Winnipeg Free Press - By: Frances Russell - 3/02/2010
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Manitoba's Conservation Minister Responds to my Story on Swan Valley Air Emissions
While composing my story, "Standing the Precautionary Principle on its Head; the Manitoba Government celebrated '09 by allowing industrial pollutants to be released in the Swan Valley,"Gov't. of MB photoJust over a month later, I got a response from one of them, Bill Blaikie.
Please read my email and his, below.Larry
==========
From: Larry Powell [mailto:earthkeeperfarm@yahoo.ca]
Sent: Thursday, December 31, 2009 12:22 PM
To: Conservation, Minister; Agriculture, Minister; Finance, Minister
Subject: News Story On LP's Pollution Controls
Dear Honourable Ministers,
I'd like to congratulate you all on your recent appointments to new portfolios! I am a journalist based near Roblin who writes regularly on issues touching on your areas of ministerial responsibility. (I write for my blog - see link below - occasionally for weekly newspapers in my region and magazines such as Briarpatch and Sasquatch.) As you may know, I've written extensively in past about Louisiana Pacific's logging operations in my general part of the province (and, of course yours, Stan and Rosanne). This time, I'm compiling another article about LP's closure of its pollution control devices at Minitonas. If I may, I'd like to direct a couple of questions to each, or all of you, the answers to which I'd like to incorporate into the story.
• Given the protracted time it is taking for the CEC to make its recommendations, are you still comfortable that, rather than requiring the RTOs to remain in service in the interim, you have allowed them to stay offline? This is obviously permitting more industrial pollutants to escape into the air of the Swan Valley than would otherwise have been the case, is it not? (After all, it will soon be one full year that you will have allowed this to happen.)
• Regardless of what the CEC's recommendations will be, or when it makes them, are you prepared to seriously consider placing the RTOs back in service immediately?
• Would you consider looking into the option of LP using a bioreactor as a future means of controlling emissions, as has been suggested by one of the independent experts hired by Concerned Citizens of the Valley?
If you have any questions about me, please feel free to ask! I hope to hear back from you at your earliest opportunity. Best regards and complements of the season!
Larry Powell
See our planet through a fresh lens, Visit: "Paths Less Travelled. Stories rarely told by mainstream media."
========
February 3, 2010
Larry Powell
earthkeeperfarm@yahoo.ca
Dear Mr. Powell:
Thank you for your email of December 31, 2009 in which you sought information related to the review of Louisiana-Pacific’s proposal to alter air emissions control equipment for the Swan Valley Oriented Strand Board plant.
As you are aware, the Clean Environment Commission (CEC) is currently reviewing this matter. My Department will await the recommendations of the CEC before making any permanent decisions regarding air emissions control equipment.
Again, thank you for providing your comments on this matter.
Yours sincerely,
“signed by”
Bill Blaikie
Minister
cc: Honourable Rosann Wowchuk
Honourable Stan Struthers
=====
Editor's note: Normally, I wouldn't consider such a "non-response" response from an elected official even worthy of mention. But I thought it important to place this government on record that it is aware of the action it has taken and is consciously sticking to it, regardless of the consequences down the road.
Will there be consequences in terms of health outcomes later on? Time will tell.
Mr. Balikie's response is not unlike one you might expect from any other government of any other political stripe. His inference clearly is; it would somehow be impossible, illegal or unethical for him to do anything pending the CEC's recommendations. Given that the CEC is strictly an advisory body, that inference is clearly just an excuse for sticking to what many people still believe to be a wrong-headed decision. l.p.
Biotech Wheat Could Slam U.S. Wheat Prices -Report
Wed Jan 27, 2010 - By Carey Gillam
CHICAGO, Jan 27 (Reuters) U.S. wheat prices could fall by 40 percent...
CHICAGO, Jan 27 (Reuters) U.S. wheat prices could fall by 40 percent...
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
With Climate Change, Some Birds Are Taking Off for Migration Sooner; Not Reaching Destinations Earlier
ScienceDaily (Jan. 29, 2010)
Migrating birds can and do keep...
Three American goldfiches (l.) migrated north to Manitoba,
Migrating birds can and do keep...
(R.) Cape May Warbler
Three American goldfiches (l.) migrated north to Manitoba,
as they usually do in mid-spring of 2009. They were caught by a
highly unusual major snowstorm in May! Photos by l.p.
