News: Climate Justice

Faith group applauds federal government move to price emissions

August 14, 2018

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CPJ welcomes Minister Sohi on his new natural resources portfolio and urges support for immediate action to eliminate fossil fuel subsidies. 

August 2018

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Following the release of updates to the federal carbon pricing system for the country’s largest emitters, CPJ wrote to Prime Minister Trudeau to express concern about the changes announced and to urge his government to return the output-based standards to at most 70 and 80 per cent of GHG emissions intensity as outlined in the January 2018 framework document.

August 8, 2018

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CPJ joined Climate Action Network Canada and colleague organizations to call on Ontario Premier Doug for to publicly commit to achieving Ontario’s existing legislated emissions reduction goals, and; table a detailed, scientifically sound plan to meet these legislated goals as soon as possible.

As the summer road-trip season is upon us, gas prices are, as usual, on the rise. The public narrative in Ontario puts the blame squarely on carbon pricing. To be sure, gas prices in Ontario rose 4.3¢ (of a total of $1.35/litre) overnight when the province’s cap and trade program came into effect in January 2017. And despite the many other factors at play, confusion about carbon pricing makes it an easy target when prices at the pump go up.

In the midst of protests, politicking, and global proclamations, the Government of Canada bought the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project on May 29, 2018 for $4.5 billion.

While the federal government’s action polarized Canadians, it also emphasized the need for serious reflection on how we can move forward most constructively.

 From the Catalyst, Summer 2018

Grass, Soil, Hope: A Journey Through Carbon Country

By Courtney White

Chelsea Green Publishing, 2014

Reviewed by Wayne Groot

Courtney White in his book Grass, Soil, Hope does a wonderful job explaining what carbon is, and how it is a necessary building block in anything on this planet that is alive. He explains how power from the sun through photosynthesis can bring huge amounts of carbon back into the soil and thus lower CO2 levels in the atmosphere.  

​ From the Catalyst, Summer 2018

The Patch: The People, Pipelines, and Politics of the Oil Sands

By Chris Turner

Simon & Schuster, 2017

Reviewed by Karri Munn-Venn

Who knew that a 319-page book on bitumen could be so captivating? The Patch is undoubtedly the best book I have read in a long time.

In 2017, as part of CPJ’s inaugural Give it up for the Earth! climate campaign, people from across the country took action to reduce their personal greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and encourage the federal government to respond boldly to the global climate crisis. This year we did it again! On July 17, a CPJ delegation…

Signing onto the David Suzuki Foundation letter asking Ottawa to reverse course on the Trans-Mountain pipeline was not any mere whim, said Citizens for Public Justice executive director Joe Gunn. The ecumenical social justice organization understands that working people who depend on the oilsands to pay their mortgages can’t be bystanders in the national debate about just…