Green Energy
Fossil fuels must steadily and gradually be replaced with cleaner and greener sources of renewable energy. This campaign promotes sources of energy that we can all breathe easy with.
Ontario's energy future can be based on renewable power and greater conservation. Dangerous, expensive nuclear and polluting coal must be phased out.
While specific events may require volunteers, this campaign is typically limited to a few highly knowledgeable green energy volunteers. The campaign chair is Christine Elwell and she can be reached at (christine.elwell<at>sympatico.ca).
Read more information about this important issue below. Topics include: Wind energy, the Green Energy Act, Energy Conservation, and Nuclear Power.
Peace Out, playing at Toronto's Hot Docs festival!
Submitted by Shaima Al-Khalili on Wed, 2012-04-25 10:30
Peace Out, the award winning documentary hailed by critics as “… not just another environmental movie…”, “a thoughtful, clear-eyed exploration of an issue that always ends in costs, trade-offs, and least-bad options” and “a generously inquisitive film, made with an open mind and a fierce sense of commitment” is coming to Toronto’s Hot Docs Film Festival next week.
... Read more »
Oh My Darling(ton)!
Submitted by Kristina Jackson on Fri, 2012-05-11 13:47
By Jeff Alan
The “hey federal government, we have environmental concerns” portion of the Darlington nuclear plant discussion is over. The project has been, of course, deemed perfectly safe as long as the considerations are considered. If you would like to read all 67 Joint Review Panel recommendations and the feds' responses, put on your reading glasses and mosey on over to this website:
http://www.ceaa-acee.gc.ca/050/document-eng.cfm?document=55542
Wonder if they put in any suggestions for stronger protection against confused workers filling the wrong tank again...1... Read more »
Important Environmental Law Amendments in the Ontario 2012 budget bill
Submitted by Kristina Jackson on Fri, 2012-04-20 13:50Illuminating article from the Iler Campbell blog on bad environmental provisions buried in the Ontario Government budget. Read on...
April 17th, 2012 by Laura Bowman... Read more »
Voice Your Concern regarding the Ontario Ministry of Environment’s Proposal to Exempt Transportation of Hazardous Waste from Licensing Requirements
Submitted by Kristina Jackson on Fri, 2012-04-20 12:22From our friends at CELA & Ecojustice:... Read more »
Ottawa to slash environment review role (CBC article)
Submitted by Kristina Jackson on Wed, 2012-04-18 13:41(April 17, 2012) Sierra Club says Tories 'abdicating' responsibility to protect environment
http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2012/04/17/environmental-reviews.html
... Read more »
Conference at Univeristy of Toronto April 20-21: The Nuclear Industry in the 21st Century: How We Got Here
Submitted by Kristina Jackson on Thu, 2012-04-12 14:51
Nuclear International Research Group (NIRG) Workshop: The Nuclear Industry in
the 21st Century: How We Got Here
April 21-22, 2012
http://niche-canada.org/files/pdf/NIRGworkshop-program.pdf
... Read more »
Sierra Club Director, John Bennet quoted in Reuters article on the topic of our governments efforts with regards to greenhouse emissions.
Submitted by Shaima Al-Khalili on Thu, 2012-04-12 14:31UPDATE 1-New data shows Canada to miss emissions goal -greens
* Emission figures signal targeted cut will be hard to hit
* Emissions grew by 0.25 pct in 2010, economy by 3.2 percent
* Government says economic recovery is the priority (Recasts lead, adds reaction, details, background)
By David Ljunggren
OTTAWA, April 11 (Reuters) - Although Canada's output of greenhouse gases was almost unchanged in 2010 from 2009, the major oil producer will find it tough to meet its 2020 emissions-cut target, government figures signaled on Wednesday.
Conservative government officials hailed the data, which showed emissions in Canada rose by just 0.25 percent in 2010 from the year before, hitting 692 megatons. The economy grew by 3.2 percent in the same period.... Read more »
Breaking news: Shell is suing the Sierra Club
Submitted by Shaima Al-Khalili on Fri, 2012-03-02 12:42
Yes, you read correctly. Shell has decided to take action against protests it was facing regarding oil drilling in the Arctic seas. The Sierra Club, alongside Greenpeace, the National Audubon Society, and others who are facing the lawsuit, simply believe that the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, where 20% of the Polar Bear population call home, is too risky a place for drilling and that Shell's clean-up plan is far too simplistic for the purpose.
Read more about the issue and sign the petition here:
http://action.sierraclub.org/site/MessageViewer?em_id=229863.0&dlv_id=19...
New York's Little Revolution - H2O protection & fracking
Submitted by Kristina Jackson on Tue, 2012-01-31 13:12How the state’s fight for clean water is reshaping its political landscape.
by Ellen Cantarow... Read more »
Riding Off The Grid
Submitted by Guest on Fri, 2012-01-27 15:14
By Jeff Alan
Maybe you've wondered how much energy your tech equipment uses. I did, so I did some Kill-A-Watt readings of a few computers I have access to:
- A Core 2 E6300 desktop with a low-end video card and a couple hard drives idling at ~105W
- A laptop with an i3 2310m processor charging using ~64W
- An 8-core AMD 8120 idling at ~70W... that jumps to 180+ at full tilt... Read more »
Is your fridge wasting food & electricity?
