Arctic report card - 2019. (Video)

Blogger supports the embattled climate campaigner, Greta Thunberg. (Opinion)

Dear Editor,

So I guess the bully-boys of the world's petro-states sure have Greta Thunberg on the run now. Apparently their "eyebrows were raised" because the 16 year-old schoolgirl suggested global leaders be put "up against the wall" for their lack of action on our climate crisis. I guess they were terrified Greta was going to unleash her standing armies against the likes of Saudi Arabia's murderous Crown Prince and Brazil's homophobic, rainforest-destroying (and Trump wanna be) President. Apparently Saudi Arabia, busily killing children in Yemen as we speak (quite possibly with the help of Canadian-made weapons), and Brazil, whose leader fires scientists for telling him the truth - that his policies are committing Brazilian rainforests to death by wildfire - were major hurdles in the way of any meaningful progress at the recently-failed environmental summit. (Canada's own role, I might add, was weak, unconvincing and disgusting.) So, should leaders like this be "put up agains the wall," as Greta suggested? She has apologized, saying she was not advocating violence. And I believe her. But consider this.Surely the increasingly deadly storms that our children will now face, due to this latest proof that our leaders have no backbone, will prove way more violent than anything Greta is accused of suggesting.

Larry Powell,

Shoal Lk. MB

Don't let the forces of "anti-science" win Canada over. Please help!

, It’s on. Jason Kenney launched his anti-environmentalist “War Room” this week because he thinks 2020 is going to be the year Alberta starts doubling its oilsands emissions. He’s going to spend $30 million in taxpayer dollars this year to fill the airwaves with ads to promote the oil industry. We got a taste of what his spin doctors have prescribed with a two-minute video launched on YouTube. It’s ugly — within 20 seconds, it implies babies depend on bitumen sales to live happy lives. You can count on Dogwood to be a strong voice standing up against Kenney’s propaganda machine, but we need every penny to fight back. Donate $5, $50, or even $500 today — your gift will make a difference. Jason Kenney is putting the full weight of his government behind this smear campaign. His War Room team wants to erode the work we’ve done together building organized opposition to oil tankers for a decade now — and they have $30 million to do it. Don’t let Jason Kenney fool you into thinking this is a debate over jobs and families in Alberta. If it was, he’d use his $30 million budget to start transitioning oil patch workers into new careers, opening the door to future opportunities. Instead, he’s using his campaign to protect Big Oil’s bottom line. Meanwhile, the federal government just spent $4.5 billion on a rusty pipeline, and plans to shell out at least $10 billion more to expand it — think of the schools and hospitals we could build with that money. With a $30 million budget, the War Room plans to steamroll grassroots opposition and try to bamboozle Canadians into changing the debate. Don’t let that happen. A generous donor has pledged to match every gift to Dogwood. That means until December 31, your $100 becomes $200 — instantly. We need every last penny to launch a strong opposition to the War Room. Double your money with a gift of $5, $50, or even $500 right now. Yours, Adam Bailey, Dogwood P.S. Jason Kenney just launched his $30 million War Room to spread pro-oil propaganda across our country’s airwaves. They have deep pockets and a clear goal: to derail the hard work of people like you who have been defending our coast against Big Oil. You can be a strong voice standing up against them with a donation of $5, $50 or even $500. And if you give now, a generous donor will make sure your donation is doubled. PLEASE DONATE https://dogwoodbc.ca/donate

The Lancet countdown on health and climate change. (Video)

Fires scorching Bolivia’s Chiquitano forest

Science magazine

Wildfires in the Amazon rainforests of Bolivia.

Photo by List Top 10.

The Chiquitano Dry Forest - endemic to Bolivia, highly biodiverse, and considered the world’s best-preserved tropical dry forest - has lost a staggering 1.4 million hectares to fires since July. Story here.

Thirteen years after the pesticide Lorsban sickened a Manitoba family, Health Canada is proposing it be severely restricted in Canada. The European Union will ban it in the new year. by Larry Powell

In the fall of 2006, Loyd Burghart told his story to "Planet in Peril." Burghart, a livestock farmer in the Swan Valley of western Manitoba, said he, his wife, Donna and their four children inhaled fumes from the chemical, Lorsban (chlorpyrifos) which a neighbour had been sparing on a nearby crop. (Many farmers in that part of the province had done the same that year, in an effort to control a severe infestation of  Bertha Army worms.) 

Some time after the incident, Burghart, his wife 
and one of their children, pose by a mother sow and 
piglets in their yard. A PinP photo.

The spray had left Burghart's entire family with severe symptoms. He says he, himself, was left writhing with severe pain in his eyes. 

It's not immediately known how many other Canadians have suffered in similar incidents. But it's hard to believe this was the only case. (Burghart was also worried how the chemical might impact the health of his animals and their feed.)

Health Canada announced recently it will propose that Lorsban be banned for "almost all agricultural uses." It will still be allowed for things like mosquito control. The pesticide has been linked to developmental problems in humans. 

And, it has just been announced that the European Union will ban it next year, as well. 

Lorsban is described as a "broad spectrum insecticide," used to control bugs in cereals, oilseeds, grains, fruits and vegetables.