UPDATE: GREENPEACE Int'l.-Se. 21 '09Stop the tar sands.
Greenpeace activists stop climate crime in the tar sands.
On September 15th 25 activists entered the Albian mining operation in the tar sands of northern Alberta, Canada and staged a 31 hour occupation - successfully shutting down the entire operation.They were there because developing the tar sands - one of largest remaining deposits of unconventional oil in the world - is pushing us towards runaway climate change. Learn more and support our campaign to stop the tar sands.
Recent federal rulings permitting a gold mining company to dump toxic waste into a pristine mountain lake in Alaska could have widespread ramifications... Eds. note: Might the U.S. mining industry be taking its cue from Canada? Here, Harper and his gang gave approval some time ago for the same kind of deplorable practice! l.p.
A Manitoba lake, unaffected by tailings (yet)! l.p. photo
The human population is growing somewhat more rapidly than demographers had expected--pointing to uncertainty in the commonly cited U.N. projection of 9.1 billion by 2050--amid a convergence of trends that include decreased funding for family planning services, fertility levels well above replacement level in many countries, and improvements in life expectancy for people living with HIV. According to the latest Vital Signs, population projections also fail to account for the impacts of global climate change, which are expected to most adversely affect people in developing countries.
(l.) Children take refuge in a cyclone shelter in Bangladesh/BBC World Service Bangladesh Boat
Not More People, But More for All People"...those who bear children should be the ones, more than anyone else, to decide when to do so. The rest will work itself out... Wanting not more people, but more for all people, we might find ourselves at home again, with more nature than we thought possible."--Robert Engelman, More: Population, Nature, and What Women Want.
Worldwatch is working to slow, and ultimately end, the unsustainable growth of world population--a critical force behind many of today's most serious problems. Worldwatch Vice President and population expert Robert Engelman is lead author of the U.N. Population Fund's 2009 report State of World Population, which will highlight the linkages among population, gender, and climate change. This authoritative report will be distributed to policymakers around the world and made accessible electronically to hundreds of thousands of people. The population message must be heard if we are to achieve a sustainable world, so please support this critical work by making a gift today.
Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq on Friday pledged $75 million for investments in Canada's food safety system. A woman works to sterilize meat processing and packaging equipment at the Maple Leaf Foods plant in Toronto in a file photo. Photograph by: Mark Blinch, Reuters