The CAFO Syndrome

An interview with Mia MacDonald on China’s
growing appetite for Western-style meat Posted
on 17 Feb 2009 - by Anna Lappe - Grist

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Across the planet, old ways of farming are giving way to the environmentally devastating factory farms we’ve pioneered in the West...

Photo by Kichiro Sato

Climate Change Seen as Threat to U.S. Security

By JOHN M. BRODER - The New York Times - August 8, 2009

WASHINGTON — The changing global climate will pose profound strategic challenges to the United States in coming decades, raising the prospect of military intervention...

Attack Against Offices of Vía Campesina

Editor's note - It's worth noting that Canada has actually been making excuses for this stinking coup! Please express your solidarity with "Via Camp!" l.p.
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Action Alert from the Vía Campesina in Tegucigalpa, Honduras - August 12th 2009

Last night at 11:23 pm, during curfew which began at 10pm, unknown individuals driving a cream colour Toyota, fired bullets at the office of Vía Campesina in Tegucigalpa, Honduras which is coordinated by Rafael Alegría.

Above, the kind of people ViaCamp
represents - women working in the field
with a child! Obviously a subversive
organization deserving of being shot at!
The act was a clear attack against our social organizations and leaders who are part of the National Front Against the coup.
In addition to the recent attack on Vía Campesina, a bomb capable of killing 15 people went off in the building of the Beverage Workers Union (STIBYS, by its Spanish initials) on July 26th 2009. Both organizations are part of the National Front Against the Coup. We condemn this incident given that the activities of Vía Campesina and the National Front Against the Coup are completely peaceful. It is important to mention that during curfew only police are permitted to be in the street. Vía Campesina of Honduras calls for support from national and international human rights organizations to remain attentive and to continue following attacks taking place not only against these organizations and their leadership, but also against the human rights of the entire Honduran people and all those who have been protesting in the streets against the coup for the last 46 days.

Rafael Alegría comments, “People's rights are being violated and it's a truly unfortunate situation at the moment. People have been wounded, jailed and killed.” According to a preliminary report from lawyers assisting the National Front Against the Coup today, hundreds of people were wounded and more than forty people detained following violence occurring after a peaceful mass mobilization in the capital city on Tuesday. The group of lawyers is seeking the liberation of those arrested through Habeas Corpus. The leadership of the Front insists that the disturbances were carried out by people who were not part of the protest, but rather infiltrators interested in provoking confrontations and disparaging the peaceful protests that the Front has been mobilizing. The people detained are accused of rebellion, terrorism and treason among other crimes. Alegría emphasizes that “The National Front Against the Coup is not responsible for these incidents. On principle the front supports peaceful marches, peaceful demands and peaceful mobilization. At no point do we use or call for violent acts. It appears that these incidents are the responsibility of groups interested in ruining the social mobilization and they have taken it upon themselves to provoke this situation for which we categorically deny any responsibility.” Given what has taken place in the last 24 hours, Vía Campesina of Honduras calls out to the entire Vía Campesina network, social movements, as well as national and international human rights organizations to send messages or delegations in solidarity with the resistance against the coup and for the defence of human rights in Honduras, and to assist in bringing about an end to so much injustice and violence against the Honduran people. Please send complaints and messages of solidarity to the following addresses:

State Secretary of Public Security
Coronel Jorge Rodas Gamero
Fax: (504) 237-9070/ 220-55-47
E-mail: sseg.06@hotmail.com

Special Prosecutor for Human Rights in the Attorney General's Office
Lcda. Sandra Ponce
Fiscal Especial de Derechos Humanos
Tegucigalpa, Honduras
Fax: (504) 221-3656
E-mail: ponce10s@yahoo.com.ar

Committee for the Defense of Human Rights (CODEH)
President Andrés Pavón
E-mail: andres@codeh.hn, codeh@codeh.hn

The Committee of Relatives of People Detained-Disappeared in Honduras
(COFADEH)
Coordinadora Bertha Oliva
E-mail: mail@cofadeh.org

Vía Campesina of Honduras
E-mail: laviacampesina@cablecolor.hn

Comunicaciones Via Campesina en Honduras
--
International Operational Secretariat
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
La Via Campesina - International Secretariat:
Jln. Mampang Prapatan XIV No. 5 Jakarta Selatan, Jakarta 12790 Indonesia
Phone : +62-21-7991890, Fax : +62-21-7993426
E-mail: viacampesina@viacampesina.org, Website: http://www.viacampesina.org

The Meat of the Problem

By Ezra Klein - Washington Post - Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Photo by l.p.

It's not simply that meat is a contributor to global warming; it's that it is a huge contributor. Larger, by a significant margin, than the global transportation sector.

