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Forest Confidential

An investigation into Nova Scotia’s biomass harvest data and how the numbers aren’t adding up

April 13, 2019 By Linda Pannozzo 2 Comments

A few months ago I reviewed a film that has been circulating the province about the growing use of forest biomass as a form of so-called renewable energy. The film — Burned: Are Trees the New Coal? — reported on how the biomass industry sells itself as green by making two bogus claims: it uses […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured, Investigation, Province House Tagged With: biomass, Bowarter Mersey mill, Brooklyn Power, Bruce Nunn, Cellufuel, Community Feed-in Tariff (COMFIT) Program, Danny George, David Rodenheiser, Department of Lands and Forestry (DLF), DRAX power station, Emera, energy wood, Enligna, forest bioenergy, forest harvest data, Forest Sustainability Regulations, Great Northern Timber (GNT), Halifax Port Authority, Hefler Forest Products, Jacques Lapointe, Jessica Gorton, Krista Higdon, Lane Farguson, Lisa Jarrett, Mary Booth, National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy, Nova Scotia Power, Nova Scotia Renewable Electricity Regulations, Partnership for Policy Integrity, PCC silicon metal production plant, Point Tupper, Port Hawkesbury paper (PHP), Premier Stephen McNeil, Registry of Buyers, Saving Iceland, Scotia Atlantic Biomass, Shaw Eastern Embers, Sustainable Biomass Program (SBP), Tony Mee, Utility and Review Board (UARB), WestFor consortium, woodchips

Burned: Are Trees the New Coal?

A review of the new film that illuminates Nova Scotia's failed biomass policies

December 3, 2018 By Linda Pannozzo 3 Comments

In the opening scene of the documentary Burned: Are Trees the New Coal?, Jeff Turner patrols the dark, tannin-stained waters of the Blackwater and Nottoway River system in Southampton County, Virginia. He’s a “river keeper” and has been doing this for nearly two decades, keeping an eye on threats to the health of the rivers […]

Filed Under: Commentary, Environment, Featured, Province House Tagged With: Alan Dater, Bas Eickhout, biomass, Burned: Are Trees the New Coal?, Danny George, Ecology Action Centre, Environmental Paper Network (EPN), Jeff Turner, Linda Pannozzo, Lisa Merton, Mary Booth, National Forestry Database, Nova Scotia Power (NSP), Partnership for Policy Integrity, Richard Houghton, Timothy Searchinger, wood pellet production

Nova Scotia is destroying its forests by chasing the biomass delusion: Morning File, Friday, February 23, 2018

February 23, 2018 By Tim Bousquet 4 Comments

News 1. Biomass “Guysborough County harvester Danny George is accusing the Department of Natural Resources of allowing old-growth hardwood to be cut and burned in Nova Scotia Power’s biomass boiler at Point Tupper,” reports Aaron Beswick for the Chronicle Herald. Beswick gets into the details of that charge, and it’s worth reading the whole article. […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Aaron Beswick, biomass, Councillor Lindell Smith, Danny George, David Fraser, Department of Natural Resources, Fred Vallance-Jones, Gottingen Street bus lane, Linda Pannozzo, Mary S. Booth, Michael MacDonald, Suspicious Package Cornwallis Street, wood stove fire, Woods Hole Biological Laboratory, Zane Woodford

The Tideline, with Tara Thorne

Brian Borcherdt. Photo: Anna Edwards-Borcherdt

Brian Borcherdt came of age in Yarmouth in the 1990s. When he arrived in Halifax, the city’s famous music scene was already waning, and worse, the music he made was rejected by the cool kids anyway. After decades away from Nova Scotia, he and his young family have settled in the Annapolis Valley, where he’ll zoom in to chat with Tara about his band Holy Fuck’s endlessly delayed tour, creating the Dependent Music collective, and the freedom and excitement of the improvised music he’s making now. Plus: Bringing events back in 2021.

The Tideline is advertising-free and subscriber-supported. It’s also a very good deal at just $5 a month. Click here to support The Tideline.

Uncover: Dead Wrong

In 1995, Brenda Way was brutally murdered behind a Dartmouth apartment building. In 1999, Glen Assoun was found guilty of the murder. He served 17 years in prison, but steadfastly maintained his innocence. In 2019, Glen Assoun was fully exonerated.

Halifax Examiner founder and investigative journalist Tim Bousquet has followed the story of Glen Assoun's wrongful conviction for over five years. Now, Bousquet tells that story as host of Season 7 of the CBC podcast series Uncover: Dead Wrong.

Click here to go to listen to the podcast, or search for CBC Uncover on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or any other podcast aggregator.

About the Halifax Examiner

Examiner folk The Halifax Examiner was founded by investigative reporter Tim Bousquet, and now includes a growing collection of writers, contributors, and staff. Left to right: Joan Baxter, Stephen Kimber, Linda Pannozzo, Erica Butler, Jennifer Henderson, Iris the Amazing, Tim Bousquet, Evelyn C. White, El Jones, Philip Moscovitch More about the Examiner.

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