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I wish there would be something about oil sands in the OP. It, and the recently introduced bills that cut scientific funding and reduce environmental regulation, are some of Harper's mistakes that will go down into history. Some positive news from today from CTV, BC rejects the Northern Gateway project. I believe this is the formal opinion after the joint review panel met for the past several months.
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May 31, 2013 19:42
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bunnyofdoom posted:So, halloween and such, whose else is going to be watching the convention with a glass of scotch? Scotch goes down smoother than Duffy.
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Oct 28, 2013 23:47
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There was quite a big anti-Enbridge rally today in Vancouver and several others across Canada. Caught some photos.   It was cold, there were lots of cops (including some mounties); it's good to see people not sitting on their asses about this. In fact: 
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Nov 17, 2013 05:10
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Lead out in cuffs posted:Yeah, I ran into that biking to martial arts class today. Well, that sucks. I took the skytrain did as did a lot of others. I didn't see any streets blocked, but if there is someone to complain to, do it, because I'm sure whoever organized this probably did not block bikers intentionally or were aware of that. Edit: Actually, the closing of streets or bike lanes is probably the city's doing, not the event's doing. Jenny of Oldstones fucked around with this message at 06:16 on Nov 17, 2013 |
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Nov 17, 2013 05:46
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Lead out in cuffs posted:It wasn't so much closed as it had a close-packed crowd of about 1,000 people centred on it. They set up their stage for the protest about 4m away from the bike lane. The sidewalk that goes around the seawall? I would just report that to Forest Ethics, who hosted the rally; maybe they seriously did not know that was a bike lane. I don't think it's marked. Regardless, I would argue that most people did not drive to the event. When I got off the skytrain, everyone I saw walking over to the rally had also gotten off the train, and it seemed like tons of people. Many people biked there too.
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Nov 17, 2013 18:43
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Arabidopsis posted:gently caress.
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Dec 20, 2013 01:12
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Condensate (which would be piped from Kitimat to Alberta) is highly corrosive, thus making the potential for pipeline leaks high. The big worry is an oil spill either in the Kitimat arm or on the coast of the rainforest. The executive director of Living Oceans has stated that there is no known way to really clean up bitumen oil from water. I wrote a big piece on it here a while back.
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Dec 27, 2013 21:15
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Hand Knit posted:So we actually have a leaked internal document with information on what the conservative government explicitly wants to do with the scientific library closures. It's about as ugly as you would expect. Me too. There is no other feeling than anger and a wondering of what in the world we could do about it. More like
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Jan 3, 2014 03:07
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Hasn't that already been a thing? http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawas-new-anti-terrorism-strategy-lists-eco-extremists-as-threats/article533522/
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Jan 8, 2014 23:29
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Franks Happy Place posted:Of course Harper can't handle what's coming, that's why it's so loving dumb. Clayoquot Sound, Oka, and Gustafson Lake were all gigantic disasters from a policing/state authority perspective, and Clayoquot in particular is illustrative of what the Great Pipeline Fuckup will look like (except this one will be a hundred times bigger and have more money pouring in to support natives and environmental protesters). I had always thought that the protests at Clayoquot were largely peaceful and ended up really accomplishing a lot as far as getting the logging of old-growth out of what was then to become the Great Bear Rainforest (though from what I understand, some of this logging still happens, which is a loving shame). I was actually surprised to read in the article above about the tree-spiking and destruction of machinery. Of course, the quote is a vague one: quote:Although acts of civil disobedience during the Clayoquot Sound conflict are celebrated, [Zoe] Blunt said, there’s hardly ever a mention that 20,000 trees are believed to have been spiked to ward off chainsaws. I really like Straight.com, along with The Tyee. Another good and recent article by Celia Brauer is here. I've worked with her in the past, and she's a wonderful-hearted person as well as an excellent writer, in my opinion. She says: quote:Predictably there were the usual stern thoughts from the “powers that be”—the press, politicians, and business community who have a strong stake in the status quo. Some of these commentators were highly annoyed those “darned environmentalists” were unfairly influencing the public. Peter Foster of the Financial Post claimed these “ENGOS” were a “powerful radical minority” which employed “thuggish tactics” to derail what he believes is necessary to keep our growth economy on track. He decried their “rejection of markets and contempt for democracy”. In his eyes the corporate world apparently does no harm because it follows the rule of law while environmental groups are “spreading alarm, threatening violence, and contempt for democracy”.  