U.S. Oil Spill Report Adds Fuel to Opposition to Enbridge Pipeline in B.C.

Victoria Times-Colonist

VANCOUVER — Opponents of Enbridge’s controversial Northern Gateway pipeline are pointing to a scathing report into a spill in the United States to bolster their argument that the company’s proposal to transport oil over remote areas of British Columbia is too risky.       

Full story here.

Workers clean the Kalamazoo River on Tuesday above the Ceresco dam.  / JOHN GRAP/BATTLE CREEK ENQUIRER

Canadian Scientists 'Mourn Death of Evidence' Under Harper Government

Common Dreams
Protest march will highlight public harm done by gutting of research programs. Details here.

Bird Population Report Not All Beak....I Mean, Bleak

 Winnipeg Free Press...

A recently released report shows that on average, Canadian breeding bird populations have decreased 12 per cent....Full story here.
Northern Oriole. PLT photo

Queen of the Sun – What are the Bees Telling us?

A film and book review - by Sam Burcher
The Queen of the Sun documentary film is a slow-paced and beautifully shot travelogue of the best and the worst habitats for bees survival. The best habitats are the seamless tracts of wildflower meadows and the sanctuary gardens specifically created for bees that provide food all year round.  The worst habitats are the endless rows of monocultures that provide food for only three weeks of the year during flowering season.

On this soulful journey we meet the biodynamic, organic, urban garden and rooftop beekeepers intent on pulling the honey bee back from the brink of disaster. We see the wonder of the snow white wax that brings the light of the bee and the sun in the winter. We watch the patient beekeepers with their hives reflecting on what was,  until 2006 and the emergence of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) 10,000 years of productive co-operation between humans and bees.

As Parliament Rises for the Summer…

Elizabeth May, Leader, Green Party of Canada

The appalling 420 page so-called omnibus budget implementation bill, C-38, will likely clear the Senate before you read this. Full story here
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"…the contempt that the Tories have shown for the democratic process is unacceptable, and inexplicable. Such a hardball tactic might have been justifiable when the Conservatives held only a minority, but now, it seems simply like a bad habit the Conservatives are in need of shaking." - National Post, June 18, 2012  http://www.nationalpost.com/related/topics/Tory+habit/6798084/story.html

Will the Government of Manitoba Protect the Little Saskatchewan River?

Canadian Centre for Policy Alternative...by Ruth Pryzner

The beautiful Little Saskatchewan River (LSR), recognized as a unique habitat for endangered, at-risk and common species, winds its way through Keesekoowenin First Nation and the towns of Minnedosa....Details here.

Minnedosa's ethanol plant with the LSR in foreground. (PLT photo.) 

Searing Sun and Drought Shrivel Corn in US Midwest

New York Times
HARTFORD CITY, Ind. — Across a wide stretch of the Midwest, sweltering temperatures and a lack of rain are threatening what had been expected to be the nation’s largest corn crop in generations. Details here.

Greenland Ice Sheet Melt Nearing Critical ‘Tipping Point’

By Andrew Freedman - Climate Central

The Greenland ice sheet is poised for another record melt this year, and is approaching a "tipping point" into a new and more dangerous melt regime in which the summer melt area covers the entire land mass, according to new findings from polar researchers.
Full story here.

Heat... Fire... Disaster: What Climate Change Looks Like

June 29, 2012 by Common Dreams 

Western US fires are being driven by extreme temperatures, which are consistent with IPCC projections. Details here.

 Devoured: A firefighter works the scene of a home being consumed by flames in Colorado, captured by Darrell Spangler

 

After Rio, we Know. Governments Have Given up on the Planet

George Monbiot - the Guardian

It is, perhaps, the greatest failure of collective leadership since the first world war. Full story here.

PLT photo

 Please also read: "Governments and the Climate Challenge. Leadership Failure on a Psychotic Scale"

Violent Storms in Eastern US Leave 3 Million Without Power in Sweltering Heat; 13 Killed

By: Jessica Gresko, The Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Millions across the mid-Atlantic region sweltered Saturday in the aftermath of violent storms that pummeled the eastern U.S. with high winds and downed trees, killing at least 13 people and leaving 3 million without power during a triple-digit heat wave. Full story here.

Residents of the eastern Canadian prairies were no strangers to violent weather, either. See photos, below.

Winds of over 100K per hour struck the area around the west-central Manitoba town of Roblin this week.It was just part of a much larger system that created havoc from Saskatchewan into a wide area of Manitoba. Below, some of the damage in our own yard, northwest of Roblin.  (PLT photos)