Huffington Post Nov 30-'11 WASHINGTON -- African leaders including Archbishop Desmond Tutu have released an ad calling on Canada to step up the battle against global warming, rather than actively promote the use of its tar sands. Details here. Also watch the video, below, with activist Zodwa Rannyadi of Soweto.

OnEarth Nov 29-'11 No one can accuse the FDA of rushing to judgement. Details here. PLT: You don't suppose this is because "Big Food Agri-Biz" is calling the shots here? Naaaah! And we wonder why there is an Occupy Movement!

The Daily Climate - Nov 29 - '11   Fruit bat by Merlin Tuttle, Bat Conservation International For 17 years, the Hendra virus smoldered in its host bat population, only rarely crossing to humans. Then it exploded, likely triggered by heavy rains and floods in Australia earlier this year. And that has public health doctors nervous about climate change. Details here.

By Andrew Nikiforuk - The Tyee The oil sands, the world’s largest energy project, will face severe or even catastrophic water shortages due to declining glaciers and snowpack in the Rocky Mountains, warn Canadian water researchers. Details here.

Tom Zeller Jr. - Huffington Post Global climate talks got an inauspicious start in Durban, South Africa, on Monday with reports that Canada planned to withdraw fully from the Kyoto Protocol,  Details here.

If you like my blog, please consider a donation. Thanks! Larry PLT: Bob MacDonald, host of CBC Radio's Quirks and Quarks science show, (l.) has seemed reluctant to spell out all the impications of our climate crisis, both on his own show and on his appearances on "The National." He (& other on-air personalities), repeatedly refer to "El Nino" or "La Nina" when trying to explain severe weather events when, in fact, those phenomena play a role in only a small percentage of our catastrophic storms. But on his show this weekend, Bob actually had guests who explained the story plainly and comprehensively. This is significant for, without such detail, many people will brush off the term "climate change," when used without context whatsoever (as it often is),  as something they can do nothing about. Please click here, scroll down, listen to the podcast and you'll understand what I mean.

Huff Post Green - Hannah McKinnon Climate Action Network Canada - 11/24/11 In the lead up to the next round of UN climate talks, instead of taking responsibility for their own pollution problem, the Canadian Government is focusing on a full scale public relations and diplomatic campaign to ensure no door is closed to Canada's highly polluting tar sands. Details here.

By Renee Schoof | McClatchy Newspapers - Nov 10 '11 WASHINGTON — Far out on the Pacific Ocean, the world's industrial fishing fleets pursue one of the last huge wild hunts — for the tuna eaten by millions of people around the world. Details here.

By Gerald Graham, 16 Nov 2011, TheTyee.ca 'Need for project' now trumps environment in fine print of pipeline documents. Details here. PLT: And people wonder why there is an Occupy movement!

By Mitchell Anderson, Today, TheTyee.ca Shark-like, they rise fast but risk killing the world economy, concludes a business professor. Details here.

Uganda's Protected Mabira Rainforest Threatened Again by Sugar Production By Rainforest Portal, a project of Ecological Internet - November 21, 2011 TAKE ACTION HERE NOW:

Mike De Souza - Vancouver Sun - Nov. 20-'11 OTTAWA — A senior Environment Canada bureaucrat who publicly defended the federal government’s plans to slash funding and eliminate “redundancy” within the country’s ozone monitoring programs, privately approved a briefing note that concluded there was no duplication in its network, Postmedia News has learned. Read more here. PLT: It is truly a sad day when a Prime Minister can instil such fear in his public servants that they feel compelled to tell a different story in public than in private, just to keep their jobs! 

Reuters - Nov 18-'11 More heat waves, heavier rains, worse cyclones likely. Details here. Courtesy of Common Dreams

Ecologist - Nov 19  Scientists issue new warning as campaigners call for stronger controls on excessive use in intensive farming. Details here.

(Reuters) - Nov 15'11    European Union lawmakers on Tuesday called for stronger action to protect Europe's bees, saying that the rapid decline in the bee population could PLT bumblebee photo affect the growth of important food crops. Details here.

Blacksmith Institute - New York - Nov 9'11 

Report Identifies Top Pollution Problems and Sources, and Reveals Surprising Finding About Corporations and Pollution. Details here.

Wheat.  It is the most important cereal grain in the world and, along with fur trapping and the railroad, it made Canada. We are one of the largest wheat exporters on the planet, about 19 thousand tons a year, more than any other crop. There are some 75,000 farmers across the Prairies who make their livelihood from it. And to sell their wheat, they have depended for generations on the Canadian Wheat Board.   The Wheat Board, as we know it today, was established in 1935 to control prices, so as to benefit farmers in the Great Depression. Now, however, the Wheat Board could be gone by Christmas. The Conservative government has been promising to get rid of it for years, and with its majority in parliament, is making good on that promise. It's hard to say what it will mean to farmers and the rest of us. If anybody has an idea, it is John Herd Thompson, who has documented the history of the Wheat Board. Winnipeg born-and-bred, he earned his PhD at Queen's University a

By Janet Raloff - Science News Nov 13'11 Changes to clouds encourage drought in dry areas and torrential downpours in moist ones. Details here.

