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Oct 22, 2024 | 
environmentjournal.ca | Donald MacCallum
By Donald MacCallumA little known but fast-growing industry has been causing a disturbance in the Canadian environmental space recently, as the burning of wood pellets in thermal power plants is raising concerns over a higher-than-expected environmental impact and increased risk of deforestation.
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Aug 23, 2024 | 
nationalobserver.com | David Moscrop |Donald MacCallum
Businesses and industry leaders are anxiously awaiting updates on when Canada's freight trains could start moving again now that the federal government has intervened in a work stoppage that halted all shipments for a full day. Following months of increasingly fraught bargaining, Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. and Canadian National Railway Co. locked out workers after the two sides failed to reach a deal by 12:01 a.m. eastern time on Thursday.
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Aug 23, 2024 | 
nationalobserver.com | Donald MacCallum
Thousands of Canadian commuters may have to change their travel plans for a second day after a countrywide rail lockout shut down lines in major metropolitan areas. Bewildered commuters were turned away from shuttered rail lines Thursday, and the agency responsible for GO Transit in Ontario says service will remain down today on the Milton line and at the Hamilton GO station.
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Aug 21, 2024 | 
nationalobserver.com | Alessia Passafiume |Donald MacCallum
First Nations chiefs in Manitoba are calling for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to rescind the appointment of veteran broadcaster Charles Adler to the Senate. The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs says Adler's past comments toward Indigenous Peoples are "grossly offensive" and perpetuate stereotypes. In 1999, while working on a radio show in Winnipeg, Adler called Indigenous leaders "uncivilized boneheads" and "intellectually moribund," among other names.
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Aug 21, 2024 | 
nationalobserver.com | Kate Yoder |Donald MacCallum
This story was originally published by Grist and appears here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. When the New Orleans City Council debated a proposal for a $210 million gas-fired power plant in 2017, something felt off about the public meetings in City Hall. At one hearing, dozens of people wearing orange shirts clapped when a speaker said something against wind and solar power and gave speeches in support of the power plant.
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Aug 20, 2024 | 
nationalobserver.com | Jennifer McDermott |Donald MacCallum
Experts meet in Bangkok this week to advance what would be the first international treaty to tackle the surging problem of plastic pollution. Final treaty negotiations take place in South Korea in November. Yet most of the people who have been closely tracking the negotiations — environmentalists, tribal leaders and residents from communities hard-hit by plastic production and waste — are shut out of the talks in Bangkok.
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Aug 20, 2024 | 
nationalobserver.com | Fakiha Baig |Donald MacCallum
When Alice Foubert entered her home in Jasper, Alta., for the first time since a wildfire roared into the community, the rancid smell from her fridge made it difficult for her to recognize where she was. "It felt like a shell of home," the 25-year-old said in an interview Monday. "My heart just sank.
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Aug 19, 2024 | 
nationalobserver.com | Donald MacCallum
The people of Jasper are making progress on getting back to normal after being allowed back to their town, cleaning their homes, re-uniting with neighbours and seeking insurance information. Friday was the first day residents were allowed back after a wildfire forced the evacuation of the entire community, which eventually lost close to one third of its structures in the blaze.
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Aug 19, 2024 | 
nationalobserver.com | Natasha Bulowski |Donald MacCallum
A career oil and gas insider will soon be shaping climate policy in Alberta’s department of Environment and Protected Areas. After a decade working in various roles for the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP), Patrick McDonald has been hired by Alberta Environment and Protected Areas to serve as assistant deputy minister of air, climate and clean technology.
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Aug 19, 2024 | 
nationalobserver.com | Matteo Cimellaro |Donald MacCallum
A year ago, a wildfire tore through a First Nation in the interior of British Columbia, destroying 32 structures. And yet, Skwlāx te Secwepemcúl̓ecw is celebrating. James Tomma, Kukpi7 (Chief) of the First Nation that sits around 60 kilometres east of Kamloops, told Canada’s National Observer that there was a sense of despair right after the climate catastrophe during last year’s historic wildfire season. Skwlāx was one of more than 90 First Nations who were evacuated last year.
