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Protect the neglected half of our blue planet

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nature Maintaining momentum is crucial as nations build a treaty to safeguard the high seas. More here. A ribbon seal in the Bering Sea.  Photo by NOAA.

Revealed: Gaps in polar bear conservation in Canada

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World Wildlife Fund WWF’s first  Polar Bear Scorecard  found that Canada has shown leadership by investing in subpopulation monitoring. But two years into the 10-year, five-nation Circumpolar Action Plan for the Conservation of Polar Bears (CAP) it has not met its goals in identifying critical habitat nor in setting out best practices for tourism operators and for oil spill response. Story here. Photo by  Ansgar Walk

Degeneration nation, 2018. Our darkest hour.

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Common  Dreams A fertilizer plant in Manitoba, Canada. A  PinP  video. Which is more frightening? The destruction of the environment and the climate that sustain human civilization as we have known it? Or the collapse of democracy and the rise of endless war and fascism?  More here.

Can the Great Lakes Become Fishable, Drinkable and Swimmable Again?

EcoWatch As Mark Mattson waited to speak to Canada's minister for the environment, Catherine McKenna, about the  Great Lakes  last December, he could feel the weight of the 184-page report he carried in his shoulder bag. More here.

Iowans fight back against factory barns. So can you!

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Oil Spill From Sanchi May Have Reached Japan

EcoWatch Oil from the stricken oil tanker Sanchi, which exploded and sank in the East China Sea, may have now reached the shores of Japan, according to the country's Coast Guard. More here.

BP Offshore Drill Project Approval Points to Need for Reform

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OTTAWA - Sierra Club Canada Foundation is disappointed, but not surprised, that Federal Environment Minister Catherine McKenna approved up to seven exploratory drill wells for BP off Nova Scotia yesterday. The leases where BP will be drilling are located 48 km from Sable Island National Park and 71 km from the Gully Marine Protected Area, home to the Northern bottlenose whale and deep-sea corals. "I wish I could say I was shocked, but sadly I'm not," stated Gretchen Fitzgerald, National Program Director of Sierra Club Canada Foundation.  "This project could  result in a massive blow out on the East coast, one  that  we are not prepared nor equipped  to deal with. Even under the best  conditions,  BP says it will take two weeks to cap a well.  That's two weeks  for oil to flow,  threatening whales, fish, birds, and fisheries." The Environmental Assessment Report for the project indicates that in  case of  a spill, oil could  rea

Spill near Vancouver. Is the cosmos messing with Trudeau and Notley?

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NATIONAL OBSERVER Just as the Kinder Morgan pipeline controversy surges to fever pitch over oil spill impacts, a barge near Vancouver has sunk, spilling diesel into the ocean in the territory of the Squamish Nation. More here. A sunken tanker in the harbour at San Juan,  Puerto Rico, 1968.  U.S, Navy photo. RELATED:  Spills are an ocean away — until they’re not

Polar bears are wasting away in a changing climate

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nature Photo by  Andreas Weith Melting sea ice makes it hard for the Arctic predators to consume enough calories to survive. More here.

BC Moves to Block Kinder Morgan

SIERRA   CLUB BC This week we scored another victory on the path to stopping Kinder Morgan’s pipeline and tankers. Story here.

‘Big Five’ in Alberta’s oilpatch suspected of sitting on a $2 trillion liability

NATIONAL OBSERVER The five companies that own most of the oilsands production in Alberta should come clean with the public about the "enormity" of the costs — adding up to nearly $2 trillion in a worst-case scenario — of their pollution, says a new study. More here.