Roundup-Resistant Weeds a Clear and Present Danger

the Manitoba Co-Operator

Canadian farmers are being warned to be careful not to lose their most precious weed-control resource. Full story here.

(l.) A newspaper ad showing the "kinder, gentler" side of present day agriculture. (Sarcasm intended.) PLT photo.

Fossil Fuel Subsidies Dampen Shift Towards Renewables

INTER PRESS News Agency

Wind turbine in Saskatchewan, Canada. PLT photo.

Despite evolving public awareness and alarm over climate change, subsidies for the production and consumption of fossil fuels remain a stubborn impediment to shifting the world’s energy matrix towards renewable sources. Full story here.

Group Wants Lac-Mégantic Contamination Records Made Public

The Gazette

The Canadian province of Quebec is refusing to make public all the information it has about the contamination of the Chaudière riverbed caused by the Lac-Mégantic train derailment seven months ago. Details here.

Related: "Have our Servants Become our Masters? Why fossil fuels are no longer our friends."

Call to Action! Let's Educate Ourselves About Pesticides!

by David Neufeld

Do you pay attention to which pesticides your municipality is using on your local public land – parks, ditches, etc.? This is the time to perk up and speak up. And to share this with your friends.

A disposal site for pesticide containers in Manitoba. PLT photo

Every spring our municipalities publish Public Notices on Pesticides – telling us which insecticides, herbicides and rodenticides they plan on using this summer. The notices are appearing in local papers now – as they do every spring around this time. Some names you’ll recognise – like Malathion, but mostly you won’t know what they’re talking about. Therein lies the problem. Manitoba Conservation gives us 15 days from the date of notice to comment on specific pesticide programs and specific products being used. Of course they don’t give us any links to information on the products - and - they make it difficult for us to comment by only giving us a postal address in the notices. There’s mounting independently-researched evidence on negative side-effects to our water, aquatic life and human health of many of the products used.

I’ve been given permission to circulate the following contact information – so you can choose how to send your message. And please do – at least let the Manitoba Department of Conservation (Environment) know you want to be better informed and have more public involvement in decisions on which products they approve and how they are used in our public spaces. And, copy your municipality’s office with your letter. 

 Manitoba Conservation. Pesticide Section                                    Randy.webber@gov.mb.ca  204.945.7107.                                                            

 Box 80 – 160 – 123 Main Street,                                                                

 Winnipeg, R3C 1A5.

Please also read: "Dangerous Ditches - Manitoba’s 'war on weeds' comes complete with powerful herbicides, questionable spraying practices and collateral damage."

California Drought a "Train Wreck" for Central Valley Farms

SF Gate

California's great Central Valley aquifer and the rivers that feed it, already losing water in the changing climate, are now being drained because of the drought, leaving water levels at…Details here.

Massive Bitumen Seepage in Alberta Continues Unabated

The Tyee

Researchers say energy regulator and industry must do more to explain why. Full story here.

Canada's Carbon Emissions Projected to Soar by 2030

The Guardian  

Tar sands expected to help drive 38% increase in emissions, 
Harper government admits in submission to the UN. Full story here.

                                        Courtesy of Care2

More Unfair Elections Coming Monday in Harper's Canada! Act Now! Sign Petition

Council of Canadians 

At this very moment the Harper Conservatives are shutting down democratic debate on their so-called "Fair Elections Act" and trying to ram the 242-page bill through Parliament only three days after it was tabled. Details here.

Related: The Conservative Party of Canada: a Criminal Organization?

7 Environmental Charities Face Canada Revenue Agency Audits

Huffington Post

The Canada Revenue Agency is currently conducting extensive audits on some of Canada's most prominent environmental groups to determine if they comply with guidelines that restrict political advocacy, CBC News has learned. Details here.

PLT rendering

We Need GMO Wheat (Please read comment)

New York Times

THREE crops — corn, soybeans and wheat — account for a vast majority of the value of America’s agricultural crop output. But wheat is different in one important respect. Full story here.

Non-GMO wheat. May you live 
long and prosper! PLT photo.

Heed the Warnings in Extreme Weather – or Risk Losing Earth

The Guardian - Anders Levermann is a professor at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, and an IPCC lead author

Make no mistake – climate change will hit us hard. We need to clean up the mess before it is too late. Details here