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Showing posts from 2010

Hottest Year In History Ends With Freak Climate Disasters

Alternet - Dec 31 2010 As greenhouse pollution continues to build...

Fiji Water Targeted by Class Action Lawsuit for Lying About Their Green Cred

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Alternet - De 31 2010 Looks like Fiji Water has stepped in it...

Here's to a Safe, Peaceful and Green 2011!

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To my readers, May you and yours enjoy all the best of the season and the new year. May 2011 bring more:  Love Joy Peace cleaner, greener attitudes citizens, politicians and industry leaders genuinely dedicated to a better world. and less War Famine Hunger Disease Pollution Climate change Sincerely, Larry & Rowena  ====== Amen and Amen.  Thank you for all the reports and postings...sometimes it feels like you are talking in the dark, I am sure, but people are listening...and you must keep bringing things to our attention.   Maggie

The Gulf of Mexico is Dying

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De'10 By Dr. Tom Termotto - by concernedcitizensofflorida A Special Report on the BP Gulf Oil Spill It is with deep regret that we publish this report. Please also read Dr. Termotto's open letter to President Obama.

Innovation of the Week: Climate Smart Seaweed Farming

By Matt Styslinger - De '10 - Worldwatch Institute At the United Nations Conference on Climate Change in...

We are Facing the Greatest Threat to Humanity: Only Fundamental Change Can Save Us

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Maude Barlow / Alternet Quite simply, human-centered governance systems are not working and we need new economic, development and environmental policies.

The Serengeti Highway

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Shared by: Jen M. - the Green Pages - on December 28, 2010  Most of us will only ever see a lion... Buffalo photo by    etravelphotos Editor's comment: The Dominion of man over the natural world is nearing completion. Notice, one reason for the highway is to get at material needed to make batteries for hybrid vehicles, widely considered by modern society as a "green" endeavour! Sadly, our assault on Mother Earth will only cease when human populations themselves, through one means or another, are brought within sustainable proportions. l.p.

Sacrificing the Rainforest on the Altar of Energy

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By Milagros Salazar * Inter Press Service LIMA, Dec 27, 2010 (IPS/IFEJ) - The construction of five hydroelectric... Tambopata, Peru.  (Photo: k lichstig)

Temperature Rising

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A Scientist, His Work and a Climate Reckoning By JUSTIN GILLIS - De '10 MAUNA LOA OBSERVATORY, Hawaii — Two gray machines...

Ottawa Kept in Dark 
on Abnormal Fish Found 
in Tar Sands Rivers

Josh Wingrove - THE GLOBE AND MAIL De 17'10 EDMONTON— Hundreds of deformed fish found in...

'Dirty Oil' Anger Shocked Tories, Wikileaks Reveals

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Allan Woods - Ottawa Bureau - theStar.com - De 23'10 OTTAWA—Canada was “too slow” to respond... Editor's comment - A day late and a dollar short, wouldn't you say, Jim? l.p.

City of Brandon, Manitoba, Pulls Plug on Biodiesel Processor

By: Allison Dowd - 26/12/2010 - Winnipeg Free Press BRANDON -- The City of Brandon is saying goodbye to its biodiesel...  ===== Editor's comment: Is this bad luck, or a lack of will? l.p.

EPA Presents Plan on Greenhouse Gases. Can Next Congress Stop It?

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Christian Science Monitor - Dec. 24 - 2010 The EPA set out a timetable Thursday for curbing the emissions of greenhouse gases from power plants and refineries. But Republicans have signaled their steady opposition, and a battle looms.

Green Party of Manitoba Calls for "Climate Accountability"

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WikiLeaks: US Ambassador Planned "Retaliation" Against France Over Ban on Monsanto Corn

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21 De'10 - by: Mike Ludwig, t r u t h o u t The former United States…. Editor's comment: What do you suppose the present ambassador is saying in secret cables? Anything much different? l.p.

Cold Burn

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Posted December 20, 2010 - George Monbiot Yes, the extreme cold in the UK right now really could be a result of global warming.

L.A. Times Slams Fox Over Climate Scandal - 'Shouldn't Call Itself a News Organization'

AlterNet / By Joshua Holland After several revelations of Fox's blatant bias, the rest of the corporate media may finally be catching on.

US Beekeepers Call for a Ban on a Pesticide Linked to Colony Collapse Disorder

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Pesticide Action Network - North America - Thu, 2010-12-09 Larry"s comment. It simply never ends. Ever more & newer studies point to the undeniable role of pesticides in the deaths of honey bees. Yet nothing is done. Please sign the petition.... Here. http://action.panna.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=5370 l.p.