Why Corporations, Emerging Powers and Petro-States Are Snapping Up Huge Chunks of Farmland in the Developing World

By Scott Thill, AlterNet. Posted August 11, 2009.

In the past six months, big players in the global economy have grabbed 50 million acres of arable land, from Africa to Southeast Asia.
Click headline for more.

Northern Saskachewan Lakes at High Risk From Alberta Acid Rain Emissions

Saskatchewan Environmental Society

August 10, 2009 Photo courtesy of Saskatchewan Tourism

New monitoring data on rainfall in northern Saskatchewan and recently published research on the acid sensitivity of northern Saskatchewan soils show the urgent need for federal and provincial action to control Alberta oil sands pollution, the Saskatchewan Environmental Society said today.

“If regulations to control acid pollution from Alberta’s oil sands are not put in place soon, many of Saskatchewan’s northern lakes will be seriously damaged in the decades to come” said Peter Prebble, Director of Energy and Water Policy with the Saskatchewan Environmental Society. “There are two important new pieces of evidence pointing to this conclusion” said Prebble. First, precipitation so acidic that it is classified by Environment Canada as “acid rain” is now falling on the La Loche region in northwest Saskatchewan. Second, recent work by the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment shows clearly that northern Saskatchewan has the most acid sensitive soils in Canada. This means our lakes and forests in northern Saskatchewan are incredibly vulnerable to Alberta’s growing acid pollution.”

Prebble said the latest provincial government data for precipitation in La Loche shows rainfall and snowfall in that area to have an average pH of 4.96 with many individual readings below that number. Environment Canada considers pH readings below 5.0 to constitute acid rain.

“The majority of the acid precipitation falling on the La Loche region is coming from oil sands plants in neighboring Alberta” said Josef Schmutz, conservation biologist and Saskatchewan Environmental Society Board Member. “Those operations are releasing vast amounts of sulphur dioxide and nitrous oxide into the atmosphere – more than 200,000 tonnes per year. The prevailing winds for much of the year are from west to east with the result that approximately two thirds of these pollutants make their way into Saskatchewan.”

“Southern Saskatchewan soils have sufficient alkalinity to neutralize acid rain. In contrast, boreal forest soils in northern Saskatchewan do not” Schmutz said. He observed that oil sand operations are being constructed closer and closer to the Alberta-Saskatchewan border. “This environmental threat imposed on Saskatchewan by Alberta must be taken very seriously” he said. “Oil sands activity in northeast Alberta is multiplying rapidly and is not being adequately regulated. Unless strict regulation is put in place, acid rain emissions will increase because oil sands production is scheduled to triple over the next 15-20 years.”

The work done for the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) reveals that parts of the La Loche region have already exceeded their critical load for sulphur and nitrogen. Long time SES Board Member Ann Coxworth described this as “troubling news” because “when critical load is exceeded, significant harmful effects to the natural environment begin occurring.”

Coxworth said the time has come for Saskatchewan to insist on a regional cap on sulphur dioxide and nitrous oxide emissions. “A regional cap would set a limit on how much pollution can be produced by all the oil sands plants in Alberta, plus any that develop in Saskatchewan. The cap should be set in the context of the new knowledge we now have. If this is not done quickly, many lakes in northern Saskatchewan are at serious risk” Coxworth said. “One need only look at the experience of Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes to realize there are great economic and environmental costs associated with acid rain pollution. In Ontario alone, 48,000 lakes have suffered acid rain damage” she said.

“Saskatchewan should also ask the federal government to help regulate Alberta’s oil sands industry” said Coxworth. “Ottawa is free to regulate on matters relating to pollution across provincial boundaries. It’s time for the Government of Canada to step in to protect Saskatchewan.” she concluded.

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For further information contact:
Peter Prebble Tel. (306) 665-0085
Ann Coxworth Tel. (306) 665-1915
Joe Schmutz Tel. (306) 966-2410 or 382-8964

Winnipeg Spraying for Dutch Elm Disease

Last Updated: Friday, August 7, 2009 - CBC
The City of Winnipeg has begun treating American Elm trees on private and public property with the chemical Dursban to control elm bark beetles, the carriers of Dutch Elm Disease.
Click headline for more.
Eds. Note - Nine years ago, (2000), after the most extensive assessment of any chemical in its history, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) decided that Dursban may be more dangerous to people than once believed. It removed use of the pesticide, also known as chlorpyrifos, from products sold over-the-counter there.
A "sister" pesticide, Lorsban, containing the same active ingredient and with similar chemical properties, became a nightmare for a Manitoba family when it was sprayed on a nearby crop.
l.p.