Is It Time to Put the Brakes on Runaway Coal Development?

The Globe and Mail
The coal industry is booming in British Columbia, with a dozen new mines proposed around the province and the port of Metro Vancouver making expansive plans to become the biggest coal-exporting facility in North America.
But the flurry of activity is raising environmental concerns at both ends of the supply chain, and British Columbians may soon want to put the brakes on what is starting to look like a runaway coal train. Details here.

PLT: "Runaway coal development" is exactly the effect desired by our Harperite government after it passed on a golden opportunity to tighten restrictions, choosing to actually loosen ones it had earlier promised. In so doing, it has shown itself to be the most blatant and shameless anti-science nation on the planet, caring not a whit for the future of our children. In the full knowledge that coal offers the worst of the worst in terms of energy alternatives and the fight against catastrophic climate change, they govern for business interests only. Period, end of story.

Canada's Top Ten Weather Stories for 2012 - a Year Which Broke Records for the NUMBER of Records

Environment Canada - A Year in Review

From super storms to super heat, and from immense flooding to immense fires; "go big" seemed to be the theme for Mother Nature in 2012. Details here.

 Beautiful though it may be, heavy hoarfrost has coated power lines throughout Manitoba, causing them to sag and break. Hydro crews have been sent scrambling to fix hundreds of outages. In some cases, power has been out for several hours in freezing temperatures. While cold snaps still occur, the warming atmosphere is capable of holding more moisture - much more than it used to. This triggers more frequent and severe events such as this. (PLT photo.)

PLT: To his credit, Dave Phillips, Ottawa's "go-to" guy for media questions about weather and climate, won't flatly deny that climate change is playing a role here. But neither is he helpful when he muddies the water about not being able to attribute a single year's worth of weather to that factor. (Don't foget Dave, 2012 isn't the only record-setting year we have had of late.) Perhaps media would be well-advised to sound out other scientists, whose jobs do not face Harper's axe if they say things he disagrees with. How about Andrew Weaver of the University of Victoria? He is outspoken, credible and qualified, having been a lead author with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Canadian pig industry: the need for change

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives

In Canada, large industrial operations designed to raise hundreds to thousands of pigs in confinement have largely replaced the small, mixed farms that dominated the landscape before the Second World War. These pig factories typically rely on liquid manure systems and have been widely criticized for their negative impact on the environment, and worker health. Details here.

Fracking to be Banned Near Sacred Headwaters in British Columbia

The Globe and Mail reports, “Oil and gas development is to be banned from a 400,000-hectare area in northwestern British Columbia known as the Sacred Headwaters…Details here.

Photo credit; Greystone Books.

PLT: While I've labelled this post "Victory," a reading of the small print will reveal that it is still the corporations who really call the shots in our world.

C Ya Soon!

Dear PLT readers,

I'm again involved in researching an in-depth magazine article which will be appearing in the new year. Will tell you more as the time approaches.

And, of course, there's Christmas and all that that involves!

So I won't be posting as often as I normally do. Anyway, things should get back to normal in the next few weeks. Meanwhile, have a great holiday season and the very best in 2013!

Sincerely,
Larry

Sharing, Not Buying at Chrtistmas (Podcast)

CBC Radio - Sunday Edition

Over the past century, Christmas has become an annual excuse for frenzied, even pathological consumerism. Sure, it helps businesses big and small, but do we really need all that stuff?  Listen here.

The Gift of Death

George Monbiot

Pathological consumption has become so normalised that we scarcely notice it. Full story here.

PLT: Get a talking fish toy for your loved one this Christmas! What a catch!