Canada

A coalition of British Columbia First Nations, plus business and environmental groups, are opposing the proposed Enbridge Inc. pipeline that would bring oil from the Alberta tar sands to the B.C. coast. They say the risk of a spill is too great.

A legal case over the effects of oil sands operations in Alberta by Syncrude Canada Ltd. on ducks is shaping up to be an environmental show trial.

"Canada's climate researchers are being muzzled, their funding slashed, research stations closed, findings ignored and advice on the critical issue of the century unsought by Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government, according to a 40-page report by a coalition of 60 non-governmental organisations."

Some Canadian scientists are racing to recover phosphorus from wastewater, where it is a harmful pollutant, for use as a fertilizer, where it can help feed a growing population.

"The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission says as many as 217 workers may have been exposed to radioactivity at the Bruce nuclear power station on the shores of Lake Huron while refurbishing a reactor in late November."

"Mining and drilling for oil, gas and coal will be banned in the Canadian portion of the Flathead River Basin, under a new partnership with the state of Montana announced Tuesday in British Columbia's Speech from the Throne, an annual address that identifies the Province's legislative priorities for the coming year."

"Scientists studying burbot in the Mackenzie River, one of the country's most pristine rivers, have been surprised to discover that mercury, PCBs and DDT in the fish are rising rapidly, a finding they say is linked to climate change."

"Quebec’s tough new light vehicle emissions regulation has become a political hot potato in Canada after the federal environment minister, Jim Prentice, denounced the rule as 'counter-productive' last week in Calgary while laying out Canada’s down-graded emission targets."

"Expectations of a sharp rise in nuclear generating capacity over the next two decades are likely overblown, a Canadian think tank said on Thursday, disputing conventional wisdom that a nuclear renaissance is in full swing."