Sunday, June 19, 2011

Where Have All the Flowers Gone? High-Mountain Wildflower Season Reduced, Affecting Pollinators Like Bees, Hummingbirds

ScienceDaily (June 17, 2011) — It's summer wildflower season in the Rocky Mountains, a time when high-peaks meadows are dotted with riotous color. But for how long? Details here.

Bee photo by l.p.

Greenpeace Leader Boards an Arctic Drilling Rig - & Pays a Price! (Video)


PLT: This is precicely the madness I was referring to in my article, "Are Business Interests Giving Bad Advice to the Government of Canada on Climate Change?" Greenpeace is once again to be commended for their courageous action!

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Natural Gas Is No Climate Change 'Panacea', Warns International Energy Agency

The Guardian - June '11
Reliance on gas would lead the world to a 3.5C temperature rise, and out-of-control global warming, says new research. Details here.

WATCH: Dangers of Natural Gas Extraction (Video)



Fracking is a burgeoning technology being used to extract natural gas locked 
within rock formations. Fluid is pumped into natural or man made fractures 
under high pressure to open up cracks and access hard to reach reservoirs. 
Critics are calling for a moratorium on fracking, saying it poses serious health 
risks to nearby residents, damages the environment and could even cause 
small earthquakes. Supporters say those claims are overblown, and fracking is 
essential to Alberta's natural gas industry. Is fracking dangerous? Is it critical 
to our economic future? How should Alberta proceed? Joining us for this 
discussion is Jessica Ernst, Rosebud resident and former energy sector 
consultant is now suing Encana; Tim Marchant, Adjunct Professor of Strategy 
and Energy Geopolitics at the University of Calgary; and Ben Parfitt, Resource 
Policy Analyst with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. 
Watch video here.
  (l.) Once quite farmland, turned into a "fracking" 
site in the US.
"Although no complete list of 
the cocktail of chemicals used 
in this process exists, information 
obtained from environmental 
clean-up sites demonstrates that 
known toxins are routinely being used, including hydrochloric acid, 
diesel fuel (which contains benzene, tuolene, and xylene) as well as 
formaldehyde, polyacrylimides, arsenic, and chromates." Sourcewatch.org
=====
COMMENT: "I wish, just once, these corporations would admit to what they are doing, instead of always denying the obvious."  Margaret Romak 

Manitoba Search Crews Enter Flood Zone

CBC News - Jun 16, 2011 Teams will stabilize properties so that owners can safely retrieve items. Details here. 

Toronto Star photo 
PLT: According to the provincial government's latest flood bulletin, 2,527 Manitobans have now been forced from their homes by the massive flooding. This has surely become an event "of biblical proportions." Except, in this case, does God really have that much to do with it?

Friday, June 17, 2011

Food Prices Not Likely to Decline for Some Time, says UN Report

17/06/11 – The international community will be facing higher food prices and volatility in commodity markets for some time, according to…Details here.

l.p. photo

Health Canada probes claim that government officials helped pesticide company overturn a ban

CANADA'S                                                                                                                                ...