PLANET IN PERIL

The Montreal Gazette Shale gas, Gentilly both get the chop. Details here.

Environmental Health News Children exposed to higher levels of mercury or lead are three to five times more likely to be identified by teachers as having problems associated with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, according to a scientific study published today. Full story here.

Andrew Nikiforuk  "OnEarth - a Survival Guide for the Planet" Shipping dirty tar sands oil could rip apart Canada’s wilderness -- and its democracy. Details here.

Canadian Biotechnology Action Network e-News    First-ever long-term safety test finds severe health impacts. Full story here. Please also read: "Field of Nightmares" (exposing the dark side of Roundup)

Winnipeg Free Press AYR, Ont. - The Ontario government will introduce legislation to encourage people to buy more locally-grown food, Premier Dalton McGuinty announced Tuesday. Full story here. Onions from my garden. Can't get any more local than that! PLT photo

Winnipeg Free Press WINNIPEG - A Manitoba farm group is calling for $130 million in government loan guarantees to help producers deal with what it calls the worst crisis in the history of Canada's pork industry. Details here.

Agrarian Magazine Shutting down Canada’s prized Experimental Lakes Area (ELA) is the latest atrocity in Harper Government’s war on evironmental science - by James Beddome Please help us persuade the Government of Canada to reverse the decision to close Canada’s Experimental Lakes Area by signing the
 Public Petition to Save ELA! ELA photo by CBC News

Brandon Sun MONTREAL - The federal government has tossed in the towel and will stop fighting international efforts to list asbestos as a dangerous substance, striking another blow to a once-mighty Canadian industry now on the verge of extinction. Full story here. Please also read: "The New Harper Government Sharpens its Claws on 'The Enemy'"  

Cosmetic pesticides are those chemicals used merely to maintain an appearance of a lawn or garden. Their purpose is not to protect public health or prevent invasive species from spreading, which makes exposure to these chemicals an unnecessary risk. Sign here.

CBC News Opponents of the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline are organizing what they're calling the largest act of peaceful civil disobedience on the oil sands issue in Canada. Full story here. The Great Bear Rainforest which the pipeline would cross.

14/04/2012 1:00 AM |     Brandon Sun - PRINT EDITION Maple Leaf and government policy is to blame for the continued loss of hog producers and a risk to “thousands of jobs” at the Brandon slaughter plant. Manitoba Pork Council general manager Andrew Dickson would have us believe that the province-wide hog production ban and new manure treatment regulations are the culprits. Does Dickson forget that the loss of most independent hog farmers started when the Maple Leaf, Hy-Tek and Puratone corporations set up their pyramid scheme-like operations and the conservative Filmon government removed single-desk marketing protection in the late 1990s? Well before a moratorium and phosphorus regulation was put in place. Further details here.

Planetsave The consequences for the Himalayan water supply depend heavily on the region’s thousands of glaciers… Full story here. Photo courtesy of MailOnline

Winnipeg Free Press - Laura Rance Austin tragedy didn't help. Full story here. Please also read: Pork Council Must Focus More on Farmers' Needs 

by Mark Hertsgaard - The Daily Beast Droughts, heat waves, with the evidence mounting of major climate change, why aren’t parents taking action to protect their children from its dire effects? Mark Hertsgaard calls for parents to act just like they would if a train was heading toward their children. Full story here. Damage from a wicked plow wind which struck a wide area of western Manitoba in July. PLT photos

Rodale's - A note from our Executive Director    The news has been flooded with all sorts of noise about the Stanford meta-analysis “Are Organic Foods Safer or Healthier Than Conventional Alternatives?” Although both the researchers themselves and the media made it sound as if conventional came out on top, the numbers clearly made the case for organic. Here is what we saw when we read the report: PLT photo 

New York Times Don’t laugh, but maybe milk is tastier and healthier if it comes from a cow with a name. Full story here. PLT photo

Schindler's Pissed - Alternatives Journal - Canada's Environment Magazine.  Freshwater science pioneer David Schindler fires back about tar sands development, closing the Experimental Lakes Area, and why researchers should speak out. Full story here. Also in this issue, "Field of Nightmares," exposing the dark side of Roundup. 

Globe and Mail After a year of tough negotiations with companies and premiers that tested Ottawa’s resolve to fight climate change, Environment Minister Peter Kent is finally ready to present the final version of regulations to curtail greenhouse gas emissions from the coal-fired electricity sector. Full story here.

Ottawa continues to embrace the widespread use of Roundup on Canadian farms by letting corporate seduction trump scientific evidence. by Larry Powell A crop-duster sprays a GMO crop in western MB. A PinP photo. In its quest to dominate the planet's agricultural biotechnology sector, Monsanto's business model has produced significant collateral damage. Generations of farming families in South America, India and other robustly developing regions have been devastated by the US-based multinational’s product line, namely its flagship herbicide Roundup and the patented seeds that go with it.  In the 1970s, the company began genetically modifying canola, and they’ve since created their own patented versions of soybeans, corn, cotton and a range of other crops. The havoc wreaked by Monsanto’s remarkable growth in the interim includes widespread claims of pollution, illegal activity and damage to health and livelihoods, as well as a systematic effort to crush detr

Manitoba Co-operator Step Forward Paper is made with 80 per cent straw Manitoba farmers could see a lucrative new market for straw emerge, as the province moves closer to becoming the site of North America's first pulp and paper mill using straw. Full story here.

