This edition of EcoNews includes the wise words of Louise Comeau and Matt Abbott on the Energy East pipeline, Lois Corbett on the New Brunswick government’s decision to close a fracking legal loophole and protect municipal drinking water systems, a look at lessons learned from tropical storm Arthur and the need for flood preparedness in New Brunswick, and a guest commentary by the newly formed Friends of Water Classification. Also, don’t forget to send us a picture of your great tree!
“Pass the puck forward” – A commentary on the Energy East pipeline
Dr. Louise Comeau, the Conservation Council’s Climate Change and Energy Solutions Director and Matt Abbott, the Fundy Baykeeper, wrote a commentary as part of a series by the Telegraph Journal called “Pipeline Battlelines.” The series looks at the future of the proposed Energy East Pipeline. “To bring it home in hockey terms, how should our government make certain its economic development strategies take the province, our businesses and our workers to where the puck is going, rather than where it has been?” Read the full story here.
Lois Corbett on provincial gov’t decision banning gas industry wastewater from municipal treatment systems
The Conservation Council’s Executive Director Lois Corbett was quoted in several media outlets on Monday, Nov. 14, welcoming the provincial government’s decision to introduce legislative amendments to ban municipalities from disposing of wastewater from hydraulic fracturing.
Post-tropical storm Arthur: a lesson on minimizing risks to citizens from climate change-induced extreme weather events
Last June, our team at the Conservation Council conducted interviews to learn about the community’s experience with post-tropical storm Arthur. The result was guidance from the community on how the city of Fredericton can best adapt to climate change-induced extreme weather events. Read more here.
Dr. Louise Comeau on flood preparedness in New Brunswick
Louise Comeau, the Conservation Council’s Director of Climate Change and Energy Solutions, told CBC in a story published on Nov. 1, 2016 that a new report on flood preparedness in Canadian provinces and the Yukon by a researcher at the University of Waterloo only give us the part of the picture. The report gave New Brunswick a C plus grade, placing the province it in the middle of the pack in terms of flood preparedness. “We need to move from a reactive point of view, or frame of reference, to proactive, long-term planning and prevention approach to these issues,” stated Comeau. Read the full story here.
Time for water classification is now
This guest commentary is by Margo Sheppard and Bill Ayer, members of the newly formed Friends of Water Classification, argues that “we need to act now to deploy water classification, a necessary planning and prevention tool, and to nurture the multi-stakeholder watershed groups who will do it in the volunteer service, and best interests, of their communities.” Read the full commentary here.
Got a great tree? Call out for The Great Trees of New Brunswick, 2nd Edition
What’s your great tree? The Conservation Council and Atlantic Forestry Review want to know. It has been almost 30 years since the book, Great Trees of New Brunswick, was published and we think it’s time for a second edition of the book that captures more pictures and stories of our great trees. Email Tracy at forest@conservationcouncil.ca with a picture and/or a story of your great tree before Dec. 31, 2016. Read more here.