Submitted by Kristina Jackson on Fri, 2012-01-27 11:39
Ever noticed some people get by with much smaller fridges? It's not always because they go out to dinner every night. I stayed with a family in Shanghai who ate almost entirely home-cooked, healthy food and had a tiny fridge. You may be surprised how alternate handling of a lot of your food makes it last longer - and uses less space in your fridge.
According to Lloyd Alter with Treehugger.com, too many of us use our fridge as "an expensive air conditioned parking lots for what Shay Salomon called "compost and condiments."
Smaller fridge = less electricity. ... Read more »
Permit for Keystone XL denied by Obama administration
Submitted by Guest on Wed, 2012-01-25 15:23by Alys Granados... Read more »
Canada’s withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol affects developing nations
Submitted by Guest on Sun, 2012-01-08 20:33By Alys Granados
Following negotiations at a United Nations climate change summit in Durban, South Africa, Canadian Environment Minister Peter Kent announced Canada’s withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol, a 1997 United Nations treaty requiring member nations to stabilize their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions below 1990 levels. The goal was to curb the effects of climate change and while the Liberal government ratified the treaty in 2002, it was clear that GHG reduction targets would not be met by the original 2012 deadline. Canada is now among the few developed nations not signed on to Protocol.... Read more »
Big Oil and Canada thwarted U.S. carbon standards
Submitted by Kristina Jackson on Tue, 2011-12-20 15:32Turns out Alberta's environment ministry has joined forces with U.S. corporations to keep feeding the Big Oil machine. Read this well-researched article by Geoff Dembicki on Salon.com
Big Oil and Canada thwarted U.S. carbon standards
Emails show how a Washington lobbyist enlisted Canadian officials to beat back U.S. carbon standards.... Read more »
Sierra Club's Safe Sushi smartphone app
Submitted by Kristina Jackson on Sat, 2011-12-17 08:57
Beyond Coal campaign cool new tool
Love sushi? Make sure you choose safe fish. Mercury is a potent neurotoxin and can damage your brain and nervous system. Next time you order, choose fish that is low in mercury.
Download the app to make smart choices on the go, and find out more at sierraclub.org/mercury.
Who's behind the EthicalOil campaign?
Submitted by Kristina Jackson on Fri, 2011-12-16 17:01
At the recent Toronto Enviro Alliance comedy fundraiser, the annual EcoBunk Awards, I uncomfortably chuckled at the ludicrous Ethical Oil advertisements. Maybe you've seen them. It is an exceptionally well-funded ad campaign about why Canada NEEDS to keep producing Tar Sands oil for the world. In one they pose the elegantly flying maple leaf flag next to a woman in the process of being stoned.
Wattch This - more energy info for the computer savvy
Submitted by Guest on Tue, 2011-12-06 14:46More ways you can 'monitor' your computer's energy use (part 2 of 2)
Wattch This
By Jeff Alan
Computer power consumption, while receiving increasing attention, is still a confusing beast. One of the biggest potential power drains in a system could be the video card. This is easiest to explain with this fantastic writeup and chart:
http://forums.atomicmpc.com.au/index.php?showtopic=264... Read more »
Less Power to the People - energy awareness for the computer savvy
Submitted by Guest on Tue, 2011-12-06 14:41So, you use a computer - how else would you be looking at this website? Here are some tips from an engineer on how you can lessen your impact without missing out. (part 1 of 2)
Less Power to the People
by Jeff Alan
If you've purchased a computer power supply any time in recent years, you may have noticed a smattering of logos and numbers on the box. What's good to know?
80PLUS1– This is a rating system for power supplies (PSUs) based on efficiency. In order to meet basic 80+, a power supply must be able to provide greater than 80% efficiency at a number of power loads. However, this does not say anything about efficiency when the system is idling. There are different levels, too (standard, bronze, silver, gold, platinum). Leading to...... Read more »
Obama & the big decision on TransCanada's tar sands pipeline
Submitted by Kristina Jackson on Tue, 2011-11-08 11:41Sierra Club in the States worked hard on getting Obama into office. Now they are at the forefront pushing Pres. Obama to deny the Keystone XL Pipeline permit to carry tar sands oil all the way from Alberta to the Gulf of Mexico.
Obama recently indicated that the decision on the permit will come from The White House rather than the State Department. And now he's said it will not come until further investigation takes place. Go to Sierra Club online activism center to send Pres. Obama a thank you.
WASHINGTON, (Reuters) - Stung by months of protests, President Barack Obama' advisers are worried that administration approval for a planned oil pipeline from Canada could cost him political support from Democrats in 2012.... Read more »
Tar Sands Update
Submitted by Andrew Holownych on Mon, 2011-10-31 09:55
Demonstration planned for Nov. 6 in Washinton.
Make History on November 6
We're about to ask you to do something extraordinary. Something world changing. Something righteous. Something to use up those frequent-flier miles.
On November 6, meet us in Washington, D.C., to join hands in a ring around the White House. Together, thousands of us will send President Obama a message he might overlook on his Blackberry: We want clean energy. Tar sands oil is not in our national interest. And the Keystone XL pipeline must neverget a presidential permit. ... Read more »
