BC

Old-growth deferrals will impact operations in Fairy Creek area: Teal Jones

The province’s plan is expected to ripple through the forestry sector and have “a devastating impact,” industry group says STANDARD COMMENT

2 days ago By: Darron Kloster

Updated 2 days ago

An area along Granite Main road near the Fairy Creek blockades near Port Renfrew is seen in April. DARREN STONE, TIMES COLONIST

The forestry company that has the tree farm licence for the Fairy Creek area where protests have been raging for 17 months says the province’s plans for old-growth logging deferrals will have an impact on its operations.

On Tuesday, B.C. asked First Nations to decide within 30 days whether they support two-year logging deferrals in 26,000 square kilometres of old-growth forests considered at risk of irreversible biodiversity loss.

Conrad Browne, director of Indigenous partnerships and strategic relations for Teal Jones, said there are areas within the company’s licence and approved cut blocks that will be affected, but exactly how much and how it will affect company operations isn’t yet clear.

“Until we do more detailed mapping and get leather [boots] on the ground, we will not know what those impacts will be on the company,” Browne said, ­adding it will also depend on First Nations partners.

“We do know we will not be immune in this process.”

Browne couldn’t speculate on the number of jobs that could be lost with the deferrals. Teal Jones has 1,000 employees ranging from fallers to workers at its mills.

The province’s plan is expected to ripple through the forestry sector and have “a devastating impact,” according to the Canadian Council of Forest Industries. The group estimates up to 20 sawmills and two pulp mills could be shuttered, and 18,000 jobs could be lost.

The province’s own analysis says up to 4,500 forestry jobs could be lost if all deferrals are approved, but it has promised support for affected workers and assistance to communities to adapt to change.

‘TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE’

Kathleen Code, a spokeswoman for the Rainforest Flying Squad, which continues to protest Teal Jones’ operations in the Fairy Creek area near Port Renfrew, welcomed the two-year deferral on old-growth parcels, saying “it’s a start, but … it’s too little, too late.”

“Government is finally, at the 11th hour, recognizing the value of B.C.’s old growth forests as important ecosystems necessary to the health and well being of communities and citizens,” Code said.

“They are only just beginning to perceive that forests are more than standing fibre.”

However, she said, two-year deferrals are not enough to proclaim that old-growth forests are saved.

“We need permanent moratoriums, not temporary deferrals,” she said. “Two years provides industry and their lobbyists with a great deal of time to pressure government into getting what they want, which is all the old growth from which they can make a profit.”

The protest group compiled its own mapping of old-growth protected areas in Teal Jones’ Tree Farm Licence 46, but many of the sites were disputed by the company, which said some areas were outside its licence area, some were all second-growth and others were locations with “dead and down” permits, where storms blew down trees.

Browne said of the 600 square kilometres in its licence, 60% of the old-growth forests are already protected in park systems or protected Old Growth Management Areas, or are unharvestable because they are inaccessible. About 200 hectares were available to cut up to the north ridge of the Fairy Creek watershed — which has been protected for years — but roadbuilding to an approved 20-hectare cut block was stopped when the Pacheedaht First Nation issued a two-year moratorium in June.

FIRST NATIONS ANNOUNCE MORATORIUMS

The Pacheedaht First Nation in Port Renfrew, which operates a mill in TFL 46, has announced a moratorium on logging old growth within its territory while the nation determines cultural significance and best uses for the trees.

The Ditidaht and Huu-ay-aht First Nations have made similar declarations in their territories.

“From now on, our First Nations will decide what is best for our lands, our waters and our resources for the sustainment and well-being of present and future generations of Ditidaht, Huu-ay-aht and Pacheedaht people,” said a statement from the Pacheedaht on Friday.

In addition to deferring old-growth logging, the three First Nations are undertaking integrated resource management planning to determine how best to manage the resources in their territories. The statement said the work will draw on the teachings of ancestors, wisdom of elders, input from citizens and partners and experts in forestry and fisheries.

The Port Alberni-based ­Huu-ay-aht First Nation, through its investment company, Huumiis Ventures, has acquired a 35% stake in TFL 44 — a wide swath from the Alberni valley to the coast — with a goal of eventually owning a majority stake. TFL 44 has an annual ­allowable harvest of 780,000 cubic metres of timber, which flows to ­Western’s six mills on ­Vancouver Island, including its Alberni Pacific division, where the ­Huu-ay-aht also hold a 9% stake.

Head Hereditary Chief Derek Peters and Elected Chief ­Councillor Robert J. Dennis Sr. will host a summit on Nov. 23 to hear from forestry professionals regarding what they call “discrepancies in the scientific data.”

They say the government’s need for large-scale deferrals is based on the “untested assertion” in 2020 by technical advisers to the province that there is only 3% of productive old growth left in B.C. Other technical advisers say put the figure at 30%.

While the province has asked First Nations to weigh in 30 days, it noted that they may need more time to incorporate local knowledge into the deferral plans, such as identifying and including old-growth forests that are at risk but missing from B.C.’s maps.

The Huu-ay-aht First Nation said it expects to be in a position to make a decision by Jan. 15.

“As the rights and title holders who make the final decisions on forestry in our territory, ­Huu-ay-aht needs to close this science gap,” the chiefs said. “We will take the time we need to get it right.”

CONCERNS OVER LACK OF SUPPORT

Indigenous leaders have expressed concern over the 30-day timeline and the lack of support in the province’s old-growth deferral plan.

