EcoWest News, November 18, 2025

Welcome to EcoWest News, a weekly round-up of news and resources that you can put to use in addressing environmental issues and protecting the wild in your community.

Across the West

Clean Energy Canada and Pembina Institute state that increased investment in LNG, such as Ksi Lisims, represent an unnecessary economic risk. The International Energy Agency has “reported a massive supply of LNG coming online, outpacing demand and reinforcing its prediction that 70% of LNG export projects under construction may not be able to recover their capital costs.” [Pembina Institute, Clean Energy Canada]

Pressure on BC’s most at-risk forests appears to be intensifying as the government lends a helping hand to the forestry industry. A report from Sierra Club BC notes the province’s supply of unlogged, high-value trees that industry has long relied on is dwindling, rendering short-term fixes and freebies inadequate. [The Narwhal]

Saanich First Nations Hereditary Chiefs and conservation groups are planning a legal challenge to Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s plans to increase herring catch quotas in the Strait of Georgia as this could wipe out stocks of the critical food source for salmon, halibut, whales and seabirds. The herring are fished for the eggs, which are then shipped to Japan, while the remainder is ground up for pet food. [The Tyee]

The Saskatchewan Environmental Society, Citizens for Public Justice, and 3 residents of SK and MB have requested a judicial review of the SK government’s plans to extend coal power to 2050. [CBC]

Premier Wab Kinew is encouraging data centres to set up in Manitoba, but Manitoba Hydro has been warning about decreasing generating capacity for years. [The Narwhal]

Across Canada

The Ontario government has repealed Toronto’s Green Roof Bylaw, which supported over 1,600 jobs, reduced stormwater runoff, improved biodiversity, and lowered energy use in Canada’s largest city. The CEO of PassiveHouse Canada says “Better building performance shouldn’t be seen as a regulatory burden. It should be embraced as an elegant, low-risk, high-return solution – for developers, for communities, for the climate.” [PassiveHouse Canada]

Around the World

Community energy cooperatives are supplying cheap, clean electricity across Spain and reducing the transportation costs and pollution associated with large solar and wind farms. [The Guardian]

Food for Thought

“Whatever claims zoos make, they cannot deny that a trade-off exists at the heart of their project. The more we learn about animal sentience and their capacity for sadness, pain, joy and friendship, the clearer the plight of those in captivity becomes. Are the modest environmental gains made by zoos worth condemning a beautiful wild creature to a life of despair?” [The Observer]

New Publications

Manitoba Flora: A Guide to the Vascular Plants of Manitoba [Nature Manitoba]

Saskatchewan Butterflies: A Field Guide [Nature Saskatchewan]

Biodiversity

River otters have been spotted in Okotoks, AB, after being reintroduced in the 1980s. They were once common. [Okotoks Online]

Scientists have discovered 13 new fungi species in Alberta forests. [2-min. video, Global News, YouTube]

Defining the goal of wildlife recovery as species thriving rather than simply surviving would involve more ambitious goals, longer timelines, stronger human-wildlife coexistence measures, and shifting public expectations away from the idea that recovery ends when minimal legal obligations are met. [The Conversation]

Nature’s Wonders

Every few years, trees such as oak, dogwood, and chestnut produce extraordinary quantities of seeds, nuts, and fruits – not just in one location but across a very wide area. [Cool Green Science]

Scientists have found that bumblebees can tell the difference between short and long light flashes, much like recognizing Morse code, when one signal leads to a sweet reward. [Science Daily]

Photo credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/apmckinlay/54928459451/

EcoFriendly West informs and encourages initiatives that support Western Canada’s natural environment through its online publication and the Nature Companion website/app. Like us on Facebook, follow us on BlueSky, X, and Mastodon, or subscribe by email.