Saskatchewan Launches Spring Flooding Website

Mar 21'11 - By: Staff - MB Co-Operator  

The Saskatchewan government has launched a website tying together flood and weather forecasts, runoff data and other information to get the public prepared for this spring. Details here.
 The bridge over Lake of the Prairies, 
on the Manitoba-Saskatchewan border. 
l.p. photo

Greenpeace Shuts Down Darlington Nuclear Hearing

Feature story - March 21, 2011
Courtice, Ontario — Greenpeace activists today shut down environmental assessment hearings on a proposal to build new reactors at Darlington in response to the Joint Review Panel’s refusal to suspend the hearings until lessons are learned from the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan. (NOTE; Photos at very bottom are best.)

Canada Kills Genetically Modified Alfalfa - at Least for Now

By Barry Wilson, TheWesternProducer - Mar 14, 2011
As MPs began debating a proposal for a moratorium on genetically modified alfalfa, agriculture minister Gerry Ritz said there is no prospect GM alfalfa will be approved. Full story here.

New Lawsuit Filed Against the USDA for GM Alfalfa Deregulation

March 18th, 2011 - By Heather Whitehead - CivilEats

Image Credit: Creative Commons photo by Sam Beebe

The Center for Food Safety and Earthjustice have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture, arguing that the agency’s recent unrestricted approval of genetically engineered, “Roundup Ready” Alfalfa was unlawful. Full story here.

"Neglible"Leak of Radioactive Water at Canadian Nuclear Plant

CBC - Mar 16-11 - Ontario Power Generation has notified Canada's federal nuclear regulator about the release of 73,000 litres of demineralized water into Lake Ontario at the Pickering A nuclear generating station. Full story here.

Feedlot Meat Has Spurred a Soy Boom That Has a Devastating Environmental and Human Cost

AlterNet by Jill Richardson - Mar'11
South America is being taken over by a handful of companies in the soy business that are destroying ecologically sensitive areas and pushing people from their ancestral land.  

Full story here. 

 

Water Matters: Why We Need to Act Now to Save Our Most Critical Resource

Read more here.

David Suzuki - The Story of the Future Has Yet to be Told

REVIEWED BY NICOLA ROSS - From Thursday's Globe and Mail

With about 25 pages left to read in David Suzuki’s The Legacy, I begin to panic. Read more here.

The Canadian Government Has One Last Chance to do the Right Thing - Clamp a Moratorium on GM Alfalfa! (Video)

Sign the petition to "Protect Manitoba from Genetically Engineered Crops," sponsored by the Green Party of Manitoba, here. 

Manitoba's Minister of Agriculture, Stan Struthers, agrees GE alfalfa ought to be kept out of this province. Help convince him to actually take action along these lines! Get in touch with Mr. Struthers here and follow the links.

Ask the Conservatives to stop delaying and allow a vote on the motion this Tuesday.  Contact the federal Minister of Agriculture, Gerry Ritz here: http://www.agr.gc.ca/cb/min/index_e.php?s1=help-aide&s2=contact

UNESCO Director-General Welcomes Suspension of Oil Prospecting at Virunga National Park (Democratic Republic of the Congo)

The UN official considers this an important step toward protecting endangered species, like the mountain gorilla. Full story here.

 Courtesy of cryptomundo.com

Born of the Stump - a Cautionary Tale About the Basis of Life - Water!

 
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I've known John Fefchak (r.) for quite awhile. I might be presumptuous to call him my "friend," (since we know each other mostly through emails and the occasional telephone call). But we do have a good deal in common. We both know what it's like to try to draw certain important issues (often the same) to public attention - issues which never seem to garner the kind of attention they so richly deserve. Such is the case with our precious water resources. John is passionate about keeping our water supply clean and is clearly dismayed when his many letters-to-the-editor seem to go unheeded. I share his frustration. If his unique and timely article below (Tuesday is World Water Day) catches the eye of even a few more readers by posting it in this space, we will, together, have perhaps achieved something worth while. (Click story once to isolate - once more to enlarge.) Larry Powell

Lake Winnipeg - Greenpeace photo 

John Fefchak lives on a farm near Virden, in southwestern Manitoba. He served in the Canadian Forces for more than 30 years. He is passionate about protecting our environment for future generations. He believes the best way to do this is by himself setting an example for others as a good steward of the land. "For we are but strands in the web of life, and anything we do to the web, affects us all."