Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Amanda Connelly reports on the Alberta Federation of Labour’s latest revelations as to how the temporary foreign worker program has been used to suppress wages. And Jim Stanford reminds us that the employment picture for Canadians remains bleak even after Statistics Canada’s job
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Accidental Deliberations: New column day
Here, on the need to take downside risks into account in discussing industrial development – especially when our water, land and lives are at stake. For further reading…– The CP and Jenni Sheppard report on the many warning signs which should have identified the causes of the Mount Polley spill
Continue readingCowichan Conversations: Duke Point Cited As LNG Shipping Point For Island Fracked Gas
Richard Hughes-Political Blogger Several months back Cowichan Conversations contributor Don Maroc posted this story about potential LNG fracking on the island. Stories in Nanaimo media point to an ambitious future for Duke Point expansion including facilitating the shipment of LNG to Asia. CC readers please continue forwarding any information that
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Toxic fracking waste illegally dumped in BC water treatment system
A storage pond in northeast BC containing fracking fluids (Image: Two Island Films) Republished with permission from desmog.ca Although city officials from Dawson’s Creek won’t disclose the names of the companies involved, they are confirming that fracking waste has been illegally dumped into the city’s water treatment system on at
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Study links extractive industries to rise in domestic abuse
A fracking drill near Dawson Creek in northeast BC (courtesy of Two Island Films) Read this July 24 Globe and Mail story by Andrea Woo on a new study which exposes one of the trade-offs associated with expanded resource development, namely an increase in violence against women. An increase in domestic and
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
Assorted content for your Sunday reading. – Pierre Beaulne discusses the inequality-related problems and solutions brought into the spotlight by Thomas Piketty, and notes that they can’t simply be swept under the rug: When all is said and done, the capitalist globalization has boosted economic growth for a certain time,
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your Monday reading. – Paul Krugman calls out the U.S.’ deficit scolds for continuing to invent a crisis to distract from the real problems with middling growth and high unemployment. And Bruce Johnstone singles out a few of the Cons’ talking points which have somehow become conventional
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Rafe: With fracking, tankers “world-class safety” is a weasel word
BC Premier Christy Clark touts “world-class” safety for fossil fuel projects (Canadian Press) Many times I have referred to Premier Clark’s demand that Enbridge and others have “world-class” cleanup processes in place. To repeat myself, these are “weasel words” and mean absolutely nothing. “World-class” firefighting procedures doesn’t mean the building
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Fracked wells emit 6 times more methane leaks: New Cornell study
By Seth Borenstein, The Associated Press WASHINGTON – In Pennsylvania’s gas drilling boom, newer and unconventional wells leak far more often than older and traditional ones, according to a study of state inspection reports for 41,000 wells. The results suggest that leaks of methane could be a problem for drilling
Continue readingTHE CANADIAN PROGRESSIVE: Court Upholds Small Towns’ Right to Ban Fracking
The New York Court of Appeals has ruled that local communities have the right to ban the environmentally-harmful practice of fracking by oil and gas companies. The post Court Upholds Small Towns’ Right to Ban Fracking appeared first on THE CANADIAN PROGRESSIVE.
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: “BC LNG: Cold Gas, Hot Air” – video of Squamish presentation
Watch this video from last week’s “BC LNG: Cold Gas, Hot Air” presentation and discussion in Squamish – where the proposed Woodfibre project is currently in a public comment period. Featuring The Common Sense Canadian’s Damien Gillis on the 3 top myths surrounding BC LNG – that it’s a “clean” fossil fuel, that
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Shale oil highly volatile, experts confirm
The catastrophic explosion in Lac-Mégantic of a shale oil train brought the product’s volatility to the fore Read this June 24 story from the Wall Street Journal on the volatility of shale oil around the United States – making it challenging and dangerous to process and transport. Millions of barrels of crude
Continue readingLeDaro: Fracking for natural gas/oil causes earthquakes
I believe it does. Are Oklahoma Earthquakes Tied to Fracking? Answer is yes. But gas/oil companies won’t admit it. Please watch the video here.
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Fracking and earthquakes: US states mull new regulations
3.0-plus magnitude earthquakes in the midcontinental US. USGS By Emily Schmall And Kristi Eaton, The Associated Press AZLE, Texas – Earthquakes used to be almost unheard of on the vast stretches of prairie that unfold across the U.S. Midwestern states of Texas, Kansas and Oklahoma. But in recent years, they
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: LNG bad for climate: US Dept of Energy report
Despite all the assurances by BC Premier Christy Clark that LNG is “the cleanest fossil fuel on the planet”, the evidence paints a very different picture. Check out this June 4 Climate Progress story by Joe Romm on a new report from the US Department of Energy confirming that emissions
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: New Quebec government choosing fossil fuels over green jobs
Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard is putting green jobs on the back burner (Photo: facebook) One thing Stephen Harper, Justin Trudeau, BC Premier Christy Clark and new Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard all share in common is the dated notion that economic and sustainable development are competing concepts that need to be reconciled,
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Haida stand with Fort Nelson First Nation on LNG, fracking concerns
The Council of the Haida Nation (CHN) is vowing to support The Fort Nelson First Nation’s tough stand on proposed Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) development and the 600% increase in controversial shale gas fracking it would represent for their northeast BC territory. According to The Northern View, a recent visit to Haida
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Canada’s 500,000 leaky gas wells threaten groundwater, health, climate
Abandoned gas wells like this one can continue leaking methane for years (Photo: Wikimedia Commons) Read this June 5 story by Andrew Nikiforuk in The Tyee on a new report raising concerns about leakage from Canada’s 500,000 gas wells. The Common Sense Canadian reported recently on funding cutbacks by BC’s
Continue readingCowichan Conversations: Control Freak PM Steve Harper Is Monitoring Anti Fracking Protesters
Richard Hughes With our paranoid PM Steve Harper it is all about control and with this reality in mind we head into what promises to be a hot summer of discontent. He has empowered his ‘Government Operations Centre’ to monitor all anti fracking protests. Monitoring is really just a
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Good news: China’s Fracking to reduce its use of Coal
Early China coal mine When it comes to global warming, coal is the biggest culprit in the warming of the earth. China is taking giant strides to reduce its need for coal to generate energy by exploiting its vast shale gas reserves: Although serious obstacles remain, China is finally making
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