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Showing posts from September, 2009

Climate Change Will Hit Agriculture in Developing Countries - UN

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CP - ONLINE EDITION - By: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS - 30/09/2009 © QT Luong/terragalleria.com ROME - A U.N. agency warns that the climate change will badly affect agriculture and hit developing nations hardest, leading to...

Lions at Risk

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Winnipeg Free Press - Se 30'09 In this photo taken last week, a male lion is seen in Masai Mara National Park in Kenya. Kenyan wildlife officials say the country's 2,000 lions are at grave risk because of recurrent drought and a pesticide that conservationists blame for 76 poisoning deaths of the predator since 2001. RICCARDO GANGALE THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Feds' Biofuel Fund Backs Husky, Methes Plants

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MB Co-Operator - 9/29/2009 A federal biofuels incentive fund has followed through on its contribution agreements to support one of the Prairies' major ethanol... Wheatfield. l.p. photo ====== Editor's note: Once again, you and I are shelling out our taxpayer dollars for the privilege of exacerbating world hunger, diverting ever-more food from human beings into machines! Way to go, Stephen! l.p.

US Inertia Could Scupper World Climate Deal in Copenhagen - Expert

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David Adam , environment correspondent - guardian.co.uk , Monday 28 Se. '09 Leading climate scientist criticizes Bush administration & points to general ignorance of global.... © QT Luong/terragalleria.com

Black Carbon Warms the Planet Second Only to CO2 ...

Monday, September 28, 2009 9:13:24 AM press-release@i-sis.org.uk The Institute of Science in Society Science Society Sustainability http://www.i-sis.org.uk This article can be found on the I-SIS website at http://www.i-sis.org.uk/blackCarbonWarmsThePlanets.php ============================== ISIS Report 28/09/09 Black Carbon Warms the Planet Second Only to CO2 ########################### Eighty percent of black carbon emissions come from fossil fuels and biomass burning associated with deforestation; reducing black carbon emissions may be the quickest, cheapest way to save the climate Dr. Mae-Wan Ho New research shows that airborne soot, or black carbon (BC) aerosols resulting from incomplete combustion, are warming the earth much more than previously thought [1]. According to Veerabhadran Ramanathan at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography San Diego and Greg Carmichael at the University of Iowa, the warming effect of black carbon is 55 percent that of CO2, the biggest contributor to

World Consumption Plunges Planet Into 'Ecological Debt' - Leading Think Tank

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The Guardian, Se. 25 '09 - Heather Stewart Rich consumers are still voraciously gobbling up.... ======== © QT Luong/terragalleria.com

163 New Species Discovered in Mekong River Region

By:  Michael Casey, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 25/09/200 9 BANGKOK, Thailand - A gecko with leopard-like spots on its body and a fanged frog that eats birds are among 163 new species discovered...

Biofuel Production Could Undercut Efforts To Shrink Gulf 'Dead Zone'

ScienceDaily (Se.18 - '09) --- Pennsylvania scientists report that boosting production of crops used to make biofuels could make a difficult....

Biodiesel a Small But Growing Canola Sector Player

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Phil Franz-Warkentin - Manitoba Co-Operator - 9/23/2009 (Resource News International) -- Biodiesel, long touted as a potential market for Canadian canola, remains only a small factor in the canola industry... Photo by l.p. Editor's note - One by one, the justifications for these kinds of "agri-fuels" are stripped away. This story shows one of the reasons often qoted by proponents - that farmers will benefit financially - is more like a fleeting illusion.

Is Eating a Plant-Based Diet a Cure for Cancer?

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By Kathy Freston , AlterNet . Posted September 25, 2009. Experts are saying a plant-based diet is not only good for our health, but it's also curative of the very serious diseases we face.

Can Condoms Save Us from Climate Change?

By Tara Lohan, AlterNet. Posted September 19, 2009. The greenest technology available to us may not be solar panels, but instead contraception, according to a new report... Editor's note; We in North America needn't be smug about world overpopulation. While our birth rates are lower than many developing countries, every North Ameriican child consumes exponentially more than his/her counterpart in those countries! Besides, new figures show birth rates, even in Canada, are heading upward! l.p. Please also read this Winnipeg Free Press article, "Manitoba's population takes another jump." (Then click on the "labels" link below, for related stories.)