Edit: Paper Mac posted:Is the plotted route of the pipeline still expected to cross sovereign FN territory? If the FNs in question disallow its building, are there legal mechanisms the feds could use to force it through? Eminent domain? Yes, it does cross FN territories, and if those FN aren't on board, you would think, oh no problem, right? I went to listen to a lecture given by UBC law professor Dr. Gordon Christie. According to him, the Crown acts as though it has authority over indigenous people, but it is not clear how the Crown can legitimately claim such authority. The Royal Proclamation by King George in 1763 explicitly gave rights to aboriginals to keep their land unless it was bought by the Crown and sold to settlers or was bought directly by the Crown. Treaties could also cede the land. However, according to Indigenous Nations: “The Royal Proclamation was designed and written by British colonists without Aboriginal input, and clearly establishes a monopoly over Aboriginal lands by the British Crown.” This seems to be one of Dr. Christie’s main concerns: the Crown has been assertive, has defined its assertion and absolute authority over indigenous people, and its law has been “constructed to ensure that substantive indigenous people rights to authority will never appear on the legal-political landscape.” There will be court cases over this, which will delay the pipeline project. Jenny of Oldstones fucked around with this message at 23:19 on Jan 9, 2014 |
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Jan 9, 2014 23:12
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For anyone wanting to really understand the entire problem with expansion of bitumen oil sands, a good resource is Andrew Nikiforuk's book Tar Sands: Dirty Oil and the Future of a Continent. It's less than 10 bux on Kindle.quote:Tar Sands critically examines the frenzied development in the Canadian tar sands and the far-reaching implications for all of North America. Bitumen, the sticky stuff that ancients used to glue the Tower of Babel together, is the world’s most expensive hydrocarbon. This difficult-to-find resource has made Canada the number-one supplier of oil to the United States, and every major oil company now owns a lease in the Alberta tar sands. The region has become a global Deadwood, complete with rapturous engineers, cut-throat cocaine dealers, Muslim extremists, and a huge population of homeless individuals.
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Jan 10, 2014 00:13
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Mr. Wynand posted:That is such a ... weird crime. How much is a tree worth? I don't know if you are talking about the tree-spiking or the logging. Long answer (from my previous writing on the subject): Keep in mind that the area in question is part of the largest, intact temperate rainforest in the world and is called sometimes "the lungs of the earth" due to its invaluable use as a carbon sink. Its very old trees and old growth represent a climax forest not able to be quickly replaced, if ever, and not in our lifetimes for sure. Irreplaceable = high value as far as the environment goes, which includes indicator species and their webs, intact soils, fungal ecosystems, etc. As far as worth in tree lumber, an old or virgin or primary tree cut down is just not measurable compared to a tree left in the earth. In 2001, the government endorsed the Great Bear Rainforest Agreement to protect the coastal forests, but industrial logging continued. In 2002, environmental organizations found new evidence of clear-cutting, and in 2003 launched a campaign in China, which was, according to Forest Action Network (FAN), “the fastest-growing market for lumber clearcut from BC’s ancient forests.” In July of that year, FAN reported a new road being blasted into bear habitat on Princess Royal Island, and that companies such as Interfor, Western Forest Products, and Triumph Timber all had licenses to log in spirit bear territory. In 2004, three years after the agreement to protect the rainforest, FAN released a report that some progress had been made but that emerging threats continued to exist, including mining and industrial logging. The protection of the area goes back earlier, too. In the early 1990s, a large-scale protection of the Great Bear was launched by environmentalist to protect the Clayoquot Sound on Vancouver Island. The area has been inhabited for thousands of years by the Nuu-chah-nulth people, including the northern Hesquiaht, the middle Ahousaht, and the southern Tla-o-Qui-Aht. These early protests gave way to the coined name of the Great Bear Rainforest. As early as 