Alternet -  Jan 31 - 2010 - The USDA has ruled that farmers are now free to plant GE alfalfa, and USDA won't even keep track of who plants it where. The implications are huge.  ==== Editor's Note: What can we Canadians do, you might ask? OUR LAST HOPE in defending against such Frankenfoods is to make sure OUR PARLIAMENT PASSES the bill, below. Please read, understand and SIGN THE PETITION! THANK YOU! JUST GO TO THIS PAGE & FOLLOW THE PROMPTS! l.p.

The USDA Just Announced Final Approval of Monsanto's GE Alfalfa Take Action NOW to Demand President Obama Reverse this Decision Dear L, Genetically Engineered Alfalfa Has Been Approved, But President Obama Can Have the Final Say Demand President Obama Stop GE Alfalfa! We just found out that Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack approved Monsanto's genetically engineered alfalfa for widespread planting this spring. This is outrageous and wrong, and it will hurt organic farmers. Demand that President Obama reverse this disastrous approval.   The USDA decision to allow GE alfalfa to be planted unleashes another unnecessary genetically engineered crop into our environment and puts organic farmers at risk of widespread GE contamination. The agency did no real assessment of the harm that GE alfalfa could do, and caved to pressure from big agribusiness to approve this genetically engineered crop before the spring planting season. Preside

Jan 27, 2011: The US Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack... ...     Organic Consumers Asn: As Iowa Governor, Tom Vilsack was a leading advocate for Monsanto, genetic engineering, and factory farming. President Obama proudly lauded his new Agriculture Secretary for " promoting biotech ." Tom Vilsack, USDA Secretary Vilsack has, in fact, promoted the most controversial and dangerous forms of agricultural biotechnology, including pharma crops, plants genetically engineered to produce pharmaceuticals. When grown outdoors on farmland, where most pharma crop trials have occurred, pharma crops can easily contaminate conventional and organic varieties.

Please watch this special presentation of the Nature of Things. Perhaps it should be required viewing for our kids in school!

By Julio Godoy - Interpress Service PARIS, Jan 24, 2011 (IPS) - Despite repeated warnings by environmental and climate experts that reduction of fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions is fundamental to forestalling global warming, disaster appears imminent.                                                                                   (AFP/File/Natalia Kolesnikova) According to the latest statistics, unprecedented climate change has Earth hurtling down a path of catastrophic proportions. 

Gov't of Manitoba News Release - Jan 24, 2011 Manitoba Water Stewardship's first spring flood outlook indicates the 2011 spring flood potential is high for much of Manitoba including the Red, Souris, Pembina, Assiniboine, Winnipeg, Saskatchewan and Fisher rivers and the Interlake.  High river flows, above-normal snow-water content in the snowpack, and an expected cooler and wetter spring have increased the probabilities of significant flooding. With average weather along the Red River, a flood the size of 2009 is anticipated while unfavourable weather could result in a flood of 1997 levels.  With average weather along other rivers and streams in Manitoba, flooding is still anticipated and, with unfavourable weather, significant flooding could occur.

Michael T. Klare 
- Tomgram Jan 24-2011 Rising Commodity Prices and Extreme Weather Events Threaten Global Stability Photo credit AFP

"The National "- a Critique - by Larry Powell  (Please also watch video at end.) Overall, I believe the coverage of global warming by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is great, on such programs as “The Nature of Things” and “Doc Zone.” On the other hand, “The National,” the network’s nightly TV newscast, continues to disappoint. And here’s why. Last month, it carried a story on the horrific, record-breaking storms, which ravaged many parts of Canada in 2010. Was this climate change, it asked? For the answer, it went to Dave Phillips, official spokesperson for Environment Canada's Meteorological Service, famous for his “weather trivia” calendars. Phillips said it would be "bad science" to suggest a link between these storms and global climate change! Bad science? Phillips did not say; there may be a link but it's not possible to conclude, scientifically, at least not yet. Nor did he say; the storms were at least consistent with the now abund

DESMOGBLOG.COM  6 January 11 Canadian Environment Minister Peter Kent is off... EDITOR'S NOTE: When I recently wrote "Peter Kent - hope or disappointment?" on his being named to his new cabinet post, I was skeptical - but tried to at least leave him the benefit of the doubt. Well, congrats, Peter! You have now let down totally, not just me but everyone other Canadian who had hopes for a cleaner country! Shame! l.p.

By Les Blumenthal | McClatchy Newspapers WASHINGTON — The summer of 2010 was...

by Michael McCarthy - Global Research Jan 13 2011 Britain's beekeepers are at...

By: John Pye, Rod McGuirk, The Associated Press - 01/14/2011 TENT HILL, Australia - Australia began to tally...

By Andrew Nikiforuk, 12 Jan 2011, TheTyee.ca Farmers say high profile carbon sequestration experiment is a bubbling, dangerous failure.

January 10, 2011 - by Gwynne Dyer - CommonDreams.org   If all the food in the world were...

ScienceDaily (Jan. 7, 2011) — They are the most... Cherry tomatoes. l.p. photo

by Dahr Jamail - Global Research Jan '11 Doctor attributes widespread sickness to toxic chemicals from the Gulf of Mexico catastrophe.

Tara Lohan - Alternet   The massive death toll of dead birds and sea life should draw attention to the countless other species on the brink of extinction. White-headed woodpecker Courtesy, BC Gov't.

Dear friends, Bees are dying off worldwide and our entire food chain is in peril . Scientists blame toxic pesticides and four European governments have already banned them. If we get the US and the EU to join the ban , other governments across the world could follow, and save bees from extinction . Sign the petition and forward this urgent appeal : Silently, billions of bees are dying off and our entire food chain is in danger . Bees don't just make honey, they are a giant, humble workforce, pollinating 90% of the plants we grow. Multiple scientific studies fault one group of toxic pesticides for their rapid demise, and bee populations have soared in four European countries that have banned these products. But powerful chemical companies are lobbying hard to keep selling this poison. Our best chance to save bees now is to push the US and EU to ban this deadly product -- their action is critical and will have a ripple effect on the rest of

— By Kate Sheppard MotherJones - Jan. 6, 2011 That didn't take long. On the first…

By Emily Voigt - OnEarth - January 3, 2011 The Vertical Farm: Feeding the World in the 21st Century Designed by Dickson Despommier and architect Eric Ellingsen,  the Pyramid Farm would separate sewage into water and carbon,  used to power lighting and machinery.  

-by Larry Powell- So Canada has a new Minister of the Environment! Peter Kent used to be a credible journalist with CBC Television News many years ago. But Kent's appointement comes at a time when Canada's reputation on fighting the scourges of climate change remains in the toilet. He takes over from Jim Prentice, who abandon his post late last year to take a cushy job with a major bank which helps enable the Alberta tar sands, the worlds dirtiest energy project. Such, I guess, are the ethical standards to which Stephen Harper holds his appointees! Harper and his minions have been preaching for some time, Canada will follow the US lead and taylor our environmental policies after them. Interesting. Since President Obama is actually doing something concrete about climate change, I guess that means we will be too, then, Mr. Kent? Obama has given the go-ahead to the Environmental Protection Agency to use powers it has held for some time under the Clean Air Act. Bu