How Ethical Are Ethical Funds? (Opinion)

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"Conscientious" investments and the tar sands connection   by Larry Powell Beautiful Destruction  photo. I doubt that many investors with a social conscience would assume that the ethical funds they hold would be helping pay for such projects as the Alberta oil sands. I certainly didn't - turns out, I was wrong! All five of Canada's major banks lend money to tar sands operators. And all five are actually included in the portfolios of the many ethical investment funds in this country. As if that isn't enough, so too is at least one major corporation, Suncor Energy, which actually extracts the tar from the sands! Ethical Funds lists Scotiabank, the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) and Suncor Energy among its top ten holdings. The investment company adds, RBC, for one, "provides significant capital to the oil and gas and other smokestack industries." Suncor describes itself as a "pioneer" and one of the biggest player

Manitoba Will Likely Fail to Reach Greenhouse Gas Targets

Wpg Free Press - Dec 7'10 Manitoba's auditor general cast doubt Monday... Editor's note: Is Anyone Surprised? l.p.

U.S. to Regulate Big Polluters, Leaving no Excuses for Canada’s Inaction

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P.J. Partington — The Pembina Institute - Dec. 2'10 It would be hard to count…..  Reuters photo

WikiLeaks Cables: Shell's Grip on Nigerian State Revealed

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David Smith - guardian.co.uk - 8 De 2010 US embassy cables reveal top executive's claims that company 'knows everything' about key decisions in government ministries .

May You Shop 'til You Drop This Christmas! (NOT!) Video

Buy Nothing This Holiday Season

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Worldwatch Institute- 2010-12-02 Super News! In 2010, more Americans went shopping the weekend after... Satellite images of parking lots, like this one, show more and more shoppers as Black Fri. nears. Courtesy of Gizmodo.

Impervious to Learning

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By George Monbiot, published on the Guardian’s website, 8th December 2010. David Rose appears to have learnt nothing from his catastrophic mistakes before the Iraq war.

Federal Court Rules Feds Failed to Protect BC Killer Whales

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Shared by: F. Los on December 8, 2010 - GreenPages Vancouver - Conservation groups, represented by Ecojustice...

Article in The Lancet Takes Canada to Task for Asbestos Exports

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The Canadian Press - 8/12/2010 MONTREAL - Criticism of Quebec's controversial...

The Peasant View of CancĆŗn Talks: 'They Want to Turn the Air Into a Commodity'

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John Vidal, environment editor - guardian.co.uk - 7 De '10 As the world's politicians gather, protesters march against the CancĆŗn climate change summit's 'false solutions' Clouds by l.p.

Climate Deal Failure Could Devastate World's Poor, IPCC Chief Says

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By Stacey Feldman - Solve Climate News  Dec 5, 2010 Science provides "compelling logic" for decisive progress at UN climate talks. 

Tar Sands' Long Shadow

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Manitoba Wildlands - 4/12/10 Canada Exports Dirty Oil and Dirty Energy Policies    Beautiful Destruction photo

Manitoba Bird Flu Quarantine Widens, Hatchery Destocked

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Manitoba Co-Operator De3'10 Another farm in…. Photograph by:  Brian Snyder, REUTERS

High Water Advisory Issued For Assiniboine River Watershed

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Manitoba News Release - De. 3, 2010 Manitoba Water Stewardship's Hydrologic Forecast Centre has   issued a high water advisory for the Assiniboine River and its tributaries, from the Shellmouth/Russell area to Headingley, as a result of ice jams.  Shellmouth Dam (above) in more normal times. Also see photo (below) just below the dam. Pics by l.p. ·         The Assiniboine tributaries and the main river remain well within their banks at most locations. However, due to the recent heavy snow followed by a sudden drop in temperatures, ice jams and flooding are occurring at various locations downstream of the Shellmouth Reservoir, Miniota and in the Brandon area.  ·         This local ice-jam flooding is expected to continue at locations on the main river and some larger tributaries like the Souris and the Little Saskatchewan rivers until the freezing process stabilizes in the next two weeks. ·         Communities in the Assiniboine Valley, especially in low-lying are

Another Flood of the Century?

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Winnipeg Free Press - By: Bruce Owen - 2/12/2010  Heavy rainfall, snow lead premier to sound the alarm. Flooding in the Red River Valley - 1997 Courtesy of the Gov't. of Manitoba

Cycle City, USA. How Portland Plans to Become the First World-Class bike City in America.

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by Jay Walljasper - yes!  Nov 29, 2010 It’s become a clichĆ© that Portland is America’s most livable... EDITOR'S NOTE: As cities like Toronto and Winnipeg elect (& re-elect) loonies as their mayors, it's refreshing to note that there remain pockets of sanity somewhere on this continent! I am reminded of a quote from H.G. Wells, who once said, "Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race." l.p.