1984, Meares Island and Sulphur Pass had logging blockades, after the BC government decided to log most of the island. A legal application from the Nuu-chah-nulth First Nation was granted, which halted the logging and imposed a legal injunction. In 1989, a sustainable development stakeholder process was set up to provide land use plans for Clayoquot, but this dissolved in 1992. In 1993, the Clayoquot Land Use Decision (CLUD) came about. According to Friends of Clayoquot Sound, this decision called for: 33% of land base of Clayoquot Sound protected (90,400 hectares) (translates into 22% of productive ancient forest protected) 62% of land base open for logging (translates into 74% of productive ancient forest open for logging) 5% of land base not included in decision (District of Tofino; First Nations reserves; Meares Island – under court injunction and treaty negotiation) However, this decision did not sit well, and later that year came Canada’s largest civil disobedience. 12,000 citizens attended a logging road blockade in Clayoquot Sound. 850 were arrested. See IISAAK (First Nation led forest service) for a timeline of CLUD protection and activism covering 1978-2008. Since 2000, Clayoquot Sound has been a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. These sites are established by countries in order to encourage ecological science and sustainable development in local communities. Biosphere reserves attempt to reconcile conservation of biological and cultural diversity, and economic and social development, through partnerships between people and and nature. In 2006, 2007, and 2008, further agreements between coalitions of several organizations have called for continued protection and sustainable forest management. This includes implementation of an ecosystem-based management and “keeping the promise” by Greenpeace, Sierra Club of Canada, and ForestEthics in 2008. 12,000 people is a lot of people. Even in the push for wild salmon vs. fish farmed salmon, there might have been a thousand or two marching--same with anti-Enbridge and other oil protest rallies. However, I really think the Northern Gateway project is going to turn not just the UN's but the world's eyes on what's happening and I could easily see that many people (and many more) laying down, blocking and protesting.
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Jan 10, 2014 02:49
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Mr. Wynand posted:Aw geez, no I just meant like, how much the tree is worth to the tree "thief" (illegal helicopter logging) in actual dollars - like it seems like a very complicated and risky operation for one tree. That's a lot of ikea cabinets to be sure but I had no idea a full tree is seriously worth stealing (considering the equipment cost involved). I'm really sorry you typed all that out Heh, well I copied what I had written once before, so no big effort there. But I don't really know what the trees are worth. Surely a lot, as logging is a pretty big industry in Canada. What I don't get is why old-growth is logged rather than newer, managed forests.
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Jan 10, 2014 03:35
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, of course trees are very valuable to the earth as a whole, everyone likes trees.
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angerbeet posted:Why is black walnut worth more than pine? I get that some wood is simply more valuable than others, but my question was related to why that particular old-growth forest is still being logged despite the copious amounts of other info provided about the importance of why that forest should not be logged.
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Jan 10, 2014 04:23
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lonelywurm posted:Well, I'm not an expert, but my family lives in an area with an active lumber mill that produces OSB, mainly from softwoods like spruce and jack pine. They began replanting fallen sections around 20 years ago, and are beginning to log those replanted stands already. Something like a white spruce will grow at around a foot to a foot and a half per year, allowing harvesting within a lifetime. I'm no expert either, but I think the red cedar model you present would be a good idea if we could turn back time and work with vasts forests of it wisely, but that never happened nor can it now due to the fact the few old-growth areas left in the world have people fighting to preserve them.
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Jan 10, 2014 10:18
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Rime posted:Absolutely. This article (from last March) talks a bit about the religious ideology of Canada conservative leaders. Faith-based politics is something I had hoped would both stay in the US and be eventually punted for good there. It seems the evolution of ideology would move away from religion-based and toward science-based as we progress toward the future. Welp!
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Jan 10, 2014 23:29
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I know we've already talked about the closing of science libraries, but this image from a recent article at Our Winsdor just pisses me off.  A federal union official sent this picture in: a dumpster at the Fisheries and Oceans Canada library in Mont-Joli, Quebec.
