“We now know that protecting the boreal forest is one of the most cost-effective and efficient things McGuinty can do to mitigate climate change,” says ForestEthics director Tzeporah Berman. “It’s essential that it become a component of any plan.” Forestry contributes the same amount of greenhouse gas to the atmosphere in Ontario as do all the province’s cars and light trucks.

Cuttings from Ontario Elm trees that survived the Dutch Elm disease in the 1950s to 1970s are being bred by scientists at the University of Guelph, in hopes to reestablish healthy disease-resistant saplings.

“Ontario can’t afford to close the Nanticoke coal plant until power is found elsewhere, but $1.3 billion to add scrubbers to its smokestacks should help people breathe easier, Progressive Conservative Leader John said yesterday.”

Progressive Conservative leader John Tory pushes for a “Buy Ontario” campaign that urges public institutions to buy and serve Ontario-grown produce.

“Ontarians used 5.2 per cent less electricity in the first six months of 2007 than they did in the same period in 2005, according to Peter Love, who delivered the annual report card on energy conservation yesterday. The report also found that the province would meet its 2007 target to reduce peak demand to 1,350 megawatts.”

“New tests that show radiation contamination in a few Port Hope (Ontario) residents should compel the federal government to put the town under a health microscope, local advocates say.”

“Just three weeks into the job, Natural Resources Minister Donna Cansfield has angered environmentalists over whether to curb, or even ban, logging in Algonquin Provincial Park.” Logging practices threaten birds, animals and old-growth trees in Ontario’s oldest Provincial Park.

The Don, a 38km river running from the Oak Ridges Moraine to Lake Ontario, is Ontario’s dirtiest and one of the worst in Canada. Environment Canada gave the Don a water quality score of 34.8 out of 100.

As China announces the plastic bag ban commencing June 1st, 2008, some question why Toronto is lagging behind. Instead of a full ban on the plastic carrier bags, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty looks for a voluntary ban, aiming to reduce the use by half within 5 years.

The electronics industry in Ontario has revealed a new plan to make it easier for residents to get rid of their televisions and computers with a clean conscience. The plan aims to triple the amount of electronics diverted from landfills by recycling and reusing.