Logging Would Harm Caribou Herd: Environmentalists

Winnipeg Free Press - By: Staff Writer - 23/09/2009 WINNIPEG - Two environmental groups say logging could destroy a newly-discovered caribou habitat up north......

U.S. Court Rejects Genetically Modified Sugar Beets - so What About Canada?

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Bob Egelko, San Francisco Chronicle Staff Writer - Se. 23, '09 The (US) government illegally approved a genetically modified, herbicide-resistant strain of sugar beets without adequately considering the chance it will contaminate... Sugar beet at harvest time (Flickr photo by grabe) Editor's Note: GM sugar beets are now being grown in Alberta. Is this the same Frankenfood that the American court has now ruled on? Let's boycott Roger's Sugar 'til this is cleared up! l.p.

Canada’s Sickest Lake

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by Nancy Macdonald Summer, 2009 _ Macleans Magazine Living, toxic goo is killing lakes the world over. It may be too late for Lake Winnipeg. Please also read; "Phosphorus Levels Spike...." & "Lake of the Prairies, the New Lake Winnipeg?

Another Succesful Harvest Moon Festival - but is Bigger Always Better?

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Reminding Manitobans of the Value of the Land - by Larry Powell This year, more people than ever descended on Clearwater, not far from the US border, transforming the tiny community into a teeming centre of live entertainment and education. It was the 8th annual event of its kind, during the weekend of Sept. 18th. While attendance figures aren't available, an organizer, Robert Guildford, (r.) told me, the first day was the biggest Friday ever for the festival. The yearly event is organized by the Harvest Moon Society, a non-profit organization. Its mission is to build awareness of the contributions of farmers and farmlands to the development of vibrant rural and urban cultures. A father enjoys the music with his child. An important component is education. The Society conducts classes and workshops out of the old Clearwater School on topics such as eco-agriculture. It also hopes to develop an action plan for long-term rural sustainability, both environmental and

Support Greepeace - Oppose the Tar Sands!

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UPDATE: GREENPEACE Int'l.-Se. 21 '09 Stop the tar sands. Greenpeace activists stop climate crime in the tar sands . On September 15th 25 activists entered the Albian mining operation in the tar sands of northern Alberta, Canada and staged a 31 hour occupation - successfully shutting down the entire operation. They were there because developing the tar sands - one of largest remaining deposits of unconventional oil in the world - is pushing us towards runaway climate change. Learn more and support our campaign to stop the tar sands.

WTO Takes Aim at the Canadian Wheat Board

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MB Co-Operator - Staff 9/18/2009 World Trade Organization talks resuming this week in Switzerland include a proposal to eliminate the Canadian Wheat Board’s .... l.p. photo

Mine to Turn Alaskan Lake Into a Dump

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September 18, 2009 - by Lori Pottinger • From September 2009 World Rivers Review Recent federal rulings permitting a gold mining company to dump toxic waste into a pristine mountain lake in Alaska could have widespread ramifications... Eds. note: Might the U.S. mining industry be taking its cue from Canada? Here, Harper and his gang gave approval some time ago for the same kind of deplorable practice! l.p. A Manitoba lake, unaffected by tailings (yet)! l.p. photo

Why Did Monsanto's Latest GM Foods Get a Free Pass Into Canada?

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By Lucy Sharratt - Se. 10 '09 - Rabble.ca Health Canada has begun permitting genetically modified foods onto the market without... Please also read "Many Farmers Don't Want GM Wheat." This GM "rogue" canola has spread as a weed onto an organic acreage. It's now a huge & expensive headache for western farmers because it is resistant to Roundup . (l.p. photo)

Population Growth Steady in the Face of a Changing Climate

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Se. 18 - '09 Worldwatch Institute. The human population is growing somewhat more rapidly than demographers had expected--pointing to uncertainty in the commonly cited U.N. projection of 9.1 billion by 2050--amid a convergence of trends that include decreased funding for family planning services, fertility levels well above replacement level in many countries, and improvements in life expectancy for people living with HIV. According to the latest Vital Signs, population projections also fail to account for the impacts of global climate change, which are expected to most adversely affect people in developing countries. Read: Population Growth Steady in Recent Years by Robert Engelman (l.) Children take refuge in a cyclone shelter in Bangladesh/BBC World Service Bangladesh Boat Not More People, But More for All People "...those who bear children should be the ones, more than anyone else, to decide when to do so. The rest will work itself out... Wanting not more people, but more

Consumers Pay More, Farmers Get Less

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By: Laura Rance - Winnipeg Free Press - 12/09/2009 Move to buy local can be beneficial to both.... Farmers' Market in Regina, SK. Photo by L.P.

