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 readingTag: environment
350 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.
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Afternoon Links
Assorted content to end your weekend. – Lana Payne highlights the Harper Cons’ culture of hate with just a few recent examples: Veterans. Informed-debate. People’s right to a union and free collective bargaining. Voting rights. These are all under threat in Harper’s Canada. This really is a government that hates;
Continue readingPaul S. Graham: Warrior Up! The Mi’kmaq Struggle Against Fracking at Elsipogtog
Winnipeg, Feb. 17, 2014: Suzanne Patles of the Mi’kmaq Warriors Society, speaking at Thunderbird House. Photo: Paul S. Graham It is time to “warrior up” according to Suzanne Patles of the Mi’kmaq Warriors Society. She spoke at Thunderbird House in Winnipeg on Feb. 17, 2014 as part of a national
Continue readingthe reeves report: Ontario Court backs Gilead Power at Ostrander Point
South Shore of Ostrander Point (Image from CountyLive.com) Seven months after learning a contentious wind project at Ostrander Point had been halted by the Environmental Review Tribunal, an Ontario divisional court overturned that decision Thursday, paving the way for development to begin later this year. In July 2013, the Tribunal
Continue readingthe reeves report: Federal court knocks Ottawa for failing to protect endangered species — Ontario could be next
Woodland caribou listed in Canada as a species-at-risk. (Photo by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) Ontario’s Environmental Commissioner Gord Miller is warning Queen’s Park could face sharp reprimands by the courts for its failure to uphold wildlife protections under the Endangered Species Act. Perhaps unsurprisingly, a federal court confirmed last week the Government of
Continue readingThings Are Good: The Bizarre Weather of 2014 Explained Using GIFs
BuzzFeed, of all places, as a great and simple way that explains why the weather of 2014 has been so extreme. In North America it has been more cold than the new “normal,” the UK has been hit hard by flooding, and in the South Pacific there has been above
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Mark Taliano discusses how corporatocracy is replacing democracy in Canada, while Jaisal Noor talks to John Weeks about the similar trend in the U.S. And DownWithTyranny reminds us how corporations came to be – and how radical a difference there is between
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Fracking in Canada: Why the Council of Canadians’ new “Fracktivist’s Toolkit” matters
by: Obert Madondo In this age of the Harper Conservatives and a rampaging fossil fuel industry, Canadian anti-fracking activism requires more than a sense of environmental and social justice. It requires a toolkit of knowledge about what’s happening and how to effectively respond at the local, national and global level. The
Continue readingThings Are Good: Scotiabank Looks to Reward Eco Companies
Banks have a horrible reputation because of their inability to predict economic behaviour, this was highlighted by the ongoing economic claptrap that started roughly seven years ago. Canadian banks have also received a tarnished reputation because of their ongoing unethical investments in the Alberta tar sands. Perhaps as a reaction
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: It’s Spelled Climate BREAKDOWN
Calgary’s massive flood. Let’s stop saying “global warming” because whenever climate breakdown events occur that are COLD, deniers try to say global warming isn’t happening. Sigh. Let’s also stop saying “climate change” because that sometimes makes people feel that yes, we’d like a climate more like Palm Springs. Especially in
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Ian Welsh writes about the concentration of wealth and economic control: Money is permission: you can’t do squat in a market economy without it. Those who can create it, or who have excessive profits, control what other people can do. It is
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Murray Dobbin points to the oil sector’s utter domination of Canada’s federal political scene. And Dr. Dawg sums up the problem: Briefly, the Harperium has now taken to grossly misusing the state apparatus to spy upon and intimidate citizens who dare to disagree
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: Disappointing … But Unsurprising
In light of the Harper Government(tm)’s ongoing assault on science in this country – especially anything resembling the environment – it comes as little surprise that the government is currently not meeting its own legislated obligations with respect to endangered species. In a case covering four species that Justice Anne
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Jim Stanford discusses how unions and collective bargaining improve the standard of living for everybody: The following figure illustrates the broad negative correlation between bargaining coverage and poverty: that is, the higher is bargaining coverage, the lower is relative poverty (and the more
Continue readingThings Are Good: Earth Rangers Launches Battery Blitz
Earth Rangers has launched a new campaign for kids to learn about the potential danger of batteries. Battery Blitz Mission encourages kids to collect used household batteries and dispose of them properly. When batteries are improbably thrown out it can cause a lot of harm to the environment due to
Continue readingthe reeves report: Indirect Impacts of Pipelines Should Be Included in Assessments
If oil and gas pipeline proponents can talk about indirect economic benefits stemming from new pipeline infrastructure, opponents should be able to consider the environmental impacts of those indirect actions when arguing against them, according to the Pembina Institute’s federal policy director. Fair is fair, according to Clare Demerse, and
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