Tag: National Conversation

Nuclear energy means climate action delay

What is the best way for utilities to delay the transition from fossil fuels? Propose to build nuclear reactors.

Electricity utilities wanting to “decarbonize” have several options for replacing the fossil fuel (coal, oil and gas) plants on their grids: aim to increase energy efficiency and productivity; add new renewable energy and storage resources; consider adding carbon capture and storage (CCS); or propose to build new nuclear reactors.

By objective measures, building new nuclear power plants will cost more, take longer to deploy, and introduce catastrophic accident risks—relative to improving energy productivity, expanding renewables with energy storage, and developing distributed energy resources. CCS suffers from limits of appropriate geology, reduced plant efficiency, and high costs.

However, if the goal is to keep fossil fuel-fired plants operating as long as possible, promising to build more nuclear energy has definite appeal.

Read the complete article here.

Dr. Susan O’Donnell is a core member of CRED-NB, on the board of the NB Media Co-op and adjunct research professor and lead investigator of the CEDAR project at St. Thomas University in Fredericton. Dr. Mark Winfield is a professor at the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change at York University in Toronto, and co-chair of the faculty’s Sustainable Energy Initiative.

Climate Action Network Canada releases Election Priorities

Climate Action Network Canada (CAN-Rac) has released Made-in-Canada Climate Solutions: 2025 Election Priorities, setting out its calls to action for federal parties this campaign.

The calls to action are based on six pillars:

  1. Strengthen Canada’s independence and economy by shifting to clean energy.
  2. Build on Canada’s climate and nature progress.
  3. Make Canadians’ lives safer, healthier, and more affordable.
  4. Center people and communities.
  5. Protect our public institutions and tackle billionaire power and greed.
  6. Champion international cooperation amidst geopolitical chaos.

See the CAN-Rac press release HERE

CRED-NB is a member of Climate Action Network.

Climate Action Network – Réseau action climat (CAN-Rac) Canada is a coalition of over 180 organizations operating from coast to coast to coast. Their membership brings environmental groups together with trade unions, First Nations, social justice, development, health and youth organizations, faith groups and local, grassroots initiatives.

Do not sacrifice Canada’s climate progress

Canadians are heading to the polls on April 28th, in a moment when we’re facing the human & economic costs of both climate change and the trade war.

Climate Action Network and civil society groups from coast to coast are calling on parties not to sacrifice Canada’s climate progress to Donald Trump’s destructive agenda during this election & beyond.

See Climate Action Network full statement with quotes from civil society by clicking HERE. CRED-NB has signed onto this statement.

Pour le français cliquez ici.

Climate-concerned organizations published open letter to Mark Carney

Today, climate-concerned organizations from across Canada published an open letter to Mark Carney, calling on the newly elected Prime Minister-designate to future-proof the Canadian economy by putting forward climate-aligned finance policy.  

The letter, signed by 57 organizations and individuals, calls on Canada’s next Prime Minister to make good on his record of inviting financial actors to the climate problem-solving table and take the necessary next step of championing legislation that legally requires their alignment with a stable, climate-safe future ahead of an upcoming federal election.    

See full press release HERE.

American companies profit from Canada’s radioactive waste

(La version française suit)

From the SMRs Education Task Force: Bulletin number 15 • March 2025

Toxic radioactive waste is expensive to clean up. Canada’s contract to clean up its legacy waste is worth billions for a three-company consortium: Canada’s AtkinsRéalis and Texas-based Fluor and Jacobs. The two American companies run nuclear weapons facilities in the U.S. and U.K. in addition to their Canadian nuclear interests.

Parliament’s payment to the consortium last year was $1.3 billion. The annual payments have risen each year of the 10-year contract that will end in September 2025. The consortium operates “Canadian Nuclear Laboratories” (CNL) in a “Government-owned, Contractor-operated” (GoCo) arrangement with Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL).

The U.K. abandoned GoCo contracts because of exorbitant costs and poor value for money. Under Canada’s GoCo contract, AECL owns lands, buildings, and radioactive waste, and the three-company consortium operates AECL’s sites.

When the Harper government issued the 10-year GoCo contract during the 2015 federal election period, they said AECL lacked the ability to clean up Canada’s multi-billion radioactive waste liability dating to World War II and needed “private sector rigour.” From their billion-dollar annual payout, the three partner corporations take $237 million for “contractual expenses.” The salaries of 44 senior CNL managers, mostly Americans, average over $500,000 each.

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Les entreprises américaines profitent des déchets radioactifs du Canada

De le groupe de travail sur l’éducation relative aux PRM : Bulletin numéro 15 • Mars 2025

Les déchets radioactifs toxiques sont coûteux à nettoyer. Le contrat du Canada pournettoyer ses déchets qui s’accumulent vaut des milliards pour un consortium de troisentreprises : AtkinsRéalis du Canada et Fluor and Jacobs, basées au Texas. Les deuxsociétés américaines exploitent des installations d’armement nucléaire aux États-Uniset au Royaume-Uni, en plus de leurs intérêts nucléaires canadiens.Le paiement du Parlement au consortium l’an dernier s’est élevé à 1,3 milliard dedollars. Les paiements annuels ont augmenté chaque année du contrat de 10 ans quise terminera en septembre 2025.

Le consortium exploite les « Laboratoires nucléaires canadiens » (LNC) dans le cadred’une entente avec Énergie atomique du Canada limitée (EACL) dite « GoCo(Government-owned, Contractor-operated » qui signifie que le gouvernement possèdel’organisme, mais que le consortium le gère.

