Tag: CRED-NB Action

CRED-NB supports the Peace Caravan with an event May 25 in Fredericton

CRED-NB is pleased to participate in an information-sharing workshop in Fredericton presented by the NS Voice of Women for Peace. This activity is part of their journey to Ottawa to join with peace and social justice groups from across Canada to protest CANSEC, the largest annual weapons trade show in Canada.

At the event, CRED-NB will share information on the links between the civilian nuclear industry, including in Canada and New Brunswick, and the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

The workshop, entitled Demilitarize, Decarbonize, Decolonize, will be held in Fredericton at Conserver House, 180 St. John Street, on Saturday, May 25 from 7 to 8 PM.

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CRED-NB Letter of Comment on NB Power’s rate increase request 

In our submission to the New Brunswick Energy & Utilities Board (EUB), CRED-NB urges the EUB to require that NB Power validates its demand for higher power rates by taking proactive, economically and environmentally responsible action to improve its overall performance while reducing greenhouse gas emissions to address the climate emergency in the years leading to 2030. We submit 11 improvement strategies that can help NB Power achieve its prime requirements and advancements at the lowest cost, in the least time, and with greatest benefit. Read our submission HERE.

Balancing the conversation on New Brunswick’s energy future: webinar April 23

CRED-NB core member Tom McLean will be presenting CRED-NB’s vision of a nuclear-free renewable energy future on Tuesday, April 23 at 1 PM by zoom. The event, part of the Atlantic Canada Climate network speaker series, will describe how New Brunswick can meet its future energy needs with renewable energy and storage technologies. Register HERE for “Balancing the Conversation: Nuclear-free Renewable Energy Futures with CRED-NB.”

CRED-NB at the Not-the-nuclear-lobby in Ottawa

CRED-NB is one of 17 groups involved in a lobby on Parliament Hill with awareness-raising events for the public in Ottawa, starting on April 29. This will be our group’s second time on the Hill and we’re looking forward to it. Here’s the public events schedule: https://stop-smrs.weebly.com/not-nuclear.html

One of the Ottawa events is a webinar open to all: May 1, 8 PM Atlantic, CRED-NB core member Susan O’Donnell will speak on a panel at the Public Forum: Canada’s Nuclear Future – Renaissance or Relic? Register HERE for an Eventbrite ticket – the zoom link will follow closer to the date.

Atlantic environmental groups ask for sustainable, affordable, and healthy energy system

CRED-NB is one of 28 organizations signatory to a letter to the Atlantic premiers and the Prime Minister today (April 10) asking for action to ensure a healthy energy system. The letter says it’s time for Atlantic Canada to halt new LNG, shale, and fossil fuel projects and put the well-being of our people and our region before short-term corporate gains. Read the full letter HERE.

Selling NB Power again?

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In 2010, the New Brunswick government tried to sell NB Power. Then, it tried to sell “just” the hydro-electric power facilities and the Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station (PLNGS). The ensuing public outcry forced the government to back down. This year, the PLNGS is again for sale as well as all of the wind power in New Brunswick.

NB Power and Ontario Power Generation (OPG) are negotiating a deal, which could result in their joint ownership of the PLNGS. The resulting power purchase agreement could force New Brunswick customers to pay for expensive nuclear power for decades depending on the terms of the arrangement which, of course, are being negotiated in secret. New Brunswick would lose the option to fully shift to less expensive renewable energy.

Read the full article by CRED-NB core member Tom McLean, published in the NB Media Co-op HERE.

Waste: To burn or not to burn?

CRED-NB is one of 40 groups across Canada signatory to a Call to Action issued today against burning waste. We must stop burning things to produce energy!

From the media release:

While Canada is set to host the next round of the Global Plastics Treaty negotiations April 23-29, Canadian groups are raising an alarm about the expansion of waste incineration across the country. Dubbed “waste-to-energy” (WTE) by industry, burning waste through methods like incineration, gasification and pyrolysis is a practice that would undermine federal climate, plastics, and waste management policies.

“Canada has goals to end plastic pollution and stop climate change. That means we must close the door to polluting and wasteful garbage incineration,” said Karen Wirsig, Plastics Senior Program Manager at Environmental Defence. “Incineration poses real risks to the environment and human health. Plus, garbage is not a clean or ‘renewable’ energy source and incinerators have been found to emit more greenhouse gasses per unit of electricity than fossil fuels.”

Read the full media release with the list of signatories HERE.

Climate groups reject nuclear power

Today, CRED-NB was one of 130 groups in Canada and 600 plus groups internationally that signed a statement launched at the Nuclear Energy Summit in Brussels. The groups say that new nuclear power is too slow to tackle the climate emergency, nuclear power is much more expensive than renewables, and nuclear power is dangerous.

Read the statement and more about it HERE.

Nova Scotia announces legislation for 2030 Clean Power Plan

On February 27, Nova Scotia announced legislation to start the implementation of their 2030 Clean Power Plan. The goal of the plan is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from electricity by 90% while providing reliable affordable power to Nova Scotians. How?

Similar to New Brunswick, Nova Scotia plans to phase out coal-fired electricity. However, instead of experimenting with nuclear power, Nova Scotia will simply increase its use of renewable sources to 80% by 2030. That’s a tall order as NS currently only generates 14% of its electricity from renewable sources. The good news is that they will not have to invent any new technology to succeed, just use what’s already readily available in the power industry marketplace.

According to an October 2023 presentation by the NS Department of Natural Resources, the plan has three main elements:
• Adding more wind and solar power.
• Using grid management tools such as batteries and load management to integrate renewables.
• Deploying transmission facilities and dispatchable hydrogen-capable generators to increase resilience and reliability, especially during severe events increasingly exacerbated by climate change.

NS will deploy several additional sources of clean power by 2030:
• 1,370 MW more onshore wind
• 300+ MW of grid scale solar power
• Imported power from Muskrat Falls hydro to handle 10-15% of annual NS electricity needs.
• Rooftop solar power
• Community solar power
• 300 MW of hydrogen capable generators

NS will use various proven techniques to integrate renewable variable sources of power.
• Add up to 400 MW of battery storage
• Upgrade NS-NB regional transmission capacity to 500+ MW
• Use technology such as demand response and load management to avoid power curtailment and reduce power load peaks