Carbon offset markets, more Russian sanctions : In The News for June 8

The proposed regulations say one credit would be created for every tonne of emissions reduced, but the credits have to be registered and independently verified before they can be sold.

Companies that are paying the federal carbon price can buy those credits to reduce the amount of carbon price they have to pay.

Big industrial emitters can already buy and sell carbon credits created by other companies covered by the federal carbon pricing system, but carbon offset markets will expand the credit system beyond that group of companies.

The first carbon offset market will be for credits produced by municipalities that capture methane from their landfills, with future markets to be created for cutting emissions from farmland, forests and from reducing or eliminating fluorinated refrigerants in advanced refrigeration systems.

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Also this …

Canada is imposing a new set of sanctions after the invasion of Ukraine with a ban on Canadian consultants, including advertising agencies, from working for Russian oil, gas and chemical firms.

Canadian engineering consultants, public-relations agencies and accountants are being banned from working for Russia to further increase pressure on President Vladimir Putin’s regime.

The latest round of sanctions bans 28 types of consultants from working for Russia’s oil, gas and chemical sector, which accounts for about 50 per cent of its revenues.

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly says Canada will do everything in its power to prevent Putin’s ability to finance his war machine.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, Canada has imposed sanctions on more than one-thousand-and-70 individuals and entities from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.

They include Alina Kabaeva, a former Olympic gold-medal gymnast, who is reportedly Putin’s girlfriend.

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What we are watching in the U.S. …

LOS ANGELES _ U.S. House battles took shape in heavilyDemocratic California that could tip the balance of power in Congress, while former Trump administration Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke was in a tight match to claim the Republican nomination for a new House seat in Montana.

In Mississippi, Republican U.S. Rep. Steven Palazzo was forced into a runoff after a congressional ethics watchdog raised questions about his campaign spending and he faced his largest-ever field of primary challengers.

Primary elections across seven states Tuesday set up November contests in dozens of races, as Democrats look to protect the party’s fragile majority in the House.

In a diverse district anchored in California’s Orange County, Republican U.S. Rep. Michelle Steel, a South Korean immigrant, will face Democrat Jay Chen. The district, which includes the nation’s largest Vietnamese American community, is widely considered a toss-up.

In other districts in the nation’s most populous state, two Republican House members were trying to surmount challenges tied to former president Donald Trump: One voted to support Trump’s impeachment after the U.S. Capitol insurrection, while the other fought against it.

In Iowa, Republican state Sen. Zach Nunn won the GOP spot to take on the state’s lone Democratic House member, Rep. Cindy Axne, in a newly drawn district with a stronger GOP tilt.

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What we are watching in the rest of the world …

TEHRAN, Iran _ A passenger train partially derailed in eastern Iran early Wednesday, killing at least 17 people and injuring 50 more, including some critically, authorities said.

The report said the number of casualties could rise, though initial details about the disaster involving a train reportedly carrying some 350 passengers remained unclear.

Four of the seven cars in the train derailed in the early morning darkness near the desert city of Tabas, Iranian state television reported. Tabas is some 550 kilometres southeast of the capital, Tehran.

Rescue teams with ambulances and helicopters had arrived in the remote area where communication is poor. Over a dozen people suffered critical injuries, with some transferred to local hospitals, officials said.

Iranian media quoted the governor of Tabas, Ali Akbar Rahimi, as saying the crash killed at least 17 people and that the number of fatalities may rise as rescuers search the train cars.

Aerial footage of the desert site of the disaster showed train cars on their side, with some rescuers running at the scene as they tried to care for those injured.

The derailment happened some 50 kilometres outside of Tabas on the rail that links the city to the central city of Yazd.

The report said the crash is under investigation. Initial reports suggested the train collided with an excavator near the track, though it wasn’t immediately clear why an excavator would have been close to the train track at night. One official suggest it could have been part of a repair project.

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On this day in 1866 …

The first meeting of the Canadian Parliament was held in Ottawa. The meeting was held in the Parliament buildings, which were still unfinished. Construction on the complex had begun in 1857, when Queen Victoria chose Ottawa to be the national capital, and would not finish until 1877.

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In entertainment …

NEW YORK _ A specially commissioned, unburnable edition of Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” has been auctioned for $130,000, Sotheby’s announced Tuesday.

Proceeds will be donated to PEN America, which advocates for free expression worldwide. The 384-page book consists mainly of Cinefoil, a specially treated aluminum product, and was announced last month at PEN’s annual fundraising gala. To help promote the initiative, Atwood agreed to be filmed attempting _ unsuccessfully _ to incinerate a prototype with a flame thrower.

“I’m very pleased that the one-of-a-kind Unburnable Book of `The Handmaid’s Tale’ has raised so much money for PEN America,” the Canadian author said in a statement. “Free speech issues are being hotly debated, and PEN is a sane voice amidst all the shouting. The video of the book being torched by me and refusing to burn has now had a potential five billion views. We hope it raises awareness and leads to reasoned discussion.”

The fireproof book was a joint project by PEN, Atwood, Penguin Random House and two companies based in Toronto, where Atwood is a longtime resident: the Rethink creative agency and The Gas Company Inc., a graphic arts and bookbinding specialty studio.

“The Handmaid’s Tale,” a million seller first released in 1985, is a Dystopian novel about a cruel patriarchy known as the Republic of Gilead.

It has been subject to various bannings since publication.

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Did you see this?

Ukrainian refugees in Newfoundland and Labrador hoping to get a car are being hit with quotes for auto insurance about five times the provincial average.

The Canadian Press viewed two auto insurance quotes provided to Ukrainian refugees in St. John’s — one for $5,592 a year and another for $8,288 a year. Meanwhile, the average annual rate in Newfoundland and Labrador in 2020 was just over $1,200, according to the General Insurance Statistical Agency.

Adilya Dragan is helping Ukrainian newcomers in and around St. John’s settle into new lives, and she says the high insurance rates are simply out of reach.

She says newcomers are now left scrambling to find rides to jobs located far from their homes, or to find housing in tight rental markets like St. John’s where they have access to public transit.

Immigration Minister Gerry Byrne says insurance companies should fix the problem and step up like the rest of the province to make life easier for refugees trying to settle in a new place.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 8, 2022.

The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

Carbon offset markets, more Russian sanctions : In The News for June 8

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