Quebec man who threatened Trudeau, Legault online sentenced to 20 months in jail
A Quebec man who pleaded guilty to threatening Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier François Legault has been sentenced to 20 months in jail.
As Canada doubles down on efforts to reduce harmful methane emissions, experts say one of the trickiest hurdles standing in the way is the burping cow.
Methane -- a clear, odourless gas -- accounts for just 13 per cent of Canada's total greenhouse gas emissions, but because it is better than carbon dioxide at trapping heat it is believed to be responsible for at least one-third of global warming recorded to date.
That makes it a high priority for governments seeking to live up to their climate change commitments. Earlier this month, Canada confirmed its support for the Global Methane Pledge, which aims to reduce global emissions by 30 per cent below 2020 levels by 2030. The initiative, led by the U.S. and Europe, will be launched at the UN climate summit in Scotland in November.
Forty-three per cent of Canada's total methane emissions come from the oil and gas industry, and the federal government has already put regulations in place to reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas industry by 40 to 45 per cent over 2012 levels by 2025. Last week, Canada said its new goal will be to align with the International Energy Agency's recommendation that methane from the oil and gas industry must be cut 75 per cent from 2012 levels by the end of this decade.
But when it comes to agriculture, there are no regulations, or even federal targets, in place. This is in spite of the fact that the industry is responsible for 24 per cent of Canada's total methane emissions.
Methane is a natural byproduct of cattle digestion, meaning it is emitted into the atmosphere every time a beef or dairy cow burps or passes gas. And unlike in oil and gas -- where existing leak detection and repair technology can go a long way toward reducing methane emissions -- there is no obvious solution for the problem yet.
"I think the biology's a bit more complicated on the agricultural side than it is on the oil and gas side," said Tim McAllister, a Lethbridge, Alta.-based research scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. "A lot of the oil and gas issues I think can be handled by engineering solutions."
That doesn't mean scientists aren't trying. Around the globe, research is being done on everything from optimization of cattle diets to the addition of feed additives -- everything from nitrates to seaweed -- in an effort to reduce methane emissions.
Scientists are also looking into the possibility of a vaccine that could target the methane-producing microbes in a cow's gut. Some researchers are even experimenting with putting mask-like accessories over a cow's mouth to trap methane burps.
Between 1981 and 2011, the beef industry was able to reduce its total greenhouse gas emissions intensity by 15 per cent, said Brenna Grant, manager of Canfax Research Services, the research arm of industry group The Canadian Cattlemen's Association. Those improvements were largely due to improvements in feed quality and efficiency.
Grant said last year, the beef industry set its own target of reducing primary production greenhouse gas emissions intensity by 33 per cent over the next 10 years -- a goal she acknowledged is ambitious.
"Let's just say it's going to be a stretch. And the thing is, we wanted to make it a stretch," she said. "We wanted it to be something we would really have to strive and work on."
Experts say even if a technology makes sense scientifically, it also has to make economic sense. No farmer is going to pay for a methane-reducing feed additive unless it somehow also improves his or her bottom line.
Guillaume Lhermie, director of the Simpson Centre for Agricultural Policy and Public Education at the University of Calgary, said so far, farmers have remained relatively unaffected by Canada's current climate policies. The use of on-farm fuels, for example, remains exempt from federal carbon pricing.
But Lhermie said the beef industry should expect to come under increasing regulatory and governmental pressure in years to come. He added that in order to avoid onerous emissions-related legislation and maintain greater freedom in production decisions, the sector needs to proactively tackle the issue.
"It is almost certain that there will be increasing pressure to reduce emissions from the agricultural sector," he said. "It could mean massive disruption for the sector."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 27, 2021.
A Quebec man who pleaded guilty to threatening Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier François Legault has been sentenced to 20 months in jail.
Pius Suter scored with 1:39 left and the Vancouver Canucks advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs with a 1-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Friday night in Game 6.
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
The adorable trio of child actors from the 1993 classic comedy 'Mrs. Doubtfire,' which starred the late and great Robin Williams, are all grown up and looking back on their seminal time together.
Crucial witnesses took the stand in the second week of testimony in Donald Trump's hush money trial, including a California lawyer who negotiated deals at the center of the case and a longtime adviser to the former president.
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.
The Ukrainian village of Ocheretyne has been battered by fighting, drone footage obtained by The Associated Press shows. The village has been a target for Russian forces in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.
Three people have been arrested and charged in the killing of B.C. Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar – as authorities continue investigating potential connections to the Indian government.
The erstwhile group of senators and MPs studying the federal government's invocation of the Emergencies Act over the "Freedom Convoy" was supposed to present its findings in December. December of 2022, that is.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.