'Exxons of Agriculture' Wielding Power to Block Real Climate Solutions: Report

Common Dreams

The industry 'fuels a model of agriculture that is destroying the planet,' report states. Details here.

No, GMOs Didn't Create India's Farmer Suicide Problem, But…

Mother Jones

Some anti-GMO activists have blamed the high suicide rate directly on biotech seeds—specifically, cotton tweaked by Monsanto to contain the Bt pesticide, now used on more than 90 percent of India's cotton acreage.

GMO enthusiasts, by contrast, counter that Monsanto's patented seeds are a boon to India's cotton farmers: They've boosted crop yields, driven down pesticide use, and alleviated rural poverty.

So which is it? Story here.

Stephen Harper's Covert Evangelicalism

THE TYEE

How an apocalyptic strain of Christianity guides his policies and campaigning. Story here.

After Decades of Discrimination, US Farm Workers Get Pesticide Protections

Common Dreams

Environmental Protection Agency creates new rules giving equal protection against pesticides to farm workers. Story here.

Stealin' All My Dreams - an Anti-Harper Song by Blue Rodea (Video)

Shell Abandons Alaska Arctic Drilling

theguardian

Oil giant’s US president says hugely controversial drilling operations off Alaska will stop for ‘foreseeable future’ as drilling finds little oil and gas. Story here.

Are Plant Infection Rates Increasing For Crops?

Grainews

Prairie farmers are spending more time and money on disease prevention than ever before. Story here.

Organic Farm Sales Soar in the US

Common Dreams

Organic onions on their way to market. PinP photo.
"We need a higher rate of growth in order to get close to meeting the demand," said Laura Batcha, chief of the Organic Trade Association. Story here.

Million-Liter Cyanide Spill in Argentina Highlights Canadian Mining Crimes

Common Dreams

'They cannot continue to handle affairs that are so delicate, that affect the environment and people this way.' Details here.

Harper’s Research Station a ‘Cloak' For Arctic Oil Push, Says Climate Expert

National Observer

An expensive remote Arctic facility, personally promoted by Prime Minister Stephen Harper as a "world-class” research station, is less about pure science, and almost entirely about pushing oil, gas and mining development in the rapidly melting north, says one of Canada’s top polar climate scientists. Story here.

American Corn Farmers Are Suing Syngenta for $2.9 Billion. Should Canadian Farmers Sue Too?

Manitoba Co-Operator

A pair of lawyers came all the way from Alabama to gauge Manitoba farmers’ interest. Story here.

Pope's Climate Push is 'Raving Nonsense' Without Population Control, Says Top US Scientist

theguardian

Paul Ehrlich writes in Nature Climate Change that Francis is wrong to fight climate change without also addressing the strain from population growth on resources. Story here.

Harper’s Bad Bet on China

Gus Van Harten - bilaterals.org

With its focus on the economy, the recent election debate pointed to the Harper government’s big – and thus far spectacularly bad – bet on China. Story here.

Related: Free Trade: Path to Prosperity - or Back Road to Corporatism?

Shoal Lake 40 First Nation in Manitoba Becomes Part of World-Wide Health Study Destined for United Nations

APTN National News

A non-governmental organization has initiated a water-related study about Shoal Lake 40 First Nation as part of a world-wide investigation into healthy communities. Story here.

Livestock Seen Threatened as Biting Insects Press North Thanks to Climate Change

Manitoba Co-Operator

Researchers see increased risk for insect-borne pathogens in livestock by 2050. Story here.

Smoke and Mirrors

George Monbiot - theguardian

Pollution, as scandals on both sides of the Atlantic show, is a physical manifestation of corruption. Story here.

With New Ban on Cultivation, Northern Ireland Joins EU's Anti-GMO Ranks

Common Dreams

Environment minister expresses "concern" that growing GMOs would tarnish nation's "clean and green image.” Story here.

The Ill-Fated Voyage of the Atlantic Charger. A Predictable End? (Editorial)

by Larry Powell

I find it hard to sympathize with the crew of the Atlantic Charger, the Canadian fishing boat which sank in Frobisher Bay this week. The 9 fishers had to be rescued by heroic members of our coast guard, who have saved the bacon of many people like this who go to places where they do not belong. This state-of-the-art vessel, replete with a skull and crossbones emblazoned on its bow, was out to conquer what is left of our dying oceans, now overfished beyond recall by people like this. Instead of respecting the relentless advance of climate change and staying the Hell away, this macho nine would rather go down in history as part of the crew that is wrecking our common home, Earth. I hope they are made to pay every cent of the cost of the rescue. I really don’t understand why you or me should be stuck with any of the cost of their stupidity, greed and machismo.

In California, a Paltry Snowpack Not Seen in Centuries

CLIMATE CENTRAL

When California officials went out on April 1 this year to measure the amount of snow that had accumulated on mountain slopes over the winter, they were met with bleak scenes of dried, brown grass. The snowpack was so bad — a measly 6 percent of normal — that there was nothing like it in the 120 years of records. STORY HERE.

Water Hazard

Center for Food Safety

Researchers across the United States, Canada, and Europe are repeatedly finding high levels of neonicotinoid residues that exceed vital standards set to protect aquatic life. STORY HERE.

Related: New Studies Show Farm Chemicals Are Affecting More Than Bees. Bird Populations are Declining, Too.

Hawaii to Experience Worst-Ever Coral Bleaching Due to High Ocean Temperatures

theguardian

Corals are recovering from last year’s bleaching but warmer-than-normal ocean temperatures this year will likely lead to deadlier year for coral reef. Story here.

More Than 500 Homes Are Lost in Butte, California Wildfire

Los Angeles Times

More than 500 homes have been destroyed in a wildfire that is burning in Calaveras and Amador counties. Story here.