US Federal Court Orders First-Ever Destruction of a GMO Crop

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San Francisco, CA – November 30, 2010 – Centre for Food Safety. Genetically Engineered Sugar Beet Seed Crop Must be Removed! Finds Government and Monsanto rushed to illegally plant herbicide resistant crop. Cdn. Biotechnology Action Network Press Statement, December 1, 2010: Yesterday a US federal district judge ordered Monsanto's genetically engineered sugarbeet seedlings be uprooted. This is the first court-ordered destruction of a GE crop in the US. The decision (November 30, 2010) follows a challenge from farmer and environmental groups based on the risks of contamination. The judge noted that non-GE crops were at risk and that the US Department of Agriculture, by allowing September plantings, tried to circumvent his prior ruling that the sugarbeets were illegal, pending an environmental assessment. Below is a letter from CBAN to Canadian sugar company Lantic, and a press release from US group Center for Food Safety which represented groups in the legal challen

Study at Manitoba's Netley-Libau Marsh Pilot Project to Find Ways of Keeping Pollutants Out of Lake Winnipeg

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Manitoba News Release - November 30, 2010 ======= Action Also Aimed at Reducing Greenhouse-gas Emissions: Selinger A unique pilot project at Netley-Libau Marsh, supported by $150,000 in provincial funding, will explore ways of preventing pollutants from getting into Lake Winnipeg while at the same time reducing greenhouse-gas emissions, Lk. Wpg. Greenpeace Photo Premier Greg Selinger announced today. "In partnership with the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and the University of Manitoba, we are announcing funding to support the further development of a green,  bio-energy project which builds on actions we have already taken," said Selinger. "This is a made-in-Manitoba solution to help Lake Winnipeg by keeping pollutants out, while at the same time providing a green solution to offset coal use." The project will see the harvest of about 200 hectares of marsh grasses.  Research has shown that pollutants, such as phosphorus, are stored

300 Years of Fossil Fuels in 300 Seconds (Video)

Brought to you by the Post Carbon Institute.

The UK Government has Abandoned its Sustainable Homes Policy - by Redefining Zero.

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George Monbiot - the Guardian - Nov 26 '10 What does zero look like to you? Is it: ====== Still more large "conventional" homes go up in Winnipeg, Manitoba, CA with little thought given to their sustainability.  l.p. photos 

Man Invents Machine to Convert Plastic Into Oil!

Please check out this interesting video here!

An ‘In Memoriam’ Ad For Murdered Mexican Anti-Mining Activist Refused by Calgary Herald

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November 26, 2010 - The Council of Canadians Please also read:  Blackfire mine shut down over environmental concerns  EDITOR'S NOTE: It's stories like this which remind me of one of the reasons I started this blog in the first place. Disgusting, rotten things go on in this world which too many mass media, including those in my own country, are too cowardly to even shine a light on. But the cowardice isn't limited to the media.  A bill in the House of Commons, designed to clamp down on Canadian-based mining companies who commit acts abroad similar to this one, was recently defeated. Some Honourable Members, representing mining constituencies, apparently afraid they would offend their voters if they supported it, stayed away when the vote was taken! Such courage! Such principle! l.p.

Put a CAPP on Tar Sands Greenwashing

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Mike Hudema - Greenpeace - November 23, 2010 Faced with the grim realities of...

World Hunger and Obesity Both Trend Upwards. Aljazeera Tries to Make Sense of it All in This Video.

You Did It! Success on Alberta Parks

Earlier this week, we let you know about a proposed new Alberta's Parks Act that would have set a dangerous precedent for provincial parks.  You wrote in, and Cindy Ady, Alberta's Minister of Tourism, Parks and Recreation listened -- she is withdrawing the legislation . Public opposition was key to the decision, said the Minister: “What I have heard throughout debate on Bill 29 is that people are passionate about parks, and I respect that passion”. THANK YOU for writing! Your letters made the difference. While we celebrate this victory, there's still work to do – Alberta intends to introduce new legislation in the spring, after public consultation. CPAWS will continue to push for legislation that puts the ecological integrity of parks first. Here's what you can do now: Thank the Minister -- write a quick note Donate to CPAWS CPAWS has worked relentlessly against Bill 29 since it was introduced on November 4th.  We’ll continue to speak out for the protecti

Human Appetite for Earth's Resources Continues Apace

Gary Gardner | Nov 18, 2010 / Worldwatch Institute Global use of materials—

UN Issues Severe Climate Warning Ahead of Summit

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By Michael McCarthy, Environment Editor - THE INDEPENDENT - Nov 24-'10 The world is now firmly on the path for dangerous...

