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Canada Plunders Our Oceans With the "Best" of Them!

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The Trouble With Sea Cucumbers - Sea cucumber stocks are under intense fishing pressure throughout the world, according to a new report from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. In a majority of countries reviewed and in the African and Indian Ocean regions, stocks are overfished. In the Asian Pacific region the most sought-after species are largely depleted. [more... (Photos courtesy of FAO) Large-scale sea cucumber harvesting operation in Canada. (left).

Is the Harper Deregulation Agenda Running Amok?

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New Bill threatens Canada’s grain safety and quality: study March 31, 2009 OTTAWA—A controversial bill to change Canada’s grain regulatory system threatens Canada’s grain safety and quality, says a study released today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA). "Threatened Harvest: Protecting Canada’s World-Class Grain System" is available from the CCPA website. (Regina Leader-Post photo)

A Question for Premier Doer and Manitoba Hydro

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Dam Building Is Booming, But Is it the Right Path to Clean Energy? By David Biello, Yale Environment 360. Posted February 24, 2009. Dam proponents are touting hydropower as renewable energy in an era of global warming. But the human and environmental costs are high. (China's 3-Gorges, the largest hydro dam in the world. Wikipedia photo) (Story Courtesy of Alternet.) (Read more by clicking headline.)

Hamburgers, The "Hummers of Food" in Global Warming?

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Courtesy of CommonDreams.org CHICAGO - When it comes to global warming, hamburgers are the Hummers of ... (Photo by AFP)

Big Cattle Operation Worries Local Resident - by Larry Powell

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(See update in newer post.) A long-time resident of the Roblin area of western Manitoba, Ray Spencer, has asked the Manitoba Department of Water Stewardship to look into an intensive livestock operation north of the town, near Boggy Creek. The cattle in question with Langen Lk. in b.g. He says too many cattle (perhaps hundreds) are being fed in a field which slopes directly into Langen Lake, used for years by anglers in the area. Many are members of the local San Clara/Boggy Creek Metis community. The Lake itself was named for Pat Langen, who used to live nearby. Spencer, an angler, hunting guide, retired farmer and former livestock specialist with Manitoba Agriculture, has talked to some of the people who fish there. And they are worried the waste from the cattle is polluting the lake. (r.) He says some even fear the lake, noted for its walleye, may even die in a few years as a result. Another Beasley herd in the area, but away from the lake. Hundreds of Black Angus cattle are w

"Calving" Ice Sheet Worries Top Climate Scientist

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by Larry Powell  BRANDON, MB. MAR. 19-'09.   A prominent climate scientist says an unforeseen phenomenon is quickly eroding the Greenland Ice Sheet. David Barber ( PinP  photo - above.) is the Canada Research Chair in Arctic System Science at the University of Manitoba and leader of the largest polar project in the world, studying climate change in the Arctic. Prof. Barber says many scientists have believed the sheet is simply  melting as global warming takes its toll. What is actually happening is, torrents of melt-water on the surface are finding their way down, through fissures, to the bottom. Photo credit - UNEP There, they act as "lubricants," breaking the ice apart and causing it, as he puts it to "calve" many small icebergs into the ocean at a rapid rate. Barber believes the icebergs sliding into the sea in this way, could raise sea levels by as much as six meters. That's enough, he warns, to damage several large coastal cities! He further predi

CLEAN ENVIRONMENT COMMISSION ASKED TO REVIEW LOUISIANA PACIFIC'S LICENCE CHANGE REQUEST

Sounds like protests and expressions of concern do work, once in a while! But please note the release, below, fails to mention that the government, without consultation, gave the company permission in early January to take its pollution controls offline until June. l.p. ======= Manitoba News Release ............................................................ March 16, 2009 The province is requesting the Clean Environment Commission (CEC) to review Louisiana Pacific's request for permanent alterations to its Swan Valley oriented strand board plant's Environment Act licence. "I have directed the Clean Environment Commission to review Louisiana Pacific's request," Conservation Minister Stan Struthers said. "The CEC will thoroughly examine the plant's proposal and will return with a recommendation on the request." Louisiana Pacific Swan River filed a request on Jan. 19 that its licence be altered to allow for the decommissioning of its regenerative the