Alberta's Minister Turned Coal Lobbyist
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- Published on Thursday, 07 April 2016 06:15
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Ethics Complaint Filed Against Alberta Minister Turned Coal Lobbyist
A complaint filed with Alberta’s Office of the Ethics Commissioner on Tuesday argues that the president of the Coal Association of Canada contravened the Conflict of Interest Act by lobbying for the coal industry shortly after leaving his post as an Alberta cabinet minister.
Until six months ago, coal lobbyist Robin Campbell served as Alberta’s finance minister. He previously held positions as minister of aboriginal relations and minister of environment and sustainable resource development. Read more.
BC Hydro's Bizarre, Multi-Million Dollar Boondoggle to Save Fish from Site C Dam
In a scenario that sounds like something out of a Dr. Seuss book, bull trout and other fish will travel in trucks past the Site C dam for 100 years as part of BC Hydro’s strategy to save the threatened fish species from disappearing from the Peace River.
The public hydro provider, which is in the early stages of building the $8.8 billion dam, declined to discuss its fish-saving plans. However, a review of reports filed by the Crown corporation reveals an elaborate and expensive plan that may not work, according to a U.S. fish biologist with bull trout expertise. Read more.
'Failed Experiment': Alberta Folds Oilsands Monitoring Agency
The Alberta government has shuttered its arm’s length environmental monitoring agency after a report concluded the program was a “failed experiment.”
Minister of Environment Shannon Phillips announced Tuesday the Alberta Environmental Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting Agency (AEMERA) would be disbanded and environmental monitoring will return back to the government.
Phillip’s ministry commissioned a report that described the agency as overly expensive, poorly co-ordinated and plagued by bureaucratic bickering. Read more.
A state-of-the-art gas thermal power plant in Campbell River sits idle 90 per cent of the time, but — under a contract that runs until April 2022 — BC Hydro is paying about $55-million a year to ensure emergency power is available if needed, DeSmog Canada has learned.
The Island Generation plant, with a 275-megawatt capability, meaning it is capable of powering about one-third of Vancouver Island homes, is owned by Capital Power Corp., and is fired up only for peak power demands or when there are problems with subsea cables from the mainland that usually power Vancouver Island. Read more.
Immediate Action Needed to Save Pacific Northwest from Ocean Acidification: Scientists
The Pacific coast of North America is becoming more acidic as human-produced carbon dioxide emissions dissolve into the water and communities from B.C. to California must take action now to offset changes that are already affecting West Coast marine life, say leading ocean scientists.
The panel of 20 scientists from B.C., California, Oregon and Washington have spent three years studying changes in ocean chemistry along the West Coast and a report released Monday says regional strategies are urgently needed to combat changes that are coming and, where possible, reduce the impacts. Read more.
How Propaganda (Actually) Works
In the early years of DeSmog’s research into environmental propaganda, we thought of industry PR campaigns like “junk science,” “clean coal,” and “ethical oil” as misinformation strategies designed to dupe the public about the real issues.
Although there is obvious truth to that view, we now understand that propaganda is far more complex and problematic than lying about the facts.
Certainly propaganda is designed to look like facts that are true and right, but not in a way we might think. What’s more, the consequences are far worse than most people consuming and even producing it realize.r0