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Jan 13, 2014 01:17
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Tsyni posted:This is enraging every time it's brought up. There just doesn't seem to be any clear information on whether data is being lost, or if there is just a giant pile of research waiting to be digitized. Theories about a hidden agenda to neuter data-based environmental backlash about the oil sands and other projects seems a bit of a reach, but at the same time dismantling all these libraries with this lack of transparency really makes you wonder what the hell is going on. Well at least in this article, there's no crazy theories, just some frustrated scientists. I've summarized why they are frustrated.
Jenny of Oldstones fucked around with this message at 06:03 on Jan 13, 2014 |
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Jan 13, 2014 05:12
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Gorewar posted:Man, the Albertans on my facebook feed are pissed about Neil Young's trip to Fort Mcmurray. I haven't seen this much rage in a really long time. Love those Albertan tears. That reminds me Friday morning on the radio CBC was talking about Oil Sands Karaoke, a new documentary. According to the guys who made the film they are against the oil sands but wanted to look at the workers.
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Jan 20, 2014 07:03
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I just came across this article about some enviro-groups suing the government over genetically engineered salmon. I had no idea this was even happening, though I remember reading a couple years ago that the FDA was considering approving this in the US.quote:Several consumer and food safety groups, including Ecology Action Centre, Ecojustice, and Living Oceans Society are challenging the Canadian government’s approval of AquaBounty‘s genetically engineered salmon. This new fish threatens native species, according to those groups. The lawsuit was filed today in Canadian court. Why is there no public debate about stuff like this, or if there is any, it is not very well known about.
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Jan 21, 2014 01:21
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swagger like us posted:I don't understand activists who think that genetically modified organisms, which are super delicate and designed for very specific circumstances and conditions, will somehow "jump the fence" and magically survive in the wild. It's like worrying about a chihuahua getting lose in the arctic and mating with a wolf, its just not going to happen. I think they are more concerned about the non-labeling of regular farmed salmon and thus the probable (we'll wait and see) non-labeling of GE salmon, so the consumer doesn't really understand what they are getting. There's also the potential of diseases/parasites that could be passed on to wild salmon if farmed in BC waters, or other fish. There's the problem with massive fish farms producing football field amounts of waste on the ocean floor when bred in open waters in large amounts, as with any factory farming. These aren't some stupid activist fears like you say. Net water regular Atlantic (non GE) salmon farming off the west coast has gotten a lot of critique in BC, enough that the Cohen inquiry (driven by DFO scientists and others) recommended no new salmon farms in BC waters, with a lot more rigid study on them, so why introduce GE farmed salmon to the mix? The article said that so far they were being bred on the east coast, but that they will be able to bring the fish back to Canada and breed/raise them anywhere. Also, it is a fact that thousands of farmed salmon get loose and compete with the wild salmon for food. Already, the wild salmon on the west coast have been dwindling for years. There's plenty of arguments against GE salmon that go beyond the fact that they are genetically engineered. It's not a black-white issue; there are levels of concern. Edit: some links to support salmon escaping and other problems (I was wrong; not thousands but millions of farmed salmon have escaped from net pens): http://www.livingoceans.org/initiatives/salmon-farming/issues/escapes-net-pens-are-poor-containment-structures-and-escaped http://fishfarmnews.blogspot.ca/2013/12/chile-millions-of-escaped-farmed-salmon.html http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/david-suzuki/cohen-report-salmon-fishing_b_4145206.html Jenny of Oldstones fucked around with this message at 07:59 on Jan 21, 2014 |
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Jan 21, 2014 07:54
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Kafka Esq. posted:I just finished reading The Dilbit Disaster and I'm just completely loving blown away. Pollution sands is the only way to characterize this entire area of our country devoted to poisoning the world. Thanks for the recommendation. I'll have to pick this up.
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Jan 21, 2014 18:42
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When I saw big stupid pro oil sands ads on Cineplex screens, I complained to Cineplex about them. The public just needs to be made continually aware of how terrible the oil sands is, which makes their ads pure propaganda, and then the public needs to raise a stir about it.
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Jan 24, 2014 16:18
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Helsing posted:Do you care to elaborate? You may say I'm a dreamer...
