Solar-powered airplane

"We are like a flying laboratory, showing how the future looks like if we have pioneering spirit and if we have spirit of exploration," Solar Impulse 2 aircraft pilot Bertrand Piccard told CBC News.

... if humankind was a little bit wiser, it would also be the energy for the world to go into the future."

"We have the technology to harvest [solar energy], to do incredible things like flying day and night a solar-powered airplane with no fuel," he added. "So this is really the message."

http://www.solarimpulse.com/adventure

Clean Energy Canada

>> By shifting the discussion from pipelines to power lines
>> US - Canada need to implement ways to bring more renewable power onto the grid

Clean energy got priority treatment at a summit of leaders, but it shouldn’t be a surprise. Clean energy is big business, with well over $50 billion invested in the U.S. alone last year.

Canada’s clean electricity exports to the U.S.—valued at nearly $4 billion in 2014—could triple as the U.S. moves to curb its use of coal under President Obama’s Clean Power Plan. Working with the U.S. on transmission infrastructure and smarter grids would help realize Canada’s clean export potential.

 Along with clean power, collaboration on electric vehicles is a perfect fit for North America’s integrated auto sector.

Read more at:

Canada-U.S. Climate Commitments Make Progress Toward Closer Cooperation on Clean Energy

Ontario Continues to Lead in Renewable Energy

Ontario is leading the pack nationally in renewable energy—delivering jobs and success in a low-carbon economy.

5 Principles for Designing Effective Biofuels Policy

Canada will likely need more biofuels if it hopes to meet its climate targets, and that will require new and stronger policies.

1. Drive greenhouse gas avoidance
2. Support investment in low-carbon fuel production, use and innovation.
3. Support sustainability criteria for renewable fuels.
4. Ensure affordability of fuel supplies.
5. Improve compliance data reporting and transparency.

Canada’s arms deal with Saudi Arabia

The Canadian government boasts that its export controls are among the strongest in the world and one of these federal rules obliges Ottawa to ensure it’s not helping countries with poor human-rights records oppress its own citizens.

The government is required to demonstrate “there is no reasonable risk that the goods might be used against the civilian population” before it approves applications for export permits to countries with persistent records of violating the rights of their citizens.

Ottawa, however, won’t say whether it has determined this to be the case with the light armoured vehicles (LAVs) heading to Saudi Arabia.

Read more: Canada’s arms deal with Saudi Arabia shrouded in secrecy

Tax Heavens & Wealth Inequality

American corporations have stashed $1.4 trillion offshore, a new report from Oxfam shows

Tax havens are at the core of a global system that allows large corporations and wealthy individuals to avoid paying their fair share.

They deprive governments, rich and poor, of the resources they need to provide vital public services and tackle rising inequality.

AN ECONOMY FOR THE 1%

How privilege and power in the economy drive extreme inequality and how this can be stopped

Micah White interview on CBC The National

A message to the environmental movement

Your movement has been hijacked

Demand a full investigation

Re-evaluate all effected studies and policies

Establish transparency standards for data and source code

So that we can take back the environmental movement

Canadian Corporations' Favourite Tax Havens

10. British Virgin Islands: $1.9 billion
9. Singapore: $3 billion
8. Cyprus: $4.4 billion
7. Hong Kong: $6.1 billion
6. Switzerland: $11.3 billion
5. Ireland - $15.3 billion
4. Bermuda - $17.8 billion
3. Luxembourg - $31.1 billion
2. Cayman Islands - $36.6 billion
1. Barbados - $71.2 billion

Source: Canadians for Tax Fairness, 2015