Energy
Environmental, civil society coalition urges U.S. government keep dirty fuel ban; Canadian politicians want it ditched
May 8, 2008
Posted by Brent Patterson and Stuart Trew
The Natural Resources Defense Council sent a letter to U.S. Senators this week urging them to oppose amendments to the 2008 National Defense Authorization Bill that would repeal a major environmental initiative to ban the purchase of dirty fuel from sources like Alberta’s tar sands. (more...)
The SPP keeps U.S. tanks full – an op-ed by the Council of Canadian
May 7, 2008
Brent Patterson
The following op-ed by Brent Patterson, director of campaigns and organizing with the Council of Canadians, appeared in today’s Windsor Star: (more...)
Dead birds and water shortages in boomtown Alberta
May 2, 2008
Posted by Meera Karunananthan
By now the whole world knows about the 500 ducks that died after landing in one of Syncrude’s toxic tailing ponds in Northern Alberta. The tragedy occurred just after the province had put aside $25 million in public relations cash to convince the White House that tar sands crude was environmentally friendly. (more...)
Nothing new from the Disaster Summit but dangerous SPP initiatives live on
April 29, 2008
Posted by Stuart Trew
The media and business consensus following last week’s Security and Prosperity Partnership summit in New Orleans is that the trilateral meeting didn’t produce anything significant. While this is partly correct – no new initiatives were announced – the ones we’re stuck with are bad enough. And while we learned a few new things about the SPP’s progress since Montebello, very few of the details ended up in the news. (more...)
Harper out of batteries on energy issues
April 24, 2008
Posted by Brent Patterson
At the end of this week’s Security and Prosperity Partnership Summit in New Orleans, Prime Minister Harper said that, "Canada really is confident that the next President will also understand the importance of NAFTA, and the importance of the commercial relationship between the United States and Canada.” (more...)
The Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP), Round Four
April 16, 2008
Posted by Bruce Campbell (Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives)
As the NAFTA leaders and their big business counterparts gather in New Orleans a few days from now for the fourth North American Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) summit, it is worth reflecting on its role in North American integration. (more...)
CEP files official complaint against “agents provocateurs” in Montebello
April 16, 2008
Posted by Stuart Trew
Dave Coles, the CEP president who unmasked a police officer posing as a rock-wielding protestor at Montebello last August, has filed an official complaint with the Police Ethics Commissioner about the use of agents provocateurs by the Sureté de Québéc. (more...)
Is the tar sands’ water supply protected by NAFTA?
April 16, 2008
Posted by Meera Karunananthan
Maude Barlow, national chairperson of the Council of Canadians, is warning Albertans that the government “could be forced to shell out hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation to foreign-owned oilsands companies under NAFTA if a drought forced the province to ration water,” according to an article in the Edmonton Journal. (more...)
NACC member Chevron moves in on Mexico’s public oil and gas sector
April 10, 2008
Posted by Stuart Trew
Chevron Corp, a member of the North American Competitiveness Council, has “submitted proposals to tap oil and natural-gas reserves in Mexico amid declining output from the second-biggest crude-producing nation in the Western Hemisphere,” according to Bloomberg this week. (more...)
Will Canada shove Mexico out of the SPP?
April 7, 2008
Posted by Stuart Trew
There appears to be an elite consensus forming around a C.D. Howe Institute proposal to ditch the trilateral SPP model for a more meaningful bilateral trade agreement with the United States. (more...)
Updated fact sheets on SPP available from Common Frontiers
March 14, 2008
Posted by Rich Arnold (Common Frontiers)
Common Frontiers has revised several fact sheets on ‘free trade’ to help cut through the spin and clutter around the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP) – a ‘next generation’ trade deal involving Canada, Mexico and the United States. (more...)
Canada hits 1 billion barrels but still imports more energy each year
February 28, 2008
Posted by Brent Patterson
Canada hit the 1-billion-barrel mark this year, although it’s not necessarily a record we should be proud of. (more...)
Alberta resists tar sands slowdown as new pipeline approvals explode
February 26, 2008
Posted by Brent Patterson
Citizens, environmental groups, labour groups, First Nations communities, social justice and academic groups have all been saying there should be no new approvals in tar sands development. Big oil companies have now joined this call. So why aren’t politicians listening? (more...)
SPP Ministerial meeting set for February 27 and 28 in Los Cabos, Mexico
February 21, 2008
Posted by Rick Arnold
An article in La Jornada reports that the next Security and Prosperity Partnership ministerial meeting will take place February 27 and 28 in Los Cabos, Mexico. This is a pre-New Orleans meeting of SPP ministers from Mexico, Canada and the United States to set an agenda for the next full summit, taking place April 21 and 22. (more...)
Tar sands a toxic disaster, says Environmental Defence
February 15, 2008
Posted by Jan Malek
Environmental Defence, a national organization that works with citizens, decision-makers and businesses on environmental issues, released a report today in Ottawa slamming the federal government for its inaction and indifference to Canadian laws designed to protect our health, safety and environment from large-scale industrial projects. (more...)
Don’t buy the biofuel craze
February 13, 2008
Posted by Jean-Yves LeFort
Public pressure is forcing governments to get serious about environmental protection. One area of particular concern is the global economy’s reliance on dirty fossil fuels – a primary source of greenhouse gas emissions. With the phenomenon of “peak oil” looming in our near future, the race is on for cheap energy alternatives. (more...)
Walrus article attacks the continentalist climate criminals
February 11, 2008
Posted by Stuart Trew
Relying on the "Security and Prosperity Partnership" google news alert for updates is kind of like fishing. Sometimes you hook a prize-winner, like this article on the recent Mexican anti-NAFTA protests by Katie Kohlstedt, or a recent news hit on the NDP's anti-SPP tour out of the University of Calgary's Gauntlet magazine. (more...)
Renegotiate NAFTA, says coalition of North American civil society networks
January 28, 2008
Posted by Rick Arnold of Common Frontiers
Last Friday, four North American civil society networks -- Quixote Center (USA), Common Frontiers (Canada), Red Mexicana de Acción frente al Libre Comercio (Mexico), and Réseau québécois sur l’Intégration continentale (Quebec) -- released a statement called, "NAFTA must be renegotiated" at a press conference in Mexico City. (more...)
Council of Canadians plans Energy Day of Action on February 2
January 24, 2008
Posted by Jan Malek
Canadians experience long, cold winter months. As the snow starts to fly, our thoughts turn to staying warm. To do that, we need energy to heat our homes. But right now, Canada does not have a national energy strategy that addresses where our energy comes from, where it is going, or the high price of environmental devastation that can come with producing it. (more...)
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