Consultation or Coercion – You Tell Me

Is a controversial “frac sand mine”about to go ahead on the east side of Manitoba's Lake Winnipeg without proper consent?

by Don Sullivan

Whenever there is an activity or development, such as the frac sand mine and processing facility being proposed adjacent to Hollow Water First Nation (“HWFN”), that may have an impact on Treaty Rights, the Crown not only has a duty but a legal obligation to consult with the affected First Nation community. Story here.

Don Sullivan has worked on, and written about issues affecting the East Side of Lake Winnipeg for almost 27 years.

The sand mine referred to here would supply fracking operations with a product needed for them to thrive and survive. Is this what the world needs? Please also read:

The Natural Gas Industry has a Leak Problem.

Please also read: The World is Running Out of Sand - the Smithsonian.

Man's demands on Earth's resources are nothing new. This painting depicts
sand miners in Poland - circa 1867. Courtesy the National Museum in Warsaw.

How a price on carbon reduces emissions.

PEMBINA

institute

Pollution isn’t free. There is a real cost to the environment and our health when someone — an individual or a business — pollutes, leaving the air, water, or land less clean for everyone. More here.

Carbon emissions up as Trump rolls back climate change work

The Guardian

A coal plant in Wisconsin. US Geological Survey.

Last year’s 3.4% jump in emissions is the largest since 2010 recession and second largest gain in more than two decades. More here.

Could genetic modification be about to give a boost to the war on hunger?

by Larry Powell

A vegetable garden in Manitoba. A PinP photo.

American researchers believe they've found a way to genetically-engineer a dramatic increase in crop production. They've conducted field experiments with tobacco, using a new method which makes the critical process of photosynthesis much more efficient. (Tobacco was chosen because it's easy to modify and test. The same methods are now being tested on other crops including soybean, potato and tomato.) 

Photosynthesis allows plants to convert sunlight into energy and help them grow, increasing crop yield.

To do this, most plants use the world's most plentiful enzyme, Rubisco, to capture carbon dioxide from the air and expel oxygen. But in a strange twist of nature, Rubisco captures more oxygen than it should. This produces a toxic compound in the plant which requires a lot of energy to get rid of.

It could take more than a decade before this new technology can be put into widespread use. But, by fiddling with the internal pathways in the plants' cells, the researchers believe they can increase crop production by a whopping 40 percent! They liken the benefits of their discovery to food production to what the Panama Canal did for international trade many years ago!

The research team was made up of experts from the University of Illinois and the US Department of Agriculture. Their findings were published in the journal, Science.

Among those funding the research were the UK government and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

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A World Where Leaders Are Childish and Children Are Leaders

2 degrees C

In this post, Silver Don Cameron of The Green Interview highlights the emergence of a worldwide youth climate movement. The rise of youth is being spearheaded by Greta Thunberg, Sweden’s 15-year old climate activist. Greta claims that children are emerging as leaders while world leaders continue to play childish climate games that are compromising their future. More here.

Why eating less meat is the best thing you can do for the planet in 2019

The Guardian

Chickens hang in a market. Photo by Tomás Castelazo

Eating meat has a hefty impact on the environment from fueling climate change to polluting landscapes and waterways. Story here.