Meander » Environment

Oilsands Pollute the Athabasca River

Yaacov — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 21:36:03 +0000

The joint government/industry water quality monitoring body that tracks water pollution in the Athabasca river has been saying for years that the oilsands mining is not affecting water quality. This despite abnormally high cancer rates in the First Nations communities that live downstream. Today the CBC reports that a University of Alberta study shows that the Athabasca river has much higher levels of pollutants downstream from oilsands mining operations that upstream of them. I guess sometimes the obvious is big news.

Climategate Retracted

Yaacov — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 22:42:32 +0000

It may be four months late, but at least one UK newspaper has finally published a lengthy retraction of stories it published in February claiming that the IPCC had made “bogus” claims about the effects of climate change on the Amazon rainforest. I’d post a direct link, but it seems to have already disappeared from the Sunday Times’ website, so this story about it (with a link to a scan of the printed retraction) will have to do.

Trees Threaten G20

Yaacov — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 19:46:47 +0000

Or at least they could, according to Integrated Security Unit Constable Wendy Drummond. So the trees will be cut down ahead of the G20 summit to ensure that protesters can’t rip them out of the ground and use them as “a huge bar.”

Background on the Oil Spill

Yaacov — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 12:42:12 +0000

Did you know that the oil rig that burned in the Gulf of Mexico was insured for twice what it was worth so that the company that owned it made money when it burned down? More interesting background on the … Continue reading →

Barrick Gold Minefield

Yaacov — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 16:33:43 +0000

One of Canada’s dirty “secrets” is that our mining industry is responsible for environmental and human rights abuses around the world. Companies like INCO and Barrick are operating mines that are polluting land and taking away people’s livelihoods. In many cases, people who organize against these mines face violence and, sometimes, death.

Usually, the national government of a country receive significant revenue from the mine and allows and often supports mining even though the local people are strongly opposed. However, there’s some good news from the Pakistani province of Balochistan, where Barrick Gold has just been told to leave at the end of an exploration contract. For once, the national government is listening to the local people. You can follow the destruction that Barrick is causing in other parts of the world at protestbarrick.net and find out more about the Canadian mining industry at miningwatch.ca.

Update The Old Saying

Yaacov — Sun, 30 May 2010 13:37:30 +0000

We’ve all heard it:

Give a man a fish and he can eat for a day.
Teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime.

Now an update for the 21st century:

Give a man a fish, and he can eat for a day.
But teach a man how to fish, and he’ll be dead of mercury poisoning inside of three years.

Land Occupations in Southern Ontario

Yaacov — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 23:06:22 +0000

This summer saw at least two occupations in southern Ontario, one at proposed site of the Hanlon Creek Business Park in Guelph. The other at a proposed garbage dump in Simcoe County called site 41. Both sites have won a temporary development reprieve. I’ve been surprised at how little media coverage has happened about the two occupations, so I hope you’ll take a moment to read a bit more about what’s been happening.

The occupations have both been lead by First Nations groups, and have evolved into partnerships with other community members. In Guelph, citizens opposing community sprawl joined the occupation. In Simcoe County, farmers from surrounding farms supported the native people.

The lands are environmentally sensitive. In Simcoe County, the site contains a tributary of the Speed and then Grand rivers. Leaching chemicals from the dumpsite would flow down into these rivers. In Guelph, the land is home to endangered Jefferson salamanders and a tree that is estimated to be over 500 years old. The tree is probably older than European knowledge of the Americas.

Reading about these lands has got me wondering, what would cause you to occupy land slated for development? Are you categorically against this type of action? Would you do it to protect your drinking water? What about an old growth forest? Or maybe for some other reason?

Sustainable Cities

Yaacov — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 16:03:07 +0000

Rex Weyler has a good post on the current and historic sustainability of cities. He starts with the rather obviously unsustainable Dubai, before moving to a general examination of concentrated populations.

Toxic Waste Dumping in West Africa

Yaacov — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 11:48:39 +0000

UK oil company Trafigura knowingly dumped toxic wastes in Ivory Coast and covered up the story when 15 people died and many others were hospitalized, the Guardian reports.

Preston Manning on Climate Change

Yaacov — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 18:37:19 +0000

There’s a great blog tracking the lead up to the Copenhagen conference on climate change from a Canadian perspective. Written by sustainability activists Rebecca McNeil and Darcy Higgins, it addresses the political and social issues, as well as the urgency of climate change.

Today’s post is about a speech Preston Manning gave to the Empire Club of Toronto on why we need to take action now on climate change.