PLANET IN PERIL

"The idea of a peat mine inside a provincial park is simply sickening,” says Beddome (January 10, 2012) WINNIPEG – Green Party Leader James Beddome, joined by Liberal Leader Jon Gerrard, Manitoba Wildlands Director Gaile Whelan Enns, and Wilderness Committee Campaign Director Eric Reder spoke out against the NDP allowance of peat mining in provincial parks today at the Manitoba Legislature.  The Hecla/Grindstone Provincial Park, adjacent to Lake Winnipeg, may be home to a 531-hectare peat mine if an Environment Act license is granted.  “Regulations are urgently needed to allow continued, and environmentally sustainable, harvesting of peat for gardens and related purposes,” says Gerrard.  “While there is a place for peat harvesting in Manitoba, there is no place for mining in provincial parks.” Beddome added that a provincial compost strategy is also needed, because compost can be used as a replacement for peat in gardens. “Using compost and other alternatives, ra

Jan 10'12 CommonDreams.org Canadian Minister blames environmental, other "radical" groups for blocking Enbridge pipeline. Details here.

Dear Larry , I don't know what it is about today but I'm feeling slightly,  well … radical. How about you? When I wrote before Christmas about an impending government  attack on Canada's environment movement, I wasn't expecting  a formal Declaration of War just 9 days into the New Year. It  came in the form of an " open letter " from Natural Resources  Minister Joe Oliver that’s receiving heavy media coverage all  across the country. The open letter is in response to public hearings into the  Gateway Pipeline that got underway earlier today in BC. The  Gateway project consists of two parallel pipelines between  an inland terminal at Bruderheim, Alberta, and a marine  terminal near Kitimat, British Columbia, each a length of  1,177 kilometers. The plan to build pipelin

A waterfall along the Icefields Parkway - Jasper Nat'l. Park. PLT photo  In days, the Harper Government will privatize a section of Jasper National Park and let an American-owned company blast a 300m metal walkway into our World Heritage mountains -- but Jasper's Superintendent has the power to stop them. Jasper Park's Superintendent Greg Fenton, a local Jasperite, has the ability to stop the privatisation of the park that he grew up in and loves. Fenton is currently bending to the Harper Government's demands, but by sending a strong message of public disapproval to Fenton – he can not only save the park that he loves from corporate ownership but can also ensure that our other treasured National Parks remain publicly-owned and run. Private international companies should not be profiteering off our national treasures. Click here to ensure our parks stay in public hands -- sign the petition calling on Fenton to save Jasper National Park before it's too late! PLT:

  The Government of Manitoba is actually considering a proposal to mine peat inside Hecla/Grindstone provincial park. If you are concerned about this, the deadline for expressing that concern to the government has been extended. Read more here. Peat Mine Comments Deadline Extended

Vancouver Sun January 8, 2012 Enbridge promises tough safeguards against a spill if its Northern Gateway pipeline is approved. Details here.  A sheen on the water from the Exxon Valdez spill in 1989.  Please also read: "A Quiet Shift in the Federal Criteria for Approval of the Gateway Pipeline."

San Francisco Chronicle 1/7/12 A federal judge has upheld the government's decision to let the nation's alfalfa growers plant the genetically engineered, herbicide-resistant strain manufactured by Monsanto Co., Details here. PLT. Canada hasn't proceeded with GM alfalfa - yet. But it will, whether farmers or the public want it or not.