Monday, August 31, 2009

Nitrous Oxide Now Top Ozone-depleting Emission

ScienceDaily (Aug. 28, 2009)
Nitrous oxide has now become the largest ozone-depleting substance emitted through human activities...


Ag. fertilizers are a huge
contributor. Govt. of AB photo

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Wal-Mart Faces Its Day of Reckoning

Frank Nelson, Miller-McCune.com. Au. 24, 2009.
Wal*Mart's relentless growth and Darwinian competitiveness have created a world that is increasingly inhospitable to its own success.

The Fast Food Industry's 7 Most Heinous Concoctions

By Brad Reed, AlterNet. Posted August 27, 2009.
2 lb. McCheeseburger - courtesy of Twisted Kites.
Some of America’s favorite chains have concocted some thoroughly repellent dishes that make the Double Quarter Pounder look like a celery stick.

Friday, August 28, 2009

Growth of Ocean ‘Garbage Patch’ Alarms Experts

Published on Friday, August 28, 2009 by The Associated Press

Three-week Pacific voyage highlights ‘shocking’ amount of plastic debris.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Desperate Food Industry Tries to Tar Michael Pollan and Organic Produce

By Vanessa Barrington, EcoSalon. August 24, 2009.(A busy market in Regina, SK. Photo by l.p.)
With growing numbers of food-conscious consumers, big corporations are trying to sully the reputation of alternatives to their style of agriculture.


Sunday, August 23, 2009

Native Americans to Join London Protest Over Tar Sands

Terry Macalister - guardian.co.uk, Sunday 23 August 2009

Canadian First Nations seek to highlight UK's 'criminal' role in CO2-heavy oil schemes.

Activist protests against the Alberta tar sands at a recent rally in Regina, SK. Photo by l.p.

LP Relents on Plant Inspection by Outside Experts - But Will There be One?"

- by Larry Powell

Louisiana Pacific Canada Ltd. has apparently had a change of heart. Initially, the company refused to allow an inspection of its wood products plant in the Swan Valley of western Manitoba by outside experts. But after a request from the Clean Environment Commission, (CEC) it has agreed. But only with strict conditions attached.

  • LP must be given 5 business days advance notice.
  • All those taking part must identify themselves with valid IDs in advance.
  • The tour must be limited to six people.
  • No photographs or recordings will be allowed.
  • Participants must undergo a safety orientation.
  • They must sign a waiver in order to get into the plant's production areas.
  • The company will not answer any technical questions because "all pertinent technical information is already on the public record."
LP agreed after the Clean Environment Commission supported the request for the outside inspection from two citizens' groups; Concerned Citizens of the Valley and the Boreal Forest Network.

The company also agreed the CEC could provide what it calls "a third-party" observer on the tour.

The CEC has stated in an email that it finds the company's approach "reasonable."

Despite all of this, Dan Soprovich of "Concerned Citizens" says it's all academic, anyway.

One of their experts came all the way from the southern 'States a week ago, only to be turned back at the plant entrance. He says the company photographed him, but wouldn't let him in!

He adds he simply doesn't know whether that individual will be available again any time soon. So it's still not clear whether there will actually be a tour, or not.

LP's attempts to decommission its pollution controls have sparked a controversy over air quality in the Swan Valley. It culminated in public meetings before the CEC in late July.

The Commission has yet to rule on LP's application to make the shutdowns permanent.
====
Please also read - US-Based Logging Corporation Refuses Outside Inspection.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Climate Change May Cause Crops to Emit Methane

Staff - Manitoba Co-Operator - 8/18/2009


Canola Crop by L.P.

Crop stresses typically linked to climate change, such as increased temperatures, drought and UV-B radiation, might actually hasten climate change by causing crops to emit more methane into the atmosphere.

U.S. State Department OKs Pipeline From Canada's Oil Sands

WASHINGTON, DC, August 21, 2009 (Environment News Service)
The U.S. State Department has issued a permit for a multibillion-dollar pipeline to carry crude oil from Canadian oil sands to refineries south of the border, triggering a court challenge...
=====
(AFP/Getty image)
Editor's note...Surely this can only underline the urgency with which the U.S. should implement Barak Obama's commitment to CLEAN energy! l.p.

Manitoba Logging Road May Spark Court Battle

Winnipeg Free Press - By: Bruce Owen - 20/08/2009
Environmentalists oppose park route. (Click headline.)
Also read "Environmentalists pan new road...."
and how James Beddome, leader of the Green Party of Manitoba feels about the decision.

