PLANET IN PERIL

Canadian Press - Aug 28 - 2011 Courtesy Yahoo! News HALIFAX - Up to 180,000 homes were without power in Quebec on Sunday as hurricane Irene steamed northward as a tropical storm... Details here.

Campaigners disappointed as White House says 1,700-mile pipeline will not cause significant environmental damage. Details here. ===== The Alberta tar sands - source of "product" for the pipeline courtesy, the Boreal Songbird Initiative  PLT: As pessimistic as I am about President Obama actually stopping this thing, I think the gist of this story is a tad misleading. It is the President, and only the President (not the "White House" or "State Department"), who must sign off on the actual permit that will allow it to proceed. And that has yet to take place.

By Jim Efstathiou Jr. - Bloomberg - Aug 22, 2011 Michael Mann, a Pennsylvania researcher who’s been a target of climate-change skeptics, was cleared of wrongdoing by U.S. investigators in the flap surrounding e-mails hacked from a U.K. university. Details here.

CBC.ca | The Current The Keystone XL project is a proposed pipeline that would carry crude oil from Alberta to Texas. Critics call it a disaster in waiting ... saying the pipeline would pass through many environmentally sensitive areas, and there's little doubt that at some point, there would be big spill. Proponents say the line would give oil hungry Americans a safer supply of oil. And create a lot of jobs in a time where help wanted signs are desperately needed. Click headline for details. Please read update, *below. PLT: Below is a message I sent this morning to "The Current," (with a copy to "The National.)" ===== Dear Piya, Anna-Maria et al, As a faithful listener and environmentalist, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your coverage of the anti-pipeline protests in Washington! To me, these are nothing less than a critical battle against the ravages of climate change. At the heart of this struggle is a Canadian project. The