Media Releases
Capital Power breaks a key promise to Albertans
Pembina Institute Toxics Watch Mewassin Community Council
EDMONTON, AB — Environmental groups and landowners have joined forces to block Capital Power's bid to remove a legal requirement that it offset 50 per cent of the greenhouse gas emissions that are released from the Genesee 3 coal power plant.
Environmental Groups Pull Out of Multi-stakeholder Oil Sands Process
Today the Pembina Institute, the Toxics Watch Society of Alberta and the Fort McMurray Environmental Association (FMEA) formally withdrew from the Cumulative Environmental Management Association (CEMA). After eight years of effort and consistent failure to meet deadlines for recommending systems to protect the region’s environment, CEMA has lost all legitimacy as an organization and process for environmental management in the oil sands.
Green groups in court to defend Alberta tar sands victory
EDMONTON — Environmental groups are headed back to court tomorrow to defend a precedent-setting court victory that has drawn further attention to the massive environmental impacts of Alberta’s booming tar sands. Earlier this year the groups had argued that the environmental assessment of Imperial Oil’s massive Kearl Tar Sands Project was legally flawed and that the province should put the brakes on tar sands development until proper safeguards are in place.
Environment wins landmark Tar Sands lawsuit
Court finds gaping holes in environmental assessment
Edmonton March 05, 2008
The Federal Court of Canada today released a judgment finding fatal legal errors in the environmental assessment of the Kearl Tar Sands Project, north of Fort McMurray.
Ecojustice lawyer Sean Nixon was in court in January on behalf of the Pembina Institute, Sierra Club of Canada, the Toxics Watch Society of Alberta and the Prairie Acid Rain Coalition .
“This is a huge victory,” said Nixon. “The Court accepted our position that the environmental assessment was flawed, and that the Joint Panel failed to explain why it thought the Kearl Project’s environmental effects were insignificant. We will now consider whether to bring another lawsuit to challenge the project’s federal permit that was granted without legal authority.”
Controversial Kearl Tar Sands project goes to court
While Alberta Premier goes to Washington, the Kearl Tar Sands Project is going to court
January 14, 2008
EDMONTON - While Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach is in Washington this week seeking to assure Americans that there are no environmental problems associated with dirty tar sands development, Canadian environmental organizations are going to court tomorrow to challenge a massive tar sands operation north of Fort McMurray, Alberta. Imperial Oil's proposed Kearl Tar Sands project includes an open-pit mine that would strip 200 square kilometres of Boreal Forest and contribute to the devastation of the region's landscape and wildlife.
Ecojustice lawyer Sean Nixon will be in court on behalf of the Pembina Institute, Sierra Club of Canada, the Toxics Watch Society of Alberta and the Prairie Acid Rain Coalition, arguing that the environmental assessment of the open-pit mine project was flawed and that the project should be halted until a proper assessment has been completed.
Stelmach Government Fails to Plan for a Sustainable Future
Alberta’s Biggest Budget Ever Overlooks the Environment
The Stelmach Government’s first budget does little to acknowledge the accelerating environmental impacts of an overheating energy sector, let alone begin to address them, three leading environmental organisations said today.
Feds join Alberta in Walking away from Kyoto - Industry Let off the Hook on Real Greenhouse Gas Reductions
April 27, 2007
Prime Minister Harper’s new green plan steers Canada away from its international obligations and follows Alberta’s “lead” by rejecting the targets and timelines of the Kyoto Protocol . The federal plan is startlingly similar to regulations released by the Alberta government last month and, according to environmental groups, will be just as ineffective in achieving real emissions reductions within the Kyoto timeframe.
Environment Groups Sue to Block Federal Reliance on "Phantom" Mitigation for the Oil Sands
Media Release
Mar 30, 2007
Sierra Legal, on behalf of a coalition of environmental organizations, filed an application yesterday for a Federal Court judicial review of the Joint Panel report assessing the Imperial Oil Kearl Oil Sands project north of Fort McMurray, Alberta.
The Pembina Institute, Sierra Club of Canada, the Toxics Watch Society of Alberta, the Prairie Acid Rain Coalition and Sierra Legal will argue that the Joint Panel failed to properly do its job, and that a proper environmental review must take place before the federal government can decide whether to allow the Kearl Oil Sands project to proceed.
Assessment by Canadian Environmental Leaders of the Government's Kyoto Implementation Plan
Canada has an obligation, under international law, to reduce its emissions of greenhouse gases to 6% below the 1990 level during 2008-12. This target, specified in the Kyoto Protocol, is a reduction of approximately 270-300 megatonnes (Mt) from projected 'business-as-usual' levels. Canadian emissions have risen steadily since the Kyoto Protocol was negotiated in 1997. As a result urgent action is required to address climate change by reducing emissions in Canada.
We are pleased that the federal government has finally released its revised Kyoto implementation plan. We support the use of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) as an appropriate regulatory authority to ensure that industry makes an adequate contribution to emission reduction in the Kyoto period. However, the plan as released today is inadequate to achieve Canada's Kyoto emission reduction target within the timeframe required by the Protocol. The key gaps in the plan include:
