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Canada’s emissions plummet during first year of COVID-19 pandemic

Published

2 years ago

April 14, 2022

OTTAWA — Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions plummeted to their lowest level in almost three decades in 2020 as pandemic restrictions kept cars off the road and grounded airplanes for months on end.

But a new and more accurate way to count methane emissions from the oil and gas industry means Canada emitted more than previously thought over the last 25 years, dampening some of the better news in the emissions report published Thursday.

Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said in a written statement that overall the 2020 report is a good news day for the planet.

That year, Canada produced 672 million tonnes of carbon dioxide or its equivalent weight in methane, nitrous oxide and the other gases that trap heat in the atmosphere and contribute to global warming.

It’s 66 million tonnes, or almost nine per cent, lower than 2019. That’s about what is produced by 20 million passenger vehicles over the course of a year, or approximately the emissions produced by eight in 10 of the passenger vehicles on Canadian roads.

“Canada is moving in the right direction,” Guilbeault said.

There is still a huge distance to go to meet Canada’s new target to cut emissions to no more than 60 per cent of what they were in 2005 by 2030.

Canada needs to emit less than 445 million tonnes in 2030 to hit that goal.

Emissions haven’t been lower than they were in 2020 since the mid-1990s. But Guilbeault warns the big drop won’t be sustained in 2021, because pandemic restrictions loosened and economic activity was more normal.

Emissions from road transportation fell more than 14 per cent in 2020, accounting for two-thirds of Canada’s total reduction. Aviation emissions were cut almost in half.

Emissions also fell in manufacturing and oil and gas extraction, most of which can be attributed to pandemic closures and slowdowns.

Merran Smith, executive director of Clean Energy Canada, an environmental think tank, said Canada’s 2020 emissions fell more than the global average.

Data published in the journal Nature in January 2021 said global emissions dropped 6.4 per cent in 2020, while an analysis by the Global Carbon Project estimated they were down at least seven per cent.

Smith said a drop in emissions is “welcome news” but is dismayed that Canada publishes nothing domestically about its emissions for more than two years after the end of each reporting period.

Environment and Climate Change Canada collects and analyzes data submitted by major emitters and provincial governments, a process that takes more than 24 months.

Smith said the United Kingdom publishes a provisional report on emissions just three months after the end of each year.

“Canada should follow suit,” she said. “As we’ve learned with COVID, up-to-date data better informs decision-making. It also makes governments more accountable as the impacts of their policies are more closely tracked.”

Not all the cuts to Canada’s emissions in 2020 can be attributed to the pandemic. Alberta’s ongoing effort to transition away from coal-fired electricity plants helped slash emissions from electrical and heat production more than 11 per cent in 2020, a cut that will be sustained going forward.

Alberta’s coal phaseout was to be completed by 2030 but is seven years ahead of schedule.

Since 2005, total emissions from electricity and heat have fallen by more than half as all provinces move away from coal. The federal government is mandating an end to all unabated coal-fired power plants by 2030.

Some are being replaced with nuclear, hydroelectricity, wind or solar sources, but many are transitioning to natural gas. In Alberta some are transitioning to gas but with the hope that eventually they can be run on hydrogen.

The other big change in the 2020 report was a new method to calculate methane emissions. The change, which is in keeping with the standards set by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, came after numerous studies showed methane leaking out of oil and gas production sites was higher than previously thought.

There were also adjustments made to how emissions coming from agricultural soils are counted.

The changes were applied not just for 2020 but revised emissions counts all the way back to 2005. Between 2015 and 2019, the adjustments mean Canada emitted 47 million tonnes more than previously thought.

However, Guilbeault said the efforts underway to cut methane leaks are showing progress and are on track to meet the goal to reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas sector at least 40 per cent compared to 2012 levels by 2025.

The change also showed that instead of emissions increasing in 2019 like previously thought, they actually started to decline.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 14, 2022.

Mia Rabson, The Canadian Press

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Langford, Heim lead Rangers to wild 13-8 win over Blue Jays

Published

1 hour ago

September 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Rookie Wyatt Langford homered, doubled twice and became the first Texas player this season to reach base five times, struggling Jonah Heim delivered a two-run single to break a sixth-inning tie and the Rangers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 13-8 on Tuesday night.

Leody Taveras also had a homer among his three hits for the Rangers.

Langford, who also walked twice, has 12 homers and 25 doubles this season. He is hitting .345 in September.

“I think it’s really important to finish on a strong note,” Langford said. “I’m just going to keep trying to do that.”

Heim was 1-for-34 in September before he lined a single to right field off Tommy Nance (0-2) to score Adolis García and Nathaniel Lowe, giving Texas a 9-7 lead. Heim went to the plate hitting .212 with 53 RBIs after being voted an All-Star starter last season with a career-best 95 RBIs. He added a double in the eighth ahead of Taveras’ homer during a three-run inning.

