A renewed interest in greenwashing by the FTC, courts and legislatures makes prosecution for greenwashing more likely than ever before.
Comox coal mine plans need full public hearings and a joint federal and provincial expert review panel says UVIC Environmental Law Centre.
The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency invites the public to comment on the environmental assessment of the Raven Underground Coal Mine Project in British Columbia.
Perhaps no single story has dominated news coverage recently like the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. It has raised questions about the legal status of offshore oil and gas development and tanker traffic along the west coast of British Columbia.
Canadian regulators have been trying to find ways to keep household hazardous waste out of landfills and toilets. The problem is that these wastes are expensive to collect and even more expensive to properly dispose of.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sets the 2011 percentage standards for the four fuels categories under the agency’s Renewable Fuel Standard program
Federal Review Panel issues highly critical environmental assessment report for proposed Prosperity Gold-Copper Mine project
Another milestone in Canada's Chemicals Management Plan (CMP) has been reached with the release of assessments of 13 potentially harmful substances.
When green regulation works—and when it harms the very environment it aims to protect
25 Years After Bhopal, U.S. Plant Still Using Same Toxic Chemical
A Harvard Law School report on mining laws in British Columbia highlights the plight of the Takla Lake First Nation, whose mineral-rich territories have been repeatedly opened to mining without adequate consultation.
Government of Canada to consult on strategies to promote socially responsible practices of Canadian mining and oil and gas companies operating overseas
Omnibus Open for Business Act would replace much of the existing environmental approvals process with a streamlined compliance approval and online registry system
Last week, Senators Kerry and Lieberman released the American Power Act. Read a short summary of the bill's main provisions
Canada to pursue a continental approach to reduce GHG emissions from Heavy-Duty Vehicles
Despite the Kyoto Protocol Implementation Act, it is open to the government to ignore Canada's Kyoto target; or, more precisely, that it is not for the courts to intervene if the government chooses to do so.
Canada was once known as an environmental law "exporter," setting precedents for other countries and taking a leadership role in international environmental diplomacy. Canada is now viewed as a laggard in both policy innovation and environmental performance. What happened?
The government of British Columbia has introduced a new Clean Energy Act which "sets the foundation for a new future of electricity self-sufficiency, job creation and reduced greenhouse gas emissions, powered by unprecedented investments in clean, renewable energy across the province."
Agency proposals would address risks of unsafe coal ash disposal, while supporting safe forms of beneficial use
Bill C-300 is the federal Bill that seeks to establish prescriptive CSR (corporate social responsibility) guidelines that would be binding on Canadian mining companies operating in developing countries.
Ministry of the Environment announces framework for major overhaul of Ontario's environmental approvals
If passed, proposed amendments would provide the Minister of the Environment the authority to limit, or otherwise lessen, the scope of a project for which an environmental assessment is required.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to add 16 chemicals to the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) list of reportable chemicals, the first expansion of the program in more than a decade.
Funding under the Bioenergy Producer Credit Program is extended for five years until 2016 to support Renewable Fuels Standard
Proposed Wastewater Systems Effluent Regulations have been published in Canada Gazette, Part I beginning the formal 60-day public comment period.
EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson announced the agency is developing a broad new set of strategies to strengthen public health protection from contaminants in drinking water.
A proposal from the United States that would have banned the international commercial trade in polar bear parts and products was rejected
New government-wide strategy seeks to improve how the environment is considered in federal policy and program development
Recent study suggests Ontario's Environmental Assessment process is taking a big bite out of the provincial economy.
Despite minor decline on 2008, overall, emissions have grown by 13.6 percent from 1990 to 2008.
In one of the most sweeping environmental reforms in the Municipality’s history, thousands of enterprises in the City of Toronto will be mandated to report on their use of toxic chemicals in business operations
Government Mandated Clean-Up Could Wipe Out Earnings of Biggest Producer
Can municipalities insist that local industries obtain municipal air permits, in addition to those issued by the province?
The Québec government has published its new Residual Materials Management Policy, along with a first Five-Year Action Plan
To capitalize on its Green Energy potential, BC has established a Green Energy Advisory Task Force and a Cabinet Committee on Climate Action
Canada's Environment Minister, Jim Prentice, has announced that draft municipal wastewater systems effluent regulations are now available for public consultation. Once in force, these regulations will set standards for the discharge from all wastewater facilities in Canada
So far countries responsible for 80% of all man-made GHG emissions have stated their 2020 greenhouse gas reduction targets - the first step in a year-long process to transform the Copenhagen Accord into a comprehensive and legally binding agreement
New carbon market rules for destroying ozone-depleting chemicals open the door for major climate benefits
Much has been written recently on the topic of shale gas. The following represents an attempt to explain the topic to the uninitiated.
New report finds that only a handful of mining firms have plans in place to address climate change, despite the industry being at high risk of disruption from changing climatic conditions
The Supreme Court of Canada’s recent decision, MiningWatch Canada v. Canada (Fisheries and Oceans), provides important guidance for natural resource developers and transporters whose projects may be subject to the federal environmental assessment process in the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act.
Everyone agrees BC needs better renewable electricity planning. But how?
