on who you ask. All but one of the nine or ten warmer years were in the last decade. (The only exception is 1998.) The Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs is required to approve renewable energy projects on Native American-owned […]