A 30-day time frame for such complex analysis is “totally unreasonable,” Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs said in an interview.

In the meantime, the government is still allowing logging in the old-growth ecosystems identified as being at risk of permanent loss, Phillip said.

The First Nations Leadership Council, which includes the executives of the chiefs union, the B.C. Assembly of First Nations and the First Nations Summit, issued a statement saying it was “extremely concerned … that the province has passed responsibility to First Nations without providing financial support for nations to replace any revenues that might be lost if they choose to defer logging old growth in their territory.”

B.C.’s deferral plan includes $12.7 million over three years to support First Nations.

That amounts to about $20,000 per year for each of more than 200 First Nations across B.C., said Phillip, calling the funds “totally insufficient to undertake the work.”

Critics of the old-growth deferrals say the government’s technical advisory panel was stacked, with four of the five members having ties to the Sierra Club.

The United Steelworkers Local 1-1937, which represents about 12,000 workers in the province, said it was ­completely left out of the process of ­reforming the industry.

dkloster@timescolonist.com

— With files from The Canadian Press and Vancouver Sun

NOTHING IS 100% GREEN

Renewable energy will never be 100% green, says expert

Wind turbines under a moody sky. - Copyright Canva

By Pascale Davies & Maeve Campbell • Updated: 04/11/2021
Switching to clean energy is the best chance we have of slowing down the climate crisis. By generating power that produces fewer greenhouse gas emissions than fossil fuels, we are diversifying our energy supplies and reducing dependence on ground-ravaging fuels.

And the uptake is only improving around the world. In the first quarter of 2020, global use of renewable energy in all sectors increased by about 1.5 per cent compared to 2019.

Despite this, one theoretical physicist is arguing that renewable sources can never be 100 per cent green, due to the emissions generated from manufacturing them.

“There are no zero emission energy supplies because you have to manufacture the devices, the installation, you have to manufacture them,” says Professor Jacques Treiner.

“And for them to be zero-emission, there would have to be zero-emission energy mixes.”

Treiner rejects the idea of ‘green’ energy, implying that the term has become a mere buzzword nowadays.

“Energy has no colour. Green energy, grey, red, blue etc. I don’t know. What I do know is which energy sources emit greenhouse gasses or not.

Old wind turbines are being reborn as bridges in Ireland
It may look rude, but this vibrating wind turbine is producing clean energy
Why are wind turbines being painted black?

But even if we could build 100 per cent clean energy supplies, we can’t yet rely on solar or wind as our main sources of energy, the professor adds.

“There is no knob that you can turn that makes the thermonuclear reactions in the sun more intense or less intense when we need more or less electricity. For the wind, it is the same. These energies are inexhaustible. But we don't control the flow.”

The key is learning how to store energy better, Treiner concludes.

“Today when it comes to using renewable energies on a large scale, we don’t know how to store energy. If we knew how to do it, on the days of high production, we would stock it and we would use it during moments of low production. But we do not know how to do that on a massive scale. And so, we cannot, at the moment, envisage an electrical mix that is 100% renewable energy.”

The magic 1.5: What’s behind climate talks’ key elusive goal

By SETH BORENSTEIN

November 7, 2021

1 of 7

FILE - People attend a Climate Strike demonstration in Zurich, Switzerland, Nov. 6, 2021. The overarching phrase that dominates Glasgow climate talks is simply a number: 1.5. That's the chief but elusive goal of negotiations. It's keeping warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius since pre-industrial times. (Michael Buholzer/Keystone via AP, File)

Glasgow, Scotland (AP) — One phrase, really just a number, dominates climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland: The magic and elusive 1.5.

That stands for the international goal of trying to limit future warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times. It’s a somewhat confusing number in some ways that wasn’t a major part of negotiations just seven years ago and was a political suggestion that later proved to be incredibly important scientifically.

Stopping warming at 1.5 or so can avoid or at least lessen some of the most catastrophic future climate change harms and for some people is a life-or-death matter, scientists have found in many reports.

The 1.5 figure now it is the “overarching objective” of the Glasgow climate talks, called COP26, conference President Alok Sharma said on the first day of the conference. Then on Saturday he said the conference, which takes a break on Sunday, was still trying “to keep 1.5 alive.”



For protesters and activists, the phrase is “1.5 to stay alive.”

And 1.5 is closer than it sounds. That’s because it may sound like another 1.5 degrees from now but because it is since pre-industrial times, it’s actually only 0.4 degrees (0.7 degrees Fahrenheit) from now. The world has warmed 1.1 degrees (2 degrees Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times.

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The issue isn’t about the one year when the world first averages 1.5 more than pre-industrial times. Scientists usually mean a multi-year average of over 1.5 because temperatures — while rising over the long term like on an escalator — do have small jags up and down above the long-term trend, much like taking a step up or down on the escalator.

But it’s coming fast.

Scientists calculate carbon pollution the burning of fossil fuels can produce before 1.5 degrees is baked in. A report a few days ago from Global Carbon Project found that there’s 420 billion tons of carbon dioxide left in that budget and this year humanity spewed 36.4 billion tons. That’s about 11 years worth left at current levels — which are rising not falling — the report found.

To get there, scientists and the United Nations say the world needs to cut its current emissions by about half as of 2030. That’s one of the three goals the U.N. has set for success in Glasgow.

