Corporate Climate Accountability

by Justin Fisher | Jan 31, 2018 | Conference, From the Ground Up

It’s not often that a whole bunch of climate justice advocates, Indigenous rights activists, environmental lawyers and other experts get together to hang out in the same room for a couple days. So a few members of CJS were excited to participate in the Corporate...

“Management and reduction of greenhouse gases” from Saskatchewan’s electricity – the devil is in the detail

by markbiglandpritchard | Dec 28, 2017 | #skpoli

Any serious programme to address climate change has to include an accelerated phase-out of coal.  That is because it’s the most carbon-intensive fuel in common use.  Among the most carbon-intensive coals is the low-grade lignite which SaskPower uses to supply a...

Let’s have some real democracy!

by markbiglandpritchard | Dec 8, 2017 | #cdnpoli, #skpoli, Pipelines

“It’s not the government’s role to put its thumb on the scale of any particular project – it undermines the public confidence that the environment is getting the protection that it needs. Governments issue permits, but communities grant permission.” An...

Interim response to the provincial government’s “climate strategy”

by markbiglandpritchard | Dec 6, 2017 | #skpoli

On Monday (Dec 4, 2017), Environment Minister Dustin Duncan announced the Saskatchewan government’s much-awaited climate strategy, entitled “Prairie Resilience”.  We find it something of an anticlimax – a remix of old ideas with no truly new initiatives. ...

It’s time to talk about coal

by Justin Fisher | Nov 18, 2017 | #cdnpoli, #skpoli, Future of Coal

If you’ve been following the news in the past week, you’ve probably noticed a lot of talk about coal. COP23, the latest UN conference on climate change, wrapped up on Friday and throughout the two-week conference the Canadian delegation, led by Environment and...

People’s Climate March in Regina

by markbiglandpritchard | Apr 28, 2017 | #skpoli

We haven’t posted for a while.  That’s not because we haven’t been doing anything – it’s more because we’ve been doing too many other things! But this weekend our friends in Regina are organising a climate rally.  And here is a...

Oil vs Democracy: to whom are Wall and Trudeau accountable?

by markbiglandpritchard | Dec 22, 2016 | #cdnpoli, #skpoli, Pipelines

CBC reported on December 20th that the Saskatchewan government was ignoring the Information and Privacy Commissioner’s recommendation that it release records and information relating to inspection of Husky Energy’s pipelines. Following the Husky heavy oil...

The premiers’ Pan-Canadian Framework

by markbiglandpritchard | Dec 16, 2016 | #cdnpoli, #skpoli

Discussions among federal and provincial ministers have finally yielded a result.  In an 80-page document, they have set out their agreement on action to address climate change.  At least, most of them have.  The Manitoba government is withholding its support for...

Answering Brad Wall’s talking points

by markbiglandpritchard | Nov 28, 2016 | #skpoli

In discussions of climate policy with opponents of decisive action, certain talking points inevitably get raised.  Some are more common than others, some are more subtle than others, and some require more knowledge and thought to debunk than others – but our...

The Saskatchewan White Paper on Climate Change

by markbiglandpritchard | Oct 27, 2016 | #skpoli

Last week (on Oct. 18, 2016) Brad Wall at last announced his climate policy… sort of.  It turns out that there is nothing new in the White Paper as regards actual policy – but there are some new twists in the demands that he is making of the federal...