What to do with the Occupy camps. How about - let them be!  by Larry Powell A peaceful camp It's hardly surprising.  The mood of Canada's elites is becoming increasingly ugly as the "Occupy" movement continues to "hang in there" for a lot longer than they likely expected.  It is, after all, what elites do. They simply cannot tolerate those who challenge the very system that keeps them in power. Cops are already being ordered to start knocking some heads in some Canadian cities, as well as south of the border. Neither is it surprising that some news media are misrepresenting what the movement is all about.  A recent editorial in the Dauphin Herald, for example, dismissed the protesters as "whiners," whose support is dwindling. (In fact, the movement has persisted and spread to many parts of the world.) The editorial also proclaimed, "It was the squandering of tax dollars (by governments) which originally created the m

PLT: At least one Tory MP is actually threatening legal action against a retired Alberta farmer, Norm Dyck, who had the audacity to write a letter-to-the-editor, criticizing the government for its attempts to kill the What Board.  1) First, Mr. Dyck's brief note,  2) his explanation of what happened, 3) his actual letter 4) and a PLT comment! =========== 1) Friends of the CWB:   I have already spoken to my friend and former farmer neighbor Art Macklin so he knows of my 'offensive' letter and approves of this circulation action.  Please forward to any individuals who are concerned re the threat to Democracy by actions of the Harper Government.  Thanks  ======== 2) Yesterday my Federal MP Chris Warkentin Peace River,  while meeting with him in his office in Grande Prairie accompanied by two members of Kairos, while I was speaking on the subject of the CWB was less than receptive to any input on this topic.  Input specifically as to the requiremen

Pro Publica Nov 10 - A federal energy panel issued a blunt warning to shale gas drillers and their regulators today, saying they need to step up efforts to protect public health and the environment or risk a backlash that stifles further development. Details here.

The Portland Press Herald - November 9 A fight to maintain consumer choice and farm independence has landed Maine farmer Jim Gerritsen on Utne Reader's list of "25 Visionaries Who Are Changing Your World," published in the November/December edition of the magazine on newsstands now. Details here.

Environmental Defence Dear Larry, The first cut is the deepest . Business as usual for the tar sands industry has come to an end. Today, we can all celebrate a huge victory. President Obama has agreed to delay the construction of TransCanada’s proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline in order to further review its potential impacts, including climate change. This shows the importance of standing up for the clean energy future we want. Just 3 days ago, 12,000 Americans showed up at the White House to urge President Obama to stick by his pledge to reduce dependence on oil. Please take a minute to send a thank you note to President Obama.    Canada needs to pay attention to this message. There is no such thing as “business as usual” for the tar sands industry any longer. The longer Canada delays getting serious about reining in tar sands pollution and transitioning to a clean energy economy, the more of this type of controversy we should expect.   The delay announced today

(Reuters) - The United States said on Thursday it will study a new route for the Keystone XL Canada-to-Texas oil pipeline, delaying any final approval beyond the U.S. 2012 election and sparing U.S. President Barack Obama a politically risky decision during an election year . Details here. Please also read: U.S. Delays Decision on Pipeline Until After Election - (The New York Times)  

New York Times - Oc 8'11 WASHINGTON — The State Department’s inspector general will conduct a special investigation of the handling of the pending decision on the proposed Keystone XL pipeline in response to reports of improper…. Details here.

Alternet - Nov 7 “We don’t know how many people it takes to encircle the White House, but we’re about to find out,” Bill McKibben told a crowd of over 12,000 gathered in Lafayette Square on Sunday       Photo: KAREN BLEIER/AFP               afternoon. Details here.

ScienceDaily                                                                                      Scientists are investigating a possible link between tiny particles of pollution found in diesel fumes and the global collapse of honey bee colonies. Details here.   PLT photo   Please also read: Cure for Honeybee Colony Collapse?

Earth Times - 04 Nov 2011 Global warming is causing a strange phenomenon in tree species. Details here. (PLT photo)

Christian Science Monitor - Nov 5 A 300-square-mile portion of the Pine Island Glacier is expected to break off in the next few months, creating a massive Antarctic iceberg. The glacier is contributing to sea-level rise. Details here.  A close-up view of the crack spreading across the ice shelf of Pine Island  Glacier captured by the Digital Mapping System (DMS) aboard NASA's DC-8  October 26, 2011. REUTERS/NASA/DMS/Handout

Huff  Post Green - SETH BORENSTEIN  WASHINGTON — The global output of heat-trapping carbon dioxide jumped by the biggest amount on record, the U.S. Department of Energy calculated, a sign of how feeble the world's efforts are at slowing man-made global warming. Details here.   (Above) Big trucks, motors running, wait  for their Big Macs at a Macdonald's  "drive-thru" in Winnipeg. (PLT photo.)