“It’s physically possible (to limit warming to 1.5 degrees), but I think it is close to politically impossible in the real world barring miracles,” Columbia University climate scientist Adam Sobel said. “Of course we should not give up advocating for it.”

A dozen other climate scientists told The Associated Press essentially the same thing — that if dramatic emission reductions start immediately the world can keep within 1.5 degrees. But they don’t see signs of that happening.

That 1.5 figure may be the big number now but that’s not how it started.

At the insistence of small island nations who said it was a matter of survival, 1.5 was put in near the end of negotiations into the historic 2015 Paris climate agreement. It is mentioned only once in the deal’s text. And that part lists the primary goal to limit warming to “2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.”

The 2-degree goal was the existing goal from 2009’s failed Copenhagen conference. The goal was initially interpreted as 2 degrees or substantially lower if possible.

But in a way both the “1.5 and 2 degree C thresholds are somewhat arbitrary,” Stanford University climate scientist Rob Jackson said in an email. “Every tenth of a degree matters!”

The 2 degrees was chosen because it “is the warmest temperature that you can infer that the planet has ever seen in the last million years or so,” University of East Anglia climate scientist Corinne LeQuere, who helped write the carbon budget study, said at the Glasgow climate talks.

When the Paris agreement threw in the 1.5 figure, the United Nations tasked its Nobel Prize-winning group of scientists — the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC — to study on what difference there would be an Earth between 1.5 degrees of warming and 2 degrees of warming.

The 2018 IPCC report found that compared to 2 degrees, stopping warming at 1.5 would mean:

— Fewer deaths and illnesses from heat, smog and infectious diseases.

— Half as many people would suffer from lack of water.

— Some coral reefs may survive.

— There’s less chance for summers without sea ice in the Arctic.

— The West Antarctic ice sheet might not kick into irreversible melting.

— Seas would rise nearly 4 inches (0.1 meters) less.

— Half as many animals with back bones and plants would lose the majority of their habitats.

— There would be substantially fewer heat waves, downpours and droughts.

“For some people this is a life-or-death situation without a doubt,” report lead author Cornell University climate scientist Natalie Mahowald said at the time.

That finding that there’s a massive difference to Earth with far less damage at 1.5 is the biggest climate science finding in the last six years, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research Director Johan Rockstrom said in an interview at the Glasgow conference.

“It gets worse and worse as you exceed beyond 1.5,” Rockstrom said. “We have more scientific evidence than ever that we need to really aim for landing at 1.5, which is the safe climate planetary boundary.”

“Once we pass 1.5 we enter a scientific danger zone in terms of heightened risk,” Rockstrom said.

In a new IPCC report in August, the world hit 1.5 in the 2030s in each of the four main carbon emissions scenarios they looked out.

Even when scientists and politicians talk about 1.5 they usually talk about “overshoot” in which for a decade or so the temperature hits or passes 1.5, but then goes back down usually with some kind of technology that sucks carbon out of the air, Stanford’s Jackson and others said.

As hard as it is, negotiators can’t give up on 1.5, said Canadian Member of Parliament Elizabeth May, who is at her 16th climate negotiations.

“If we don’t hang on to 1.5 while it is technically feasible, we are almost criminal,” May said.

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Follow AP’s climate coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/climate

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Follow Seth Borenstein on Twitter at @borenbears

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

AP PHOTOS: Roasting coffee with the rays of the sun
By ANDREW MEDICHINI

1 of 20

Antonio Durbe, left, and Daniele Tummei overlook the functioning of the "Purosole", Pure Sun, solar light coffee roaster, in Rome, Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2021. Two electrical engineers, Antonio Durbe and Daniele Tummei, invented a plant that just needs a piece of land about the size of half a tennis court and sunny weather to toast up to 50kg of coffee an hour. No gas, no electricity, just sun rays concentrated by a set of mirrors on a rotating steel basket filled of fresh coffee grains. (AP Photo/Michele Calamaio)

ROME (AP) — Combining two of Italy’s delights — coffee and sunshine — a couple of engineers in Rome have created an environmentally friendly way to roast coffee beans without electricity or gas.

Antonio Durbe and Daniele Tummei have spent almost six years building and perfecting their sunlight coffee roaster.

The result is a system that needs a piece of land about the size of half a tennis court and sunny weather to roast up to 50 kilograms (110 pounds) of coffee an hour.

Daniele Tummei oversees the functioning of the "Purosole", Pure Sun, solar light coffee roaster, in Rome. (AP Photo/Michele Calamaio)

The plant is run entirely by energy from the sun. Sunrays are concentrated by a set of mirrors on a coffee roaster and even the few electrical parts are powered by a small solar panel. Sensors controlled by a computer allow the mirrors to follow the sun throughout the day and focus its light on a rotating steel basket that contains the fresh coffee beans. The basket reaches peak temperatures of about 240-250 C (450-480 F), depending on the sun’s brightness, and can roast the beans in 20 minutes.

Electronics engineer Antonio Durbe sprays water to cool down the coffee grains at the end of the roasting cycle inside the world first solar-powered coffee roaster. (AP Photo/Michele Calamaio)

The process isn’t only environmentally friendly and economically convenient. According to Durbe and Tummei, it also better preserves the coffee’s aroma, giving it a richer flavor. Unlike conventional hot air ovens, which are typically gas-powered, the concentrated sunlight roasts the coffee without heating the air around it — by penetrating the grains in a more uniform way and without burning the exterior.

