We’re standing on the snow-covered banks of the Killag River beside the lime doser, a white silo that has been calibrated with intricate controls to apply just the right amount of lime into the river every day. Edmund Halfyard, a biologist working with the Nova Scotia Salmon Association, tells me that the “right amount” — […]
Small dam, big controversy
How the contentious aboiteau at the Windsor Causeway could generate a national conversation about fish passage.
The Mi’kmaq call the Avon River “Tooetunook,” which means “flowing square into the sea,” or more specifically, into the Minas Basin in the upper Bay of Fundy. Since 1970, when the Windsor causeway was constructed across the Avon, the river hasn’t exactly been able to “flow square” at all. That’s because the aboiteau — the […]
Nova Scotia needs to adapt to the new reality of stronger and more frequent hurricanes
Morning File, Thursday, September 12, 2019
News 1. Power outages “Three-and-a-half days after Dorian knocked out power for more than 400,000 homes and businesses in the province, Nova Scotia Power issued a news release Tuesday evening, Sept.10, saying it had restored electricity for 75% of these customers,” reports Jennifer Henderson: “We have the most crews working in Nova Scotia history,” boasted the […]
Power is still out for thousands, and the power outage map is sowing confusion
This story was updated Friday morning. Three-and-a-half days after Dorian knocked out power for more than 400,000 homes and businesses in the province, Nova Scotia Power issued a news release Tuesday evening, Sept.10, saying it had restored electricity for 75% of these customers. “We have the most crews working in Nova Scotia history,” boasted the release. […]
Who killed the electric bus? Halifax Transit turns down electric bus funding, opts to stick with diesel instead
City staff are “mothballing” an electric bus pilot project for which council had already approved $1 million in funding, in the process turning down another $2.25 million in federal funding secured to help fund the project, according to documents obtained under a Freedom of Information request. An electric bus generates about 62 fewer tonnes of […]
Iain Rankin promises big changes in forestry management, but the province is moving slowly
Give Lands and Forestry Minister Iain Rankin credit for trying. Last November, Rainkin accepted all 45 recommendations from Bill Lahey, a former deputy environment minister and university president hired to figure out how to make Nova Scotia forests healthier and more productive. Lahey’s recommendations were aimed at improving biodiversity and reducing the amount of...
Treat your brain: get outdoors
News 1. Premier vs teachers, round 27 Premier Stephen McNeil returned from his latest trip to Europe and China yesterday, and pretty much immediately started in on the teachers’ union — this time, accusing them of spreading misinformation about cuts. A CP story in The Star Halifax says McNeil criticized the union Thursday for alleging […]
Forest Confidential
An investigation into Nova Scotia’s biomass harvest data and how the numbers aren’t adding up
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 […]
How and why electric buses will (probably) come to Halifax
Halifax’s first electric buses won’t hit the road as soon as planned, but don’t blame your local city councillor or the leadership at Halifax Transit for the delay. Blame Doug Ford. Among Ford’s many post-election climate change policy reversals was the cancellation of two funding contributions to electric bus pilot projects in York Region and […]
Crown expert witness had undisclosed conflict of interest, claims company convicted in diver’s death
On July 15, 2015, diver Luke Seabrook died while doing what Nova Scotia Power said was “routine” maintenance work at the Annapolis Power Generation Station. Seabrook, who was 39 years old and a Dartmouth resident, became entangled in his diving gear. Seabrook “had been working underwater for about an hour and a half when he ran into trouble,”...