Feds' Biofuel Fund Backs Sask. Ethanol Maker

MB Co-Operator - N0.11'09

A federal biofuels incentive fund has followed through on...

(This will be the largest "wheat-ethanol" plant in North America.) Please also read "Bursting the Ethanol Bubble."

Wheatfield photo by l.p.

First Turbine Lowered Into Bay of Fundy

NOVA.SCOTIA (CBC) - Nov. 12'09

A turbine that will test the potential of tidal power was installed...

Shooting Itself in the Foot, Brazil Spreads Concrete Through the Rainforest

Stephanie Brault - Council on Hemispheric Affairs

Depletion of the Amazon Rainforest is not a new concern...

Deforested area for
agricultural in State
of Mato Grosso, Brazil.
(flickr photo by leoffreitas)

Earth's Worst Climate Change Laggards. Guess Who?

USA Coal VS Canada Tar Sands? - America's dirty little secret

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/americas-dirty-little-secret/article1331242/

Influence wielded by coal-producing states - 25 of them - is the big reason the U.S. is a climate-change laggard
Jeffrey Sachs - Sachs is a professor of economics and director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University.
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TAR SANDS - Canada's Mordor - Council of Canadians

http://www.canadians.org/energy/issues/tarsands/index.html

“To me, the tar sands are Canada’s Mordor. The air is foul, the water is being drained and poisoned and giant tailings ponds line the Athabasca river” – Maude Barlow, Council of Canadians Chairperson and Senior Advisor on Water to the President of the UN General Assembly

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Canada's Sorry Climate Change Policies - Sierra Club Canada

http://www.one-blue-marble.com/canada-and-climate-change.html

“Under Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Conservative government, Canada has become an international pariah at climate change summits.”

The US Blows Up its Clean Energy Future

By Nell Greenberg, AlterNet. Posted November 5, 2009.

Coal River Mountain can be a wind farm that provides 85,000 households with electricity, creates 700 long-term green jobs but inside it is being...

Mountaintop Removal site

(Wikipedia)

Plan for Bhopal Tours Causes Outrage

By Sonma Laxmi, in Bhopal
11 Nov 2009 - Telegraph.uk.com

Survivors of the world's worst industrial disaster in India's Bhopal city are astonished by plans to throw the site open...

Conservatives Set to Spin Copenhagen Climate Conference

Posted: 10 Nov 2009 06:02 PM PST

Ottawa - Sierra Club Canada has learned that Minister Jim Prentice has established a Climate Change War Room.....

Why We Need More Organic Beekeepers

By Makenna Goodman, Chelsea Green Publishing. Posted November 6, 2009.

Bees teach us how to live our life in...

l.p. photo

EPA Study Reveals Widespread Contamination of Fish in U.S. Lakes and Reservoirs

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - November 10, 2009

WASHINGTON – A new EPA study shows concentrations of toxic chemicals in fish tissue from lakes and reservoirs in nearly all 50 U.S. states. For the first time, EPA is able to estimate the percentage of lakes and reservoirs nationwide that have fish containing potentially harmful levels of chemicals such as mercury and PCBs.

“These results reinforce Administrator Jackson’s strong call for revitalized protection of our nation’s waterways and long-overdue action to protect the American people,” said Peter S. Silva, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Water. “EPA is aggressively tackling the issues the report highlights. Before the results were even finalized, the agency initiated efforts to further reduce toxic mercury pollution and strengthen enforcement of the Clean Water Act – all part of a renewed effort to protect the nation’s health and environment.”

The data showed mercury concentrations in game fish exceeding EPA’s recommended levels at 49 percent of lakes and reservoirs nationwide, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in game fish at levels of potential concern at 17 percent of lakes and reservoirs. These findings are based on a comprehensive national study using more data on levels of contamination in fish tissue than any previous study.

Burning fossil fuels, primarily coal, accounts for nearly half of mercury air emissions caused by human activity in the U.S. , and those emissions are a significant contributor to mercury in water bodies. From 1990 through 2005, emissions of mercury into the air decreased by 58 percent. EPA is committed to developing a new rule to substantially reduce mercury emissions from power plants, and the Obama Administration is actively supporting a new international agreement that will reduce mercury emissions worldwide.

The study also confirms the widespread occurrence of PCBs and dioxins in fish, illustrating the need for federal, state and local government to continue efforts to reduce the presence of these harmful chemicals in our lakes and reservoirs and ensure that fish advisory information is readily available.

It is important that women of child-bearing age and children continue to follow the advice of EPA and the Food and Drug Administration on fish consumption as it relates to mercury. This study is also a strong message to state and local governments to redouble their efforts in looking for opportunities to reduce mercury discharges, as well as developing fish advisories, especially to reach those in sensitive and vulnerable populations.

Results from the four-year National Study of Chemical Residues in Lake Fish Tissue show that mercury and PCBs are widely distributed in U.S. lakes and reservoirs. Mercury and PCBs were detected in all of the fish samples collected from the nationally representative sample of 500 lakes and reservoirs in the study. Because these findings apply to fish caught in lakes and reservoirs, it is particularly important for recreational and subsistence fishers to follow their state and local fish advisories.

EPA is conducting other statistically based national aquatic surveys that include assessment of fish contamination, such as the National Rivers and Streams Assessment and the National Coastal Assessment. Sampling for the National Rivers and Streams Assessment is underway, and results from this two-year study are expected to be available in 2011. Collection of fish samples for the National Coastal Assessment will begin in 2010.

US Pressure Distorts Key Oil Figures - Whistleblower

Published on Tu. No. 10, 2009 by The Guardian/UK - by Terry Macalister

The world is much closer to running out of oil than official estimates admit, according to a whistleblower at the...

Koalas 'Could Face Extinction' - Researchers

BBC - Oct. 10 - '09 - Australia's koalas could be wiped out within 30 years unless urgent action is...

photograph by koala.net