Recent Articles

New brownfields standards coming soon

Dianne Saxe
October 21, 2009 21:40

Ministry of the Environment staff are seeking approval for proposed changes to the brownfields regulation, 153/04. Last year, the MOE proposed far-reaching changes, including: much more stringent generic cleanup standards, to be phased in 12 months later, a more flexible Tier 2 for risk...

Taking climate change to the courts

Dianne Saxe
October 21, 2009 11:09

On Friday, October 16, a second major US appeals court ruled that victims of climate change can sue polluters. In Comer v. Murphy Oil USA (5th Cir.), victims of Hurricane Katrina sued a number of companies that produce fossil fuels for causing greenhouse gas emissions that contributed to climate...

Can the precautionary principle be used to block wind energy?

Dianne Saxe
October 19, 2009 19:52

A Wolfe Island resident, Ian Hanna, launched judicial review today to block renewable energy approvals under the regulations recently adopted to implement Bill 150, the Green Energy Act. Mr. Hanna is an opponent of wind energy, and argues that it is contrary to the precautionary principle to allow...

Ontario’s GHG reporting regulation

Dianne Saxe
October 19, 2009 11:41

The Ministry of the Environment is seeking comments until November 6 on a draft Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions Reporting regulation and guideline. The draft is very similar to the US GHG reporting regulation which was adopted last month. The regulation proposes: Mandatory GHG reporting Mandatory...

Why are so many environmental lawyers women?

Dianne Saxe
October 18, 2009 13:28

Someone asked me again today: why are so many environmental lawyers women? In fact, why are so many environmental professionals women? The answer has been the same throughout my 35 year career – for women, on average, doing good is more important and money / status are less important than...

Is Wal-Mart’s green agenda for real?

Dianne Saxe
October 15, 2009 08:44

We love the concept of mega-corporations competing on their “sustainability quotient”, as long as the results are legitimate and not just greenwashing. Wal-Mart deserves credit for its new initiative, but also careful scrutiny to see what it produces. Related posts:Real climate leadership...

Will wind destabilize our grid?

Dianne Saxe
October 12, 2009 05:15

At higher levels of renewable generation, power balancing is only possible when wind energy generators share the risk and responsibility of matching generation to load. Related posts:Renewable energy cooperatives Bill 150 includes a a series of amendments to the...Green Energy Act regulations in...

The most important environmental cases of 2009

Dianne Saxe
October 11, 2009 11:37

What do you think are the most important environmental law cases in Canada in 2009 so far? Related posts:Ecojustice puts teeth in SARA The [applicants] bring this Application only in the face of...What’s New in Canadian environmental laws? In keeping with the differing priorities of our...

General Chemical directors settle personal claim

Dianne Saxe
October 09, 2009 11:09

This spring, the Environmental Review Tribunal approved a multi-million dollar settlement between the Ministry of the Environment and the officers and directors of General Chemical. General Chemical famously declared bankruptcy, abandoning a badly contaminated lagoon. Just before bankruptcy,...

GHG reporting in Ontario

Dianne Saxe
October 08, 2009 23:37

Ontario has released its draft regulations expanding greenhouse gas emission reporting in Ontario. Parallelling the GHG emisson reporting regulation recently adopted in the US, this regulation will gather the data necessary to support the promised cap and trade program. ©2009 Saxe...