PLANET IN PERIL

A film and book review - by Sam Burcher The Queen of the Sun documentary film is a slow-paced and beautifully shot travelogue of the best and the worst habitats for bees survival. The best habitats are the seamless tracts of wildflower meadows and the sanctuary gardens specifically created for bees that provide food all year round.  The worst habitats are the endless rows of monocultures that provide food for only three weeks of the year during flowering season. On this soulful journey we meet the biodynamic, organic, urban garden and rooftop beekeepers intent on pulling the honey bee back from the brink of disaster. We see the wonder of the snow white wax that brings the light of the bee and the sun in the winter. We watch the patient beekeepers with their hives reflecting on what was,  until 2006 and the emergence of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) 10,000 years of productive co-operation between humans and bees.

Elizabeth May, Leader, Green Party of Canada The appalling 420 page so-called omnibus budget implementation bill, C-38, will likely clear the Senate before you read this. Full story here === "…the contempt that the Tories have shown for the democratic process is unacceptable, and inexplicable. Such a hardball tactic might have been justifiable when the Conservatives held only a minority, but now, it seems simply like a bad habit the Conservatives are in need of shaking." - National Post, June 18, 2012   http://www.nationalpost.com/related/topics/Tory+habit/6798084/story.html

Canadian Centre for Policy Alternative...by Ruth Pryzner The beautiful Little Saskatchewan River (LSR), recognized as a unique habitat for endangered, at-risk and common species, winds its way through Keesekoowenin First Nation and the towns of Minnedosa.... Details here. Minnedosa's ethanol plant with the LSR in foreground. (PLT photo.) 

New York Times HARTFORD CITY, Ind. — Across a wide stretch of the Midwest, sweltering temperatures and a lack of rain are threatening what had been expected to be the nation’s largest corn crop in generations. Details here.

By Andrew Freedman - Climate Central The Greenland ice sheet is poised for another record melt this year, and is approaching a "tipping point" into a new and more dangerous melt regime in which the summer melt area covers the entire land mass, according to new findings from polar researchers. Full story here.

June 29, 2012 by Common Dreams   Western US fires are being driven by extreme temperatures, which are consistent with IPCC projections. Details here.   Devoured: A firefighter works the scene of a home being consumed by flames in Colorado, captured by Darrell Spangler  

George Monbiot - the Guardian It is, perhaps, the greatest failure of collective leadership since the first world war. Full story here. PLT photo  Please also read: "Governments and the Climate Challenge. Leadership Failure on a Psychotic Scale"

By: Jessica Gresko, The Associated Press WASHINGTON - Millions across the mid-Atlantic region sweltered Saturday in the aftermath of violent storms that pummeled the eastern U.S. with high winds and downed trees, killing at least 13 people and leaving 3 million without power during a triple-digit heat wave. Full story here. Residents of the eastern Canadian prairies were no strangers to violent weather, either. See photos, below. Winds of over 100K per hour struck the area around the west-central Manitoba town of Roblin this week.It was just part of a much larger system that created havoc from Saskatchewan into a wide area of Manitoba. Below , some of the damage in our own yard, northwest of Roblin.   (PLT photos)  

Montreal Gazette Doctors condemn move, but miners and residents applaud it. Full story here.

Dear Larry, Canada has become a country that I barely recognize. My Canada, the one that respects people and places, has vanished. Since when did this country bully charities, trash environmental laws, thumb its nose at the international community and silence its own citizens? Columbia Icefield, Jasper Nat'l. Park Since Harper took office in May of last year, His Canada starts and ends in the Tar Sands. Whatever Big Oil wants, Big Oil gets. Fish, forests, wildlife be damned. Our government’s actions are appalling. That’s why this Canada Day I’m honouring my country by vowing to bring back my Canada . I invite you to join me by making a gift to ForestEthics Advocacy today. Here’s why. Like millions of Canadians, I value clean air and water. I take great pride in this country’s stunning landscapes. I believe government is entrusted to act on behalf of its citizens. And I think every voice must count. This is My Canada. ForestEthics Advocacy is working hard to

(Courtesy of Google Images)   Rates of sea level rise are increasing three-to-four times faster along portions of the U.S. Atlantic Coast than globally, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey report published in Nature Climate Change.  Details here.