Ghost Pines 11
by Mary Jane Eichler

Friday, August 21, 2009

U.S.-Based Logging Corporation Refuses an Outside Inspection of its Manitoba Wood Plant

Environmentalists Cry Foul - by Larry Powell

Louisiana Pacific Canada Limited operates an "Oriented Strand Board" plant in the Swan Valley of western Manitoba. It's been at odds with critics ever since the provincial government allowed it to shut down its pollution control equipment last January.

Following an uproar from community members and environmentalists, the government instructed an advisory committee, the Clean Environment Commission (CEC), to review that decision.
It conducted public meetings earlier this summer in Swan River. Participants argued for and against LP's application to make the shutdown permanent.

Then, two groups critical of LP's proposal, joined forces. "Concerned Citizens of the Valley" and "The Boreal Forest Network" tried to arrange for scientific experts to tour the plant.

They argued this was the only way for them to fully take part in the process, since the format of the public meetings did not permit them to cross-examine LP's witnesses.

The groups described one of the experts they hoped would tour the plant as a specialist in "human health risk assessment," another as an "expert in the environmental regulation of forestry operations" in Canada.

Despite their insistence that the individuals have PhDs with extensive experience, LP refused.

The company said it had already co-operated fully with the committee and saw no need to allow further tours or inspections.

But Dan Soprovich of "Concerned Citizens" doesn't see it that way. He suggests LP has refused the request simply because it has something to hide.

LP has threatened to close the plant if it is forced to start up the pollution controls once again.

Meanwhile, the people of the Swan Valley are anxiously awaiting the recommendations of the CEC.
Photo by Larry
=====
Please also read "Battle in the Boreal - Rekindling the Air Quality Debate."

Thursday, August 20, 2009

O2 Dropping Faster than CO2 Rising

ISIS Report 19/08/09
=========
Implications for Climate Change Policies

New research shows oxygen depletion in the atmosphere
accelerating since 2003, coinciding with the biofuels boom; climate policies that focus exclusively on carbon sequestration could be disastrous for all oxygen-breathing organisms including humans Dr. Mae-Wan Ho

Threat of oxygen depletion

Mention climate change and everyone thinks of CO2 increasing in the atmosphere, the greenhouse effect heating the earth, glaciers melting, rising sea levels, floods, hurricanes, droughts, and a host of other environmental catastrophes. Climate mitigating policies are almost all aimed at reducing CO2, by whatever means. Within the past several years, however, scientists have found that oxygen (O2) in the atmosphere has been dropping, and at higher rates than just the amount that goes into the increase of CO2 from burning fossil fuels, some 2 to 4-times as much, and accelerating since 2002-2003 [1-3].

Simultaneously, oxygen levels in the world’s oceans have also been falling [4] (see Warming Oceans Starved of Oxygen, SiS 44). It is becoming clear that getting rid of CO2 is not enough; oxygen has its own dynamic and the rapid decline in atmospheric O2 must also be addressed. Although there is much more O2 than CO2 in the atmosphere - 20.95 percent or 209 460 ppm of O2 compared with around 380 ppm of CO2 – humans, all mammals, birds, frogs, butterfly, bees, and other air-breathing life-forms depend on this high level of oxygen for their well being [5] Living with Oxygen (SiS 43).

In humans, failure of oxygen energy metabolism is the single
most important risk factor for chronic diseases including cancer and death. ‘Oxygen deficiency’ is currently set at 19.5 percent in enclosed spaces for health and safety [6], below that, fainting and death may result. The simultaneous decrease in ocean oxygen not only threatens the survival of aerobic marine organisms, but is symptomatic of the slow-down in the ocean’s thermohaline ‘conveyor belt’ circulation system that transports heat from the tropics to the poles, overturns surface layers of into the deep and vice versa, redistributing nutrients and gases for the ocean biosphere, and regulating rainfall and temperatures on the landmasses.

This dynamical system is highly nonlinear, and
small changes could make it fail altogether, with disastrous runaway effects on the climate [7] (Global Warming & then the Big Freeze, SiS 20). More importantly, it could wipe out the ocean’s phytoplankton that’s ultimately responsible for splitting water to regenerate oxygen for the entire biosphere, on land and in the sea [4]. Read the rest of this article here http://www.i-sis.org.uk/O2DroppingFasterThanCO2Rising.php Or read other articles about climate change here http://www.i-sis.org.uk/climateglobalwarming.php

==========

This article can be found on the I-SIS website at
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Scientists Uncover New Ocean Threat From Plastics

By Steve Connor, Science Editor - the Independent - Thursday, 20 August 2009.
Plastic pollution is not just unsightly but it could be to toxic to humans and animals.