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Jan 25, 2014 20:26
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JoelJoel posted:Political ads (good ones) aren't about informing or changing opinions. They are about tapping into peoples' psyche and exploiting emotional realities that exist already. Effective ads don't try to impart or internalise something, they attempt to tap into and provoke something that is already imparted or internalised. I also think, with few exceptions, ads with images just do a better job because they help bring out that emotional reality. Some examples:       This one's effective, but as far as I know, books were not actually burned. 
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Jan 25, 2014 20:56
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Healthy economies benefit from healthy, diverse environments. Why is this pure simple fact lost in so much discussion surrounding the pollution sands.
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Jan 28, 2014 20:45
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eXXon posted:The only way to ensure environmental protection is to regulate the oil sands out of existence. I just finished a book recommended in this thread a few pages back, Dilbit Disaster, which covers the Line 6B tear in Michigan, which spilled over a million gallons of oil into a tributary of the Kalamazoo River, coming dangerously close to a large drinking water aquifer. As it was, it forced people from their homes for months and has never been completely cleaned up because there is no way to clean up sunken dilbit without completely digging it up from the river bottom, ruining the ecology of the river. This was a river that people had cleaned up from previous industrial waste, thanks to the Clean Water Act in the US in the 1970s. And boom, in one moment, this section of the tributary and river was ruined. It was at a pipeline site Enbridge had marked to fix several times, but never fixed and was allowed to not fix until whenever, due to really lax regulations. They didn't even respond to the spill correctly until 17 hours after the first alarm went off, due to faulty analysis. Then, when the local authorities in the US were trying to figure out how to clean up oil that sunk (because normal lightweight oil does not sink, and they assumed this oil was that type), for up to a couple weeks Enbridge failed to let them know this was tar sands oil, which is not only a heavier oil but contains a dilution of chemicals (that help it to be piped) like benzene, a carcinogen, and other undisclosed chemicals. Local authorities had to figure out if that was dangerous, but nobody but industry had done research on what's in dilbit, and its environmental/human health risks, and industry data is proprietary, making it so that it is simply not shared. Oil industry has terribly lax regulations both in the US and Canada, and people have a right to be pissed off about that as it concerns your average Joe's backyard and well-being. When fixing the pipe, Enbridge decided to double its size so that it could carry more bitumen through the area, and basically just had the right to cut through people's yards, hundred year old trees--what have you. I've been anti-pipelines for years once I learned just how destructive they are to Canada's rare natural resources--and because they do not honor treaties, and because the oil industry is really terrible in how they deal with people. Those are reasons enough to be upset and I would argue these reason drive the desire to lessen dependence on oil. But still when I read that book I was horrified. This is just one example of one spill. It was handled horribly. It was not handled as Enbridge itself claims it would handle such disasters. People are upset about pipelines and supertankers and increased emissions because of very logical concerns, not because they have a hardon for command economy. Jenny of Oldstones fucked around with this message at 00:30 on Jan 29, 2014 |
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Jan 29, 2014 00:21
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Professor Shark posted:Environment Charities about to lose their tax exempt statuses: I saw this yesterday, but wonder why "Ethical Oil" isn't on that list?
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Feb 8, 2014 00:06
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SpannerX posted:Who knows? I heard about that this morning on CBC radio on the drive into work. It's awful. "But the oil sands will bring so many jobs!" Edit: mik posted:From the article (unless this was a rhetorical question): I was being snarky, because Ethical Oil is also a non-profit (not sure if it has charity status) and it is most definitely using more than 10% of its time to be political. I was just looking at their website, and it doesn't seem to load correctly. They have a mission statement and a Paypal donate button, but nothing else. Jenny of Oldstones fucked around with this message at 00:44 on Feb 8, 2014 |
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Feb 8, 2014 00:38
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Alctel posted:It's not out of spite, it's because the loving pipelines will cripple BCs economy and ruin our coastline for the next 100 years, for practically 0 benefit. Why don't you get that? You are a big eco-tard terrorist radical hippie, obviously, with oatmeal for brains. Try not making so much sense. It'll be good for you long-haired types.
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Feb 15, 2014 19:31
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