Le Royaume-Uni a abandonné les contrats de GoCo en raison des coûts exorbitants etdu faible rapport qualité-prix. En vertu du contrat de GoCo du Canada, EACL estpropriétaire des terres, des bâtiments et des déchets radioactifs, et le consortium detrois sociétés exploite les sites d’EACL.

Lorsque le gouvernement Harper a publié le contrat de 10 ans pour la GoCo pendant lapériode des élections fédérales de 2015, il a déclaré qu’EACL n’avait pas la capacité denettoyer les déchets radioactifs du Canada qui représentent des milliards de dollars etqui datent de la Seconde Guerre mondiale et qu’elle devait faire preuve de « rigueur dusecteur privé ».

Sur leur versement annuel de 1 milliard de dollars, les trois sociétés partenairesprennent 237 millions de dollars pour des « dépenses contractuelles ». Les salaires de44 cadres supérieurs des LNC, pour la plupart américains, excèdent en moyenne500 000 $ chacun.

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Podcast: Break In Case of Emergency

CRED-NB is an active member of Climate Action Network – Canada. A fellow network member, the Climate Emergency Unit, has started a new podcast called Break In Case of Emergency. So far it’s BC focused but we think they will have a lot of relevant information to share, especially since they have a Canadian perspective.

The podcast features urgent conversations about the crisis that connects us all. As global temperatures soar and communities face devastating climate disasters, they share conversations with frontline activists and organizers about what a true emergency response looks like—beyond government inaction, corporate greenwashing, and climate denial. Through critical analysis, storytelling, and radical imagination, they examine the systems of power that are blocking climate action and explore what’s required to build a movement for a just, livable planet.

Try a listen at https://www.climateemergencyunit.ca/podcast

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Suzuki Foundation Webinar on Clean Electricity in Canada – March 5

POSTPONED DUE TO ILLNESS PLEASE CHECK BACK LATER

Where is Canada in its journey toward affordable, reliable, clean electricity for all? And how can we push for the change we need to ensure our electricity system benefits the many, not the few?

Join an engaging discussion about clean electricity and energy justice.

When? Wednesday, March 5, 3:30 p.m. – 4:50 p.m. ET

Where? Zoom

Why? Because renewables offer so much opportunity, but we need to come together to keep the momentum building.

In December 2024, Canada finalized its clean electricity regulations to help usher in a renewable energy future. This was an unprecedented win for clean electricity in Canada, but it also included damaging loopholes for fossil fuel companies.

In this webinar, the panel of experts will:

  • Break down the good, the bad and the ugly of Canada’s clean electricity regulations.
  • Present today’s political context of the Trump administration’s gutting of environmental policies, a federal election, a trade war with the U.S. and a possible legal battle with the Alberta government.
  • Set the stage for what comes next as we try to realize the opportunities of Indigenous-led and community-led renewables.

Whether you supported the campaign for clean electricity regulations, campaigned for renewable power for all or want to learn what all the fuss about renewable electricity is, this session will provide insights and pathways for action.

If you can’t make it but would like to watch the recording, please register to receive the recording automatically to your inbox.

Webinar: Beyond the Shock Doctrine: Conversation on Tariffs, Climate and Solidarity

2025-02-12 Beyond the Shock Doctrine Webinar - horizontal

CRED-NB is a member of Climate Action Network Canada (CAN-Rac) and we signed and shared a statement about how we should respond to tariffs. Now CAN-Rac has organized a webinar, Beyond the Shock Doctrine: Conversation on Tariffs, Climate and Solidarity, Wed. Feb. 12 @ 8 PM Atlantic.

Hosted by Climate Action Network Canada and the UBC Centre for Climate Justice, this conversation will feature Naomi Klein, Co-Director of the Centre for Climate Justice, Syed Hussan, Executive Director of the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change, and Lubicon Cree advocate Melina Laboucan-Massimo, founder and Executive Director of Sacred Earth Solar.

Join this important conversation by registering here. Spots are limited!

Ahead of Trump’s tariffs, civil society groups call for a response that puts people first and builds resilience

CRED-NB is a member of Climate Action Network Canada. Today we joined with groups across the country to issue a statement: Ahead of Trump’s tariffs, civil society groups call for a response that puts people first and builds resilience.

Trump’s first weeks in office have been marked by appalling decisions across numerous fronts—from exiting the Paris Agreement, to mass Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids and arrests, to attacking trans rights—as well as by the looming spectre of punitive tariffs.

Protecting Canadians during a second Trump administration and its wake will require bold measures from our federal and provincial leaders. But the response from some Canadian politicians so far has been alarming: we have seen increased militarism at the border and scapegoating migrants, backpedalling on climate commitments, and cynical ploys to entrench fossil fuel dependence. Read the full statement HERE.

Webinar: The Scientists Who Alerted us to the Dangers of Radiation

CRED-NB is co-hosting a webinar and book launch, The Scientists Who Alerted us to the Dangers of Radiation, with the authors Dr. Ian Fairlie and Cindy Folkers.

Thur. Jan. 16, noon – 2 p.m. Atlantic
Register: HERE. 

This book reveals that the harmful effects of radiation exposure – especially from the nuclear sector and especially to children – are more pervasive and worse than thought. These have been known for decades but suppressed by politically-motivated censorship and overt disparagement/persecution.

Anyone who ever wondered about radiation or its close relative, radioactivity, should read the book and attend this webinar. It’s timely because several governments are pushing hard for more public exposures to radiation via nuclear power. It explains radiation in easy-to-grasp language which clarifies its dangers and risks.

Webinar co-hosted by: Ontario Clean Air Alliance (OCAA), Nuclear Waste Watch, Coalition for Responsible Energy Development in New Brunswick (CRED-NB), and the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility (CCNR).