Naturally, the system does depend on good weather. On cloudy days or after sunset, coffee lovers need to turn elsewhere.

Antonio Durbe overlooks the functioning of the "Purosole", Pure Sun, solar light coffee roaster, in Rome. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Antonio Durbe pours fresh coffee grains in a steel basket before toasting them. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

However, in sunny southern Italy, a plant with 40 mirrors is capable of roasting up to 30,000 kilograms (66,000 pounds) of coffee a year, saving about 60,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity, according to the inventors.

Their Purosole, or pure sun, coffee can be bought online, but the main goal of the inventors is selling their solar coffee roasting plants to small businesses who are sensitive to the environment. Right now, they are operating their plant in the garden of a friend.

The system can be put to other uses as well. At the end of a long work day, Durbe and Tummei place a grill in in front of the mirrors to prepare some delicious sunlight barbecue.

A steel basket containing fresh coffee grains rotates while toasting them in "Purosole", Pure Sun, solar light coffee roaster, in Rome. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Antonio Durbe overlooks the functioning of the "Purosole", Pure Sun, solar light coffee roaste. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Freshly toasted coffee grains are seen just after being toasted with the "Purosole", Pure Sun, solar light coffee roaste. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Sun is reflected in the mirrors of the "Purosole", Pure Sun, solar light coffee roaster. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

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Follow all AP stories on climate change issues at https://apnews.com/hub/climate.

AP PHOTOS: ‘If they die, we all die’: Drought kills in Kenya

By BRIAN INGANGA

Mohamed Mohamud, a ranger from the Sabuli Wildlife Conservancy, looks at the carcass of a giraffe that died of hunger near Matana Village, Wajir County, Kenya, Monday, Oct. 25, 2021. As world leaders address a global climate summit in Britain, drought has descended yet again in northern Kenya, the latest in a series of climate shocks rippling through the Horn of Africa. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The withered carcasses of livestock are reminders that drought has descended yet again in northern Kenya, the latest in a series of climate shocks rippling through the Horn of Africa.

As world leaders address a global climate summit in Glasgow, pastoralists watch their beloved animals suffer from lack of water and food. Yusuf Abdullahi says he has lost 40 goats.

“If they die, we all die,” he says.

Herders supply water from a borehole to give to their camels near Kuruti, in Garissa County, Kenya. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

Herder Yusuf Abdullahi walks past the carcasses of his forty goats that died of hunger in Dertu, Wajir County, Kenya. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

Kenya’s government has declared a national disaster in 10 of its 47 counties. The United Nations says more than 2 million people are severely food insecure. And with people trekking farther in search of food and water, observers warn that tensions among communities could sharpen.

Wildlife have begun to die, too, says the chair of the Subuli Wildlife Conservancy, Mohamed Sharmarke.

“The heat on the ground tells you the sign of starvation we’re facing,” he says.

The daughter of a herder family stands in the doorway of their hut near Kuruti, in Garissa County, Kenya. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

Rangers from the Sabuli Wildlife Conservancy supply water from a tanker for wild animals in the conservancy in Wajir County, Kenya. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
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Experts warn that such climate shocks will become more common across Africa, which contributes the least to global warming, but will suffer from it most.

“We do not have a spare planet in which we will seek refuge once we have succeeded in destroying this one,” the executive director of East Africa’s Intergovernmental Authority on Development, Workneh Gebeyehu, said last month while opening a regional early warning climate center in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi.

A boy stands near the rotting carcass of a camel that that died of hunger which people had burned to stop the bad smell, in Belif, Garissa county, Kenya. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

A herder boy who looks after livestock quenches his thirst from a water point in the desert near Dertu, Wajir County, Kenya. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta agreed.

“Africa, while currently responsible for a negligible amount of total global greenhouse gas emissions, is under significant threat from climate change,” he said at the center’s opening. The continent is responsible for just 4% of global emissions.

Kenyatta was among the African leaders speaking at the global climate summit as they urged more attention and billions of dollars in financial support for the African continent.

The children of herders walk past cattle carcasses in the desert near Dertu, Wajir County, Kenya. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
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Herder children who look after their family's camels cool off and fill plastic containers with water from a water point in the desert near Dertu, Wajir County, Kenya. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

Girls look after their family's camels as they drink from a water point in the desert near Dertu, Wajir County, Kenya. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

Rangers from the Sabuli Wildlife Conservancy try to control a camel as it transports a tank of water to supply to wild animals in the conservancy in Wajir County, Kenya. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

Women wait with their containers for a water distribution from the government near Kuruti, in Garissa County, Kenya. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

A herder tends to his camels as they drink from a water point in the desert near Dertu, Wajir County, Kenya. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

Follow AP’s climate coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/climate

Once Targeted for Turtle Soup, Alligator Snapping Turtles Are Now Threatened Species: Feds

BY ERIN BRADY

ON 11/8/21 

The alligator snapping turtle could become a threatened species, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and it might be because of a soup.

The total number of turtles belonging to species, which are notable for their spikey shells and their wormy lure, is decreasing rapidly. The agency said that the looming presence of turtle soup has resulted in "decades and decades of exploitation," according to an attorney representing the Center for Biological Diversity.

"Alligator snappers are some of the fiercest, wildest creatures in the Southeast," said attorney Elise Bennett in a news release by the Center, "but overexploitation and habitat destruction have put their lives on the line."

