PLANET IN PERIL

Add your name and tell President-elect Trump: NO dangerous Bayer-Monsanto merger! Larry, On Wednesday, President-elect Trump sat down with Bayer CEO Werner Baumann and Monsanto CEO Hugh Grant at Trump Tower and had a “productive meeting” on “the future of the agriculture industry” 1  and the pending merger between the two companies. 2 Trump has heard from the CEOs. Now we need you to make your voice heard. Add your name and tell President-elect Trump: NO to the dangerous Bayer-Monsanto merger >>

Trevor Herriot’s Grass Notes Saskatchewan is already well known for its potash mining and now another massive, multi-billion dollar project could soon be developed north of Regina.   Story here .

Dear Reader, Help shine a light on Exxon's potential climate fraud: Give $15 or more to Friends of the Earth Action! It could be the biggest case of corporate fraud in history. Exxon knew about climate change as early as the 1970s. It’s been lying for decades about the greatest environmental crisis the planet has ever faced. It secretly funded a campaign of denial to discredit the work of climate scientists. And it may have committed fraud in the process. If that weren’t bad enough, Donald Trump has now nominated Exxon’s own CEO, Rex Tillerson, to Secretary of State -- one of the most powerful positions in his administration. 

Credit: William Munoz/CC BY 2.0 We can't let Rex Tillerson become our next Secretary of State. STAND WITH US Dear Larry - It's on:  ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson, whose dubious credits include close ties to Vladimir Putin, sanction-defying business deals with Iran, and millions in donations to climate-change denial groups,  is, after yesterday's Senate confirmation hearing, one step closer to becoming Secretary of State. Tillerson's countless conflicts of interest and relationships with dictators and oligarchs make him the most dangerous cabinet pick in recent memory. His record at ExxonMobil -- corruption schemes, human rights abuses, investor fraud -- paints a terrifying picture of America's diplomatic future.

THE ROYAL SOCIETY Scientists are now discovering that climate change and air travel could be having huge impacts on each other. Story here. PinP photo.

Western  Producer The U.S. Department of Agriculture has taken a step toward increasing the production of organic foods – which has not kept pace with demand, by launching a program to certify farmland that growers are in the process of switching to organic. Story here. An organic garden in Manitoba. PinP photo.

WORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE A new study in the journal Nature  explores a vicious cycle: as a changing climate driven by greenhouse gas emissions warms the planet, soils heat up and the micro-organisms that live in the soil start to expel heat-trapping carbon dioxide, reinforcing the problem of climate change. Story here.

CBC news Documents show inspectors with the Canada Food Inspection Agency scrambled to meet deadline for time-sensitive salmon egg test. Story here. A wild Atlantic salmon. Photo credit - Wikipedia.

rabble.ca A forest in Riding Mountain National Park, Manitoba, rendered "ghost-like" by hoarfrost. PinP photo. If you fly over a forest and look down, you'll see every green tree and plant reaching to the heavens to absorb the ultimate energy source: sunlight. What a contrast when you look down on… Story here.

The Washington Post A Mexican coastline. PinP photo.  Intense future climate change could have a far different impact on the world than current models predict, suggests a thought-provoking new study just out in the journal Science Advances.   Story here.

The Washington Post Your morning cup of joe, the must-have chair purchased at that trendy furniture store and the palm oil that’s key to a favourite family recipe, all have elements ripped from the habitat of a threatened or endangered animal somewhere in the world. Story here. Burrowing owl. PinP photo.