Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Tim Harford proposes four first steps to start combatting income inequality. And the Star’s editorial board makes clear that there’s tax room available for Ontario (among other jurisdictions) to pursue in order to serve the public good: Sousa promises to protect the “middle
Continue readingTag: environment
The Cracked Crystal Ball II: More Totalitarianism From The Harper
Just as Harper has been tearing down the apparatus of scientific research that would ordinarily be used by governing parties to make informed policy decisions, the next prong of his attack on reasoned governance in Canada has begun. It really began in 2012, when the government rolled out a
Continue readingthe reeves report: Reports question NEB’s approval process for Northern Gateway and Line 9 pipelines
Enbridge under fire as opponents of controversial pipeline projects worry the Canadian energy giant will be ill-prepared to handle potential ruptures throughout Southern Ontario and on B.C.’s rugged coast. Opponents of Enbridge’s Line 9B pipeline in Southern Ontario are scrambling in the wake of its tentative approval earlier this month by the
Continue readingPostArctica: The Accidental Sea
Interesting film on California’s abandoned Salton Sea.
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: New column day
Here, on how Brad Wall is again joining Stephen Harper in putting oil lobbying over the public interest – making excuses for doing absolutely nothing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change. For further reading…– I’ve written before about the federal Cons’ apparent strategy of standing in the
Continue readingthe reeves report: U.S. energy called on to help West handle Russia
America should rethink overhauling energy export policy in favour of ‘drill, baby, drill’ simply to flex muscle against Russia over Crimean play. Can boosting U.S. energy exports help declaw the prowling Russian bear? In the weeks following President Vladimir Putin’s military expansion into Ukraine’s Crimean region, manipulating U.S. energy sources
Continue readingthe reeves report: Ontario strengthens tools to combat invasives
MNR Minister David Orazietti introduces the Invasives Species Act at Queen’s Park. Groundbreaking legislation a first of its kind in Canada – aims to fill in legislative gaps in combatting invasive species in Ontario. Ontario is attempting to clear away some of the regulatory red tape and overlap that keeps
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Breakfast with Hillary Clinton
Hillary Rodham Clinton was in Calgary last week to give the keynote address at a breakfast meeting of 2500 Calgarians who paid about $500 to hear her speak. Luckily my friend, the Zen Banker, invited me to attend as her guest. Hillary is like the Chloe Diamond—brilliant, mesmerizing, multifaceted and
Continue readingThings Are Good: The Amazing Impact Of Painting A Roof White
During summer heat air conditioners are used extensively and this can increased energy consumption can be crippling. Black outs occur in the summer thanks to people cooling their homes and workplaces – but these power issues can be avoided. By simply painting roofs white it can help cool buildings and
Continue readingScripturient: Blog & Commentary: Litter, litter, everywhere
Pop cans. Coffee cups. Candy bar wrappers. Fast food wrappers. Cigarette packages. Cigarette butts. Dog feces. Bags of dog feces. Flyers. Cellophane package wrap. Water bottles. Juice bottles. Chip bags. Beer cans and bottles. Disposable lighters and pens. Cardboard beer boxes. Discarded newspapers and junk mail. Plastic grocery bags. I
Continue readingThings Are Good: Obviously, The Climate Change Debate is Over
Anybody with the ability to reason realizes that anthropogenic climate change is happening – and it’s happening in an unpredictable but faster way than previously imagined. The fact that fools argue against this infuriates me as they are essentially arguing against reality. Recently, two acclaimed scientific bodies (The Royal Society
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: 400 peaceful Keystone XL pipeline protesters arrested at White House
by: Obert Madondo Nearly 400 youth were arrested on March 2 outside the White House during the XL Dissent, a non-violent, student-led action to stop TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline. The students had marched from Georgetown University, where US President Barack Obama made a significant climate change speech last summer, to the
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Science + Good Policy = Averting Climate Breakdown: Go!
Can you do it? Can you be inspired by the strong possibility that we can move to a post-carbon energy infrastructure, like I wrote about yesterday? Can you not reject science like the tarsands-addicted bad employee of ours, Mr. Harper? Can you see that, as a species, we must choose
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: The Alberta tar sands’ criminal assault on water, Athabasca River
by: Obert Madondo A new study by Environment Canada confirms what First Nations and environmentalists have been telling us all along: the Alberta tar sands are increasingly becoming a threat to our water sources. The Toronto Star reports: “New federal research has confirmed that water from vast oilsands tailings ponds is leaching
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: If the 1% Has Russell Brand Killed…
If the 1% has Russell Brand killed, we will see it in the corporate media as a drug OD relapse, or a freak accident. Why? He is dangerous because he fearlessly tells the truth and challenges pretence. Let’s examine this in some detail here [with video]: His brain works twice
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: The Blustery Winds of Stupidity Hit Weyburn Hard #skpoli
At least 2 Weyburn City Councillors were not duped by anti-Wind propaganda that afflicts many municipalities. There’s probably no bylaw against this family running a noisy, polluting diesel generator in their backyard, contributing to poor health of their neighbours. I’d have to reason that the neighbour(s) who complained about this
Continue readingthe reeves report: Separate Great Lakes from Mississippi River to contain Asian carp: study
A recent study led by the University of Notre Dame and the U.S. Forest Service confirmed that hydrologically separating the Great Lakes from the Mississippi River watershed would be 95 to 100 per cent effective at containing Asian carp. “Our study goes beyond just presenting barrier options by putting numbers
Continue reading350 or bust: Trinity-St. Paul’s United Church Votes to Divest from Fossil Fuel Companies
The congregation of across the country Trinity-St Paul’s United Church in Toronto voted unanimously on Sunday at its Annual General Meeting to lend its voice to the fast-growing divestment movement, and to ensure that its own funds are not invested in any of the world’s 200 largest fossil fuel companies. The
Continue readingThings Are Good: Google Launches Deforestation Watch
Global Forest Watch is a new project from Google to highlight the deforestation that has been happening around the planet since the year 2000. Google is working with a lot of organizations to bring this information to light (including the World Resources Institute). Global Forest Watch’s most valuable feature, developers
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: #Tarsands Polluting Groundwater and Rivers
As scientists have demonstrated in the past, the strip mining and tailing ponds employed on a Mordorific scale in northern Alberta are polluting ground and river waters. Sorry #tarsand shills, but turns out you’ve been lying all along when you’ve said that areas surrounding the tarsands are not being polluted.
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