Posts

A Case for Civil Disobedience

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By: John Bennett - Sierra Club of Canada - Wpg. Free Press OTTAWA — All the benefits Roslyn Kunin attributes to life in Canada in her recent column, including peace and order and good government, came about through civil disobedience. The suffragettes who won women the right to vote did not shy away from it. Details here. First Nations Protestor - Regina. PLT photo

Spruce Point Minesite Mess - a Black Eye for Manitoba (Video)

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Wilderness Committee Please also read: Mine Proposed in a Manitoba Provincial Park.

Wildlife in a Warming World

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  National Wildlife Federation (US) 'Only by rejecting dirty energy and embracing clean energy solutions — will we begin to alter the path we are on to catastrophic climate change.' Details here . Red Wing blackbird. PLT photo       

Booming Coal Exports Threaten the Great Barrier Reef

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living on earth UNESCO is threatening to take the Great Barrier Reef off its list of World Heritage sites in the wake of Australia’s decision to build new coal transport facilities on the Queensland coast. Tim McDonnell of Mother Jones magazine's Climate Desk joins host Steve Curwood to explain how an increase in shipping could damage the vulnerable reef. Details here. PLT: Just when you think human idiocy has reached rock bottom, behold! A new low! If I were an insensitive, heartless beast, I'd be tempted to say I have no sympathy for the victims of the terrible floods and wildfires which have swept that continent in recent years. But I'm not, so I won't! Photo credit - Tourist Destinations

Mine Proposed in a Manitoba, Canada Park

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Manitoba Wildlands The Manitoba government is reviewing a new copper mine  in Grass River   Provincial Park. An environmental license  has not been granted. Forest   in the project area has been  cleared, and work on the mineshaft already   commenced  before the public comment period even began. The public  has   until February 19, 2013 to provide comments. Details here. Moose in a SK park. PLT photo PLT: I know at least one NDP "insider" who is dumbfounded because his party and other "progressives" like the Greens have so much in common, yet can't seem to get together in some sort of union. Perhaps this story will help explain why!  Interestingly, a recent Manitoba Wildands poll shows 100% of those asked, want no mines at all in our provincial parks.  So who does our provincial government represent? Rich mining interests or the people?

North Dakota Went Boom

New York Times Magazine It’s hard to think of what oil hasn’t done to life in the small communities of western North Dakota, good and bad. It has minted millionaires, paid off mortgages, created businesses; it has raised rents, stressed roads, vexed planners and overwhelmed schools; it has polluted streams, spoiled fields and boosted crime. Full story here.

US Energy Secretary Steven Chu Resigns, Chastises Climate Deniers And Clean-Energy Critics

Huffington Post In a wide-ranging and sometimes defiant letter to staff announcing his resignation on Friday, Energy Secretary Steven Chu, while highlighting his agency's achievements over the last four years, blasted critics of the administration's investment in the renewable energy market, suggesting that opponents were living in the "Stone Age." Details here.

Harper Names Top Adviser!

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Paths Less Traveled would like to congratulate Wiarton Willy on his appointement as Stephen Harper's Chief Advisor on Climate Change!  PLT photo

EU Stands Strong Against Canadian Tar Sands Lobbying

Climate Action Network Canada The European Commission's plan to label dirty fuel could throw a curve ball in Canada's mission to diversify tar sands exports. Full story here. 

State Waters Might See More Oil-Tanker Traffic

Seattle Times Oil-tanker traffic is expected to increase in Washington waters under an expansion proposal by a Canadian pipeline company. Full story here. PLT: It just never stops, does it? The oil creeps continue to spread their poison like a deadly cancer. Do they ever sleep?

Could Hockey Become an Endangered Sport?

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by David Suzuki Photo Credit: kris krĆ¼g One benefit of the National Hockey League strike: it gave people time to play outside on real ice! But outdoor skating could face the same difficulties as the NHL – a drastically shorter season or outright cancellation. Research from Montreal’s McGill and Concordia universities shows global warming is already having an effect on outdoor rinks in Canada “Many locations across the country have seen significant decreases in the length of the OSS [outdoor skating season], as measured by the number of cold winter days conducive to the creation of rink ice,” their study states. “This is particularly true across the Prairies, and in Southwest Canada, which showed the largest (and most statistically significant) decreases in the calculated OSS length between 1951 and 2005.”