This podcast has been airing on the CBC Radio program, "The Current." It suggests human activity has now placed us in an entirely new geologic epoc. And not a good one! Listen here.                           (PLT video & photo) I shot this video of my home (above) just after these winds toppled two mature spruce trees, narrowly missing our house as we slept. The still photo (r.) shows the gap left in the shelterbelt which protects us from the elements. To me, climate change is now personal! Larry Powell. 

Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives Early last year stories hit the news about the potential for food prices to rise throughout 2011.    PLT photo Commodities prices for wheat, corn, sugar, and others were all on the rise which ultimately resulted in a 4.4% rise in the cost of food to December 2011. Full story here

                                                  CBC  Courtesy of SteinbachOnline.com People in Manitoba's hog industry are shocked a farm in the western part of the province is under investigation for animal cruelty. Full story here.

Sooo.....Hurricane Isaac has forced the Republican National Convention to take a recess.....couldn't happen to a nicer group of climate-deniers.  PLT

  Canadian Authorities Refuse to Protect Precious Pollinators From Known Toxins. Is Something Crooked Going on Here?        by Larry Powell Bumblebees forage on organic chives. A  PinP  photo For way too many years now, they and their political masters have been stubbornly refusing to protect our precious plant pollinators such as bees from known toxins.  Isn’t it high time we found out why? It’s gotten to the point where, to me, the failure of these individuals to lift a finger to save collapsing world populations of these creatures, borders on the criminal. It even smacks of collusion between them and the agro-chemical industry. For years, scientific research teams both far and near, have been documenting dwindling numbers, even extinctions, of several populations of honey bees and bumble bees. Scores of reputable groups, including The Canadian Pollination Institute (CANPOLIN), the Xerces Society and the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in the ‘States, are all sound

Vancouver Sun Only two per cent of Canadians who responded to a new opinion poll believed climate change is not occurring. Full story here.

Avaaz.org Australia could let mining magnates build one of the world's largest coal ports on top of the Great Barrier Reef ecosystem -- opening access to 8 billion extra tonnes of planet-killing coal and risking the survival of this entire amazing world heritage site. Details here.

By: Jenny Ford - Winnipeg Free Press Manitoba lakes have some of the highest concentrations of a potent toxin produced by blue-green algae, a study published today found. Details here.

Laura Rance - Winnipeg Free Press   Harper's act of clemency hits at CWB   PLT photo As the new marketing era dawned Aug. 1, Canada's prime minister took his revisionist view of history and his ideological vendetta against the Canadian Wheat Board to a new level. Full story here.

IPS - Interpress Service BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe, Aug 8 2012 (IPS) - Humanity is living beyond its means with the growing demand for food, medicines and other nature-based products, making sustainable consumption and conservation a matter of life and death. This is according to the world’s oldest and largest global environmental network, the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Details here.

Reuters Irrigation pivots sit idle in winter, in the US midwest. PLT photo. LONDON, Aug 8 (Reuters) - The world is depleting underground water reserves faster than they can be replenished due to over-exploitation, according to scientists in Canada and the Netherlands. Details here.

Dear Reader, By way of explaining why my blog has been so dormant, I suffered a heart attack about a month ago. They rushed me by ambulance from Roblin (MB) to the cardiac wing in the Regina General hospital. There, they installed a "stent" in a blocked artery, then did open hearts surgery during which they bypassed six other arteries. Lucky for me, the cardiac ward in Regina and the people who work there, are world-class. I'm home now, recovering. But I'll now have to visit a sleep clinic in order to deal with my Sleep Apnea which appears to have returned. I may have to start using (for lack of the correct, technical term) a "sleep machine" to help me at night. Should be able to get back to posting regularly, in short order. Thinking of you all. Larry

A PLT creation.

Winnipeg Free Press.... COLEMAN, P.E.I. - The discovery of hundreds of dead fish in Prince Edward Island is spawning concerns from environmentalists about the use of pesticides in the province's agriculture industry. Details here.

Hang the Bankers If you think the jury’s still out on whether cell phones can be dangerous to your health, then you might want to take the time to listen to this video. Watch video here.