The North Pacific Gyre, which traps untold
amounts of plastic particles in its eddies.

(Credit: Algalita Marine Research Foundation)

A Cleanup Begins - but Concerns Remain Over the Massive Straw-Bale Piles at Elie, Manitoba

by Larry Powell - (Please also note comments at bottom.)

A resident of Elie, Manitoba, Linda Aquin, says she worries that the massive backlog of straw-bales stored near the town will catch fire, resulting in the release of toxic chemicals. Aquin and her husband operate a bed-&-breakfast in the small town on the Trans Canada Highway, west of Winnipeg. She says Dow Bio Products which owns the now defunct strawboard plant, has hired exterminators to control the rodents living in the straw.

She believes they used a poison
possibly containing arsenic for this purpose. If a fire breaks out, she adds, she doesn't know what could happen. But, it could be like a chemical fire and if the wind is in the wrong direction, results could be serious. She says a fire at the Elie school some time ago produced toxic smoke when some plastic chairs burned. "We couldn't breath and had to get out of there," she remarked. She fears a similar incident, only on a larger scale, could still happen with the bales.

Aquin says there have already been fires that smoldered for a long time in the bales and even ones inside the plant, when it was still operating.
There have been rumours that the bales will be removed, she adds. These include a deal with a Hutterite band (to bury them) and with the Trans Alaskan pipeline, who would use the straw to cover some of its equipment. But this has not happened, so far. *

Aquin adds, the failure of the plant, which has been dismantled and the machinery shipped to new owners in Brazil, means area farmers, who once had a market for their straw at the plant, are burning it, once again.
She believes the owners set money aside to clean up the site. Yet the bales "just sit and sit and sit." The question becomes, is it now even safe, given the chemicals used to control the rodents, to attempt to destroy the bales even in a controlled burn, because of the possible toxins they would produce?
=====
* Dow has now begun a cleanup program on the west side of the straw bale piles, nearest the town.
=====
Please also read
"A Testament to Failure." Click here.
=====COMMENTS; That rat breeding grounds on the #1 is owned by Dow Ind. and is backed by our government. A gov'nt article stated it was now tarped and just ignore the tumbled piles. Very responsible, don't u think? Anon.
=====Apparently Dow Industries was using the straw piles (and piles and piles and...) to manufacture building supplies. They have tarped some, according to a government article, but we're told to ignore all the tumbled over piles-probably the rat infested piles. Every year I drive down the #1, I see the same eyesore too, and you know it's not the farmers. Anon.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Methane Seeps From Arctic Sea-Bed

By Judith Burns - Science reporter, BBC News.Photo by Peter Hollinger
Scientists say they have evidence that the powerful greenhouse gas methane is escaping from the Arctic sea-bed.

Alberta RCMP Use Re-Enactment to Help Find Wild Horse Killers

Wed Aug 19 - By The Canadian Press
SUNDRE, Alta. - Mounties hope a Crime Stoppers re-enactment will help them find who is killing wild horses in the Alberta foothills. Photo courtesy Canadian Geographic

Editor's note: Once again, our inhumanity to our fellow creatures shows no bounds. l.p.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Is Our Last Chance to Preserve Life On Earth Slipping Away?

By Larry Schweiger, Fulcrum Publishing. August 17, 2009.
Shallow news coverage causes most Americans to underestimate the urgency of the threat of global warming.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Soaring Population May Swamp Anti-Poverty Goals

Published on Monday, August 17, 2009 by Inter Press Service by Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS - The U.N.'s Millennium Development Goals, already undermined by the global financial crisis, are expected to take another hit - this time from rising population growth.


courtesy of The Boston Globe

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Phosphorus, Nitrogen Levels Spike in Lake Winnipeg After Massive Spring Flood

By: Chinta Puxley, THE CANADIAN PRESS - 16/08/2009

WINNIPEG - The massive spring flood in Manitoba that transformed the Red River into a lake and caused at least $40 million in property damage has also taken a toll .....


