The Sierra Club Canada Foundation will be undertaking a cross-country speaking tour as part of our #SaveTheBees campaign.How can you help? Find out here.
Inside Climate News It’s summertime in Australia, which means the fires are raging . Every year, the continent’s sweltering temperatures and dry conditions create a toxic combination for bush fires that can threaten homes and lead to injuries and deaths. This season’s wildfires are particularly damaging, destroying the largest amount of territory in more than three decades. The Insurance Council of Australia yesterday declared a catastrophe for regions near Adelaide in South Australia. Story here. Related: Emissions for Power Sector Jump as Carbon Tax Ends in Australia
OpEdNews - Chris Hedges Fowl on an organic farm in Canada. (Someone once said, "Livestock raised on organic farms each has one bad day in its life. For those raised in animal factories - every day is a living hell!") Larry Powell PinP photo. The battle for the rights of animals is not only about animals. It is about us. Once we desanctify animals we desanctify all life. And once life is desanctified the industrial machines of death, and the drone-like bureaucrats, sadists and profiteers who operate them, carry out human carnage as easily as animal carnage. There is a direct link between our industrial slaughterhouses for animals and our industrial weapons used on the battlefields in the Middle East. Details here.
the Hill Times All federal political parties face a spotlight glare on climate, says columnist David Crane. Which will be willing to offer real and clear choices on our energy-environment future, with credible policies to back their plans up? Story here.
Climate Progress The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) has announced that 2014 was the hottest year in more than 120 years of record-keeping — by far. NOAA (the US weather service) is expected to make a similar call in a couple of weeks and so is NASA. Story here.
Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society PHOTOGRAPH BY PETER MATHER, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC The Yukon Government has announced that it will appeal a decision in the lawsuit concerning the Peel Watershed launched by a Yukon First Nation, the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society and the Yukon Conservation Society. Story here.
University of Washington Conservation Youngsters skate on an outdoor rink in Manitoba. Larry Powell PinP photo. Take anything from Canadians, anything at all—anything except hockey. Story here.
The New York Times In 2005, Royal Dutch Shell, then the fourth-largest company on Earth, bought a drill rig that was both tall, rising almost 250 feet above the waterline, and unusually round. Story here. PinP: This is not an easy read, but well worth the time and effort. An epic and disturbing tale of folly at sea.
By: The Canadian Press PinP photo. EDMONTON - The federal government is giving some livestock producers in Western Canada a bit of tax relief. Producers in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and B.C. who faced forage shortfalls due to extreme weather will be allowed to defer tax on their cattle sales for 2014. Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz says eligible producers in designated areas can defer income tax on the sale of their breeding livestock for one year in order to help replenish that stock.