As World Burns, Richest Nations Can't Decide When to End Fossil Fuel Handouts

CommonDreams

Despite ambitious pledges, global energy ministers could not agree on a target date to phase out billions in subsidies to dirty energy. Story here.

Wild Creatures and Places in and Near Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan, Canada.

by Larry Powell
Some of the wildlife and terrain we saw and photographed in and near the park. Enjoy!

A lone member of the park's herd of prairie bison.

A shy (and rare) burrowing owl.

Ringneck pheasant

Black-tailed prairie dogs

"Seventy-Mile Butte"

A sweep of rare, wild prairie, preserved for posterity in the park. (All photos by PinP.)

Please also visit: "Wild Critters of the Grasslands, a Picture Story."

Free Trade, the Democratic National Congress and the Climate Crisis

CommonDreams

The same day TransCanada Pipelines sued the U.S. government for $15 billion, the Democratic Party’s platform drafting committee met in Missouri. Between the two, there is a lesson to be learned about free trade and the climate crisis. Story here.

Victory in Canada as Court Strikes Down Northern Gateway Pipeline

CommonDreams

Opponents "said 'no' to Enbridge 12 years ago when it first proposed the project. And now that 'no' has the backing of the courts." Story here.

You Can Give Them Back Their Summers

Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment

Forest fires are not an unusual thing in the Northwest Territories, but the summer of 2014 went beyond anything Yellowknife residents had seen before. The air quality index was at 10 or worse – the worst it can be – for much of the summer because of all the smoke. Story here.

RELATED: "B.C. remains quiet over polluted Hullcar aquifer"

British Columbia Sinks Into Morass of Aquifer Contamination

VANCOUVER

SUN

Three professional hydrologists have told the provincial government that it should immediately impose a full ban on spreading liquid manure above a contaminated aquifer that provides drinking water to several hundred householders in the Okanagan Valley. Story here.

As Peatlands Dry Out From Climate Change, Wildfire Risk Increases

CBCnews

'Megafires' result from severe drying, says McMaster researcher. Story here.

RELATED: "Only Heroic Efforts Will Spare Earth's Mighty Boreal Forest From the Worst Ravages of Climate Change."