Satellite image courtesy of Greg McCullough

Canada Loses out as U.S. Ups "Green" Ante

By Nicole Mordant - VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters)
The Obama administration's titanic $60 billion spending plan for the U.S. clean energy sector is luring investors away from "green" businesses in Canada...
Courtesy of photosearch.com

Friday, August 14, 2009

The CAFO Syndrome

An interview with Mia MacDonald on China’s
growing appetite for Western-style meat Posted
on 17 Feb 2009 - by Anna Lappe - Grist
====
Across the planet, old ways of farming are giving way to the environmentally devastating factory farms we’ve pioneered in the West...

Photo by Kichiro Sato

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Climate Change Seen as Threat to U.S. Security

By JOHN M. BRODER - The New York Times - August 8, 2009

WASHINGTON — The changing global climate will pose profound strategic challenges to the United States in coming decades, raising the prospect of military intervention...

Attack Against Offices of Vía Campesina

Editor's note - It's worth noting that Canada has actually been making excuses for this stinking coup! Please express your solidarity with "Via Camp!" l.p.
======

Action Alert from the Vía Campesina in Tegucigalpa, Honduras - August 12th 2009
Last night at 11:23 pm, during curfew which began at 10pm, unknown individuals driving a cream colour Toyota, fired bullets at the office of Vía Campesina in Tegucigalpa, Honduras which is coordinated by Rafael Alegría.
Above, the kind of people ViaCamp
represents - women working in the field
with a child! Obviously a subversive
organization deserving of being shot at!

The act was a clear attack against our social organizations and leaders who are part of the National Front Against the coup.
In addition to the recent attack on Vía Campesina, a bomb capable
of killing 15 people went off in the building of the Beverage Workers Union (STIBYS, by its Spanish initials) on July 26th 2009. Both organizations are part of the National Front Against the Coup. We condemn this incident given that the activities of Vía Campesina and the National Front Against the Coup are completely peaceful. It is important to mention that during curfew only police are permitted to be in the street. Vía Campesina of Honduras calls for support from national and international human rights organizations to remain attentive and to continue following attacks taking place not only against these organizations and their leadership, but also against the human rights of the entire Honduran people and all those who have been protesting in the streets against the coup for the last 46 days.

Rafael Alegría comments,
“People's rights are being violated and it's a truly unfortunate situation at the moment. People have been wounded, jailed and killed.” According to a preliminary report from lawyers assisting the National Front Against the Coup today, hundreds of people were wounded and more than forty people detained following violence occurring after a peaceful mass mobilization in the capital city on Tuesday. The group of lawyers is seeking the liberation of those arrested through Habeas Corpus. The leadership of the Front insists that the disturbances were carried out by people who were not part of the protest, but rather infiltrators interested in provoking confrontations and disparaging the peaceful protests that the Front has been mobilizing. The people detained are accused of rebellion, terrorism and treason among other crimes. Alegría emphasizes that “The National Front Against the Coup is not responsible for these incidents. On principle the front supports peaceful marches, peaceful demands and peaceful mobilization. At no point do we use or call for violent acts. It appears that these incidents are the responsibility of groups interested in ruining the social mobilization and they have taken it upon themselves to provoke this situation for which we categorically deny any responsibility.” Given what has taken place in the last 24 hours, Vía Campesina of Honduras calls out to the entire Vía Campesina network, social movements, as well as national and international human rights organizations to send messages or delegations in solidarity with the resistance against the coup and for the defence of human rights in Honduras, and to assist in bringing about an end to so much injustice and violence against the Honduran people. Please send complaints and messages of solidarity to the following addresses:

State Secretary of Public Security
Coronel Jorge Rodas Gamero
Fax: (504) 237-9070/ 220-55-47
E-mail: sseg.06@hotmail.com

Special Prosecutor for Human Rights in the Attorney General's Office
Lcda. Sandra Ponce
Fiscal Especial de Derechos Humanos
Tegucigalpa, Honduras
Fax: (504) 221-3656
E-mail: ponce10s@yahoo.com.ar

Committee for the Defense of Human Rights (CODEH)
President Andrés Pavón
E-mail: andres@codeh.hn, codeh@codeh.hn

The Committee of Relatives of People Detained-Disappeared in Honduras
(COFADEH)
Coordinadora Bertha Oliva
E-mail: mail@cofadeh.org

Vía Campesina of Honduras
E-mail: laviacampesina@cablecolor.hn

Comunicaciones Via Campesina en Honduras
--
International Operational Secretariat
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
La Via Campesina - International Secretariat:
Jln. Mampang Prapatan XIV No. 5 Jakarta Selatan, Jakarta 12790 Indonesia
Phone : +62-21-7991890, Fax : +62-21-7993426
E-mail: viacampesina@viacampesina.org, Website: http://www.viacampesina.org

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

The Meat of the Problem

By Ezra Klein - Washington Post - Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Photo by l.p.
It's not simply that meat is a contributor to global warming; it's that it is a huge contributor. Larger, by a significant margin, than the global transportation sector.

