What’s Changed on the Ground Since the Mount Polley Mine Disaster?

THE TYEE

Highland Valley Copper Mine, Logan Lake, BC

Not enough, say critics, who call for a judicial inquiry into the state of mining regulation in BC. Story here. 

Imperial Metals: drop your mine project in BC's Clayoquot Sound. PLEASE SIGN PETITION!

+SumOfUs

The company responsible for the worst mining disaster in Canadian history wants to build a new open-pit copper mine in the heart of the pristine rainforests of Clayoquot Sound. PLEASE SIGN!

Clayoquot Sound - Vancouver Island. Photo by Adam Jones, Ph.D.

Slice of Greenland ice melts into oblivion

climate

news network

Eastern Greenland. Photo by Algkalv 

Coastal glaciers in terminal decline as Greenland ice runs into the ocean and threatens to raise sea levels by the end of the century. Story here.

Chronicling the Misdeeds of my Member of Parliament. (Opinion)

by Larry Powell

While he has never gotten my vote, Robert Sopuck managed to climb aboard the tide of rural populism in 2010, becoming a loyal team player for Stephen Harper and MP from the Dauphin/Swan River/Neepawa riding, where he remains to this day. He's a member of the Conservative Party of Canada which I've lovingly re-named, "The Cynical Party of Canada."

Sopuck's latest transgression (now making the rounds on social media), captures him insulting the Green Party Leader, Elizabeth May in the House by suggesting she can't handle numbers. The Speaker ordered him to apologize (which he did sullenly and reluctantly). 

Above is the newspaper ad Sopuck is running at Easter. (So much for separation of church and State.)

This is the same MP who:

•  has supported in the House, the brutal practise of "shark-finning" where sharks (often endangered species) are harvested for their fins only & thrown back alive into the ocean:
•  spoken in favour of the asbestos industry, arguing the product is safe:
•  refused to attend an important election forum in his riding on child poverty (which all other candidates attended):
•  labelled as "anti-semitic" those who campaign for justice for Palestinians: 
• posted a video from a Commons Committee hearing, showing him browbeating a hapless Environment CA scientist into "admitting" that climate change was really no big deal in CA because we "contribute so little," and:
• Posted another video of him hunting in the Yukon. The title? "The Making of a Legend." 

His latest insult of Elizabeth May is just another in a long line of incidents depicting a man with a Messiah complex who thinks he can behave like a jerk and still get re-elected. Maybe in the next campaign, we need to show him that he cannot.

Really Bob, is this the way Jesus would behave? You had better watch out, because He is coming back, you know! Let's hope it's not in your lifetime, tho. Hasn't He suffered enough already?

-30-

Glyphosate Grabs Headlines Again - and Not in a Good Way.

by Larry Powell

A field of durum wheat. (Wikimedia Commons)

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has detected the weedkiller glyphosate in almost thirty percent (29.7%) of food products it tested over the past two years. 

The foods were; fresh and processed fruits and vegetables, grains, beverages, beans, peas, lentils, soy beans and children’s food. While small amounts were found in all of the food groups tested, the CFIA concludes, levels were only high enough to be of concern to human health in 1.3 percent, overall. The grain tested (wheat and barley), had more Glyphosate above the acceptable standard (3.9%)  than any other food group. 

Less than one percent (.2% - .6%) of bean, pea, lentil and juice samples tested above the acceptable limit. While traces of the herbicide were found in all food groups tested, none of the fruits, vegetables, soy products or infant food were found to exceed the acceptable limit. 

The agency says, where levels were unacceptable, it has taken action by notifying the manufacturer or importer, requested corrective action, conducted further sampling or recalled products. It did not specify.

A pie chart displayed on the agency’s website shows that most of the sample in all food categories, contained no detectable levels, at all. 

Glyphosate is the most widely-used herbicide in the world, sold largely under the brand name, Roundup. While its findings have since been challenged, a branch of the World Health Organization has concluded the product “probably causes cancer in humans.”

The Unbearable Cost of Drought in Africa

UN News Centre

A poor rural community in Tanzania after the failure of the rains, facing drought and food insecurity. Photo - Wikimedia Commons.
Nearly 50 per cent of all emergency food assistance to Africa is due to natural disasters, with advancing droughts significantly threatening both livelihoods and economic growth. Story here.

From extreme drought to record rain: Why California's drought-to-deluge cycle is getting worse

Los Angeles Times

California's climate has long been dominated by cycles of intense dry conditions, followed by heavy rain and snow. But never before in recorded history has the state seen such an extreme drought-to-deluge swing. Details here.

Water rages under a bridge in Nevada City, California in January. Photo Credit - California Department of Water Resources