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Beijing Smog Makes City 'Barely Suitable' For Life, Report Says

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Some Canadian-made pollution from an ethanol plant in Manitoba, CA. PLT photo. (Reuters) - Severe pollution in Beijing has made the Chinese capital "barely suitable" for living, according to an official Chinese report, as the world's second largest economy tries to reduce often hazardous levels of smog caused by decades of rapid growth. Full story here.

Roundup-Resistant Weeds a Clear and Present Danger

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the Manitoba Co-Operator Canadian farmers are being warned to be careful not to lose their most precious weed-control resource. Full story here. (l.) A newspaper ad showing the "kinder, gentler" side of present day agriculture. (Sarcasm intended.) PLT photo.

Fossil Fuel Subsidies Dampen Shift Towards Renewables

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INTER PRESS  News Agency Wind turbine in Saskatchewan, Canada. PLT photo. Despite evolving public awareness and alarm over climate change, subsidies for the production and consumption of fossil fuels remain a stubborn impediment to shifting the world’s energy matrix towards renewable sources. Full story here.

Group Wants Lac-MĆ©gantic Contamination Records Made Public

The Gazette The Canadian province of Quebec is refusing to make public all the information it has about the contamination of the ChaudiĆØre riverbed caused by the Lac-MĆ©gantic train derailment seven months ago. Details here. Related: "Have our Servants Become our Masters? Why fossil fuels are no longer our friends."

Call to Action! Let's Educate Ourselves About Pesticides!

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by David Neufeld Do you pay attention to which pesticides your municipality is using on your local public land – parks, ditches, etc.? This is the time to perk up and speak up. And to share this with your friends. A disposal site for pesticide containers in Manitoba. PLT photo Every spring our municipalities publish Public Notices on Pesticides – telling us which insecticides, herbicides and rodenticides they plan on using this summer. The notices are appearing in local papers now – as they do every spring around this time. Some names you’ll recognise – like Malathion, but mostly you won’t know what they’re talking about. Therein lies the problem. Manitoba Conservation gives us 15 days from the date of notice to comment on specific pesticide programs and specific products being used. Of course they don’t give us any links to information on the products - and - they make it difficult for us to comment by only giving us a postal address in the notices. There’s mounting ind

California Drought a "Train Wreck" for Central Valley Farms

SF Gate California's great Central Valley aquifer and the rivers that feed it, already losing water in the changing climate, are now being drained because of the drought, leaving water levels at… Details here.

Massive Bitumen Seepage in Alberta Continues Unabated

The Tyee Researchers say energy regulator and industry must do more to explain why. Full story here.

Canada's Carbon Emissions Projected to Soar by 2030

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The Guardian   Tar sands expected to help drive 38% increase in emissions,  Harper government admits in submission to the UN.  Full story here.                                          Courtesy of Care2

More Unfair Elections Coming Monday in Harper's Canada! Act Now! Sign Petition

Council of Canadians  At this very moment the Harper Conservatives are shutting down democratic debate on their so-called "Fair Elections Act" and trying to ram the 242-page bill through Parliament only three days after it was tabled. Details here. Related:  The Conservative Party of Canada: a Criminal Organization?

7 Environmental Charities Face Canada Revenue Agency Audits

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Huffington Post The Canada Revenue Agency is currently conducting extensive audits on some of Canada's most prominent environmental groups to determine if they comply with guidelines that restrict political advocacy, CBC News has learned. Details here. PLT rendering

We Need GMO Wheat (Please read comment)

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New York Times THREE crops — corn, soybeans and wheat — account for a vast majority of the value of America’s agricultural crop output. But wheat is different in one important respect.  Full story here. Non-GMO wheat. May you live  long and prosper! PLT photo.