Around 360,000 alligator snapping turtles live in 12 states. However, those numbers could drop to 5 percent of that without the proper protections. This drop is recorded in a Federal Register notice sent by the Fish and Wildlife Service. Ten of these states have banned the capture of alligator snapping turtles; the agency said that Louisana allows fishers to capture one per day, while Mississippi permits one capture per year. These limits could be retracted if their threatened status is confirmed.

"Many restaurants served turtle soup and purchased large quantities of alligator snapping turtles from trappers in the southeastern States," the Fish and Wildlife Service statement said. "In the 1970s, the demand for turtle meat was so high that as much as three to four tons of alligator snapping turtles were harvested from the Flint River in Georgia per day."

None of the 12 states in which the turtles inhabit have commented on the notice. The Federal Registrar notice is scheduled to be presented on November 9.

For more reporting from the Associated Press, see below:

Alligator snapping turtles could receive protection about being hunted for decades for turtle soup. An Alligator Snapping Turtle that was intercepted when an attempt was made to smuggle it from the U.S. is displayed during an Operation Jungle Book media event at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Torrance, California on October 20, 2017.

PHOTO BY MARK RALSTON/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

Alligator snapping turtles can live 80 years, with males known to weigh up to 249 pounds (113 kilograms) with shells up to 29 inches (74 centimeters) long. Their jaws are strong enough to snap bone.

They once were found in Kansas and Indiana, but now live in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas.

"The range has contracted in Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee and possibly in Oklahoma," it noted.

Those states all are along the Mississippi River and its tributaries. The service proposed threatened status in April for the related Suwannee alligator snapping turtle, found in the Suwannee River basin in Georgia and Florida.

"Commercial harvests for turtle soup products peaked in the late 1960s and 1970s," the Fish and Wildlife Service notice stated.

The animals are long-lived but grow slowly, aren't sexually mature until they're 11 to 21 years old and take an average of 31 years to successfully reproduce, the agency said. They also don't lay large numbers of eggs, and many other animals eat eggs and young turtles, so the indiscriminate capture had long-lasting effects.

Alligator snapping turtles average 27 eggs per nest with one clutch per year, while sea turtles average 110 and lay multiple nests each season.

Poaching remains a problem, the notice said, noting that three men were convicted in 2017 of collecting 60 large alligator snapping turtles in one year in Texas and taking them across state lines.

Adult turtles can swallow fish hooks or drown after being hooked on a variety of lines or being caught in nets.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said November 8 that it is proposing threatened status for alligator snapping turtles, huge, spike-shelled reptiles that lurk at the bottom of bayous and lakes, luring prey to their mouths by extending a wormy-looking lure. A male alligator snapping turtle is held after being trapped by the Turtle Survival Alliance-North American Freshwater Turtle Research Group, November 24, 2018, as part of the process of tagging turtles.

MELISSA PHILLIP/HOUSTON CHRONICLE VIA AP, FILE

Deputy PM Freeland writes to Air Canada's board about CEO's comments on French

LIVED IN MONTREAL FOR 14 YEARS DOES NOT KNOW FRENCH

OTTAWA — Canada's deputy prime minister has written to Air Canada's board of directors, urging that its CEO improve his French and that his knowledge of the language be included in his annual performance review.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

In her letter, Chrystia Freeland asked that knowledge of French become an important criterion for securing promotions at the airline, which is subject to the Official Languages Act.

Freeland sent the letter to Vagn Sorensen, chairman of the airline's board of directors, following controversy started by CEO Michael Rousseau's mostly English speech to the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal last week.

Rousseau had told reporters after his speech that he had been too busy to learn French and said he had no trouble living in English in Quebec for 14 years. The comments sparked backlash across the province.

"I've been able to live in Montreal without speaking French, and I think that's a testament to the city of Montreal," he said. Asked why he hadn't learned the language, Rousseau replied: "If you look at my work schedule, you'd understand why."

The next day, Rousseau released a statement offering an apology in both languages.

"I want to make it clear that in no way did I mean to show disrespect for Quebecers and Francophones across the country," Rousseau's statement read. "I apologize to those who were offended by my remarks."

Freeland expressed the federal government's "disappointment" with Rousseau's comments and argued it was "utterly inconsistent with the company’s commitment to both official languages that has been in place for decades."

She also said the board of directors should conduct a review of its policies and practices relating to the airline's use of French and should make those results public.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2021.

The Canadian Press

No move on Line 5 pipeline before environmental review, White House says
Alexander Panetta

© Carlos Osorio/The Associated Press The Mackinac Bridge that spans Michigan's Straits of Mackinac between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron is seen in July 2002. The U.S. government said Monday that it is waiting for a full environmental review from the Army…

This item is part of Watching Washington, a regular dispatch from CBC News correspondents reporting on U.S. politics and developments that affect Canadians.
What's new

The White House said Monday that it's awaiting a full environmental review before making any decisions on the disputed Line 5 oil pipeline from Canada.

That could take a while.

At a press briefing Monday, a spokesperson for U.S. President Joe Biden was asked whether the White House was considering shutting down the pipeline.

Karine Jean-Pierre denied that any decision has been made. "That is inaccurate. That is not right," she said, before clarifying that the project was undergoing a full environmental review through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, announced months ago.

She then twice indicated that any decisions on the fate of the route would be guided by the results of that review. "We're waiting," she said. "There is a review and we're waiting."

