Apologies. Last week’s edition of Globe Climate mistakenly went out earlier today. Below is this week’s version.
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Good afternoon, and welcome to Globe Climate, a newsletter about climate change, environment and resources in Canada.
Last month, white grizzly bear cubs crossed a section of the Trans-Canada Highway that stretches from Alberta’s Lake Louise to the B.C. boundary in search of roadside vegetation. They were struck and killed by a vehicle. Their mother - the beloved Nakoda - suffered the same fate 12 hours later.
It was a tragedy Parks Canada had tried to prevent. Nakoda was a favourite of Parks Canada staff who had spent hundreds of hours monitoring her. In the spring last year, they’d strung an electric fence across the section, hoping it would deter her, and other large wildlife, from crossing the perilous highway.
However, as Nakoda’s fate demonstrates, these measures are far from sufficient. Electric fences require a lot of power to keep working and a fallen tree - common in a stretch 100-kilometres long - can easily take it out.
The incident has provoked conversations about the future of wildlife-human interactions, reports the Canadian Press. Advocates are arguing for more creative and extensive measures, especially as grizzly bears - starved for food - are migrating more toward low-elevation habitats.
Now, let’s catch you up on other news.
A rare white grizzly bear, designated GB178 and known as "Nakoda," is seen with her cubs in an undated handout photo.HO/The Canadian Press
Noteworthy reporting this week:
- Mining: First Nation in Yukon calls for halt of mining on its traditional territory after Eagle gold mine accident
- Oversight: Ottawa tightens rules for approving large mining deals involving critical minerals
- Greenwashing: Oil sands alliance grossly overreacted to anti-greenwashing measures in Bill C-59, Wilkinson says
- Clean Energy: Hydro-Québec announces mega wind farm in partnership with Indigenous communities, regional government
- Nuclear: With global race to decarbonize electricity sector, demand for skilled nuclear workers heats up
- From The Narwhal: How heat islands in the Great Lakes affect human health
A deeper dive
Unable to effectively operate its lone existing nuclear reactor, New Brunswick is betting on advanced options
Matthew McClearn is a reporter for Report on Business who writes about environment, flooding and the electricity sector. For this week’s deeper dive, Matthew talks about the challenges of small-scale nuclear plants.
A few years ago, small modular reactors vaulted onto the global stage as potential weapons in the fight against climate change. Whereas for decades the nuclear industry pursued ever-larger and more expensive reactors in efforts to capture economies of scale, SMRs represented an about-face, promising smaller units made affordable using mass production techniques. Governments across Canada became very excited—including New Brunswick, which attracted not one but two different reactor startups to set up shop in Saint John.
The province’s utility, NB Power, had hoped both startups would build new reactors at its Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station by the end of this decade. But under questioning during a rate hearing late last month, Brad Coady, a vice-president at NB Power, pushed that deadline back two to three years, and acknowledged the utility is considering how it might generate power without SMRs. There were other ominous signs: one of the startups, ARC Clean Technology, announced the sudden departure of its chief executive and an undisclosed number of staff. And an energy minister who’d vigorously supported the SMR program resigned.
Elements of New Brunswick’s SMR push always seemed aggressive: NB Power is already Canada’s most indebted utility, for instance, and it selected particularly novel reactors that might prove very challenging to design and construct. But its recent setbacks also highlight challenges other provinces such as Alberta and Saskatchewan might confront as they, too, pursue reactors as a means of providing low-emissions electricity. The first out of the gates, Ontario Power Generation, says it’s still on track to complete its first BWRX-300, an SMR from U.S.-based vendor GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy, at its Darlington station by 2028.
Matthew
What else you missed
- Alberta oil and gas sector exceeded flaring limit for first time in 2023, data show
- Saskatchewan and Alberta lag behind rest of Canada on climate policy, report says
- China urges EU to take talks seriously as EV tariffs go into effect
- Feds announce $11 million in funding for clean energy projects, mostly in Alberta
Opinion and analysis
John Turner & Krisztian Toth: Canada needs a clearer and more co-ordinated mining strategy, and quickly
Kelly Cryderman: The Liberals will be forced to act on EV tariffs, even if it slows down their climate goals
Heather Exner-Pirot & Charles DeLand: Seeing energy policy only through the lens of climate change? That time is over
Mark Selby: What electric-vehicle hunger has wrought, and how Canada can help
Green Investing
Asset Managers are assessing the physical risks of extreme weather in real time, according to a special report in Globe Advisor.
The risks affect investors in two ways: top-down, which is the physical risks that impact the economy as a whole, and bottom-up, the impact on each sector based on its exposure to climate events, for example housing and construction.
These kind of assessments are particularly in demand in Canada where studies show that climate change is happening at twice the rate as it is occurring globally.
- Hemisphere Energy insiders accumulate ahead of special dividend
- Oil Rises amid rising geopolitical tensions and rate cut expectations
The Climate Exchange
Check out our new digital hub where you can ask your most pressing questions about climate change. It’s a place where we hope to help by answering your questions, big and small, about the continuing changes and challenges around climate change. Along the way, we’ll aim to highlight the people, communities and companies who are working toward climate solutions and innovations. For the record: while RBC supports the initiative financially, the company has no say in what questions get asked or how The Globe answers them.
Photo of the week
Fishermen push a boat damaged by Hurricane Beryl at the Bridgetown fisheries, Barbados, Tuesday, July 2, 2024.Ricardo Mazalan/The Associated Press
Guides and Explainers
- Want to learn to invest sustainably? We have a class for that: Green Investing 101 newsletter course for the climate-conscious investor. Not sure you need help? Take our quiz to challenge your knowledge.
- We’ve rounded up our reporters’ content to help you learn about what a carbon tax is, what happened at COP28 and just generally how Canada will change because of climate change.
- We have ways to make your travelling more sustainable and if you like to read, here are books to help the environmentalist in you grow, as well as a downloadable e-book of Micro Skills - Little Steps to Big Change.
Catch up on Globe Climate