Posts

Subsidies Play “Significant Role” in Climate Change, IMF Says

Inter Press Service WASHINGTON (IPS) - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is urging national governments around the world to roll back or eliminate subsidies on petroleum-based energy sources, estimating that this alone could result in a 13-percent decline in global carbon dioxide emissions.  Details here.

Ontario Corn Growers, Beekeepers Await Insecticide Review

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Country Guide West PMRA reviewing neonicotinoids after Ont., Que. bee losses last spring. Details here. A corn harvester in MB.  PLT photo PLT: This  story seems to suggest there is some doubt that the insecticides mentioned (i.e. the neonicotinoid "family"), actually harm pollinators. Of course they do! So please stop pussyfooting around the issue by suggesting otherwise....or that somehow PMRA's "tinkering" with label wording will clear this up.   An outright ban is the only way to proceed here (as has already been done in some European countries, with great success, I might add). I realize this will never happen in Canada as long as our "regulators" remain in bed with the chemical giants who profit prodigiously from sale of these disgusting poisons....not to mention farmers who read publications such as this. You farmers are surely a cog in the wheel which is crushing our precious pollinators, too... are you not? I'd love to h

Billion Dollar Cleanup of 2010 Michigan Oil Spill to Proceed

InsideClimate News Enbridge, the Canadian corporation proposing to build the Northern Gateway pipeline in Canada, agrees to comply with EPA order to dredge Kalamazoo River.  Details here. PLT: But the NG line won't spill, will it Enbridge?

Manitoba Upgrades Flood Threat, but Says no Repeat of 2011 Levels

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Winnipeg Free Press The province upgraded the spring flood threat today in southern Manitoba to moderate to major depending on how the spring melt goes over the next month. Details here. Lake Manitoba - fall, 2011. PLT photo PLT:  The ravages of man-made climate change transcend politics. Sure, governments can tinker around the edges, digging deeper ditches and building higher dams. But ignorance and/or willful neglect of the underlying cause has long-since passed the realm of the criminal in all political parties. Therefore, suggesting that we'd be better off with a party of a different political stripe is fruitless. None - right, left or centre - has achieved the "eco-wisdom" necessary to adopt any plan that might last longer than a single term in office. If we all want to guarantee that this phenomenon, complete with killer storms, floods, droughts and wildfires continues, just keep living the way we are. (i.e. burn as much fossil fuel as we possibly ca

Small and Medium-Sized Canadian Farms Fall Behind While Big Ones Keep on Getting Bigger

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Manitoba Co-Operator Level of on-farm investment favours large Canadian farms.. .Details here. PLT photo PLT: The law of the jungle still rules in the Canadian countryside!

Secrets of the Rich

Billionaires are hiding behind a network of “independent” groups, who manipulate politics on their behalf. By George Monbiot... the Guardian  Conspiracies against the public don’t get much uglier than this. As the Guardian revealed last week, two secretive organisations working for US billionaires have spent $118m to ensure that no action is taken to prevent manmade climate change( 1 ). While inflicting untold suffering on the world’s people, their funders have used these opaque structures to ensure that their identities are never exposed. The two organisations – the Donors’ Trust and the Donors’ Capital Fund – were set up as political funding channels for people handing over $1m or more. They have financed 102 organisations which either dismiss climate science or downplay the need to take action. The large number of recipients creates the impression that there are many independent voices challenging climate science. These groups, working through the media, mobilising gu

US Groups Sue Environmental Protection Agency Over Honey Bee Deaths

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(Reuters) - U.S. environmental regulators are failing to protect honey bees and their role in pollinating important food crops, and should immediately suspend use of some toxic insecticides tied to the widespread deaths of the bees, a lawsuit charges. Details here.

Major Canadian Pork Processor, Olymel Hints at a Phase-Out of Gestation Crates - But Not for Awhile

The Manitoba Co-Operator Packer/producer's move ahead of revisions to code of care for pigs. Full story here.

Billion Dollar Caribou - Nature of Things - CBC TV

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CBC - TV Through its beautiful and elusive Canadian icon - the woodland caribou - and their passionate advocates, Billion Dollar Caribou will reveal that even in the 21st century, the conservation of natural spaces and the species that live there is much contested territory, mired in controversy, drama and debate. Click  here to watch ! PLT: The first show aired last night  (Thurs.) . So please watch for a repeat! I'm also a day late posting the item, below. But, once again, please note the CBC always repeats the shows, both on CBC TV and CBC New Channel!

Dear Manitobans - Fracking May Well be Coming to a Neighbourhood, Town or Park Near You!

....and there will be "frack-all" you can do about it! Please read the Winnipeg Free Press article,  "Shale gas seen as possible new resource here," then watch and learn of this horrific practice on: CBC -The Nature of Things with David Suzuki - - Shattered Ground As reported in the  Winnipeg Free Press , exploration for shale in Manitoba is underway with the potential for the industry to develop within the next ten years. The potential shale formation runs from the Manitoba-Saskatchewan border to Treheme, including the Manitoba Escarpment, Swan Valley, the Porcupine Hills and around Riding Mountain. Province's geologists are (as of January 2012) four years into a study of the province's shale gas potential. Source: Mary Agnes Welch,  Shale Gas seen as Possible new Resource Here , Winnipeg Free Press, January 21, 2012, http://goo.gl/AjXlr It is also reported in the news that Petroleum Services Association of Canada predicted 300 new fracke

Via Rail Passengers Stranded Near Unity, Sask. (& Video)

CBC SK:  Whiteout conditions are said to have contributed to the stranding of more than 150 people near Unity, SK since early yesterday. Details here. A wintry view from the train. Winnipeg to Toronto in Feb.'13. A PLT video. Please also read:  "Climate Change and the CNR. -  Are the two already on a collision course, with train travellers caught in the middle?"