"The [environmental impact statement] will help inform any additional action or position the U.S. will be taking on the replacement of Line 5."
What's the context

At issue is an old pipeline carrying 540,000 barrels per day of oil and other petroleum fuels from Canada, across the Great Lakes, then into Michigan, and finally into Ontario as a major fuel source for Eastern Canada.

The Michigan government has ordered the pipeline shut down, prompting a legal fight and court-ordered mediation. After Michigan moved to end mediation talks in September, Canada invoked a 1977 treaty between Canada and the U.S. limiting either country's ability to impede a cross-border pipeline.

The issue presents a political conundrum for Biden.

On the one hand, environmentalists and the president's allies in Michigan, a critical presidential swing state, want the pipeline shut down amid fear of potential damage to the Great Lakes.

On the other hand, he faces pressure to keep the fuel flowing. That pressure comes not only from Canada, but from domestic critics as well, as fuel prices have surged.

The context for Monday's exchange at the White House was a weekend interview where Biden's energy secretary acknowledged that home heating prices will be higher this winter.

Given that reality of rising energy prices, Fox News reporter Peter Doocy asked at the White House briefing why the president is considering closing another pipeline from Canada.

The pipeline company, Calgary-based Enbridge Inc., is applying to build a new tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac, the narrow passageway connecting Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, to house an updated version of its pipeline.

That's the project being evaluated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The issue has already become fodder in American partisan politics: the Republican Party tweeted out video of the exchange at the White House and prepared to hold Democrats responsible for higher energy costs.

What's next

Monday's comments suggest the issue won't be resolved anytime soon.

A spokesperson for the Army Corps of Engineers said an evaluation like this generally takes two years: first there is a preliminary phase, then a main phase of the work, then a draft environmental impact statement, which is followed by a final environmental impact statement, and ultimately a decision on a permit.

The review has just begun and is in its preliminary phase said William R. Dowell.

"From start to finish — [it's] about two years long. The process varies — but that's the approximate length of time it takes."

Majority of Canadians support equalization, but think some provinces take 'unfair' advantage

Anja Karadeglija 

©

 Provided by National Post The headquarters of the Canada Revenue Agency in Ottawa.


Two-thirds of Canadians are supportive of equalization, according to a new Postmedia/Leger poll conducted shortly after Albertans voted in favour of scrapping the program. However, a smaller majority also said that some provincial governments are taking unfair advantage of the program

Among the 1,554 Canadians polled, 25 per cent said they strongly supported equalization, a program under which the federal government redistributes tax revenue to ensure all provinces have similar levels of public services. A further 42 per cent said that they somewhat supported it.

In a referendum last month, 61.7 per cent of Albertans voted in favour of removing equalization from the constitution. Albertans are the largest contributors on average to the equalization program and the province has not received equalization payments since the 1960s.

SOUTHERN ALBERTA VOTED WITH THOSE NUMBERS, EDMONTON VOTED IN FAVOUR OF EQUALIZATION

THE TOTAL VOTER TURN OUT WAS LOW 39% SO THE NUMBER BEING QUOTED IS INCORRECT IN THE BIGGER PICTURE

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has made it clear that the referendum was a symbolic move to gain leverage for the province to “push hard to get a fair deal” in federal-provincial fiscal arrangements, as opposed to repealing equalization entirely. “The point of it is to get leverage for constitutional negotiations with the federal government about reform of the entire system of fiscal federalism, which treats Alberta so unfairly,” Kenney said prior to the referendum vote.

Kenney called the results of the vote a “powerful” statement. “We fully expect the prime minister to respect the constitutional amendment process and sit down and negotiate with Alberta in good faith,” he said when the result was released on Oct. 26.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said any such constitutional amendment requires “significant consensus across the country.” He pointed out taking out a section of the constitution would require the agreement of both the federal government and seven provinces representing at least 50 per cent of Canada’s population.

Here's what could replace equalization

Majority of Canadians believe equalization is unfair to Alberta: poll

Trudeau also criticized Kenney for the referendum, noting the last time the equalization formula was updated was under the government of former Prime Minister Stephen Harper, where Kenney was a cabinet minister.

The Leger online poll, conducted between Oct. 29 and Nov. 1, shows that both the so-called “have” provinces — which don’t receive money but whose federal tax contributions are used for equalization payments — and so-called “have not” provinces, which receive the payments, support the program.

The Leger poll showed 62 per cent of respondents living in “have” provinces supported equalization, as did 78 per cent of the respondents living in “have not” provinces.

However, it also showed that a majority of respondents in Alberta (52 per cent) think provinces that receive equalization take it “for granted” and are unappreciative. Alberta was the only province where a majority felt that way.

“It doesn’t look like there’s a whole lot of other provinces that are in a real rush to sort of reopen the current formula for equalization,” Leger executive vice-president Andrew Enns said.

However, 54 per cent of Canadians agreed that some provinces are unfairly taking advantage of the program, with 21 per cent strongly agreeing and 33 per cent somewhat agreeing. That sentiment was strongest in Alberta (72 per cent) and also in Atlantic Canada (66 per cent). Even in Quebec, the largest recipient of equalization, more respondents felt some provinces were taking unfair advantage of the program.

Only 17 per cent of Canadians disagreed that some provinces were taking advantage of equalization.