Tell Chevron to Clean up its Toxic Legacy
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Monday, February 1, 2010
GM Crops Facing Meltdown in the USA
ISIS Press Release 01/02/10
Major crops genetically modified for just two traits - herbicide tolerance and insect resistance – are ravaged by super weeds and secondary pests in the heartland of GMOs as farmers fight a losing battle with more of the same; a fundamental shift to organic farming practices may be the
only salvation Dr. Mae-Wan Ho
Please circulate widely, keeping all links unchanged, and submit to your government representatives demanding an end to GM crops and support for non-GM organic agriculture
Artist Paul Hoppe
Two traits account for practically all the genetically-modified (GM) crops grown in the world today: herbicide-tolerance (HT) due to glyphosate-insensitive form of the gene coding for the enzyme targeted by the herbicide, 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS), derived from soil bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens, and insect-resistance due to one or more toxin genes derived from the soil bacterium Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis).
Commercial planting began around 1997 in the United States, the heartland of GM crops, and increased rapidly over the years.
By now, GM crops have taken over 85-91 percent of the area planted with the three major crops, soybean, corn and cotton in the US [1]] (see Table 1), which occupy nearly 171 million acres.
Table 1. GM crops grown in 2009 in the USA
The ecological time-bomb that came with the GM crops has been ticking away, and is about to explode.
HT crops encouraged the use of herbicides, resulting in herbicide-resistant weeds that demand yet more herbicides.
But the increasing use of deadly herbicide and herbicide mixtures has failed to stall the advance of the palmer superweed in HT crops. At the same time, secondary pests such as the tarnished plant bug, against which Bt toxin is powerless, became the single most damaging insect for US
cotton.
Monster plants that can’t be killed
It is the Day of the Triffids - not the genetically modified plants themselves as alluded to in John Wyndham’s novel - but “super weeds that can’t be killed” [2], created by the planting of genetically modified HT crops, as seen on ABC TV news.
The scene is set at harvest time in Arkansas October 2009.
Grim-faced farmers and scientists speak from fields infested with giant pigweed plants that can withstand as much glyphosate herbicide as you can afford to douse on them. One farmer spent US$0.5 million in three months trying to clear the monster weeds in vain; they stop combine harvesters and break hand tools. Already, an estimated one million acres of soybean and cotton crops in Arkansas have become infested.
The palmer amaranth or palmer pigweed is the most dreaded weed. It can grow 7-8 feet tall, withstand withering heat and prolonged droughts, produce thousands of seeds and has a root system that drains nutrients away from crops. If left unchecked, it would take over a field in a year.
Meanwhile in North Carolina Perquimans County, farmer and extension worker Paul Smith has just found the offending weed in his field [3], and he too, will have to hire a
migrant crew to remove the weed by hand.
The resistant weed is expected to move into neighbouring counties. It has already developed resistance to at least three other types of herbicides.
Herbicide-resistance in weeds is nothing new. Ten weed species in North Carolina and 189 weed species nationally have developed resistance to some herbicide.
A new herbicide is unlikely to come out, said Alan York,retired professor of agriculture from North Carolina State University and national weed expert
Read the rest of this article here:
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/GMCropsFacingMeltdown.php
========================================================
This article can be found on the I-SIS website at
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/
If you like this original article from the Institute of
Science in Society, and would like to continue receiving
articles of this calibre, please consider making a donation
or purchase on our website
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cutting edge science, and to promoting social accountability
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If you would like to be removed from our mailing list
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========================================================
CONTACT DETAILS
The Institute of Science in Society, PO Box 51885, London
NW2 9DH
telephone: [44 20 8452 2729] [44 20 7272 5636]
Foe email details, see http://www.i-sis.org.uk/contact.php
MATERIAL ON THIS SITE MAY NOT BE REPRODUCED IN ANY FORM
WITHOUT EXPLICIT PERMISSION. FOR PERMISSION, PLEASE
CONTACT ISIS at http://www.i-sis.org.uk/contact2.php
only salvation Dr. Mae-Wan Ho
Please circulate widely, keeping all links unchanged, and submit to your government representatives demanding an end to GM crops and support for non-GM organic agriculture
Artist Paul Hoppe
Two traits account for practically all the genetically-modified (GM) crops grown in the world today: herbicide-tolerance (HT) due to glyphosate-insensitive form of the gene coding for the enzyme targeted by the herbicide, 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS), derived from soil bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens, and insect-resistance due to one or more toxin genes derived from the soil bacterium Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis).