Endangered Fish Species Missing the Safety Net

CBC Radio Quirks & Quarks - A team of Canadian Scientists has looked at Canada's system for protecting endangered marine species and discovered that almost none is receiving protection despite policies and legal requirements. Listen here.

Global Warming ‘Pause’ Never Happened, Scientists Say

The Washington Post

The climate science sphere has been wrapped up in a major debate for the past several years: over the global warming “pause.” But now, a growing body of research has some scientists saying that the case may, in fact, be closed. They’re arguing that the pause never existed. Story here.

Death Toll in California Wildfires Rises to Five

Los Angeles Times

The number of victims from massive wildfires raking Northern California has grown to five, with two more bodies recovered in the Valley Fire. Story here.

Pesticides in Paradise: Hawaii's Spike in Birth Defects Puts Focus on GM Crops

theguardian

Local doctors are in the eye of a storm swirling for the past three years over whether corn that’s been genetically modified to resist pesticides is a source of prosperity, as companies claim, or of birth defects and illnesses. Story here.

The Leap Manifesto: A Call for Caring for the Earth and One Another

Common Dreams byNaomi Klein, David Suzuki, Leonard Cohen, Ellen Page, Donald Sutherland

Clear Lake, Manitoba. PinP photo.

'This our sacred duty to those this country harmed in the past, to those suffering needlessly in the present and to all who have a right to a bright and safe future.' Story here.

More Than 100,000 Flee Floods in Japan After "Once-in-50-Years" Rain

SCIENTIFIC

AMERICAN

Unprecedented rain in Japan unleashed heavy floods on Friday that tore houses from their foundations, uprooted trees and forced more than 100,000 people from their homes. Story here.

Why Climate Activists Stand with Refugees

Common Dreams

“A culture that places so little value on human beings, that it allows them to be thrown to the waves, is also going to allow poor people’s countries to disappear beneath the waves because that is a threat to today’s profits.”

— Naomi Klein  Story here.

Amnesy International 

CANADA:
WELCOME
SYRIAN
REFUGEES

Canada’s commitment to resettling refugees has been modest and processing rates painfully slow. Remind the Prime Minister and all party leaders that Canadians welcome refugees. Story here.

UK Experiences Three Earthquakes a Year Due to Human Activity, Study Says.

theguardian

At least three earthquakes strike the UK every year as the result of human activity, according to a new study. Story here.

RELATED: "Is the "Dubious Duo" of Fracking & Earthquakes More Common in Canada Than we Know? PinP Wonders..." 

Brazil and Indonesia Struggling to Reduce Deforestation

World

Resources

Institute

New satellite-based data highlight the challenges of reducing forest loss in two of the world’s largest forest-rich countries. Story here.

Slashing in Canada - a practise where trees standing in the way of agricultural production are bulldozed, then burned. PinP photo.

The Real Enemy Is Within

Chris Hedges - OpEdNews

If you are not dedicated to the destruction of empire and the dismantling of American militarism, then you cannot count yourself as a member of the left. It is not a side issue. It is the issue. It is why…

Learning From Indigenous Peoples on Climate Change

National Geographic

Many of the people likely to be on the front lines of a changing climate are indigenous. Already assaulted by centuries of colonialism and exploitation, many indigenous people must also now adapt to rising seas, warming temperatures, and other disruptions to natural systems. Story here.

Infectious Diseases Like It Hot: How Climate Change Helps Cholera and Salmonella Outbreaks

CLIMATEPROGRESS

Every year, about one million Americans and tens of millions of people worldwide suffer the debilitating effects of salmonella poisoning, episodes sometimes serious enough for hospitalization. Story here.

RELATED: Safeway Canada recalls cucumbers and in-store products. Items could be contaminated with salmonella.

Egyptian Study Shows - Rats fed Monsantos #gmo Corn Developed Liver, Kidney, Intestinal Toxicity & Male Infertility

Journal of American Science

This indicates potential adverse health/toxic effects of GM corn and further investigations still needed. Details here.

After Canadian Court Ruling, Has Law 'Finally Caught Up With Chevron'?

CommonDreams

Decision is 'the beginning of the end of Chevron's abusive and obstructionist litigation strategy,' says Ecuadorian activist. Story here.

Oil Slurry Spill on Mississippi River Illustrates Need to Move Beyond Fossil Fuel Economy

CommonDreams

Coast Guard said up to 250,000 gallons of refining byproduct may have spilled into waterway. Story here.

The Biggest State in the US Hast Voted To Divest From Coal

CLIMATE PROGRESS

The California Assembly has passed a bill that prompts the state’s public employee pension funds to divest from coal. Story here.

EU Diplomats Reveal Devastating Impact of Ethiopia Dam Project on Remote Tribes

TheGuardian

Lives of semi-nomadic tribespeople being irreversibly changed by relocation into poorly planned settlements to make way for sugar plantation, says released report. Story here.

Obama Announces New Plan to Save Arctic: More Icebreakers!

CommonDreams

During his controversial Alaska visit, the US president continues his trend of lofty, climate change speeches coupled with more support for Arctic drilling. Details here.

The Great Unraveling

Chris Hedges - OpEd News

The ideological and physical hold of American imperial power, buttressed by the utopian ideology of neoliberalism and global capitalism, is unraveling. Story here.

Pick up the Phone, Steve! Demand Justice for Mohamed Fahmy! (Editorial)

by Larry Powell

The sentencing in August of the Canadian journalist, Mohamed Fahmy to three more years in an Egyptian jail, is, sadly, yet another painful reminder of just how little the Harper Government seems to care about one of its most sacred trusts - protecting Canadian citizens who get into trouble abroad.