Dangers of fracking

Contamination of groundwater
Methane pollution and its impact on climate change
Air pollution impacts
Exposure to toxic chemicals
Blowouts due to gas explosion
Waste disposal
Large volume water use in water-deficient regions
Fracking-induced earthquakes
Workplace safety
Infrastructure degradation

Read more here.

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Neil Young Calls Out Stephen Harper on Tar Sands

Stephen Harper is an international embarrassment for his unconditional hawking of the tar sands, disregarding the rights of First Nations, and ignoring the negative environmental effects. On the latter, we already know that Harper is muzzling scientists, preferring to listen to corporate greed over facts and research. Neil Young is drawing new attention to the tar sands fiasco - and the overall fiasco of the Harper Conservative government - which is reckless about environmental conservation, the rights of First Nations, and Canada's increasingly tarnished reputation. The responses from the PMO by Harper's employee are amplifying all this.


Update: Prime Minister's office responds to Neil Young's protest against Tar Sands.


"Even the lifestyle of a rock star relies, to some degree, on the resources developed by thousands of hard-working Canadians every day," Jason MacDonald said in a statement. "Our government recognizes the importance of developing resources responsibly and sustainably and we will continue to ensure that Canada's environmental laws and regulations are rigorous." Read more here.

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Greenpeace: A very interesting picture - Warsaw Poland

A Greenpeace activist dressed as an oil company worker pours oil on other activists during a protest in Warsaw, Poland, against oil search drilling in the Arctic Sea.

The picture says it all. There is a need to raise awareness about the fossil fuels and its impact on the environment.

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Premier David Alward's ad. promoting Alberta oil pipeline

That should make Alberta happy. New Brunswickers? I don't know. I saw the ad last night and I was taken aback. I knew he supported the pipeline but to give a lengthy commercial on t.v, at the cost of $90,000.00, he has taken it on another level. He is sold out to big oil companies. Has he heard about the environmental consequences? I suppose he does not care as long as he can hobnob with big oil companies and receive admiration from the Premier, Alison Redford, of Alberta.



"The province has purchased $75,000 of airtime to run the one-minute commercial which features David Alward talking positively about the economy in the wake of TransCanada’s announcement of plans to build an oil pipeline from Alberta to New Brunswick." CBC News.

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Ecuador has amended its constitution to include the Rights of Nature

I was watching the "Nature of Things' by David Suzuki over the weekend. It was fascinating to find out that both Ecuador (in 2008) and Bolivia (in 2010) passed laws which included the rights of nature. Ecuador has made a constitutional amendment to include the Rights of Nature.  It sounds like a great idea. I believe other nations should do the same to protect nature and hence the environment. Read the amendment below.

Ecuador is the first nation to include the rights of nature in its constitution:

Rights of nature

Article 71. Nature, or Pacha Mama, where life is reproduced and occurs, has the right to integral respect for its existence and for the maintenance and regeneration of its life cycles, structure, functions and evolutionary processes.

All persons, communities, peoples and nations can call upon public authorities to enforce the rights of nature. To enforce and interpret these rights, the principles set forth in the Constitution shall be observed, as appropriate.

The State shall give incentives to natural persons and legal entities and to communities to protect nature and to promote respect for all the elements comprising an ecosystem.

Article 72. Nature has the right to be restored. This restoration shall be apart from the obligation of the State and natural persons or legal entities to compensate individuals and communities that depend on affected natural systems.

In those cases of severe or permanent environmental impact, including those caused by the exploitation of nonrenewable natural resources, the State shall establish the most effective mechanisms to achieve the restoration and shall adopt adequate measures to eliminate or mitigate harmful environmental consequences.” Read more here.

Read about David Suzuki's Andean Adventure here.

A video worth watching: The importance of Rights of Nature in Preserving Ecuador’s Rainforest.



Read more about David Tucker, Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature  here.

If you have time then you can watch David Suzuki's full episode  here.

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George Monbiot of Britain On Canada:

I don't know much about George Monbiot. He is an environmental activist. He has some interesting views about Canada.

Here is what he said about Canada on CBC The Sunday Edition's Laura Lynch:

“Canada is “one of the world’s most beautiful and sophisticated nations,” but that it is being "ransacked by barbarians.”