Commercial planting began around 1997 in the United States, the heartland of GM crops, and increased rapidly over the years.
By now, GM crops have taken over 85-91 percent of the area planted with the three major crops, soybean, corn and cotton in the US [1]] (see Table 1), which occupy nearly 171 million acres.
Table 1. GM crops grown in 2009 in the USA
The ecological time-bomb that came with the GM crops has been ticking away, and is about to explode.
HT crops encouraged the use of herbicides, resulting in herbicide-resistant weeds that demand yet more herbicides.
But the increasing use of deadly herbicide and herbicide mixtures has failed to stall the advance of the palmer superweed in HT crops. At the same time, secondary pests such as the tarnished plant bug, against which Bt toxin is powerless, became the single most damaging insect for US
cotton.
Monster plants that can’t be killed
It is the Day of the Triffids - not the genetically modified plants themselves as alluded to in John Wyndham’s novel - but “super weeds that can’t be killed” [2], created by the planting of genetically modified HT crops, as seen on ABC TV news.
The scene is set at harvest time in Arkansas October 2009.
Grim-faced farmers and scientists speak from fields infested with giant pigweed plants that can withstand as much glyphosate herbicide as you can afford to douse on them. One farmer spent US$0.5 million in three months trying to clear the monster weeds in vain; they stop combine harvesters and break hand tools. Already, an estimated one million acres of soybean and cotton crops in Arkansas have become infested.
The palmer amaranth or palmer pigweed is the most dreaded weed. It can grow 7-8 feet tall, withstand withering heat and prolonged droughts, produce thousands of seeds and has a root system that drains nutrients away from crops. If left unchecked, it would take over a field in a year.
Meanwhile in North Carolina Perquimans County, farmer and extension worker Paul Smith has just found the offending weed in his field [3], and he too, will have to hire a
migrant crew to remove the weed by hand.
The resistant weed is expected to move into neighbouring counties. It has already developed resistance to at least three other types of herbicides.
Herbicide-resistance in weeds is nothing new. Ten weed species in North Carolina and 189 weed species nationally have developed resistance to some herbicide.
A new herbicide is unlikely to come out, said Alan York,retired professor of agriculture from North Carolina State University and national weed expert
Read the rest of this article here:
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/GMCropsFacingMeltdown.php
========================================================
This article can be found on the I-SIS website at
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/
If you like this original article from the Institute of
Science in Society, and would like to continue receiving
articles of this calibre, please consider making a donation
or purchase on our website
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/donations.
ISIS is an independent, not-for-profit organisation
dedicated to providing critical public information on
cutting edge science, and to promoting social accountability
and ecological sustainability in science.
If you would like to be removed from our mailing list
unsubscribe at http://www.i-sis.org.uk/unsubscribe
or email unsubscribe@i-sis.org.uk
========================================================
CONTACT DETAILS
The Institute of Science in Society, PO Box 51885, London
NW2 9DH
telephone: [44 20 8452 2729] [44 20 7272 5636]
Foe email details, see http://www.i-sis.org.uk/contact.php
MATERIAL ON THIS SITE MAY NOT BE REPRODUCED IN ANY FORM
WITHOUT EXPLICIT PERMISSION. FOR PERMISSION, PLEASE
CONTACT ISIS at http://www.i-sis.org.uk/contact2.php
Biotech Crops Cause Big Jump in Pesticide Use: Report
Carey Gillam - Reuters - KANSAS CITY - Tue Nov 17, 2009
KANSAS CITY (Reuters) - The rapid adoption by U.S. farmers of...
KANSAS CITY (Reuters) - The rapid adoption by U.S. farmers of...
Boreal Forests Store More Carbon than Tropical Forests
Posted: 15 Nov 2009 09:58 PM PST
Report Calls for Global Climate Talks to Consider Boreal’s Impact
“The Carbon the World Forgot” identifies the boreal forests of North America as not only the cornerstone habitat for key mammal species, but one of the most significant carbon stores in the world, the equivalent of 26 years of global emissions from burning fossil fuels, based on 2006 emissions levels. Globally, these forests store 22 percent of all carbon on the earth’s land surface.
“Past accounting greatly underestimated the amount and depth of carbon stored in and under the boreal forest,” said Jeff Wells, an author of the report. In addition to carbon storage in trees, organic matter accumulated over millennia is stored in boreal peatlands and areas of permafrost. Some of this boreal carbon has been in place for up to 8,000 years.
