Superstorm Sandy—a People's Shock?

Naomi Klein - the Nation
Less than three days after Sandy made landfall on the East Coast of the United States, Iain Murray of the Competitive Enterprise Institute blamed New Yorkers’ resistance to big-box stores for the misery they were about to endure. Details here.

US Election Results Give Environmentalists Hope

Manitoba Wildlands

The 2012 US election was supposed to be all about the economy. But in state and federal races, candidates targeted by environmentalists for their positions on climate and energy lost in large numbers November 6, 2012.  Details here.

Brazil Becomes Stinking Rogue State - Builds Illegal Mega-Dam - Petition & Video

Dear Larry, 

I've just returned from a wildly intense journey to the Xingu River in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon where construction of the catastrophic Belo Monte Dam has begun. There, I joined an occupation of the cofferdam led by fishermen, indigenous warriors and their families, including women, children and elders. What began as a protest by 13 fishermen turned into a 200-person occupation that lasted 35 days to demand JUSTICE NOW for their rights and rainforest homeland.
They need your voice! Help these courageous leaders demand that members of the Brazilian judiciary stop stalling on the many outstanding legal cases against the Belo Monte Dam. Sign the petition for JUSTICE NOW!
This year has been marked by glorious moments of victory and heartbreaking disappointments in the campaign to stop Belo Monte. During this recent occupation, our partners reached out in a truly brave attempt to foster real dialogue with the Brazilian government and to denounce grave violations of human and environmental rights due to the illegal construction of the dam.
We must stand up together with a unified voice to demand governments and companies respect indigenous rights, comply with the law, and be held accountable for their life-threatening and reckless actions.
Join me on this peaceful path of resistance calling for a free-flowing, life-giving Xingu River led by our brave partners in Brazil. Demand JUSTICE NOW!
For the Xingu, 

Maira Irigaray
Brazil Campaigner 
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The Campaign for GMO Labelling Not Dead Yet - Despite California Ballot Defeat

Manitoba Co-Operator
Re-election of Obama encourages label supporters.

 

GM canola field. PinP photo

The failure on Tuesday of a California ballot initiative that would have mandated labeling of genetically modified foods is not a death knell for those seeking nationwide labeling, U.S. labeling proponents said. Details here.

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Canadian Biotechnology Action Network (CBAN)

Update - Proposition 37 on Mandatory Labelling in California: 

Industry money - $46 million from food and biotech corporations - has defeated the Californian ballot on mandatory labelling of GM foods. The California vote lost 53% to 47% after industry television ads and mailings to households claimed labelling GM foods would raise the price of food. Huge grassroots mobilization brought the vote that far and millions more people across North America are now aware of GM foods. It's been 17 years since the first GM crop, GM canola, was approved (1995) in Canada - We can stop the experiment. Canadians have already stopped Bovine Growth Hormone, Terminator seeds, GM wheat, GM potatoes, and Enviropig! Join CBAN as we stop GM alfalfa and GM apples to turn this around. We are building a better future now.

Donate today! Donations to CBAN will be matched, dollar-for-dollar, until Nov 30! Make your gift today and know that your tax-deductible donation will have twice the impact. http://www.cban.ca/donate Help us prepare for our 2013 mobilization!

Errol Black: A Truly Remarkable Life

Centre for Policy Alternatives

If we’re very lucky, every once in a while someone special will come into our lives. Errol Black was special.

photo credit: CTV News

Harper Spits in the Eye of Science Once Again - Flaunts Heavy Vehicles to Flit Him About India

Winnnipeg Free Press 

NEW DELHI - Two armoured cars were shipped to India from Canada to shuttle Prime Minister Stephen Harper around during a six-day, four-city tour this week.
The move is an unusual one for a Canadian prime minister. Harper has only brought his own transportation to two other nations — Haiti and Afghanistan.
The president of the United States routinely travels abroad with a custom-armoured state car, known as "the Beast" or "Cadillac One."
A black sport-utility vehicle and a black luxury sedan carrying Ontario plates appeared in the motorcade when Harper arrived Sunday evening.
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PLT: This latest stunt by our esteemed leader with delusions of grandeur, smacks of a symbolic but probably malevolant move to wear his anti climate-science bias like a mis-placed badge of honour. Will it take nothing less than a Sandy-calibre storm to strike 24 Sussex to knock some sense into this wilfully ignorant man?

Canada-China Trade Deal is Too One-Sided

Financial Post - Diane Francis.

There is nothing in this deal with China that will protect Canadians. Details here.
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PinP: Francis is no raging left-winger. She describes herself as a free-enterpriser and her columns over the years are testament to that. There's no doubt this China trade deal, which apparently our leader, Stephen The Great, has already ratified with no formal debate in parliament, sells out our country. 
Just recently, a Canadian military intelligence officer was tried for selling secrets to Russia. When all is said and done, I wonder, who will have done more harm to our country, the traitor or the Prime Minister? 
Think about it.

