|
|
By awreeves, on April 26, 2013, at 12:56 pm Enbridge buried pipeline marker – east Toronto. Credit: Adam Scott/Environmental Defence.
Federal opposition MPs and environmental groups are crying foul over what they see as the government’s attempt to curtail public comment on Enbridge’s proposed 639-km Line 9 reversal pipeline route through southern Ontario and into Quebec.
Tucked away in last spring’s Bill C-38 omnibus budget bill from Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative government is a requirement that any member of the public or other stakeholders wishing to comment through the National Energy Board on Enbridge’s proposed pipeline must apply for permission to comment on the project by filling out (Read more…)
By awreeves, on April 16, 2013, at 6:39 pm
Building off the idea that few comprehend the environmental challenges occurring in their backyards better than those who witness them daily, the Ontario government has re-launched yet another program to solicit local engagement in improving the province’s natural spaces.
The Land Stewardship and Habitat Restoration Program– operating under the awkward acronym LSHRP – will award small grants of up to $20,000 for communities, municipalities, businesses and First Nations groups to aid in conducting terrestrial remediation efforts across Ontario, provided the group can match the funds donated by the Ministry of Natural Resources.
In its previous incarnation, the $300,000 fund
. . . → Read More: the reeves report: Local Knowledge Key in Land Restoration Program
By awreeves, on March 22, 2013, at 10:13 am Lake Huron shoreline/Photo by Jimmy Brown
In the face of decades of environmental, pollution and development stresses on the shorelines, wetlands, river basins, flora and fauna of the Great Lakes, the government of Ontario realized making a difference in the health of these critical water bodies would require all hands on deck.
Provincial dollars would be needed to help improve the vitality and strengthen protections of lakes Huron, Erie, Ontario and Superior (in addition to the St. Lawrence and Ottawa rivers and any water basins that drain into the province’s four Great Lakes).
But how to allocate the money?
The
. . . → Read More: the reeves report: Next Steps in Protecting the Great Lakes
By awreeves, on February 14, 2013, at 5:36 pm Not Far From The Tree’s table at YIMBY 2011. Photo courtesy the Centre for City Ecology.
The flow of information and ideas between community residents and policy makers is often a one-way street. When someone tries to flip that idea on its head, it seems almost utopian – until you realize that the flipside is how things ought to be.
Enter the Yes In My Back Yard! Festival, now entering its eighth year. Started back in 2006 by Christina Zeidler, it began as a response to what she and others saw as a lack of public reaction to
. . . → Read More: the reeves report: Yes, In My Back Yard!
By awreeves, on February 8, 2013, at 8:52 am Algonquin Park at sunrise. Flickr image by Karin Lewis.
The crown jewel of Ontario’s provincial park system is being recognized for hitting a crucial milestone not often associated with our parks system: removing garbage.
With approximately one million visitors flocking to Ontario’s largest and most popular park destination, Algonquin Park in Central Ontario is earning praise from the province’s Environmental Commissioner for improving their waste diversion rate from 20 per cent in 2004 to 40 per cent overall by 2011/2012.
And 40 per cent is simply the average: six sites in the park diverted more than 50 per cent of
. . . → Read More: the reeves report: Algonquin Park: A Waste Diversion Success Story
By awreeves, on January 24, 2013, at 4:11 pm Ontario Forest in Spring. (Flickr image by jd_09)
Ontario’s Crown forests are expected to remain a net source of carbon emissions for the next three decades, according to the latest forestry report from the Ministry of Natural Resources.
The latest State of Ontario’s Forests report released January 3 – the third issued by the government, this one covering the fiscal years 2004 to 2008 – found that Ontario’s Crown forests will remain a carbon source until at least 2040 largely because of deforestation and decomposition of deceased and aging trees.
After 2040, changes to forest structure will see them become
. . . → Read More: the reeves report: Ontario Forests Will Be Net Carbon Source Until 2040
By awreeves, on January 18, 2013, at 8:55 am Ontario’s Greenbelt – Halton Region
It’s a new beginning for Ontario’s 1.8 million acre Greenbelt.
On January 10, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty was in Newmarket to announce a significant new designation to Greenbelt legislation, which will make it easier for municipalities to add public land to what is already the largest greenbelt in the world.
The new Urban River Valley designation will allow municipalities to retain flood protection controls over the urban rivers they intend to make part of the Greenbelt.
Why is this significant? Burkhard Mausberg, CEO of Friends of the Greenbelt, explained it to
. . . → Read More: the reeves report: Urban River Valleys Mean More Growth for Ontario Greenbelt
By awreeves, on January 12, 2013, at 12:13 pm photo by awreeves
Until the first speaker reached the podium, the protest to save the Ontario Ranger Program at Queen’s Park on January 4 seemed more like a high-school reunion than a community rally.
Approximately 100 people—many in standard issue yellow hard hats emblazoned with the Ministry of Natural Resources logo and covered in the signatures of their workmates who made up their summer family— stood on the lawn of Queen’s Park in the snow hugging and laughing, catching up with friends, singing camp songs, reliving inside jokes from their days in the bush and waving homemade placards, some taped
. . . → Read More: the reeves report: Ontario Rangers Rally in Support of Life-Changing Program
By awreeves, on December 13, 2012, at 4:48 pm Niagara River © RokaB – Fotolia.com
The Niagara River has come a long way since the 1980s. One would still be advised not to drink the water, swim in some of the public beaches or eat the fish you reel in, but the latest report on the remediation plan reveals a river recovering from decades of abuse.
To mark the 25th anniversary of the Niagara River Remedial Action Plan, first agreed to in 1987, a report from Niagara College engineering professor Anne Michaud outlines the steps taken to improve the river on both sides of the border.
The action
. . . → Read More: the reeves report: Cleaning up the Niagara River
|
|
