By Stephen Leahy Inter Press Service UXBRIDGE, Canada, Jan 11 2013 (IPS) - Experts on the health of our planet are terrified of the future. They can clearly see the coming collapse of global civilisation from an array of interconnected environmental problems. Poor communities are hit hardest by extreme weather events. Credit: Amantha Perera/IPS “We’re
It’s Official: Bitumen Mining Pollutes Northern Waterways
Fed funded oil sands study confirms toxic PAHs alter lakes 90 km away. By Andrew Nikiforuk, TheTyee.ca A new federally funded study on the tar sands has confirmed what a discredited industry-funded monitoring program could not: that pollution has now contaminated lakes as far as 90 km away from the massive mining project. Due
First Nations funds mishandled by Ottawa, audits show
The Canadian Press CBC News Two government audits show Ottawa is earmarking about a billion dollars a year to build and repair First Nations infrastructure, but its myriad of officials are not keeping proper tabs on how the money is spent. Even as Prime Minister Stephen Harper accuses the Attawapiskat First Nations
Concerns raised about re-starting old Whitehorse mine
Government, environmentalists worry contaminants could leach from old tailings pond A request for a water license at the old Whitehorse Copper mine is raising concerns about drinking water in the city. Eagle Industrial Minerals wants to use water to mine the tailings at the site. The Yukon Conservation Society’s mining coordinator, Lewis Rifkind,
Take Action! Urgent announcement. Sovereignty Dialogue with Idle No More
URGENT ANNOUNCEMENT IDLE NO MORE Sovereignty Dialogue with Idle No More Friday, January 11th, 2013. The Idle No More founders and organizers are pleased to announce a one day national dialogue with Indigenous Chiefs including hereditary Chiefs to discuss and Treaty Relationships. We are also inviting 1 or 2 representatives from each community
Native bands challenge omnibus budget bill in court
CBC News Mikisew Cree and Frog Lake First Nation spokespersons holding press conference at 10 a.m. ET Two native bands are attempting to challenge parts of the federal government’s omnibus budget bill in court. The bands are the Mikisew Cree and the Frog Lake First Nation, both from Alberta. The chiefs of
California Fracking Disclosure Rules Leave Some Environmentalists Unsatisfied
Isn’t it interesting that a “controversial practice” is commonly considered insane by anyone with an IQ over 50? Aaron Sankin Huffington Post SAN FRANCISCO — Underneath much of Central and southern California sits the single largest deposit of shale oil in the United States, boasting a motherlode of some 15 billion barrels
In 2012, Canada’s ‘Dilbit’ Becomes a Contentious American Issue
Last year it was just a technical term known mainly by the oil industry. This year “dilbit” was at the center of the fight over the Keystone XL pipeline. Lisa Song Inside Climate News This was the year “dilbit” registered on the U.S. political and public radar in a major way. Previously
Idle No More: A crucial call for justice
Amnesty International Grassroots rallies across Canada under the banner ‘Idle No More’ have put the spotlight on a federal legislative agenda that is trampling the rights of Indigenous peoples set out in domestic and international law. Bill C-45, the omnibus budget bill, introduced changes to the Indian Act, including measures that would make it
Grabbing Water From Future Generations
Many of the world’s aquifers are being pumped dry to support unsustainable agriculture. Fred Pearce in India For National Geographic News This piece is part of Water Grabbers: A Global Rush on Freshwater, a special National Geographic Freshwater News series on how grabbing land—and water—from poor people, desperate governments, and future generations threatens global food
Delhi groundwater may run dry in 3-5 yrs: Study
The Economic Times HYDERABAD: This is sounds like crisis. Scientists at the premier National Geophysical Research Institute(NGRI) have said groundwater in Hyderabad, Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai, along with several other northern cities, are declining at such a rapid pace that in three years the Andhra Pradesh capital will be almost bone dry. “History shows us civilizations
Poisoning the Well: How the FEDs Let Industry Pollute the Nation’s Underground Water Supply
Abraham Lusgarten ProPublica Now, as commercial crops wilt in the dry heat and winds rip the dust loose from American prairies, questions are mounting about whether the EPA should continue to grant exemptions going forward. Federal officials have given energy and mining companies permission to pollute aquifers in more than 1,500 places across
Q. and A.: Jeremy Irons and ‘Trashed’
By JOANNA M. FOSTER NY Times Just in time for the holidays, a new documentary about the ultimate fate of just about everything we lug home from the mall opens on Friday in limited release in the United States.“Trashed,” directed by Candida Brady and starring Jeremy Irons, delves into the less festive side of consumerism
Relying on end pit lakes for tailings “reclamation” is reckless
Jennifer Grant, Director Oilsands, Pembina Institute At the end of November, Syncrude got the go-ahead to test out its contentious end pit lake proposal to “reclaim” tailings from its oilsands operations by submerging them in the company’s Base Mine Lake. Syncrude, along with a few other oilsands mining operators, intends to cap the toxic tailings waste
4 Days Until the Fate of the Sacred Headwaters is Decided
BY KAREN TAM WU, SENIOR CONSERVATION CAMPAIGNER, FORESTETHICS ADVOCACY Dec 14, 2012 ForestEthics.org We’re down to just four days until the ban on Shell drilling for gas in the Sacred Headwaters will be lifted. Are we are on the brink of a watershed moment, or are we about to pour more fuel on the on the
