one million acts of green, one act a time.

One Million Acts of Green is going International. Before it does, they're asking Canadians to give one last push for the environment.

Tomorrow - June 9th - join the movement and see how many Acts of Green we can do in one day. Every act counts! If you're already involved, you can keep adding your favourite acts or try some of the new summer acts.

Brainchild of the CBC, in partnership with Cisco, it's a pretty cool campaign that has spurned over 1.6 millions 'acts of green' and 'saved' 95,433,020 kg of greenhouse gases.

So pledge to install a programmable thermostat or clean your refrigerator coils once per year, and prove that one small act can make a big difference. Now, if we can just get those office buildings to shut off the freakin' lights...

heat, humidity spawn severe storms in ON, NB and SK

The humidity does nothing for my hair, let alone the damage done by storms it caused over the past weekend.

People in southwestern Ontario are cleaning up debris and repairing damage after severe storms fuelled by intense heat and humidity. There were reports of tornadoes or funnel clouds Sunday in at least three places.

Intense weather also hit New Brunswick and Saskatchewan yesterday, with Environment Canada issuing severe weather alerts and warning that tornadoes were possible.

In BC, however, the cool, wet weather Nanaimo has been experiencing over the last few days is breaking records. David Wray, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, said the daytime high last Thursday reached only 11 C, significantly lower than the previous record of 13.3 C set in 1993.

So the question is, is this normal? Climate scientists say yes and no - depending on who they're working for.

Sources: CBC andCanada.com.

canada rated second-worst for consumption

Canada has been rated poorly for green-friendly consumption in a survey done in 14 countries for the National Geographic Society.

The group wanted to find out how many people in each country were repairing products as opposed to replacing them outright, using cold water to wash laundry, using public transportation and making other choices that are easier on Mother Nature.

We were given low marks mainly because of our use of transportation and large home sizes: the survey notes 29 per cent of Canadians live in homes that have nine rooms or more. And Canadians are most likely of the countries polled to have heating in their homes (well, come on...)

One-half of the Canadians surveyed report they drive alone daily and 87 per cent say they have one or more vehicles in their households.

The United States was ranked the worst in the survey, while India and Brazil were tied for best.

The study notes that people in developing countries don't have the myriad of material goods and consumer choices those in developed countries have. But those living in rich nations have more environmentally-friendly options and aren't choosing to use them.

Sources: Winnipeg Sun, CityNews, National Geographic Greendex

thumbs down to environment in new budget

Just an hour ago, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's new budget focused on reducing debt, breaks for seniors and a brand new tax-free savings account - super for upper-middle class Canadians who have extra disposable income.

On the green front, the Conservatives will put $250 million over five years into "developing innovative, greener, more fuel-efficient vehicles" - I'm guessing to help our ailing auto industry.

But it's ending the eco auto rebate program that attracted so much attention in the last budget.

As for greenhouse gases, the plan sets out $250 million for a carbon capture and storage demonstration project, and research on the potential for carbon storage in Nova Scotia.

Public transit was given a nod with $500 million to spend on infrastructure - albeit only in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver - and $113 million will go towards a vague 'protecting consumers from toxins in products.'

Aaron Freeman, policy director for Environmental Defence, told CTV.ca the Conservatives seem to have no clear direction on the environment. "It's hard to know where this government is going on the environment. You had water and Great Lakes protection in the Throne Speech and yet there's nothing in this budget to back it up."

MPs will debate the budget in the coming days with the opposition parties getting their chance to propose amendments before the final vote on Tuesday.

Source: CTV.ca

Hot, Hot, Hot.

Environment Canada says the summer of 2007 was hotter than average. Prepare yourself, they also figure this sort of thing is becoming normal. Temperatures across the country were 0.9 degrees Celsius higher than average this summer, with Nunavut recording the highest numbers. While this wasn't a record breaking year for heat, the temperature increase seems consistent with this whole global warming thing, if you believe in these kinds of ideas. Rush out and buy central air conditioning. That should solve the problem.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2007/09/14/warm-weather.html