14 May 2012, Media Release

Blue Green Canada, along with other Canadian NGOs and labour unions have sent an amicus curiae submission to the World Trade Organization (WTO) on the eve of a second hearing tomorrow into Japan’s and the European Union’s joint attack on the Ontario Green Energy Act. The groups address Canada’s failure to properly defend Ontario’s actions and call upon the WTO to respect the priority of Canada’s international climate change obligations.

In recent years Ontario has made some impressive strides towards a green economy. Yet there is still much more to be done if we are to truly pursue a resource efficient, socially inclusive, low carbon economy.

In this report, Building Ontario's Green Economy, we have compiled a series of recommendations from a variety of sectors and areas, including energy efficient buildings, low carbon transportation, waste management, and cap and trade. Together, these recommendations illustrate what a green economy could look like in the province of Ontario, and they suggest a route by which this vision could be realized.

Sometimes it can feel as if the future you want is far away and receding into a fog of delay. But there are moments when you can catch a glimpse of that future and realize that it’s not so far away after all. That is what happened to me the other day when I took a trip to Windsor.

I have been working in Hamilton for some time to build opportunities for good green jobs -- jobs we need, jobs that will help us get off carbon fuels and destructive practices, jobs that will last.

BLUE GREEN CANADA For Immediate Release: March 22, 2012

Blue Green Canada Applauds Cross Party Cooperation to Uphold the Green Energy Act and support Ontario’s Growing Clean Energy Manufacturing Sector, following the Conclusion of the FIT Review

Toronto, ON – Blue Green Canada, an alliance between Canadian labour unions and environmental organizations, applauds the completion of the Feed-in Tariff (FIT) review, announced today.

BLUE GREEN CANADA For Immediate Release: February 28, 2012.

Labour and environmentalists agree to work together and chart an alternative path for Canada’s economic and energy future.

About nine months ago I wrote an op ed piece for the Hamilton Spectator pointing out the great potential of Hamilton’s north end industrial lands to site windmill manufacturing and assembly. It looks like that potential may soon be tapped.

I’ve been at CanSIA’s Solar Canada conference the past two days. I quite enjoyed it, so much so that I want to share some of the key themes I heard while there.

Here goes:

I've been an environmentalist for quite some time. Not surprisingly, my environmentalism has matured over the years in tandem with, or perhaps as a result of, some developments in the broader environmental movement.

A strange article appeared in the Vancouver Sun recently. I say strange because the article was based on a paper issued by the progressive think-tank, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, but at first glance, it appeared to be arguing that claims that green energy can create good jobs are overblown.

Hamilton is setting the pace in the race to reduce green house gases.

Today October 17th the Hamilton Climate Change Charter was introduced. I have been helping on the Climate Change Working Group that prepared the charter. So of course I signed it.