Watch this 3 min video news story from international agency AFP on the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline and the Tar Sands – featuring images by Damien Gillis and Ian McAllister. (July 5, 2011)
Article by Crawford Kilian at The Tyee. “Dr. [Kristi] Miller, a DFO scientist, published
an article in the U.S. journal Science last January. She was trying to
identify reasons why so many salmon die in the rivers just before
spawning — a phenomenon called prespawn mortality… [Her] testimony in August may help clarify the specific causes of the 2009
Fraser sockeye collapse. But DFO’s credibility, never high since the
destruction of the cod fishery, is in danger of collapsing like the 2009
Fraser sockeye run.” Read article
Op-ed by Al Gore in Rolling Stone. Excerpt: “The answer to the question ‘Is [professional wrestling] real?’ seemed connected to the
question of whether the referee was somehow confused about his role: Was
he too an entertainer?
“That is pretty much the role now being played by most of the news
media in refereeing the current wrestling match over whether global
warming is ‘real,’ and whether it has any connection to the constant
dumping of 90 million tons of heat-trapping emissions into the Earth’s
thin shell of atmosphere every 24 hours.
“Admittedly, the contest over global warming is a challenge for the
referee because it’s a tag-team match, a real free-for-all. In one
corner of the ring are Science and Reason. In the other corner:
Poisonous Polluters and Right-wing Ideologues.”
One year later, and still the question stands. What answers we have offer an incomplete image of an event that spanned the largest city in Canada, and directly affected the businesses, homes, and lives of thousands of people in and around Toronto at that time.
The constructed space between those ‘for’ and those ‘against’ the g20 summit left little room for understanding; and the violence, looting, vandalism, and indiscriminate arrests that ultimately occurred only increased the anger and strong emotions on all sides.
In response Ouboum is publishing a collection of articles and artwork from passers-by, politicians, police, protesters — people, whose experiences will paint a more accurate picture of the summit.
This publication responds to the concern that only a handful of perspectives on the g20 have been given due consideration in public discourse, and that these few were presented only in opposition to one another. The narrative that remains is one of protestors and proponents – suggesting that anyone else would have remained quietly at home, away from the site of the event.
But the site of the event was downtown Toronto – home to some 2.5 million people whose experiences may not conform to the language of the media. The purpose of this publication is to document the wide range of perspectives held by participants on all sides of the g20 by providing a space where people can tell their own stories on their own terms and in their own language.
Ouboum is a Toronto-based collective of independent writers, artists and publishers inviting individuals, groups and organizations to share their experience of the g20 for publication in a forthcoming journal of social discourse. They are now accepting for publication any form of written, photographic or artistic representation of the individual’s experience of the 2010 g20 summit in Toronto.
For more information please visit www.ouboum.ca
A response from chiefs of five First Nations to the patronizing accusation made by Peter Foster in the Vancouver Sun that they are being manipulated by environmentalists to oppose the Enbridge pipeline. “The lands and rivers which the proposed Enbridge pipeline would cross
are habitat for moose, grizzly bears, salmon, deer, migratory birds, and
other wildlife. Our food, stories, ceremonies, and our entire culture
is tied to the land and the wildlife it supports – a spill could
devastate our way of life.” Read article
Legitimate objections to government projects sometimes fall way too short of the mark.
In Narrows Inlet, lower Sunshine Coast in BC, legitimate and serious concerns over silt dumps from bottom draining, ice scoured, high alpine lakes and dumping massive amounts of ice scoured silt into prime fish habitat… were ignored. so, what purpose Environment assessment submissions then?
And now all government officials have evidently been gagged… their silence over environmental degradation and the fish kills – when alevins were migrating to the sea – is deafening.
The Conservation officer? Mr gun touting. environmental protection? “The proponent has invested a lot of money” followed by “I have no boat”.
The DFO senior biogist? “No environmental damage” – a claim made from his desk in Nanaimo… as proven after 19 polite email requests – none of which werre responded to… for the date of his inspection, into a project he assessed, and approved and then happily investigated… an FOI revealed he flew in on May 1… fully six weeks after the silt dump occurred …. when, as siltation expert, as any kid in a mud puddle knows, he knew the silt would have settled out of suspension in still water by that time.
And the proponent’s team?… the initial biologist? his brother … who invited residents “… to stop their dissent and invest in this Gold Rush” and since defrocking that multiple conflict of interest, residents have had four successive expert biologist who do not bother to consult with affected residents whose drinking water is to be fouled.
And there are 600 of these IPPs planned province wide. and the EAO… a token assessment… even after accepting a ride in with residents as the “proponent was not objective”!
And the supposedly required Visual Impact Presentation for the Ramona project? Not seen in two years of asking, particularly, not after the massive Tyson Lake private profit power project silt dumps by the same proponent.
And the dolly varden? stealhead? “blue listed” cutthroat trout? huh?
And the mountain goats, shore bears, trumpeter swans, osprey? … none seen since the inlet was industrialized.
Burning our garbage impacts our future beyond toxic ash. By whatever rebranding, incineration returns only a tiny fraction of the energy it takes, wasting both energy and resources.
Incinerators built today would still be burning our recoverable resources by 2050—polluting environment and residents, accelerating climate change (one ton GHG per ton burned) while fossil fuels and all critical materials are being depleted and world population grows to 9.2 billion people. Our region will to grow to 3.4 million people, while globally, net energy may decline to 40%.
Instead of wasting our tax and fossil fuel resources on the dead-end disposal economy of incineration and ash landfill, we can invest public money in economic renewal. We can fully develop our diversion economy; build resource recovery parks, recycling and composting capacity.
We need to remanufacture our recycled materials locally to prepare for the failure of overseas markets as “the eighteen-wheeler of globalization is thrown into reverse” by the ever-rising price of oil.
Instead of hastening planet Armageddon, our tax dollars can mitigate the impact of peak oil, peak food, global recession and climate change. We can start by buying the Catalyst paper recycling mill in Coquitlam.
Coal mining protest song from Port Alberni, in response to the proposed Raven Underground Coal Project.
Compliance
Energy Corp has applied to mine coal in the Fanny Bay area within five
kilometers of Baynes Sound, home to B.C.’s largest shellfish industry
which provides about 600 jobs in the area.
The plan is to transport
the coal by truck or rail to Port Alberni, where a large loading and
storage facility would be built within very close proximity to homes and
businesses and directly in a tsunami zone. The project would provide a
mere 21 jobs for Port Alberni.
Federal and provincial environmental assessment agencies have announced a public comment period from May 18 to June 27. http://www.eao.gov.bc.ca/pcp/forms/Raven.html
Catchy and informative musical cartoon on hydraulic fracturing. The song is based on ProPublica’s investigation on hydraulic fractured gas drilling.