Why Corporations, Emerging Powers and Petro-States Are Snapping Up Huge Chunks of Farmland in the Developing World

By Scott Thill, AlterNet. Posted August 11, 2009.

In the past six months, big players in the global economy have grabbed 50 million acres of arable land, from Africa to Southeast Asia.
Click headline for more.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Northern Saskachewan Lakes at High Risk From Alberta Acid Rain Emissions

Saskatchewan Environmental Society
August 10, 2009 Photo courtesy of Saskatchewan Tourism
New monitoring data on rainfall in northern Saskatchewan and recently published research on the acid sensitivity of northern Saskatchewan soils show the urgent need for federal and provincial action to control Alberta oil sands pollution, the Saskatchewan Environmental Society said today.

“If regulations to control acid pollution from Alberta’s oil sands are not put in place soon, many of Saskatchewan’s northern lakes will be seriously damaged in the decades to come” said Peter Prebble, Director of Energy and Water Policy with the Saskatchewan Environmental Society. “There are two important new pieces of evidence pointing to this conclusion” said Prebble. First, precipitation so acidic that it is classified by Environment Canada as “acid rain” is now falling on the La Loche region in northwest Saskatchewan. Second, recent work by the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment shows clearly that northern Saskatchewan has the most acid sensitive soils in Canada. This means our lakes and forests in northern Saskatchewan are incredibly vulnerable to Alberta’s growing acid pollution.”

Prebble said the latest provincial government data for precipitation in La Loche shows rainfall and snowfall in that area to have an average pH of 4.96 with many individual readings below that number. Environment Canada considers pH readings below 5.0 to constitute acid rain.

“The majority of the acid precipitation falling on the La Loche region is coming from oil sands plants in neighboring Alberta” said Josef Schmutz, conservation biologist and Saskatchewan Environmental Society Board Member. “Those operations are releasing vast amounts of sulphur dioxide and nitrous oxide into the atmosphere – more than 200,000 tonnes per year. The prevailing winds for much of the year are from west to east with the result that approximately two thirds of these pollutants make their way into Saskatchewan.”

“Southern Saskatchewan soils have sufficient alkalinity to neutralize acid rain. In contrast, boreal forest soils in northern Saskatchewan do not” Schmutz said. He observed that oil sand operations are being constructed closer and closer to the Alberta-Saskatchewan border. “This environmental threat imposed on Saskatchewan by Alberta must be taken very seriously” he said. “Oil sands activity in northeast Alberta is multiplying rapidly and is not being adequately regulated. Unless strict regulation is put in place, acid rain emissions will increase because oil sands production is scheduled to triple over the next 15-20 years.”

The work done for the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) reveals that parts of the La Loche region have already exceeded their critical load for sulphur and nitrogen. Long time SES Board Member Ann Coxworth described this as “troubling news” because “when critical load is exceeded, significant harmful effects to the natural environment begin occurring.”

Coxworth said the time has come for Saskatchewan to insist on a regional cap on sulphur dioxide and nitrous oxide emissions. “A regional cap would set a limit on how much pollution can be produced by all the oil sands plants in Alberta, plus any that develop in Saskatchewan. The cap should be set in the context of the new knowledge we now have. If this is not done quickly, many lakes in northern Saskatchewan are at serious risk” Coxworth said. “One need only look at the experience of Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes to realize there are great economic and environmental costs associated with acid rain pollution. In Ontario alone, 48,000 lakes have suffered acid rain damage” she said.

“Saskatchewan should also ask the federal government to help regulate Alberta’s oil sands industry” said Coxworth. “Ottawa is free to regulate on matters relating to pollution across provincial boundaries. It’s time for the Government of Canada to step in to protect Saskatchewan.” she concluded.

