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Tar Sands Emissions Linked to Serious Health Problems in Alberta

RSN   reader supported news In a landmark report to Alberta’s energy regulator, a panel of experts has concluded that odors from a controversial tar sands processing plant are linked to human health impacts. Full story here.

Experimental Lakes Area Research Station Officially Saved

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CBC News Deal launches 'fresh new chapter' in life of research station near Kenora in northwestern Ontario.  Details here.   Dear Larry, I’m delighted to share some good news with you! It was  announced yesterday  that a final agreement  was made to transfer operation of the Experimental  Lakes Area (ELA) to the International Institute for  Sustainable Development (IISD). We applaud the  IISD and the Governments of Ontario and Manitoba  for creating a new home for the ELA.

Conservative Climate Panel Warns World Faces ‘Breakdown Of Food Systems’ And More Violent Conflict

CLIMATE PROGRESS The U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has issued its second of four planned reports examining the state of climate science. This one summarizes what the scientific literature says about “Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability” (big PDF here ). As with every recent IPCC report, it is super-cautious to a fault and yet still incredibly alarming. Details here.

Climate Change Already Felt 'On All Continents And Across The Oceans,' IPCC Finds

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Huffington Post Climate change has already left its mark "on all continents and across the oceans ", damaging food crops, spreading disease, and melting glaciers , according to the leaked text of a blockbuster UN climate science report due out on Monday. Details here.   Full report here. PLT photo.

Don't Believe the Harperites! There ARE Downsides to Free Trade! (Letter)

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Dear Editor, After reading the letter-to-the-editor from Robert Sopuck, (Conservative MP for Dauphin-Swan River-Marquette) in  The Roblin Review   back in January (Canada-Eu agreement will bring jobs to the riding) (*see below), one would think there are no "downsides" to free trade, at all!  How convenient that he and Prime Minister Harper are leaving out the parts that aren't as flattering. Free trade agreements have, for years, been chipping away at the ability of sovereign nations to make laws that protect our health and environment. Far from protecting us, such deals hand over more and more power to giant, ruthless and unelected corporations to sue nations like Canada, if our laws interfere with their own "rights" to make a profit.  As long ago as the 1990s, an American outfit called Ethyl Corp. made off with $19 million of Canadian taxpayers' money under provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Ethyl Co

Extreme Weather, Natural Disasters Led To $45 Billion In Insurance Losses In 2013

Huffington Post  Disasters such as floods in Europe, winter storms in the U.S. and typhoons in Asia cost insurance companies $45 billion in 2013, a leading Swiss firm said Wednesday. Details here.

Another Heartfelt Appeal to Stop the Slaughter of Earth's Precious Pollinators (Video)

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Please also read:   Are Canada's Pesticide Regulators on the Take? Canadian Authorities Refuse to Protect Precious Pollinators From Known Toxins. Is Something Crooked Going on Here?      Stop Stalling on Action to Protect Bees, Environmental Groups Tell Canadian Minister.