List of dangerous chemicals to be studied and regulated is doubled
Great potential for Canadian companies to attract investment dollars and export their expertise and technology
The future of a US climate law is hanging in the balance in Congress
Canadian business should be preparing contingencies and strategies to protect their interests
Hybrid Car Carrier using Solar Cells and Lithium-ion Rechargeable Batteries would cut shipping pollution
Investors representing $13 Trillion call for quickly adoption of strong climate change policies
New concerns raised about health risks from bisphenol-A, widely used in food packaging
An environmental group gives nod to sustainable salmon farming in freshwater
Governor Schwarzenegger announces First-in-the-Nation Statewide Green Building Standards Code
The push to open Florida's coasts to offshore oil drilling brings to light many more issues than just the damage to Florida's white sand beaches and tourism industry.
New Centre to help Canadian Mining companies meet "social and environmental responsibilities" abroad. .
Venture capital investment in clean technology continued strongly in 2009 despite the financial crisis, with European investment declining by just 12% as opposed to 42% in North America
Oil Sands contribute less to greenhouse gas emissions than asserted. What about producers and consumers?
U.S. and Canadian product safety authorities will investigate the presence of cadmium in children's jewelry imported from China, and Wal-Mart has pulled the items from shelves after tests showed some were made almost entirely of the toxic metal.
The Québec Ministry of Natural Resources and Wildlife has put in place a program with a duration of two years that is open to private enterprise, universities, colleges and non-profit organisms and which is dedicated to the development of new green energy technologies
This is the latest example of a tax credit program presented as an environmental initiative that, on closer examination, proves to have little beneficial effect on the environment but does provide a significant subsidy to a particular sector of the economy.
Agency's Move to Designate Ash as Hazardous Is Slowed by Regulatory Czar's Assessment of Impact on Industry
Manitoba’s Environment Amendment Act brings stricter standards
Consumers advised to check recyclers' credentials before tossing old TVs
Quebec’s new fuel efficiency standards officially take effect as of mid-January, meaning automakers will face stiff fines if they sell too many gas-guzzling vehicles in the province.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is strengthening the regulations that govern the shipping of hazardous waste for recycling between the United States and other countries.
Canada and the United States also to impose stringent standards for large foreign-flagged and domestic ships operating within thousands of miles of U.S. and Canadian coasts.
Emissions to be slashed by more than 35,000 tons of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides annually
Bill C-6, the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act will ban manufacturing, importing, advertising or selling consumer products that pose an unreasonable danger to human health or safety.
That is what an Ontario developer tried to do. He lost.
Largest Environmental Bankruptcy in U.S. History Will Result in Payment of $1.79 Billion towards Environmental Cleanup & Restoration
The federal government has released draft regulations to limit greenhouse gas emissions from new vehicles beginning with the 2011 model year.
Science overwhelmingly shows greenhouse gas concentrations at unprecedented levels due to human activity
The risk of harmful contamination was not foreseeable in the 1960s when waste was buried on an Ontario dairy farm that later failed and as such the province was not negligent, Ontario's top court wrote Tuesday in striking down a $1.7-million decision against the province.
A frightening amount of money is spent every year in litigation and other anguish over contaminated sites. In terms of harm to human health and the environment, contaminated sites are far less important than clean air, clean water, climate change and urban sprawl. But because of our regulatory structure, contaminated sites pack a huge financial wallop.
In order to implement the green energy act, Ontario has recently adopted O. Reg. 359/09, to set up a new regime for accelerated approvals of renewable energy projects (wind, solar, anaerobic digestion
EPA Study reveals widespread contamination of fish in U.S. lakes and reservoirs
Strong evidence confirms chemical exposure associated with adverse developmental and reproductive effects on fish and wildlife, but the relationship of human diseases of the endocrine system and exposure to environmental contaminants is poorly understood and scientifically controversial.
Environment Ministers from across Canada met in Kingston Ontario last week to deal with two major issues - wastes and water.
Breakthrough developments are expected as delegates gather in Egypt to consier upgrading the Montreal Protocol, the milestone treaty to protect the earth's ozone layer to include substances previously managed under the Kyoto Protocol.
"The government cannot answer whether, taken together, federal programs are contributing to the protection of Canada’s major ecosystems from the kind of degradation reported globally through the Millennium Ecosystem Report. Instead, we continue to examine piecemeal monitoring and other data systems that are not connected strategically."
As the consumption of electronics has increased rapidly the last years, so has the waste made up of discarded products. Much of this waste ends up in developing countries where workers and children are exposed to hazardous chemicals and material when products are broken apart to extract valuable components and metals.
In what may stand as the most ironic turnabout in the history of civil aviation, the industry is setting tougher targets for itself than its regulators are prepared to require.
Cutting HFCs, black carbon, tropospheric ozone, and methane can buy us about 40 years before we approach the dangerous threshold of 2°C warming."
Unless we diversify and de-carbonize our energy sources and replace high-emitting products with cleaner ones, we will not significantly reduce GHG emissions.
Citizen groups fighting to protect natural areas need some protection against intimidating legal tactics.
New act sets out a regulatory framework to track, report and reduce the use of prescribed toxic substances in Ontario.
UK needs to step up its pace of emissions reduction if it expects to meet its carbon budget's targets
Click on a highlighted date for events details