-30-

For further information contact:
Peter Prebble Tel. (306) 665-0085
Ann Coxworth Tel. (306) 665-1915
Joe Schmutz Tel. (306) 966-2410 or 382-8964

Winnipeg Spraying for Dutch Elm Disease

Last Updated: Friday, August 7, 2009 - CBC
The City of Winnipeg has begun treating American Elm trees on private and public property with the chemical Dursban to control elm bark beetles, the carriers of Dutch Elm Disease.

Click headline for more.
Eds. Note - Nine years ago, (2000), after the most extensive assessment of any chemical in its history, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) decided that Dursban may be more dangerous to people than once believed. It removed use of the pesticide, also known as chlorpyrifos, from products sold over-the-counter there.
A "sister" pesticide, Lorsban, containing the same active ingredient
and with similar chemical properties, became a nightmare for a Manitoba family when it was sprayed on a nearby crop.
l.p.


Monday, August 10, 2009

Warming Oceans Starved of Oxygen

ISIS Press Release 10/08/09

Global warming is depleting oxygen from the ocean waters and threatening the survival of fisheries and the entire marine ecosystem.

Click headline for more.

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Severe Global Warming Will Render Half of World's Inhabited Areas Unliveable, Expert Warns


David Adam in Copenhagen - guardian.co.uk

Parts of China, India and the eastern US could all become too warm in summer for people to lose heat by sweating, expert warns.


Click headline for more.

Friday, August 7, 2009

Baby Emissions Fuel Global Warming

The Guardian - Estimates of the carbon legacy of bringing a child into the world suggest that the green choice may be to stop at two kids.

Click headline for more.

Organic Consumers Association Responds to Faulty and Misleading FSA Food Study

* Press Release
Organic Consumers Association, July 30, 2009
Straight to the Source
CONTACT: Ronnie Cummins/Alexis Baden-Mayer

Click headline for more.

Wind Turbines Cause Health Risks

Manitoba Wildlands newsletter - 07 August 09

New research exposes the health risks of wind energy turbines including heart disease, vertigo, panic attacks, migraines, increased heart rate and sleep deprivation.
========
COMMENT:
Hi Larry
While browsing your page and links I noticed an article about Wind Turbine Syndrome, and Dr. Nina Pierpont.
There seems to be many doctors who disagree with Pierpont, and the basis for her arguments.
Anyhow, I live in Prince Edward County, Ontario, which seems to be the Ontaro hub of NIMBYism with regard to wind energy development, here.
Many in our local group helped groom the final version of our position on this issue.
http://www.countysustainability.ca/WindTruth.htm)
Thought you might be interested.
That is quite an extensive web page you run! Well done.
Don Chisholm

Thursday, August 6, 2009

The Climate Battles Present -

NEW ENERGY VS. TARSANDS SHOWDOWN IN REGINA
Regina SK. Aug. 6 '09 - by Larry Powell
Protesters from far and wide converged
on Regina this week, demanding climate
justice on the occasion of the Premiers'
("Council of the Federation") meeting here.



Targets at the rally, in front of the Saskatchewan legislature, were this province's headlong rush to promote nuclear energy; and the Alberta tar sands, the dirtiest energy project on earth! Organizers of this and various other protests and rallies around the city during the week, included Greenpeace, the Sierra Club and Council of Canadians.

"Premiers Stelmach" (above l),and "Wall," (above r) and "Prime Minister Harper," wage shameless war against Mother Earth by denying climate change and refusing to do anything about it.

A First Nations activist (r) urges the crowd to
demand climate justice, support indigenous
rights and the closure of the tarsands!




A young member of the "Pedal for the Planet" group, (l) shows the rally eyeglasses he hopes will correct the short-sightedness of the Premiers and a special book to help them understand our climate crisis and to take it seriously!



It was a day for the young, the not-so-young and the in-between.

Author's note- I didn't get to take copious notes at this event. But
here's a quote which stood out for me...

"It's wrong to undermine the habitability of our planet!" Amen to that! l.p.
(Photos by me.)


Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Is Organic Food Healthier? A Food Expert Responds

By Marion Nestle, Huffington Post. Posted August 4, 2009.
When it comes to nutritional value the study says no -- but the research fails to look at pesticides, the environment and animal welfare.

Click headline for more.




Photo by L.P.

Later is too late’: seniors show up for climate across Canada

Canada's National Observer Seniors across Canada attended “rocking chair rallies,” marches, movie nights, town halls and other protests ...