Ecology Ottawa

News Clippings

A cap-and-trade explainer

Ottawa Citizen

By Brian Platt, Ottawa Citizen, August 24, 2016

What is cap-and-trade?

A cap is set on total greenhouse gas emissions within a jurisdiction, and the cap is slowly lowered over time. Businesses must purchase allowances to cover their emissions for a compliance period, but the government only makes available enough allowances to fit within the overall cap. The allowances can be purchased from the government through auctions, or bought from other businesses that are holding more allowances than they need. As the cap is lowered and fewer allowances are on offer, the price of each allowance goes up.

Don’t link Ontario cap-and-trade to California market, opposition says

Ottawa Citizen

By Brian Platt, Ottawa Citizen, August 24, 2016

As the California and Quebec governments lose out on millions of dollars of revenue due to cap-and-trade auction busts, opposition parties are calling on the Ontario government to stay out of the turbulent joint carbon market.

The Ontario PCs want cap-and-trade scrapped outright, while the NDP say linking to a market flooded with emissions allowances would mean Ontario doesn’t see any real drop in its own emissions.

Mooney’s Bay beach shut due to E. coli levels, but others open as hot days ahead

Ottawa Citizen

By the Ottawa Citizen, August 25, 2016

It’s another hot and humid day in the capital and, unfortunately, if you were thinking of cooling off in the water at Mooney’s Bay beach, you’re out of luck.

The city posted a no-swim advisory for the popular spot Thursday morning due to elevated E. coli levels.

The city’s four other supervised beaches are well within safe standards however and could be a popular destination for the next few days.

Rideau Canal footbridge gets federal funding in transit agreement - Ottawa - CBC News

By CBC News Ottawa, August 23, 2016

The federal government will help pay for a new footbridge over the Rideau Canal connecting Fifth Avenue and Clegg Street, one of dozens of local projects to benefit from a $1.49-billion transit infrastructure fund detailed Tuesday.

That was just one of 57 projects in Ottawa that will share the city's $156-million portion of this first round of federal infrastructure money, which is focused on transit-related projects. The city is expected to match the federal contribution to each project.

Today’s letters: The final Hip show and women in Rio

Ottawa Citizen

By Peter E. Ferguson, Ottawa Citizen Letter to the Editor, August 23, 2016

Run O-Train across Prince of Wales

BridgeRe: $250k a pretty penny to seal bridge to nowhere, Aug. 17

Fencing off the Prince of Wales Bridge is a bad idea. It is funny how the City of Ottawa can waste so much money on a non-progressive bad idea. The northern end of the O-Train is very close to the bridge; instead of a fence, why not extend the O-Train directly across the bridge over to Hull, through the city with the end stop at the Casino Lac-Leamy?

The Quebec government and City of Gatineau would welcome this idea and would help out with the costs of the repair of the bridge, the new tracks, maintenance and some of the operating costs.

Egan: Alone on a quiet river when came the giant waves: mayday in a canoe

Ottawa Citizen

By Kelly Egan, Ottawa Citizen, August 23, 2016

The river was glassy, the sunset ripe, the canoe still, the rod happily in hand — when this large, dark curl appeared on the water, maybe 100 metres away, like a whale’s back.

It was coming toward me, unexplained. There were no boats about, no wind, no apparent cause for this rogue wave on the wide Ottawa River at Constance Bay.

Campus tunnel worth the headache, councillors say

Metro News

By Emma Jackson, Ottawa Metro News, August 22, 2016

No pain no gain, right? That’s how councillors Mathieu Fleury and Catherine McKenney are feeling as they look forward to a completely reconstructed Campus tunnel.

Both lamented the four-month closure this summer of the busy underpass that connects pedestrians and cyclists to the University of Ottawa and Colonel By Drive under the Transitway. The closure was part of ongoing light rail construction.

But as the tunnel reopened Monday, both said the construction mess will be worth it come 2018. One section of the tunnel, under Nicholas Street, will stay the same. But underneath the Transitway it will open into an airy atrium, Fleury said.

580 CFRA News Talk Radio :: City of Ottawa installing 58,000 new LED streetlights :: News - Article

By Sara Cimetta, CFRA News, August 22, 2016

The City of Ottawa is lighting the way to a greener future.58,000 city streetlights are being converted to energy-efficient LED lights.

The current streetlights make up 17 per cent of the city's electricity use and cost more than $7.2 million a year. Mayor Jim Watson says the new lights will cost $30 million initially, but will save tax payers $6 million annually once the new lights are all installed.

The LED lights will help reduce power usage by 50 per cent, and have a far longer lifespan than the previous technology. The current lights have a lifespan of 12,000 to 18,000 hours, while the new LED lights boast a lifespan of 50,000 to 100,000 hours.

Residents welcome, but question plan for Walkley LRT station

By Erin McCracken, Ottawa Community News, August 22, 2016

Many area residents are already welcoming a future light-rail station at Walkley with open arms, but others are raising questions before they fully get on board with the plans.

When the O-Train line was being planned out years ago, Ridgemont resident David Wood said he was excited about what he thought would be an obvious stop where the rail line runs by the Walkley bus stop.That didn’t happen, and the alternative option of commuting by bus to Carleton University where he works can take more than an hour.

Jenkins: From condos to a park, a walk down Mackenzie Avenue

Ottawa Citizen

By Phil Jenkins, Ottawa Citizen, August 22, 2016

I’m looking at an old black and white photograph of Mackenzie Avenue, just before I walk down its short length, heading north towards the National Gallery. Were I to step into this 1938 snapshot, I imagine the first thing I would notice is the relative tranquility. As with just about everywhere else in Ottawa, there is a frenetic air to contemporary Mackenzie, construction bollards stretching off on both sides as far as I can see. In the photograph, once past the two large buildings on the corner at Rideau – the Chateau Laurier and the Daly building as was – there is only cleared space on either side. The east side of Sussex Drive is visible its entire length. Not so now. In the photo, one can see why Lady Aberdeen had plans for this to be a ceremonial drive, not a commuter bottleneck.

Canadian buildings’ energy efficiency must be improved, says leading Canadian architectural institute

Ottawa Citizen

By Evelyn Harford, Ottawa Citizen, August 22, 2016

A number of architecture, energy and environmental stakeholders are calling on the federal government to create a national plan to improve the energy efficiency of Canadian buildings to help the country reduce greenhouse gasses and reach its climate change objectives.

Total energy consumption of buildings accounts for nearly one-quarter of Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) and the 10 other organizations that penned a letter addressed to Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr and Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna.

Ottawa River making strides, but pollution still a problem

Ottawa Citizen

By Don Butler, Ottawa Citizen, August 22, 2016

In the 19th century, it was choked with sawdust within sight of Parliament Hill. Half a century ago, sewage discharges routinely fouled its waters.

Today, the Ottawa River is much improved. “It’s definitely healthier than in the 1960s and ’70s, which was the height of pollution,” says Meredith Brown who, as Ottawa Riverkeeper, has closely monitored the river’s condition for more than a decade.