Posted by Susan Casey-Lefkowitz in Moving Beyond Oil , Saving Wildlife and Wild Places , Solving Global Warming
I have been working on U.S. - Canada environmental issues for almost ten years - and many of my colleagues have done so for much longer. We have close and daily coordination among environmental groups on both sides of our...
Posted by Susan Casey-Lefkowitz in Moving Beyond Oil , Saving Wildlife and Wild Places , Solving Global Warming
Last week the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) released a new report The Canadian Oil Sands: Energy Security vs. Climate Change. The report attempts to address a debate about whether the United States needs further expansion of tar sands oil...
Posted by Susan Casey-Lefkowitz in Moving Beyond Oil , Saving Wildlife and Wild Places , Solving Global Warming
Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA) consulting firm released a new report today about growth in the Canadian tar sands. The report acknowledges many of the environmental problems with tar sands, but then still somehow concludes that we need this source...
Posted by Susan Casey-Lefkowitz in Moving Beyond Oil , Nuclear Weapons, Waste and Energy , Saving Wildlife and Wild Places , Solving Global Warming
We greeted Canadian Environment Minister Prentice in DC at the start of this week. Minister Prentice has been a strong proponent of expansion of Canadian tar sands oil development, despite the high global warming pollution, and the extensive damage to...
Posted by Susan Casey-Lefkowitz in Moving Beyond Oil , Saving Wildlife and Wild Places , Solving Global Warming
When President Obama travels to Canada tomorrow, he will be met by cheering crowds eager to greet him along with a welcoming banner from Greenpeace that reads "climate leaders don't buy tar sands oil." Canadian tar sands oil development strip-mines...
Posted by Susan Casey-Lefkowitz in Curbing Pollution , Moving Beyond Oil , Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
From a birds eye view, the Syncrude tar sands mining waste ponds stretch out glistening attractively in the sun. On a long migration north to nest, I can see how 500 ducks would decide to land on one of...
Posted by Susan Casey-Lefkowitz in Moving Beyond Oil , Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
The Alberta and Canadian governments are under increasing public pressure for stricter regulations to protect environment and public health in the tar sands. A new Council of Canadians poll shows that there is no excuse for energy companies when...
Posted by Susan Casey-Lefkowitz in Moving Beyond Oil , Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
There is an air of optimism in Washington, D.C. these days with our new President in place. For me some of it comes from feeling that there is a new will in the US to find clean energy solutions. ...
Posted by Susan Casey-Lefkowitz in Moving Beyond Oil , Saving Wildlife and Wild Places , Solving Global Warming , U.S. Law and Policy
When I mentioned around the office that Canada had proposed to our new President-to-be that the ever growing greenhouse gas emissions from tar sands oil development be "protected" from global warming regulations -- the response was disbelief. "Preposterous!"...
Posted by Susan Casey-Lefkowitz in Moving Beyond Oil , Saving Wildlife and Wild Places , Solving Global Warming
Yesterday in Edmonton, Dr. Jeff Wells told an audience at the University of Alberta that scientists have an obligation to give the public an honest appraisal of the costs of tar sands oil development. Jeff was referring to the new...
Posted by Susan Casey-Lefkowitz in Moving Beyond Oil , Saving Wildlife and Wild Places , Solving Global Warming
Walking in the marsh on Roosevelt Island along the Potomac River by Washington, D.C., I see Mallards and Buffleheads busily swimming among the reeds. Back at home with a hot cup of coffee, the network of wires above my backyard...
Posted by Susan Casey-Lefkowitz in Moving Beyond Oil , Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
This Saturday, I'm off to Barcelona where conservationists from all over the world are gathering for the World Conservation Congress. For me this will be a time to talk about a region that is often overlooked in global biodiversity discussions:...
