PLANET IN PERIL

  Grandview:    The Green Party of Canada calls on the  federal government to keep the  Experimental Lakes  Area (ELA) research station open. Closure of ELA will  cost Canadian tax payers $50 million to decommission  the site while keeping it open would only be $2 million  a year.  “Do the math,” says Kate Storey, of the Dauphin  Swan River Marquette Green Party. “This attack on  science is a financial blunder.” Giving no reasons, the Harper government terminated  funding to the facility, forcing it to close this March.  Concerned citizens  have suggested that the closure is  a vendetta against environmentalists. Research coming  out of the experimental lakes could be inconvenient to  those wishing to ignore the effects of toxins on the water  and on the health of Canadians. The Experimental Lakes station  has operated as a unique,  world-renowned centre for freshwater research in  northwestern Ontario for about half-a-century. Studies  done there hav

Greens do politics differently (But not in the way that Rex Murphy thinks) By Elizabeth May In his Saturday National Post column , Rex Murphy claimed that Canada’s  Green party has no  goal other than to get me elected as an MP —  and that this has been the case for “two or three general elections.”   Full story here. Rex Murphy caricature courtesy  of By the Bay Art Studio

The Globe & Mail The Alberta government has quietly presented a proposal to sharply increase levies on carbon production and force large oil-industry producers to slash greenhouse gas.... Details here.

Winnipeg Free Press Canadian democracy is under threat from its own government. Details here.

Murray Dobbin's Blog One of the many things that Hugo Chavez, the charismatic and revolutionary president of Venezuela contributed to the world was his demonstration for people everywhere the difference between democracy and liberal democracy.  Details here.

Manitoba’s “war on weeds” comes complete with powerful herbicides, questionable spraying practices and collateral damage.  by  Larry Powell Leafy Spurge. Photo Credit;  Idaho Weed Awareness Committee Many governments in North America believe, a good way to ensure successful food production, is to help farmers keep plants out of their fields which can cut into their yields and their profits. To achieve this, potent weedkillers, some with unsettling safety records, are often pressed into service  to destroy these "weeds" in ditches before they can spread to adjacent fields and food crops.  For most lawmakers, this must seem a natural extension of a chemical system of agriculture which has come to dominate the developed - and, increasingly - the developing world, as well. As a result, those who might have liked to chose a different path,  are being increasingly marginalized.  Manitoba is no exception.  According to  an official statement  from the province, "Noxio

BBC Manitoba honey bees. PLT photo The UK government should suspend the use of a number of pesticides linked to the deaths of bees, a committee of MPs has said. Full story here.

Photo Credit:  Kevin Pluc The federal government recently  pulled out of an important global  treaty: the  UN Convention to  Combat Desertification . It’s aimed  at fighting drought, a problem that  affects almost  30 per cent of Earth’s  land surface and threatens the  well-being of more than a billion  people worldwide, including in our  Prairie provinces.   Every year, the cumulative effects of overgrazing, over-cultivation,  deforestation,  poor irrigation and increasing extreme weather events  – including those that  cause drought – permanently degrade close to  10 million hectares  of land.  This has led to a creeping loss of places  where food can easily be grown.  

INTER PRESS SERVICE Manitoba sunset. PLT photo WASHINGTON (IPS) - A confluence of factors could make 2013 the most fruitful opportunity in years for potentially major action on climate change, according to a leading voice on climate change policy, the British economist Nicholas Stern. Full story here.

United Nations The United Nations says it's 'regrettable' that the Government of Canada is withdrawing from the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) , the only legally binding instrument that addresses desertification, land degradation and drought. Details here. Related story:  Desertification Too Important For Canada To Ignore - Suzuki

CBC News Alberta scientist calls for research on fish malformations in Lower Athabasca River. Details here.