“At the moment, this highly cultured, sophisticated, wonderful nation seems to be descending into a thuggish petro-state which appears to be governed by the tar patch, and its politics seem to suffer from the oil curse, as so many countries suffer from when they have found big reserves of fossil fuels. And wildlife has suffered greatly as a result, natural resources of all kinds are suffering greatly, and so are those who love nature.

“It’s almost as if Canada is ripping up its most precious natural assets in exchange for assets which won’t last long and which can only cause harm, and that to me seems to be completely perverse.”
CBC News

Currently those barbarians will be, based on George Monbiot's statement, Stephen Harper, his cronies and fossil fuel companies.

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Oil Companies: A threat to our planet

All oil companies care about is profit. The environment, the health and safety of people, is not a priority of theirs. Only profits, no matter who is hurt in the process. Oil companies are psychopathic, dangerously addicted to money at the expense of all else, and like drug dealers they are trying to keep the world hooked on oil, regardless of the environmental or social consequences.

Tribal people in Ecuador - in the Amazon rain forest - are pitched in a "David versus Goliath" battle against the oil companies which threaten to destroy their way of life along with delicate ecosystems. They're facing off against the bull-dozers and modern equipment of the oil companies with spears and darts. The exploitation of native people and the stealing of their land continues in our day and age.

Elsewhere in the world, there are similar situations, where oil companies care only about profit, not people's lives or the environment, and are causing untold destruction in the name of profit.

From NBC: "Wauroni tribesmen, who live in the rainforest of Ecuador, are getting ready to challenge the Ecuadorian government’s plan to auction as much as 8 million acres of rainforest for oil drilling, saying they are prepared to fight to the death to protect the land. NBC’s Ann Curry reports."

Check out the video below, for NBC's report on the oil companies' exploitation of Ecuador's rainforests.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

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Idle No More

Harper's neglect of First Nations, indifference to them, has come to a head, with the Idle No More protests taking off across the country. The protests are against the poor state of housing on reserves like Attawapiskat whose chief, Theresa Spence, has gone on hunger strike. The protests are also against legislation like Bill C-45 which would replace the Navigable Waters Protection Act with new legislation removing protections against obstructions - such as pipelines and dams - from most lakes and rivers in the country. This no doubt so Harper can appease his friends in the oil industry.

Harper scrapped the Kelowna Accord upon becoming prime minister in 2006, something negotiated over a long period by Prime Minister Martin, provincial governments and First Nations. Kelowna would've done a lot to address poverty in First Nations communities.

Harper took a long time to respond to Spence and then played politics with the location of the meeting and whether the Governor General would be present, this is heartless considering her health and life are at risk. First Nations are divided on the issue of meeting with Harper (on location, on whether the Governor General should be present) - with AFN Chief Shawn Atleo being marginalized by meeting with Harper where many other chiefs refused to.

There is a turbulence in Canada we have not seen, could Harper's regime of heartless neo-conservatism be finally coming apart?

Update: Chief Spence statement:

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Idle No More: Native Issues

Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence, centre, with supporters Danny Matatawabin, left, 

and Angela Bercier in a teepee on Victoria Island in Ottawa during her hunger strike

Julie Oliver/Postmedia News

This is an insightful column from Chantal Hebert, on the Idle No More movement and the challenges it presents to Harper. She talks about the widespread resonance of the Idle No More movement - a social movement seeking to redress the appalling conditions facing First Nations - with those Canadians who are unhappy with the Harper Conservatives.

Harper's neglect of First Nations is unbelievable, the way he flippantly dealt with Attawapiskat, auditing rather than seeking to properly deal with the problems of poverty and substandard housing there. He has proposed/passed an array of legislation that tramples on First Nations and treaty rights - including bill C-45 which would allow obstructions of waterways (such as pipelines and dams) with little oversight on a vast range of waterways (lakes and rivers) in Canada.

Harper is using his majority to run roughshod over environmental and First Nations rights. He must be stopped, hopefully Idle No More will do that.

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Harper government and environment

It is nothing new that the Harper government has put environmental issues on the backburner. Instead of making progress it is going for regression. It is a very depressing situation.

