The twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss demand both immediate and thoughtful action. We must urgently transition away from fossil fuels – the main driver of climate change – but we must do so in a manner that avoids perpetuating the harms caused by current energy production practices.

The Ecology Action Centre (EAC) applauds the federal government for introducing an Electric Vehicle (EV) Availability Standard which will ensure that at least 20 per cent of new vehicles sold by 2026 are zero emission, increasing to 60 per cent by 2030 and 100 per cent by 2035. 

At the end of September, the Nova Scotia Department of Environment and Climate Change circulated troubling changes to the Nova Scotia Wetland Conservation Policy (the “Policy”), specifically concerning Wetlands of Special Significance (WSS), to its staff. The changes were effective immediately.  

Energy poverty and climate change represent a direct threat to working-class people in Nova Scotia. As a society, we must work together to ensure households with low incomes can transition away from expensive fossil fuels to technologies like heat pumps that are cheaper, better for our health and afford us the comforts associated with heating and cooling.  

Today, the Province of Nova Scotia announced plans to take full control of planning and development in Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM). By announcing unprecedented changes to the Halifax Charter and the Housing in the Halifax Regional Municipality Act – the same legislation that created the Executive Panel on Housing – the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, John Lohr, now has absolute power and discretion over all planning and development in Halifax.