I spent last week taking an intensive course in citizen advocacy at the Canadian School of Peacebuilding in Winnipeg. It was a great week – I learned a lot and met some wonderful people. I’m home now, but brought home a souvenir that I’d rather do without – a very
Continue readingTag: Alberta tar sands
350 or bust: Hey Mister Prime Minister, Why Are You So Afraid Of Canadians?
Courageous and talented Canadian artist Franke James, whose 2011 European art tour was cancelled after interference from the Harper government, has recently published an illustrated essay on the current overlap of oil and state (with a large dose of anti-science, anti-democratic polemic) in Canadian politics. You can find Franke’s essay,
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Mordor found in Northern Alberta
Following up on an article I wrote last week for Huffington Post Canada, a commenter suggested that the Alberta tar sands looked like a real-life version of Mordor, the home of the evil Sauran in J.R.R. Tolkein's Lord of the Rings. read more
Continue reading350 or bust: The Enbridge Pipeline: What’s At Stake?
Greenpeace’s latest video about the destructive Alberta tar sands, and the Enbridge Pipeline that our current federal government is intent on pushing through over all opposition: * Together, we can stop the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline: click here for more.
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Tar Sands Oil Companies 71 Percent Foreign-Owned – Cue Ezra Levant’s Outrage
Foreign Control of Tar Sands.png ForestEthics released a game-changing research brief today documenting the massive foreign control of Alberta's tar sands oil industry. Publicly traded oil companies with active tar sands operations have a very high level of foreign ownership – 71 per cent. Some supposedly "Canadian" oil companies including
Continue reading350 or bust: Freedom Train to Canadians: Our Democratic Process Is Being Lost
Yinka Dene Alliance Freedom Train arrived in Winnipeg last night. The Alliance is on a cross Canada trip that will end in Toronto, on Bay Street, at the Enbridge AGM. Their goal is to spread the word to Canadians about the dangers posed by the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: B.C. Protest This Saturday to Stop Warren Buffett’s BNSF Coal Trains
shutterstock_14976709.jpg Warren Buffett, the third wealthiest man on the planet (net worth: $44 billion), often referred to as the "Oracle of Omaha," is the target of a May 5 action called for by Stop Coal B.C. Well, not Buffett directly, but a rail company he owns through his massive holding company, Berkshire
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Oil and Gas Industry Refused to Protect Caribou Habitat, Pushed for Wolf Cull Instead
Picture 6.png There’s something really wrong about the Canadian government’s recent proposal to spend millions of dollars to scapegoat Alberta's wild wolf population for the impact on caribou populations that is in fact due to industrial development wrecking wildlife habitat. (See our earlier coverage of this issue here.) It’s not just
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Investors: No More Flaring of Fracked Oil and Gas in Bakken Shale
exxon-gas-flaring-photo01.jpg The debate over flaring unconventional oil and gas in shale basins across the United States has suddenly heated up immensely (excuse the bad pun). On March 27, the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economy (CERES) penned a letter calling for an end to the practice, writing, We are a group of 37
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Obama Sojourns to "Pipeline Crossroads of the World" for Campaign Speech
Cushing .jpg It's the multi-pronged fight that never seems to end. The Alberta Tar Sands have been near the forefront of the North American energy and climate debate, thanks in large part to growing public concern and grassroots efforts like Tar Sands Action, a campaign led by climate activists to block construction of the
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Ethical Oil? – Ezra Levant Still a Douche
It is good to see yet another right wing fanatic has a crunchy crazy wing-nut history savour when suddenly(?) they attempt to get all serious and try interacting with empirical reality. Ezra Levant has little traction with reality and seems to have more interest in keeping his oil friends
Continue readingThis is my SOS to the world
A tiny community called out to world. And the world answered. Foreign aid arrived in Canada courtesy environmental organizations which, if you’ll remember, dear Reader, are “radical groups” with “radical agendas” trying to “derail” the Northern Gateway Pipeline project. Our radical agenda, backed by independent science, demands acknowledgement that the
Continue reading350 or bust: P-Harmony Ad: Oil Execs Looking For Someone To Share Their Dirty Values
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, it’s time to revisit this great Greenpeace video from 2011. Check out these “tar”-crossed lovers: Janet, an oil executive and Peter, an Environment Minister who was able to show Janet “her true market value”. * Peter Kent, Canada’s Environment Minister has made it clear
Continue readingPipelines: Which side are you on, planet or profit?
Since the Northern Gateway pipeline hit the news, the regina mom has read more posts about science than ever before. And it’s not because science claims a place in her higher reading order. Rather, it’s because the HarperCon response to public outrage about the pipeline has forced her to know
Continue readingCanadian Progressive World: China to quiz Stephen Harper on human rights?
As Prime Minister Stephen Harper leads a high-powered Team Corporate Canada to China, there’s justifiable speculation that the PM will not question China’s appalling human rights record. At least not publicly. Once, powerful western …Read More
Continue readingOccupy Ottawa: China to quiz Stephen Harper on human rights?
As Prime Minister Stephen Harper leads a high-powered Team Corporate Canada to China, there’s justifiable speculation that the PM will not question China’s appalling human rights record. At least not publicly. Once, powerful western democracies …Read More
Continue readingWillful Ignorance
As the HarperCon delegation of Ministers and big biz boyz prepared to take off for China, the wise Yinka Dene Nation through whose lands the Northern Gateway pipeline is proposed to go, were busy writing letters. They sent one to the Government of China loaded with examples describing how Aboriginal
Continue readingMonday Night Movies: Pipeline Edition
With the Superbowl over and done with and football fans looking for something to watch the regina mom thought she’d share some great short vids for your viewing pleasure . The first is actually a series of clips from the documentary, On the Line, an award-winning film that shows what,
Continue readingProtests, Facts & Bedfellows: Northern Gateway Pipeline Actions, Science & Money
They expected 2,000 to attend and, according to police reports, 2,000 people demonstrated their opposition to the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline and shut down the main street of the small northern city of Prince Rupert, BC. When 15% of the 13,000 who live in any city are marching on the
Continue readingWhat will the neighbours think?
One part of the brain can work something out while another part is doing something else, or so it seems. the regina mom stayed up all night. When that happens, it’s usually because she’s been engaged in a good read or a good write. This time it was neither. And
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