Global domination? Whoa, Canada!

Boston Globe

Could we (the U.S.) handle a muscular new version of our quiet northern neighbors (Canada)? For that matter, could they? Full story here.

Commander-in-Chief Harper in Afghanistan

PLT Vindicated!

PLT: Not to boast or anything, but, on Nov. 1st...yesterday.... Bloomberg Businessweek, a magazine owned by the Mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, published a cover story entitled, "It's Global Warming, Stupid," (l.) in reference to Hurricane Sandy. In the spring of '09, over 3 years ago, I wrote a story entitled...wait for it...."It's Global Warming, Stupid." If you don't believe me, check it out, yourself!

New York Mayor Bloomberg Brings Climate Change out of the Closet in Stunning Snub to Romney

The Guardian

Mayor's endorsement could turn climate change into a serious election issue – and it might even embolden Republicans. Details here.

Yellow cabs underwater in New York.

Hypocricy, Cynicism and Lies Stain the Tory Record in Manitoba (Letter)

Dear Editor,

I never thought I'd say this. But I may be lucky to be living in a riding represented by a Member of Parliament on the government side, (Robert Sopuck - Dauphin/Swan River/Marquette) after all. I say this because the government Mr. Sopuck represents, under Stephen Harper, has decided the Assiniboine River, one of millions of lakes, rivers and streams in Canada, is among the very few designated as "protected" by its new, "Navigation Protection Act."  (It happens to flow through Mr. Sopuck's riding.) 

Shellmouth Dam on the Assiniboine. Could it now be harder to approve such structures in Tory ridings - but easier elsewhere? PLT photo.

The Assiniboine forms Lake of the Prairies, a popular area for cottagers and boaters, just a few clicks west of where I live. This protection means that ice-fishers, anglers and pleasure boaters will keep their historic right, which dates back to Sir John A. himself, to navigate the river without having to deal with any more bridges, mining or forestry equipment, pipelines or dams. At least, any proposed new infrastructure of this kind will need a permit from Ottawa. That apparently won't be the case for all those unprotected waterways. They, on the other hand, will be "wide open for business." 

For example, anyone living in the northern Manitoba riding of Churchill will apparently be left at the mercy of Captains of Industry who want to treat the waterways there as commodities for their own, personal gain. That's because the Churchill River is not on that "protected" list. The MP for that riding represents the Opposition NDP in parliament. Word even has it that over 90 percent of the waterways designated as "protected," fall within ridings represented by government members. I guess that'll teach us who to vote for, next time!

I speak with tongue in cheek, of course. In fact, this kind of government patronage reeks of a shoddy new low, even for the Harperites. And it once again lays threadbare the "cloak of green" Mr. Sopuck likes to put on, to cleverly disguise himself as an environmentalist.  

Also left in tatters is Harper's infamous pledge in his election victory speech, to be a leader "for all Canadians."

In fact, Mr. Sopuck is to speak tomorrow to the "Frontier Centre," where he actually used to work. It is a right-wing, climate-change-denying think-tank, currently being sued for libel by a leading U.S. climatologist. No, his scheduled topic is not, as it should be, about that recent, enormous Hurricane, Sandy or whether climate change played a role in it. Rather, it is the "improvements" his government is making to                             (Above) A PLT creation         environmental assessments and "the need to base decisions on science."

         

The reality is, Ottawa is gutting those assessments to the benefit of resource exploitation, removing habitat protection from many fish species and spitting in the faces of reputable scientists everywhere. For example, it slashed funding to the Experimental Lakes Area project earlier this year. The ELA has, for years, been recognized for world-renowned, ground-breaking research on water quality.

Meanwhile, in parliament, Mr. Sopuck has, in his speeches, helped perpetuate the lie that the NDP Opposition is advocating a carbon tax to help fight climate change. It is not. Even if it were, I'd say, so what? A carbon tax makes a lot of sense. Even sectors of the oil industry seem in favour of this as an effective way to reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions. While I believe there would be a net benefit in turning to more alternative energy sources, surely we have to resign ourselves to paying some kind of price for a cleaner energy future.

Sadly, Mr. Sopuck's wilful mis-statements simply emphasize the fact that the Conservatives are the only party we can count on to do nothing about global warming, the most dangerous crisis facing the planet today. How many "Frankenstorms" like Sandy will we have to survive, to get him and his government to sit up and take notice?

Their fixation with investment and foreign trade deals, no matter what country we may be climbing into bed with, no matter how much sovereignty we may lose in the process, must end. 

Now.

Larry Powell
Roblin Manitoba