The boreal forest’s status as the most intact forest left on earth also offers a unique opportunity for plants and animals forced to adapt to shifting habitats. Most other habitats today are highly fragmented by human activity, creating a variety of additional obstacles for species survival.
In light of these findings, today’s report urges that international negotiations on carbon and forest protection consider ways to account for and protect the boreal.
“Any effective and affordable response to climate change should include preserving the world’s remaining, carbon-rich old-growth forests,” said Steve Kallick, director of the Pew Environment Group’s International Boreal Conservation Campaign. “This report makes clear that nations must look not just at the tropics but at all the world’s old-growth forests for climate change solutions.”
“Keeping that carbon in place by protecting boreal forests is an important part of the climate equation,” said Dr. Andrew Weaver, “If you cut down the boreal forest and disturb its peatlands, you release more carbon, accelerating climate change.” Dr. Weaver of the University of Victoria is a lead author for the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which was awarded the Nobel Prize.
“The collision of climate disruption and massive human degradation of ecosystems is seriously worrying globally,” said leading conservation biologist Dr. Stuart Pimm of Duke University. “These changes are surely novel in earth’s history.” Maintaining the boreal forest’s intactness will be critical to slowing ecosystem shifts and to providing migratory corridors for displaced wildlife.
“Conservation can be an important tool in the fight to mitigate climate change” said Larry Innes, Director of the Canadian Boreal Initiative. “International protocols and legislation need to create opportunities to maintain the carbon stored in intact boreal forest soils, peatlands, and wetlands while enabling indigenous and local communities to take a leadership role in determining how to best conserve not only carbon, but the full suite of ecological, cultural and economic values that the boreal forest represents.”
More than 1,500 international scientists led by authors for the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recommended in 2007 that at least half of Canada's boreal forest be protected from further disturbance - in large part to keep both the boreal forest carbon bank and internationally significant wildlife habitats intact. Despite the current lack of international protocol, several Canadian First Nation, provincial, and federal governments have taken important steps to protect hundreds of millions of acres of Canada’s carbon rich boreal forest. In all, scientists are recommending that at least 300 million hectares be protected.
###
For further information, contact:
- Larry Innes, Executive Director, Canadian Boreal Initiative, linnes@borealcanada.ca ; 416-575-6776, 613-230-4739 ext 226.
- Steve Kallick, Director, International Boreal Conservation Campaign, Pew Environment Group 206-327-1184; skallick@pewtrusts.org
- Dr. Jeff Wells, science advisor to the International Boreal Conservation Campaign, 207-458-8492; jeff@interboreal.org
- Dr. Stuart Pimm, Duke University, contact Sue Libenson, 907-766-2841; sue@interboreal.org
- Dr. Andrew Weaver, University of Victoria, contact Sue Libenson, 907-766-2841; sue@interboreal.org
To view the full report and associated materials: http://borealbirds.org/carbonreport.shtml
-
Thanks to David Childs for sharing.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Behind Mass Die-Offs, Pesticides Lurk as Culprit
07 Jan 2010: environment 360
In the past dozen years, three new...
In the past dozen years, three new...
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Pesticides Worsening the Honey Bee Crisis
Shared by: F. Los on January 7, 2010
==========
Editor's note: Were they listening? On Dec. 30-'09, I sent the message below to the Sierra
Club. Today, they issue a release, calling for action! While it may not be the kind of action I had asked for, you won't hear me complaining. An immovable object like our federal government needs all the persuasion which can be mustered from any and all quarters! Yaaaaay Sierra! l.p.
| Green Peace |
|
Dear Greenpeace/Sierra Club,
I am passing on the news release, below.
Might there be a chance for a similar lawsuit in Canada to succeed?
I know that groups such as Eco-Justice and Environmental Defense sometimes take on such things, on behalf of groups such as yours.
Many thanks for your consideration.
Larry Powell
See our planet through a fresh lens.
Visit: "Paths Less Travelled. Stories rarely told by mainstream media."
Visit: "Paths Less Travelled. Stories rarely told by mainstream media."
==== FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Josh Mogerman
Big Win for Bees: Judge Pulls Pesticide
Bee toxic Movento pulled from market for proper evaluation...
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Larry Powell Powell is a veteran, award-winning journalist based in Shoal Lake, Manitoba, Canada. He specialize in stories about agriculture...