Though 53 per cent of the 174 Alberta respondents were supportive of equalization, 61 per cent said some provinces rely too much on equalization funding and are not doing enough to promote their own economic growth. Just over half of Albertans also said “have not” provinces take equalization for granted, compared to the national average of 35 per cent.

Meanwhile, a slim majority (51 per cent) felt that the federal government and all provinces should be a part of any discussion around changing equalization.

After drinking water crisis, Newark is winning war on lead


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Workmen prepare to replace older water pipes with a new copper one in Newark, N.J., Thursday, Oct. 21, 2021. An ambitious program to replace thousands of residential lead water lines in New Jersey's largest city is about to be completed years ahead of schedule. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — On a recent sun-drenched morning, the staccato rhythms of a jackhammer ricocheted off buildings as a work crew dug into a Newark street to remove an aging pipe that carried water — and potentially a poison — to a small apartment building.

The new pipe is copper. The old one was lined with lead, which can be harmful to human health even at minute levels.

The water service line was one of more than 20,000 made with the toxic metal the city began replacing in 2019 amid public outrage over revelations about high lead levels in the tap water in schools and homes across the city.

Less than three years after the work began, the replacement project, initially projected to take up to 10 years, is nearly complete.

City residents who switched to bottled water during the crisis are breathing — and drinking — easier. Newark, once castigated and sued over its sluggish response to the problem, is being held up as a potential national model.

“I’m just happy that it’s happening and that it’s finally getting taken care of so we finally get to drink tap water again,” Newark resident Cesar Velarde said as he watched the crew work. “I have three cases of bottled water right now. I don’t drink faucet water no more because of this.”

The pipe replacement project has been a vindication of sorts for Mayor Ras Baraka, who faced mounting public pressure in 2018 after the Natural Resources Defense Council, a nonprofit environmental advocacy group, sued, claiming New Jersey’s largest city had failed to adequately monitor lead levels and had downplayed the problem to residents.



Deteriorating lead-lined pipes, some a century old, are a problem in many older U.S. cities, a recent example being Benton Harbor, Michigan. But Newark’s replacement project proceeded faster than expected, thanks to an infusion of state and local funds and an amendment to state law to protect homeowners from having to bear the cost.

“I’ll feel better when we’re completely finished, but I’m excited that we’re at the end of this thing. It’ll be a huge milestone for us,” Baraka said last week.

Newark’s efforts led to the lawsuit being settled last January, and drew praise from the Natural Resources Defense Council.

“It’s a pretty significant turnaround from the early days when the city was denying they had a lead problem,” Erik Olson, NRDC senior strategic director for health, said. “We are pointing to it as a model for other cities to follow. They’re doing it much faster than other cities have even tried to do.”

The NRDC estimated recently that there are as many as 12 million lead service lines in the U.S. Nearly half of all states don’t even track the number of lead lines within their borders, they found.

Lead in drinking water has been linked to developmental delays in children and can damage the brain, red blood cells and kidneys.

The challenge of removing lead from drinking water in the U.S. came into sharp focus after the Flint, Michigan, scandal in which city leaders switched water sources in 2014 to save money. That led to criminal charges, though many later were dropped, and a $641 million settlement for the residents of the poor, majority Black city.

The $1 trillion infrastructure plan passed by the House on Friday night and now awaiting President Joe Biden’s signature includes $15 billion to replace lead pipes.

Several hundred lead lines remain to be replaced in Newark, many connected to buildings that were not accessible earlier in the project.

The process can take up to five hours, though many replacements take less time because they involve smaller pipes that can be pulled out and replaced by making a smaller cut in the curbside, said Mark Wleklik, foreperson for Underground Utilities, a company that has done thousands of pipe replacements in Newark.

More than 70% of Newark residents are renters, and many of the buildings are owned by limited-liability corporations based elsewhere that can be hard to track down, said Kareem Adeem, director of the city’s water and sewer department.

“It’s hard to chase an LLC down to Texas or Missouri or Louisiana or California,” Adeem said. “The renters always want the line to be replaced, but they don’t own the property.”

That led the Newark City Council to pass an ordinance allowing tenants to provide access to buildings. An amendment to a state law paved the way for public money to be used for the replacements — which can cost thousands of dollars per home — and Newark was able to borrow $120 million. All those efforts allowed the city of more than 310,000 people to accelerate its line replacements to as many as 120 per day.

The city also created a program that trained about 75 unemployed and underemployed residents to work on the line replacement crews, Adeem said.

Looking back, Baraka described the confrontation with the Natural Resources Defense Council as “tough, tense, with no love lost,” but he admitted learning some lessons.

“We were so busy trying to fight the NRDC, we were having conversations with them and not with the residents,” he said. “We thought they were wrong and wanted to oversee the city, and we already had oversight. So we were trying to fight that as opposed to being on the offensive and saying, ‘We have this problem, let’s go out and fix this.’”

For some, praise for the Newark’s accomplishment needs to be taken in context. Yvette Jordan, a teacher and chairperson of the Newark Education Workers Caucus, which joined the lawsuit brought by the resources council, said it was no coincidence that many of the city’s actions came at a time when Baraka was seeking reelection and Newark was in the running to become home to Amazon’s second headquarters.

“This showed us that the community must rise up and say something,” said Jordan, whose own home showed high levels of lead in its drinking water at one point.