But the RM's plan to press ahead with a lagoon somewhere else, does not bode well for those who would like to shed such antiquated technology in favour of something better.  - by Larry Powell ===== According to an informed source, four members of the 6-member RM Council met in special session this week and voted to scrap the site originally proposed, north of Highway Five and a few kilometres east of Lake of the Prairies. It would have been just over 1K upwind from my country residence, on land owned by the Reeve, Albert Nabe. The source, who asked not to be publicly identified, says only four of the six councillors were present at the meeting. (The other two, Reeve Nabe and Councillor Jack Lenderbeck, have not been voting because of a conflict-of-interest in the issue....Reeve Nabe because he owns the land and Councillor Lenderbeck because he rents land from the Reeve.)  The vote to abandon the original site means the hunt is now on for another which does not n

Victoria Times-Colonist VANCOUVER — Opponents of Enbridge’s controversial Northern Gateway pipeline are pointing to a scathing report into a spill in the United States to bolster their argument that the company’s proposal to transport oil over remote areas of British Columbia is too risky.        Full story here. Workers clean the Kalamazoo River on Tuesday above the Ceresco dam.  / JOHN GRAP/BATTLE CREEK ENQUIRER

Common Dreams Protest march will highlight public harm done by gutting of research programs. Details here.

 Winnipeg Free Press... A recently released report shows that on average, Canadian breeding bird populations have decreased 12 per cent.... Full story here. Northern Oriole. PLT photo

A film and book review - by Sam Burcher The Queen of the Sun documentary film is a slow-paced and beautifully shot travelogue of the best and the worst habitats for bees survival. The best habitats are the seamless tracts of wildflower meadows and the sanctuary gardens specifically created for bees that provide food all year round.  The worst habitats are the endless rows of monocultures that provide food for only three weeks of the year during flowering season. On this soulful journey we meet the biodynamic, organic, urban garden and rooftop beekeepers intent on pulling the honey bee back from the brink of disaster. We see the wonder of the snow white wax that brings the light of the bee and the sun in the winter. We watch the patient beekeepers with their hives reflecting on what was,  until 2006 and the emergence of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) 10,000 years of productive co-operation between humans and bees.

Elizabeth May, Leader, Green Party of Canada The appalling 420 page so-called omnibus budget implementation bill, C-38, will likely clear the Senate before you read this. Full story here === "…the contempt that the Tories have shown for the democratic process is unacceptable, and inexplicable. Such a hardball tactic might have been justifiable when the Conservatives held only a minority, but now, it seems simply like a bad habit the Conservatives are in need of shaking." - National Post, June 18, 2012   http://www.nationalpost.com/related/topics/Tory+habit/6798084/story.html

Canadian Centre for Policy Alternative...by Ruth Pryzner The beautiful Little Saskatchewan River (LSR), recognized as a unique habitat for endangered, at-risk and common species, winds its way through Keesekoowenin First Nation and the towns of Minnedosa.... Details here. Minnedosa's ethanol plant with the LSR in foreground. (PLT photo.) 

New York Times HARTFORD CITY, Ind. — Across a wide stretch of the Midwest, sweltering temperatures and a lack of rain are threatening what had been expected to be the nation’s largest corn crop in generations. Details here.

By Andrew Freedman - Climate Central The Greenland ice sheet is poised for another record melt this year, and is approaching a "tipping point" into a new and more dangerous melt regime in which the summer melt area covers the entire land mass, according to new findings from polar researchers. Full story here.

June 29, 2012 by Common Dreams   Western US fires are being driven by extreme temperatures, which are consistent with IPCC projections. Details here.   Devoured: A firefighter works the scene of a home being consumed by flames in Colorado, captured by Darrell Spangler  

George Monbiot - the Guardian It is, perhaps, the greatest failure of collective leadership since the first world war. Full story here. PLT photo  Please also read: "Governments and the Climate Challenge. Leadership Failure on a Psychotic Scale"

By: Jessica Gresko, The Associated Press WASHINGTON - Millions across the mid-Atlantic region sweltered Saturday in the aftermath of violent storms that pummeled the eastern U.S. with high winds and downed trees, killing at least 13 people and leaving 3 million without power during a triple-digit heat wave. Full story here. Residents of the eastern Canadian prairies were no strangers to violent weather, either. See photos, below. Winds of over 100K per hour struck the area around the west-central Manitoba town of Roblin this week.It was just part of a much larger system that created havoc from Saskatchewan into a wide area of Manitoba. Below , some of the damage in our own yard, northwest of Roblin.   (PLT photos)  

Montreal Gazette Doctors condemn move, but miners and residents applaud it. Full story here.

Dear Larry, Canada has become a country that I barely recognize. My Canada, the one that respects people and places, has vanished. Since when did this country bully charities, trash environmental laws, thumb its nose at the international community and silence its own citizens? Columbia Icefield, Jasper Nat'l. Park Since Harper took office in May of last year, His Canada starts and ends in the Tar Sands. Whatever Big Oil wants, Big Oil gets. Fish, forests, wildlife be damned. Our government’s actions are appalling. That’s why this Canada Day I’m honouring my country by vowing to bring back my Canada . I invite you to join me by making a gift to ForestEthics Advocacy today. Here’s why. Like millions of Canadians, I value clean air and water. I take great pride in this country’s stunning landscapes. I believe government is entrusted to act on behalf of its citizens. And I think every voice must count. This is My Canada. ForestEthics Advocacy is working hard to