Listeria Report Leads to $75M for Food Safety

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Staff - MB Co-Operator -9/13/2009 Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq on Friday pledged $75 million for investments in Canada's food safety system. A woman works to sterilize meat processing and packaging equipment at the Maple Leaf Foods plant in Toronto in a file photo. Photograph by: Mark Blinch, Reuters

Clean Water Laws Are Neglected, at a Cost in Suffering

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By CHARLES DUHIGG - NY Times - Se. 12, 2009 Toxic Waters Jennifer Hall-Massey's youngest son has scabs on his arms, legs and chest...

Alberta's Tarsands Emissions Higher Than Some Countries

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Mary Jo Laforest - Canadian Press. Se. 13 '09 Photo courtesy Nat'l. Geographic Alberta's oilsands produce more greenhouse gas emissions than some European...

Obama Finally Clamping Down on a Despicable Mining Practice? l.p.

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Sep 11, 2009 - By Timothy Gardner. U.S. cracks down on mountaintop coal-mine permits . Photo courtesy Vivian Stockman - Flyover courtesy SouthWings.org NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. environmental regulators said on Friday they will scrutinize 79 applications for mountaintop coal-mine permits...

Oil Majors Propping up Myanmar Regime: Rights Group

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Published on Thursday, Se. 10, 2009 by Agence France Presse BANGKOK - Energy giants Total and Chevron are propping up Myanmar's junta with a gas project that has allowed the regime to stash nearly five billion dollars in Singaporean banks, a rights group said Thursday.

Monsanto Slithers Back Into the Upper Echelons of U.S. Power

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By Linn Cohen-Cole - OpEdNews - March 8, 2009 Monsanto's Michael Taylor is BAACC..KK ..this time to control "Food Safety" from the White House.. Court esy of Combat Monsanto ======= Ed's. Note: Barak, what were you thinking? Outrageous! l.p.

No Trans Fat in Manitoba Schools: Minister

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Winnipeg Free Press - By: Staff Writer - 9/09/2009 Students returning to classes across Manitoba today should not be able to buy any packaged foods or other food products containing artificial trans fat...

Elimination of Food Waste Could Lift 1 Billion Out of Hunger, say Campaigners

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Adam Vaughan - guardian.co.uk Se 8 '09 Excessive consumption in rich countries 'takes food out of mouths of poor' by inflating food prices on global market... sustainablog.org/

Climate Change Worsens Global Poverty and Inequity

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by Dr. Atiq Rahman, Exec.-Dir. of BCAS, Dhaka and Winner of the UN's "Champion of the Earth" award - 2008 An Indonesian farmer ploughs through hardened soil on a rain-dependent rice field. Courtesy of flickr Global climate change has emerged as the greatest threat facing humankind today...

Monsanto in Iraq and Afghanistan

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By Alexis Baden-Mayer, Esq. Organic Consumers Association, Se'09 From the start of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, OCA has been tracking the opportunities for Monsanto, a well-known war profiteer...

H1N1 Arrives in Manitoba Hogs

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Manitoba Co-Operator - Staff - 9/3/2009 Sarah Kearney - Wpeg. F.P. The pandemic flu strain H1N1 has crossed over to hogs in various areas of Manitoba... Please also read - "Green Party of Manitoba Believes Now is the Time to Put an End to CAFOs" and "The CAFO Syndrome."

Rot-Gut Liquor

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Posted on 7 Apr 2009 - by Tom Philpott - Grist Greg Southam, Canwest News Service Amid a sea of troubles, ethanol now has an antibiotics problem...

Cdn. Taxpayers Back SK. Ethanol Plant

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Staff- MB Co-Operator - 9/1/2009 A Manitoba ethanol plant. l.p. photo A federal biofuels incentive fund has followed through on its contribution agreement to support a Saskatchewan plant producing wheat- and corn-based ethanol. ======== Ed's. Note: The hemorrhage of millions of our taxpayer dollars continues to flow into this failed technology which only makes world hunger worse. l.p. Please also read "Bursting the Ethanol Bubble" here.