A Threat to Canada's Environment

Cirrus

Arowana blogger
I find it embarrassing to be Canadian these days when it comes to environmental issues; we always seem to be on the wrong side of the fence. Recent climate talks in Rio De Janero, Brazil have Canada offering little hope for change:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2012/06/20/rio-canada-environment-summit.html

Critics say the draft is weak on timelines and firm commitments, and lacks heft when it comes to overseeing the state of the world's oceans.

"The text is extremely weak, and as it stands represents a sellout of people and the planet," Cameron Fenton, director of the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition, said in an email from Rio.

"Canada's role has been at its best not engaging in the process, and at worst acting to weaken ambitious language and delete commitments."

Oxfam Canada's Mark Fried noted the official text did not contain any new commitments, and even modest proposals — such as improving smallholder farmers' access to resources — were dropped.

and of course everyone knows how radical an organization OXFAM is! :rolleyes:

Ottawa has been in an escalating public-opinion battle with environmentalists for months to the point where there is virtually no common ground between the government and even moderate research-based environmental groups.

In the lead-up to the budget, Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver chastised environmentalists for taking foreign funding. Protests against federal policy have been growing louder and louder, targeting the budget and its emphasis on "responsible resource management", and most recently the omnibus budget bill that overhauls environmental assessment regimes and the Fisheries Act.

Count me as a moderate environmentalist who feels betrayed by the direction our government is going in. This was not part of their election platform! :( :mad:
 
Last edited:

Cirrus

Arowana blogger
Lot's of breaking news concerning leaking oil pipelines today.

Another report of another Enbridge Pipeline spill:

http://www.vancouversun.com/busines...pill+releases+litres+heavy/6810820/story.html

The spill outlined in the article above (apparently due to a faulty gasket) is exactly the kind of spill people in BC can expect if Enbridge builds the Northern Gateway Pipeline Project...except it will happen way up in the mountains and be practically impossible to clean up.

The problems with Enbridge are making headlines in Canada, as calls for a full review of the pipeline industry in Alberta grow:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/glob...s-for-alberta-pipeline-review/article4352760/

And this story is going international: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304441404577478610992607188.html

It is beginning to look like Enbridge is their own worst enemy when it comes to selling their agenda.
 

Cirrus

Arowana blogger
This video kind of sums up the decision facing people in BC and Canada about the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline Project:

 
Top