U.S. eases vehicle emissions rules, but overall reduction targets remain unchanged

The Biden administration on Wednesday slashed its target for U.S. electric vehicle adoption from 67 per cent by 2032 to as little as 35 per cent after industry and autoworker backlash in the political battleground state of Michigan. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) instead adopted a “technology neutral” regulatory scheme that allows automakers far more freedom … Read more

Wildfires made Canada’s air quality worse than the U.S. for the first time

Canada’s record-setting wildfire season hiked the country up global pollution rankings — and for the first time made its air quality worse than the U.S., according to a new report by air quality technology company IQAir. “In previous years, Canada had the cleanest air quality in all of North America,” said Glory Dolphin Hammes, CEO of … Read more

North Bay, Ont., and DND move to remediate ‘forever chemicals’ site that contaminated drinking water

The City of North Bay, Ont. and the Department of National Defence (DND) are set to begin a $20-million project this spring to remediate a site contaminated with perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) — often referred to as “forever chemicals.” From the early 1970s to mid-1990s, DND conducted training exercises at the city’s Jack Garland Airport with aqueous film-forming foams that contain … Read more

How technology is helping grain farmers adapt to weather woes

British Columbia grain farmer Malcolm Odermatt says all he can do is pray for rain this spring after repeated droughts sabotaged his harvest last year. Odermatt, who is also the president of the B.C. Grain Growers Association, has been working with his father since 2012 to farm about 2,000 acres of land in the Peace … Read more

Why Windsor-Essex is one of the last regions in Canada where you can see baby sturgeon

At up to two metres long and weighing 200 pounds, sturgeon are some of the Great Lakes’ most enchanting fish.  “I always think of them as lonely torpedoes cruising through the Great Lakes,” Trevor Pitcher, a University of Windsor (UWindsor) professor, told Windsor Morning. “It’s essentially a living fossil. It’s the closest anybody comes to seeing a dinosaur alive … Read more

Furey asks Trudeau to halt carbon tax increase, citing few options for consumers in N.L.

Premier Andrew Furey said the carbon tax doesn’t incentivize people to switch to renewable energy because the infrastructure to make that shift possible isn’t yet established in Newfoundland and Labrador. (Ted Dillon/CBC) Premier Andrew Furey shared an open letter Tuesday addressed to the prime minister, asking him to pause an upcoming increase to the carbon tax … Read more

How documenting the disappearance of the great auk led to the discovery of extinction

Quirks and Quarks17:24How documenting the disappearance of the great auk led to the discovery of extinction When species cease to exist, we often say they went “the way of the dodo.” But it might be more fitting to say they went “the way of the great auk” because it was the Icelandic bird’s disappearance that led to the discovery that … Read more

New satellite will track elusive methane pollution from oil and gas industry globally

A privately funded satellite is set to push methane tracking into a new era, once it launches into space on Monday. A collaborative mission between Environmental Defense Fund, Google, the Government of New Zealand and several other partners, MethaneSAT will track methane emissions around the globe in attempts to identify and quantify sources spewing the climate-heating greenhouse gas.  For 20 … Read more

CycleØ acquires Biogasclean to increase fully circular green gas production by capturing CO₂

Acquisition puts CycleØ at the forefront of synthetic green gas innovation via carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) CycleØ now offers a fully circular biomethane solution which captures methane emissions and CO2 Biogasclean is one of the few companies worldwide pioneering a biological methanation process Biomethane production could replace up to 40% of the EU’s total fossil … Read more