© Conservation Council of New Brunswick 2024
In this edition of EcoNews, we invite you to the launch of our ‘Switch on Hope’ Energy Poverty Campaign, air our concerns with the lack of progress on New Brunswick’s water strategy and explain why the province’s energy roadmap is headed down the wrong road. Also, check out our surveys about energy efficiency programs and our Tell the Facts campaign. Interested in learning more and helping our exciting organization? We’re also looking for a new member to join our board!
Switch on Hope Energy Poverty Campaign launch
At the Conservation Council, we work tirelessly to protect New Brunswick’s land, air and water. Promoting energy efficiency and affordability is a critical part of that effort, helping to save energy and fight climate change.
That’s why we want you to join us for an exciting event on Saturday, Feb. 24, that will kick off our ‘Switch on Hope’ Energy Poverty Campaign. Experience the highly anticipated debut of two music videos with songs about energy poverty created by local youth with help from local musician Matthew Elliott, also known as Stephen Hero and David R. Elliott.
The event will shed light on the unique stories behind each video, offering a glimpse into the creative journey that unfolded during Elliott’s From Harm to Harmony Residency and Mentorship Program last summer. We hope this campaign will help bring people together to talk about energy poverty in New Brunswick and work towards finding solutions.
Energy efficiency survey
We need your valuable input! As part of our ongoing work to better understand the success of energy efficiency initiatives in New Brunswick, we’re conducting a survey to assess both federal and provincial efficiency programs.
Through this survey, we want to collect first-hand testimonials from people who have participated in these programs. Additionally, survey participants can sign up to take part in a case study in which they can give additional details about their energy efficiency upgrades in a video interview.
Join our board of directors!
Do you want to make a difference in your community? Are you concerned about New Brunswick’s environment? You can combat climate anxiety and take positive action by joining our volunteer board of directors!
- You’d like to connect with other people who are passionate about the environment.
- You are interested in helping to guide and direct a leading environmental organization like the Conservation Council.
- You are known to be constructive, collaborative and respectful when working with others.
- You are a Conservation Council member or willing to become one.
Interested? Email us the following info:
- Your name and contact information.
- What interests you about becoming a board member?
- Your background (can attach a resume).
We meet regularly (six times a year) either by Zoom or in person and have specific committees that may pique your interest as well.
Be part of the solution. We need you to help us continue protecting the land, air and water in New Brunswick!
Tell the Facts campaign poll
Did you hear about our Tell the Facts campaign? We launched the campaign in early January to counter the Alberta government’s misleading and fear-based ads against the federal clean electricity regulations.
We’re hoping you can take a minute to let us know if you’ve heard of the campaign before now. If you have, we’d like to know where you first heard about it and your thoughts on the campaign. Just click below to let us know!
If this is your first time hearing about this campaign, and you want to demand strong clean electricity regulations, check out the link below to send your letter to the federal government!
N.B.’s water strategy work fails to make a splash
The provincial government took a great step forward to protect water quality in New Brunswick by releasing its water strategy in 2017. However, its latest review and progress report on the water plan paints a disappointing picture and lacks a clear direction forward. Many of the water plan’s actions remain undone at the time of this mid-point review, and some others have been watered down, including plans to conserve coastal areas and do more research on blue-green algae.
Check out our full thoughts on the review and report in this blog:
Want to learn more about how the review missed the mark? Check out the submission we made to the Department of Environment, expressing our concerns.
New Brunswick’s hydrogen roadmap heads in wrong direction
The recent release of the hydrogen roadmap by the New Brunswick government is a misguided plan that could shift attention away from genuine climate solutions.
Green hydrogen should be the only hydrogen considered for production, and it should only be considered for local industrial use. Read this press release to see why we’re urging the government to reconsider the roadmap and instead invest in renewable energy and proven technologies like electric vehicles to combat climate change effectively.
Climate team’s policy work
The past month has been a busy one for our director of climate research and policy, Dr. Moe Qureshi, and our climate change co-ordinator Faith Mambo. First, Dr. Quresi appeared before the New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board hearings on the cost of the carbon adjuster from Jan. 29-31. He then crafted a submission to the federal government to have a say in Ottawa’s plans to regulate the oil and gas industry’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Faith also made a separate submission to the feds on the government’s proposed clean hydrogen investment tax credit. Finally, Dr. Qureshi added the Conservation Council’s voice to this year’s federal budget planning, submitting his recommendations for investments in environmental programs.
Check out all of the hard work our climate team has done by clicking the links below!
The puzzling delay behind closing AIM’s troubled scrapyard
Despite American Iron and Metal’s history of flouting regulations at its Saint John scrapyard, the company’s operation has yet to be permanently shuttered. The province revoked AIM’s salvage dealer’s licence following a catastrophic fire in September 2023, but what took the government so long to take action given AIM’s past? And why hasn’t the province committed to closing the yard for good? Our marine conservation director, Matt Abbott, takes issue with the lack of regulatory enforcement against AIM’s operation in this op-ed:
Clean energy strategy progress
Last September, Dr. Qureshi gave his recommendations to the standing committee on climate change and environmental stewardship to help shape New Brunswick’s clean energy strategy.
That committee recently released its first report, with many of Dr. Qureshi’s recommendations making their way in, including suggestions to adopt distributed energy resources, changes to legislation and regulations, ways to improve energy efficiency and more. We’re looking forward to the committee’s next report and will continue to help pave the way for a clean energy future in New Brunswick!
We work hard to ensure a strong environmental voice is heard in New Brunswick’s print, radio and television media. Here are the latest stories Conservation Council staff have been called upon for expertise, analysis and commentary:
CCNB in the News
Feb. 7| Dr. Moe Qureshi tells Canada’s National Observer why it’s time for the country to back away from liquified natural gas exports after Europe recorded record renewable use last year. Read the story here.
Feb. 7| After the provincial government released its review and progress report on New Brunswick’s water strategy, our executive director, Beverly Gingras, combed through the document. What she found was disappointing. The province has failed to make much headway at the mid-point of the 10-year water plan and watered down some of the commitments in the plan. Read Bev’s interviews below:
Read Bev’s interview with the Telegraph-Journal.
Read Bev’s interview with Acadia Broadcasting.
Read Bev’s interview with CBC.
Feb. 2| Dr. Qureshi tells allNewBrunswick that biomass is an inefficient and ineffective solution to New Brunswick’s power needs after the federal government announced it was giving $2 million to N.B. Power to study the feasibility of converting Belledune to biomass. Read the story on allNewBrunswick.
Feb. 2| Konstantina Northrup, the lawyer representing the Conservation Council during the hearings on the cost of carbon adjuster, explains why the NBEUB should not base its clean fuel costing formula on renewable diesel. Read the story.
Jan. 21| Dr. Qureshi explains why New Brunswick needs to continue to invest in energy efficiency programs to help homes lower their power bills as N.B. Power looks to increase power rates this year. Read the story here.
Jan. 13| Kyle Reid, our communications officer, explains to L’Acadie Nouvelle why the Conservation Council developed the Tell the Facts campaign, hitting back against the Alberta government’s misinformation against Ottawa’s clean electricity regulations. Read the story.
Jan. 10| Dr. Qureshi tells the Telegraph-Journal why we decided to take on the Alberta government over its misleading ad campaign against the federal clean electricity regulations. Read the story here.