Evan Solomon of CBC interviews Environment Commissioner Scott Vaughn who illustrates Harper government’s failure on environment.

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Has Harper Government declared war on environmental groups?

Ross McMillan of Tides Canada is interviewed by Evan Solomon.



Tides Canada is one of the organizations targeted by the Harper government. It looks Harper is determined that nothing stands between him and the Tar Sands oil.

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Brad Wall: Oil Sands is a great stuff

Thomas Mulcair of NDP calls oil sands Dutch disease.

Premier of Saskatchewan Brad Wall is very upset. His interview with Evan Solomon of CBC:

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Anti-coal Mark Jaccard, a Nobel Peace Prize winner arrested

Harper government is letting us down on many fronts and his policies on the environment are one of the major let downs. Harper is in the pocket of oil, gas and coal companies. People are left with no choice but to protest.

Professor Mark Jaccard was arrested along with other protestors.


A handful of protesters were arrested late Saturday evening.
(Ben Hadaway/CBC)

"Putting myself in a situation where I may be accused of civil disobedience is not something I have ever done before," Mark Jaccard said.

"But the current willingness of especially our federal government to brazenly take actions that ensure we cannot meet scientifically and economically sound greenhouse gas reduction targets for Canada and the planet leaves me with no alternative."

"When I think about that, I conclude that every sensible and sincere person, who cares about this planet and can see through lies and delusion motivated by money, should be doing what I and others are now prepared to do."

A CBC story.

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Saskatchewan has much bigger problems than ghosts

Saskatchewan's environment minister is fuming about a report from the David Suzuki Foundation that says the province isn't taking climate change seriously. (CP) From The Huffington Post.

“REGINA - Saskatchewan's environment minister is fuming about a report that says the province isn't taking climate change seriously.
Dustin Duncan said Thursday that he's disappointed that the David Suzuki Foundation released the report without talking to the province about what it's doing to cut greenhouse gas emissions.” The Huffington Post.

See the ghost story here.

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Harper government gets another “Fossil of the year award”

What can one say? Shame, shame! Our environment minister, Peter Kent, is a joke. Harper should move him to Senate like Mike Duffy. They will make a great pair.

Read the story here.

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Harper Majority and the Alberta Tar Sands:

Last night I, for the first time, saw a commercial promoting the tar sands in Alberta, claiming that Canada has an extraordinary source of wealth through them. This commercial was on MSNBC. Is this a sign of things to come under the Harper majority? Does this mean bye-bye environment?

The tar sands poison the drinking water of nearby Aboriginal communities, destroy natural environments, and create an excessive amount of greenhouse gases contributing to global warming and making Canada a climate change pariah on the global stage. Looks like it’s full-speed ahead and more on all this thanks to Harper’s majority.

The video below is not the actual commercial I saw, but it shows how the tar sands are being promoted.

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Air-Powered Car: Great news

All that hot air produced by politicians in Ottawa, Washington D.C. and around the globe is going to waste. Now there will be some use for it and actually may help protect the environment. We will call it hot-air-powered cars.



Read the story here.

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Alberta is burning

Yesterday, Nov 15, 2010, there was a piece on the CBC National about the environmental disaster caused by Tar Sands. The appetite for oil is killing birds, other wild life and humans. Something needs to be done otherwise we are in deep trouble.



You can watch CBC video here.

Update: Sorry for the error in the heading. It is 'Alberta' instead of 'Albertan'.

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Good “Yes men”

This "yes men" organization believes in environment protection. They pulled off quite a stunt at the US Chamber of Commerce.

“A "press conference" held at the National Press Club was a hoax. A man purporting to be a spokesperson for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce was interrupted by a real representative of the organization, but not before he announced a dramatic policy reversal.

A "spokesperson" for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce held a press conference at the National Press Club where he announced that the organization had reversed its position on a climate change bill. "Hingo Sembra" told those assembled that "We [the U.S. Chamber of Commerce] believe that climate legislation currently being considered by the U.S. Senate is a great start towards a bill that will spur American innovation, create jobs, and give us all a good chance of survival." “

Read the story here

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Interesting Headline: "The Environment is Healthier Than Ever"

Read More:
Environment

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