PLANET IN PERIL

The Canadian Press (via the Wpg. Free Press) - 01/17/2012 KINGSTON, Ont. - The federal government refused to let democracy run its course when it decided to close Canada's prison farms before a House of Commons vote, eight activists argued in court Tuesday. Read more here.

MEDIA RELEASE, January 18, 2012 "We welcome the decision by the Obama Administration to say no to the Keystone XL pipeline," said John Bennett, Executive Director of Sierra Club Canada. “Obama listened to Americans and shared their concerns about the environmental and social impacts. He made the right decision.” "The Keystone XL pipeline is a bad idea based on bad economics. Today is a victory for the environment and future generations,” said Mr. Bennett. "We only wish the Canadian government would act as thoughtfully when it comes to other proposed mega-Tar Sands projects like the Northern Gateway Pipeline.” John Bennett, Executive Director Sierra Club Canada jb@sierraclub.ca 613-291-6888 Follow John Bennett on Twitter        

The Winnipeg Free Press - 01/18/2012 WINNIPEG - A United Nations organization will soon have before it a bid to designate a huge tract of boreal forest along the Manitoba-Ontario boundaries as a world heritage site. Read more here.

Common Dreams Jan 16-'12 Study: Rising CO2 affecting brains, central nervous systems of sea fish. Details here.

Grist - Jan 13-2012 Claire Robinson "We are inching our way toward a critical tipping point," said Steve Ellis, secretary of the National Honey Bee Advisory Board… Details here. Honeybees photo by PLT Please also read: "Scientists Link Mass Death of British Bees to Farm Pesticides

Dear Editor, I think the Government of Manitoba has some explaining to do.  With Lake Winnipeg's water quality getting progressively worse through the years, why has Premier Selinger done away with the Ministry of Water Stewardship? Former Premier Gary Doer created the Department almost a decade ago. Since then, the government has bragged about it being "the first in Canada," suggesting it was needed to deal with mounting problems such as floods, agricultural and industrial impacts, eutrophication, excessive algae bloom, climate change and a growing population.  Then, with the stroke of a pen last week, the Premier has reduced Water Stewardship to a branch of the Department of Conservation. Why? It seems to me that the stewardship of Manitoba waters was the beginning of a life line for the survival of Lake Winnipeg. Now it has been taken away. At no time in Manitoba's history has there been such a need for a Department of Water Stewardship as the

Jan 11, 2012 Reuters Canada WINNIPEG, Manitoba - A weed resistant to a widely used chemical to protect crops has spread for the first time to Western Canada, the country's grain and canola belt. Read more here.   Kochia, Kochia scoparia.   Photo by Jack Kelly Clark.

The Canadian Press - 01/13/2012 MONTREAL - A group led by a former Bloc Quebecois MP is taking the Canadian government to court in the hope of overturning Ottawa's decision to withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol. Read more.

Greenpeace - Jan 10-2012 Between 1999 and 2008 Enbridge pipelines spilled oil 610 times. Details here. A bunch of "radicals" at a Regina  demo about 2 yrs ago - PLT photo

Hi Larry, Holy smokes! Stephen Harper’s Conservatives entered 2012 with guns blazing, accusing “environmentalists and other radical groups” opposing the Northern Gateway pipeline of having a “radical ideological agenda” in an unprecedented open letter . That’s you and me they’re talking about, Larry. Since day one of the No Tankers movement, our position has been that British Columbians should have a say in how their air, land and water is managed.  We don’t call that having a radical agenda, we call it democracy. Yet Harper and the oil industry seem increasingly threatened by reasonable citizens expressing reasonable concerns about our country and its resources. That’s why they’ve launched a coordinated American-style attack on opponents of Enbridge’s Northern Gateway pipeline. What can we do about it? We’ve been striking back in the media, but we’ve got to think bigger. We’re never going to have as much money as them, but what we can do is beat them with our size