Cartoon and letter by Loren Craig – republished from his green briefs blog An open letter to BC Premier Christy Clark – April 7, 2014 Dear Christy, May I call you Christy? It seems appropriate, given your warm, woman-of-the-people style of governing. I’m a soccer parent too, so that puts
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the 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 Common Sense Canadian: Rex Tillerson, you are a big, fat NIMBY
ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson loves fracking other people’s back yards – just not his own Dear Rex Tillerson, I am writing to express my disappointment in learning that you recently opposed the construction of a water tower essential to shale gas development near your home in Texas. As you and
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Range Wars, 21st Century-Style
It’s a classic theme of the ‘wild west’ – range wars where free-range cattle ranchers clashed with farmers whose fenced fields blocked their way. Today it’s a struggle between farmers and frackers and this time the struggle is over water, more specifically who gets it and who goes without. This
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 readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
This and that for your weekend reading. – Michael McBane highlights one of the less-discussed changes in the Cons’ 2014 budget – as it officially eliminates the federal distribution of health care funding based on provincial need in favour of handing extra money to Alberta: The Harper government is eliminating
Continue readingPolitical Eh-conomy: Selling prosperity in a time of austerity: Budget days in BC and Quebec
Two very different provincial governments tabled their budgets this week. The freshly-elected BC Liberals and the seemingly election-ready Parti Quebecois both delivered what they termed “responsible” budgets. While the two governments identify with opposing ends of the political spectrum and face distinct political climates, these differences did not prevent their
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 readingThe Common Sense Canadian: David Suzuki: Trading water for fuel is fracking crazy
Fracking protest in New Brunswick (photo: Colin McPhail) It would be difficult to live without oil and gas. But it would be impossible to live without water. Yet, in our mad rush to extract and sell every drop of gas and oil as quickly as possible, we’re trading precious water
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Chevron offers pizza to victims of fracking explosion
Read this Feb. 18 story from RawStory.com on Chevron’s offer of coupons for pizza to Pennsylvania residents affected by a massive explosion at a fracking site owned by the company. Buy one explosion, get a pizza free. Last Tuesday, residents of the small town Bobtown, Pennsylvania woke to an explosion
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Exploding BC LNG Myths – Part 1
The BC Government recently published an online quiz to “test the knowledge” of British Columbians on the coming LNG revolution. It amounted to a propaganda exercise with the sole purpose of testing how well the BC Liberal LNG rhetoric has pierced the minds of the BC populace. The infamous Harold
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Alberta fracking licenses soar by 650%, documents reveal
by Dean Bennett, The Canadian Press EDMONTON – Alberta New Democrats say newly released documents show fracking has become an unregulated free-for-all in the province with no regard for the impact on groundwater or on people’s health. NDP Leader Brian Mason presented information Tuesday provided under freedom-of-information laws that shows
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Shale gas, LNG exports and the elephant in the room
I listened intermittently to the Public Proceedings of the Yukon Legislature’s “Select Committee Regarding the Risks and Benefits of Hydraulic Fracturing” held in Whitehorse on January 31 and February 1. The presentations focussed mainly on the minutia of drilling, hydraulic fracturing, water consumption, environmental impacts, regulations, water contamination and so
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Fracking tied to birth defects: Colorado study
Congenital heart defects are the leading cause of all infant deaths in the US A new study, published last week in the scientific journal Environmental Health Perspectives, draws a correlation between birth defects and maternal exposures to natural gas. After examining 124,842 births between 1996 and 2009 in rural Colorado, the study found a higher
Continue readingLeDaro: Frucking fracking commercial and danger to environment
The following commercial – and similar commercials – are shown every day, singing the songs of fracking and how it is supposedly safe. The reality is quite different. Fracking causes serious health and environmental problems, including drinking water pollution and disposal of fracking waste-water (the latter is a common theme
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Gas prices heat up as homes, shale gas wells face record chill
by Jonathan Fahey, The Associated Press NEW YORK – The frigid winter of 2014 is setting the price of natural gas on fire. Friday, the price in the futures market soared past $5 per 1,000 cubic feet, up 9 per cent for the day to the highest level in three and
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Geoscientist’s report undermines BC Government’s LNG figures
photo: Tina Lovgreen / BCIT Commons Read this Jan. 22 story from The Globe and Mail’s Mark Hume on a new report from esteemed geoscientist David Hughes which suggests the Clark Government and national energy regulator’s LNG figures are more based on hot air than natural gas. The Common Sense Canadian covered Hughes’ report in
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Shale gas expert drills 50,000 holes in BC LNG plans
Fracking operations in BC’s Horn River Basin (Two Island Films) A new report from geoscientist and shale gas expert David Hughes offers a big reality check for BC’s proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry. As a former 32-year veteran of the Geological Survey of Canada, Hughes led a national review of the
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Canadians have a right to know about fracking, tar sands chemicals
Friday, January 17, 2014 Canadians may soon know more about the chemicals being used to extract bitumen from Alberta’s tar sands, thanks to West Coast Environmental Law and our colleagues at Environmental Defence and the Association Québécoise de Lutte Contre la Pollution Atmosphérique (AQLPA). But, unless the federal government can
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: New study shows Canadian industrialization in graphic detail
A visualization of industrial impacts across Canada as of 2010 (Global Forest Watch) A national study suggests that Alberta has disturbed more natural landscape than any other province. The analysis by Global Forest Watch adds that Wild Rose Country also has two of the three areas in Canada where the
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