“Without the community screaming and yelling and saying, ‘We need this,’ nothing is going to happen. The state and federal government also have to say, ‘We’re going to do this’ and have the political will to do it. Without that political will, without the stars aligning, I don’t think you would see Newark as this national model.”

___ This story has been corrected to show that the name of the organization that sued Newark is the Natural Resources Defense Council, not the National Resources Defense Council.

Emails show officials sniping amid 2nd Michigan lead crisis


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Crews continue work on lead pipe replacement at a home along Ogden Avenue in Benton Harbor, Mich., on Monday, Nov. 8, 2021. City residents continue to use bottled water for drinking and cooking as a number of homes have been found to have elevated lead levels in the water lines. (Don Campbell/The Herald-Palladium via AP)

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — After a Michigan official emailed the head of Benton Harbor’s drinking water system in June 2019 about the impoverished city’s failure to hit targets for treating corroded lead pipes, the local leader snapped back: “I have no time for this.”

Municipal superintendent Mike O’Malley’s email response went to lay out grievances about state demands on his office since the discovery months earlier of elevated lead levels in Benton Harbor’s water. The testy exchange was among many between the water chief and state regulators trying to contain what has become Michigan’s second high-profile lead contamination crisis in less than a decade.

The strained ties were evident in emails released last week by the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy. They were among an 11,000-page trove of communications and documents sought by legislators investigating the state’s handling of the predicament in Benton Harbor, a majority-Black city of about 9,100 in Michigan’s far southwestern corner.

Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer also ordered measures last week to strengthen water quality statewide, including stepped-up efforts to reduce lead content and remove service lines made with the toxic metal that can damage children’s brains and nervous systems.

But her administration faces complaints of inadequate response from Republican foes and even some allies, including Black activists and environmental groups, as she prepares to seek reelection next year. When campaigning in 2018, Whitmer criticized the performance of GOP predecessor Rick Snyder in the Flint lead emergency.

LEAD PIPING BEING REMOVED

City and state officials “have failed to address this public health crisis with the urgency it requires,” progressive groups said in a Sept. 9 petition to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Last week, the EPA instructed Benton Harbor to improve corrosion control, repair filters at its treatment plant and better notify residents.

Liesl Clark, director of the state environmental agency, described the Benton Harbor situation as “unique and particularly urgent” in a letter to state Sen. Ed McBroom, the Republican chairman of the Senate Oversight Committee, which is investigating the state’s response. But lead-tainted water is a statewide issue, Clark added.

While acknowledging her department could do better in Benton Harbor, Clark said the thousands of newly released documents show it had gone “above and beyond legal requirements.”

“It’s frustrating to hear this mantra that the state did nothing there for three years,” Eric Oswald, director of the department’s Drinking Water and Environmental Health Division, said in an interview Monday. “We had a pretty significant response effort.”

The documents and emails provide a behind-the scenes look at conversations between state and Benton Harbor officials after samples indicated high lead readings three years ago.

On Jan. 14, 2019, shortly after Whitmer look office, a memo from an Oswald aide said the city wasn’t providing promised bottled water or filters to residents with high lead readings. Local officials were sending mixed messages about the situation and rejecting offers of help with additional sampling, the memo said.

The next month, the state issued a permit for the city to pump orthophosphate and polyphosphate into the water to coat the pipes and prevent erosion. Then came a consent order requiring the city to fix problems with the water system and boost rates to fund upgrades.

Further emails and letters showed state officials prodding O’Malley to increase the number of locations for water sampling, while he argued that fewer should be permissible because the city’s population had fallen below 10,000.

“I put off the lead sampling requirement until recently, now I have to go full speed ahead on finding 60 homes. I have 4 right now,” O’Malley wrote in June 2019. “100 letters 4 responses. We are going to go door to door next and hope for the best!”

When state water treatment specialist Ernie Sarkipato offered help, O’Malley replied: “I have already asked you for help and been denied.”

State engineering supervisor Michael Bolf wrote Oswald in December 2019 about Benton Harbor repeatedly missing consent order deadlines.

“We feel caught between a rock in a hard place,” Bolf wrote. Fining the cash-strapped city might worsen relations and achieve little, but with leniency, “the water system remains vulnerable and we are potentially culpable if a problem occurs.”

The state agency notified Benton Harbor in February 2020 its corrosion control treatments weren’t succeeding and ordered adjustments. O’Malley replied the conclusion was premature.

“To Benton Harbor, your order left us quite anxious about what was required and it felt like, you want us to begin running scared,” he said.

Oswald said Monday he was “cautiously optimistic” the corrosion control system was getting better results and was awaiting results of the latest testing.

The state revoked O’Malley’s certification to operate the city water plant in November 2020 for numerous reasons, including refusing to disclose where samples were taken, said Hugh McDiarmid Jr., spokesman for the environment department. Benton Harbor suspended and later fired him, McDiarmid said.

The Associated Press was unable to reach O’Malley for comment. Messages were left Monday with Benton Harbor Mayor Marcus Muhammad and city manager Ellis Mitchell.

Muhammad told a legislative committee in October the city’s water problems were years in the making. Benton Harbor was under state emergency management from 2010 to 2014.

One manager laid off half the water plant’s staff and its plant’s director, yet in 2018 the state environmental agency told him more water staff was needed, he said.

“I was cross-eyed because on one hand you had a state official to deplete the water labor and then another official coming back saying you need to increase it,” Muhammad said.

——

Flesher reported from Traverse City, Michigan.