New Study Claims FDA Review of GM Salmon Is Incomplete

24 No 10 - Truthout - Mike Ludwig Nov 24 '10 The process used by... 

Manitoba Turkey-Breeding Operation Tests Positive For Strain Of Bird Flu

Manitoba News Release - November 24, 2010 ............................................................ Consumption of Properly Prepared Turkey Products Remains Safe Manitoba Agriculture Food and Rural Initiatives (MAFRI) is working with federal officials of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) at a quarantined turkey-breeding operation in Manitoba. Manitoba has a comprehensive federal-provincial-producer plan to respond to avian influenza and the plan is being implemented. ·     Some Manitoba turkeys have tested positive for an H5 strain of bird flu. There is no evidence this is the Asian strain of H5N1 influenza and it is considered highly unlikely it will be. There is no indication of any human illness. ·     The Canadian Food Inspection Agency will lead the response to this situation. Veterinarians and other specialized staff from MAFRI are working closely with CFIA and assisting with the response. ·     Workers at the breeding operation are being contacted and offered

Roundup-Resistant Ragweed Spread Tracked in Ontario

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Manitoba Co-operator - Staff - Nov 1-2010 Rendering by Paul Hoppe. Giant ragweed resistant to glyphosate...

University of Manitoba Becomes Home to "One of the Worst Corporate Citizens on the Planet:" U of M Student

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Canadian Biotechnology Action Network (CBAN). Nov 23 - '10 Protestors were on hand this morning for the official opening of the Monsanto Canada’s new $12 million Canola Breeding Centre at at the University of Manitoba. One student,  Alon Weinberg, says there is little to celebrate with the opening. In his words, "Monsanto’s operations poison the environment with chemicals, steal from farmers their age-old right to save seeds and threaten biodiversity by proliferating genetically engineered crops." Is GMO canola out of control in Canada?   Check out the PDF here, produced by the CBAN.

National Conservation Group Slams Proposed Alberta Parks Act for "Setting the Clock Back 40 Years"

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No. 22 '10 Canadian Parks & Wilderness Society www.kananaskis.com Calgary -- The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society’s national board of trustees is voicing outrage... EDITOR'S NOTE: In response to CPAW's request, I wrote a letter to Alberta's elected officials which is reproduced, directly below. After that, you will see a response from an Opposition member in Alberta. l.p. ===== Dear Mr. Chase, Having lived in Calgary for 10 years, I had the opportunity to visit many of your beautiful parks. I would plead with you to take pity on their vulnerability and err on the side of conservation, not   exploitation. I plead with you, please withdraw this Parks Act Bill! Sincerely, Larry Powell ======= Dear Larry, Thank you very much for speaking out about Bill 29. With your permission, Mr. Chase would like to table your letter in the Legislature as being opposed to Bill 29 and your email will become part of the permanent record of the Legislature.  I look fo

Air Pollution in Chinese Capital Called "Crazy Bad!" Diplomatic Blunder or Some Frank Honesty?

guardian.co.uk No 22 - '10 An unexpected phrase in US embassy's hourly pollution tweet for Beijing, gives its followers cause for amusement and concern.

Climate Change and Disease Will Spark New Food Crisis, says UN

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By Sean O'Grady, THE INDEPENDENT 18 Nov '10 A food crisis could overtake the world in 2011... An ethanol plant in Manitoba, converting food into fuel, with the help of government subsidies.  l.p.photo

Poll Suggests Harper Government Out of Step With Canadians

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Council of Canadians - Nov. 22 - '10

Unavoidable Climate Change: We've Passed the Point of No Return

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 AlterNet / By Peter Gleick - Nov 20 '10 How bad it gets depends on how much longer we fail to act.                             

Are Hypocrites and Opportunists Taking Over Our Lives?

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Dear Editor,   When a hollow m an like Jim Prentice can don a phony cloak of "green," take on a sacred trust as this nation's "Minister of the Environment," then hightail it off to a cushy job with "CIBC" (which is helping to bankroll the Alberta tar sands, the world's dirtiest energy project), be afraid. Be very afraid.   Jim Prentice, Climate Criminal    Dead ducks in an Albrta tar pit. (Vancouver Sun photo) As Prentice skulks off into the night with visions of money bags dancing in his head, he gets a pat on the back from Stephen Harper and a free pass from a polite media. Fish caught near tarpits - Jason Franson CP Preoccupied with political "process," "strategy" and "positioning," news outlets obviously no longer believe they have any duty to actually hold the ethical behaviour of our leaders up to any kind of public scrutiny. That would just be wrong! Instead, they pontificate on how the balance in t