Texas had 13 hits and left 13 men on. It was the Rangers’ highest-scoring game since a 15-8 win at Oakland on May 7.

Matt Festa (5-1) pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings to earn the win, giving him a 5-0 record in 13 appearances with the Rangers after being granted free agency by the New York Mets on July 7.

Nathan Eovaldi, a star of Texas’ 2023 run to the franchise’s first World Series championship, had his worst start of the year in what could have been his final home start with the Rangers. Eovaldi, who will be a free agent next season, allowed 11 hits (the most of his two seasons with Texas) and seven runs (tied for the most).

“I felt like early in the game they just had a few hits that found the holes, a few first-pitch base hits,” said Eovaldi, who is vested for a $20 million player option with Texas for 2025. “I think at the end of the day I just need to do a better job of executing my pitches.”

Eovaldi took a 7-3 lead into the fifth inning after the Rangers scored five unearned runs in the fourth. The Jays then scored four runs to knock out Eovaldi after 4 2/3 innings.

Six of the seven runs scored against Toronto starter Chris Bassitt in 3 2/3 innings were unearned. Bassitt had a throwing error during Texas’ two-run third inning.

“We didn’t help ourselves defensively, taking care of the ball to secure some outs,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said.

The Blue Jays’ Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had a double and two singles, his most hits in a game since having four on Sept. 3. Guerrero is hitting .384 since the All-Star break.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Blue Jays: SS Bo Bichette (calf) was activated and played for the first time since July 19, going 2 for 5 with an RBI. … OF Daulton Varsho (shoulder) was placed on the 10-day injured list and will have rotator cuff surgery … INF Will Wagner (knee inflammation) was placed on the 60-day list.

UP NEXT

Rangers: LHP Chad Bradford (5-3, 3.97 ERA) will pitch Wednesday night’s game on extended five days’ rest after allowing career highs in hits (nine), runs (eight) and home runs (three) in 3 2/3 innings losing at Arizona on Sept. 14.

Blue Jays: RHP Bowden Francis (8-4, 3.50) has had two no-hitters get away in the ninth inning this season, including in his previous start against the New York Mets on Sept. 11. Francis is the first major-leaguer to have that happen since Rangers Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan in 1989.

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Billie Jean King set to earn another honor with the Congressional Gold Medal

Published

2 hours ago

September 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

WASHINGTON (AP) — Billie Jean King will become the first individual female athlete to be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.

Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey announced Tuesday that their bipartisan legislation had passed the House of Representatives and would be sent to President Joe Biden for his signature.

The bill to honor King, the tennis Hall of Famer and activist, had already passed unanimously in the Senate.

Sherrill, a Democrat, said in a statement that King’s “lifetime of advocacy and hard work changed the landscape for women and girls on the court, in the classroom, and the workplace.”

The bill was introduced last September on the 50th anniversary of King’s victory over Bobby Riggs in the “Battle of the Sexes,” still the most-watched tennis match of all-time. The medal, awarded by Congress for distinguished achievements and contributions to society, has previously been given to athletes including baseball players Jackie Robinson and Roberto Clemente, and golfers Jack Nicklaus, Byron Nelson and Arnold Palmer.

King had already been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009. Fitzpatrick, a Republican, says she has “broken barriers, led uncharted paths, and inspired countless people to stand proudly with courage and conviction in the fight for what is right.”

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Account tweaks for young Instagram users ‘minimum’ expected by B.C., David Eby says

Published

2 hours ago

September 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

SURREY, B.C. – Premier David Eby says new account control measures for young Instagram users introduced Tuesday by social media giant Meta are the “minimum” expected of tech companies to keep kids safe online.

The parent company of Instagram says users in Canada and elsewhere under 18 will have their accounts set to private by default starting Tuesday, restricting who can send messages, among other parental controls and settings.

Speaking at an unrelated event Tuesday, Eby says the province began talks with social media companies after threatening legislation that would put big tech companies on the hook for “significant potential damages” if they were found negligent in failing to keep kids safe from online predators.

Eby says the case of Carson Cleland, a 12-year-old from Prince George, B.C., who took his own life last year after being targeted by a predator on Snapchat, was “horrific and totally preventable.”

He says social media apps are “nothing special,” and should be held to the same child safety standards as anyone who operates a place that invites young people, whether it’s an amusement park, a playground or an online platform.

In a progress report released Tuesday about the province’s engagement with big tech companies including Google, Meta, TikTok, Spapchat and X, formerly known as Twitter, the provincial government says the companies are implementing changes, including a “trusted flagger” option to quickly remove intimate images.

— With files from The Associated Press

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024

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