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DEAD ZONES: HOW FARM FERTILIZERS ARE KILLING OUR RIVERS, LAKES AND OCEANS

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Greenpeace challenges the sacred cows of modern society -farmers - and calls them to task for their considerable contribution to the degradation of our planet.

SO WHO'SE UNFRIENDLY? MANITOBANS OR THE HOG LOBBY?

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, May 19, 2008 Beyond Factory Farming Manitoba, a group promoting the ethical production of livestock, has launched a new website as a response to the "Unfriendly Manitoba" ad campaign by the Manitoba Pork Council. “It’s time to put the friendly back into Manitoba farming,” says BFF's Glen Koroluk. There is a small minority in our community who would make you believe that Bill 17 would devastate our province. The Truth of the matter is that the Bill does not go far enough! It will still allow unfriendly factory hog barns to continue to operate and expand in most of rural Manitoba. Bill 17 is an amendment to the Manitoba Environment Act which. If enacted, it will prohibit the construction of new, confined livestock areas for hogs and hog manure storage facilities, or the expansion of exisiting ones, in specific areas of Manitoba. It allows existing factory farms in these areas to operate business as usual. However, these areas make up less than a th

AGROFUEL MADNESS - by Larry Powell

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WINNIPEG. Apr.29th - '08 - The awful consequences of the biofuel craze now sweeping the planet, were starkly brought to light at a public forum at the University of Winnipeg this evening. (Car/Combine rendering courtesy of  the Government of Manitoba।)   Called "Crops, Cars and Climate Crisis," the forum featured four notable experts on the topic. They all referred to the dramatic and disastrous food price increases that are devastating the world's poor and which are being aggravated by the diversion of so much food into vehicles. One of the guest speakers was Javiera Rulli, of "Base Investigaciones" in Paraguay. She told of an assault taking place on the environment, human health and human rights of citizens of that South American country। It is all due to the transformation of the small nation to monoculture crops for the production of "biofuels" or "agrofuels" to power vehicles, rather than to feed people, she sai

LOGGING AGGRAVATES CLIMATE CHANGE - GREENPEACE

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A new report released by Greenpeace on the 10th of April 2008 finds that logging in Canada’s Boreal Forest is making global warming worse by releasing greenhouse gases and reducing carbon storage. It also finds that logging makes the forest more susceptible to global warming impacts like wildfires and insect outbreaks, which in turn release more greenhouse gases. Executive summary Canada’s Boreal Forest is dense with life. Richly populated with plants, birds, animals, and trees; home to hundreds of communities; and a wellspring of fresh water and oxygen, the Boreal has long been recognized as a critically important ecosystem. But as rising temperatures threaten to destabilize the planet, the potential of the Boreal’s carbon-rich expanses to mitigate global warming continues to be underestimated. Based in part on a comprehensive review of scientific literature by researchers at the University of Toronto1, this report examines the complex relationship between global warming and Canada’s

A Special Place.

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Last fall, I had the privilege of visiting an enchanting area of my province along and around the Waterhen River. It's distinctive for a couple of reasons. It's the shortest river in all of the province, flowing out of Waterhen Lake and into northern Lake Manitoba. And it's also the province's most pristine. Environment Canada actually called it "excellent" in terms of water quality, the only Manitoba river to get that rating. I'm posting a few shots here for your enjoyment. PinP photos. ___________________________________

THE HOG DEBATE RAGES. WHY YOU SHOULD CARE!

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Photos Courtesy of "Stop the Hogs." Dear Editor, Seldom has there been a more important public debate in Manitoba than the one now raging over the hog industry. Make no mistake. The issues here are grave. A powerful industry, represented by the Manitoba Pork Council (MPC), is not only pitting itself against those of us who actually care about our air, water and soil, it's also challenging the very right of a democratically-elected government to govern on behalf of its citizens. Thrown into this explosive mix are questions about the role of our cherished academic institutions. Are they remaining "above the fray?" Or are they taking sides? Over a year ago, amid howls and threats from the hog lobby, the government of Manitoba imposed a temporary ban on new factory barns. This was to allow the Clean Environment Commission (CEC) to study how sustainable they are. After receiving that CEC study a few weeks ago, the government obviously decided, they aren't sustain

TO PLANT OR NOT TO PLANT! by Larry Powell

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The value of planting trees was questioned at a public meeting in Rossburn, MB on Feb.21st. Perhaps up to a hundred people were there, including several students from local schools. The meeting was called to examine how climate change might affect agriculture. Two speakers at the meeting actually challenged the role of tree-planting as a way to absorb harmful greenhouse gasses. Curt Hull of Climate Change Connection , one of the meeting's guest speaker, said trees may absorb such gasses during their life-cycle, (through a process known as "sequestration) but actually put it back into the air when they die and decay. *(See his more detailed explanation, and another view from the PFRA below .) Another speaker, Leloni Scott of Manitoba Agriculture and Rural Initiatives, agreed. Ms. Scott claimed tree-planting is over-rated as a way to "sequester" gasses. Unconventional Wisdom? Those statements clearly came as a surprise to several people in attendance,including one of t