Sunday, March 08, 2009

Greenspirational News

We all want progress, but if you're on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive.
C.S. Lewis




Mar. 8th is International Women's Day


Thank a feminist...


http://www.isis.aust.com/iwd/thankafeminist.htm


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The Canadian Oil Boom
Scraping Bottom


National Geographic's photo and text expose of the Alberta tar sands


Once considered too expensive, as well as too damaging to the land, exploitation of Alberta's oil sands is now a gamble worth billions.


http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/03/canadian-oil-sands/kunzig-text


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LIGHTS OUT - EARTH HOUR


Turn off your lights on Saturday March 28, 2009 at 8:30 pm for one hour. Millions of Canadians will turn off their lights on March 28th for Earth Hour in support of action on climate change.


And don't stop at turning off the lights. Think about what else can be done to reduce your footprint like taking transit, unplugging unused electrical appliances and washing your clothes in cold water. The list is endless and your action will make a big difference.


http://wwf.ca/earthhour/


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Uranium Mining Poisons Native Americans
By Jeff Gerritsen


Nuclear power is often billed as clean base-load electrical energy.
However, few if any nuclear power proponents mention the unintended
consequences or the externalized costs associated with this technology to
support the unsustainable U.S. lifestyle. A crucial part of this story is
told by Native Americans.


http://culturechange.org/go.html?336


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FOX News and Animal Advocates on Meat-Eating Environmentalists


How can global warming activists accept and acknowledge that animal agriculture is responsible for roughly 20 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions and that switching to a vegan diet does remarkably more to decrease a person's greenhouse gas contributions than, say, switching to a hybrid vehicle or CFLs and then not make that change, a change that is relatively easy to make, that is beneficial on multiple other levels, and that can be made immediately?


http://animalrights.change.org/blog/view/fox_news_and_animal_advocates_on_meat-eating_environmentalists


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Green bin compost too much to handle locally


Due to a shortage of Ontario facilities that convert organic waste into compost, thousands of tonnes of green bin contents have now been sent to New York State for incineration.


http://www.680news.com/news/headlines/more.jsp?content=20090301_095500_4724


In light of this infuriating news, how do we in the GTA start creating "green collar" jobs out of compost?



American taste for soft toilet roll 'worse than driving Hummers'


Extra-soft, quilted and multi-ply toilet roll made from virgin forest causes more damage than gas-guzzlers, fast food or McMansions, say campaigners


http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/feb/26/toilet-roll-america


Prevent Cancer Now, a Canada-wide network to eliminate preventable causes of cancer, launched a new website today to help provide Canadians with resources to fight for a cancer-free future - www.preventcancernow.ca.
Among the new materials are:


· A toolkit to help fight the dangerous technology of incineration. Incinerators emit hundreds of pollutants into our air, land and water every single day, including cancer-causing agents that build-up in our bodies. Health Canada states that the large-scale burning of municipal and medical waste is the biggest source of dioxins and furans. Despite this, many Canadian cities and municipalities are now facing new incinerator proposals.


· A renewed call on the Canadian government to phase-out and eliminate all known or suspected carcinogens in manufacturing and industrial processes, food production and consumer products. Please sign our declaration.


· Information on the continued shameful practices of our federal government to actively promote the use of asbestos nationally and internationally. Visit the new website and Take Action on asbestos.


Please visit our new website today and help us make a difference. Sign up for our newsletter.
And please sign the incineration position statement - http://preventcancernow.ca


Ontario Cosmetic Pesticide Ban Spring 2009!!!!!


As of April 22, 2009, more than 95 pesticides will be banned for sale and for use on lawns in Ontario!


Here's the official word:
http://www.ene.gov.on.ca/en/news/2009/030401.php


It's a good news/bad news story, of course....
We lost golf courses, speciality turf (eg lawn bowling) but they have stronger restrictions/requirements for pesticide use.
Urban trees can still be sprayed, as well as injected, but it has to be determined by an arborist if pesticides are needed.
We also lost municipal authority to pass stronger bylaws.


We won:
Nearly 100 pesticide active ingredients are banned for sale and use on lawns, including 2,4-D, Mecoprop, Dicamba, Sevin, Merit, Par III, Weed n Feed, Roundup etc.
No spraying cemetaries


Susan Koswan




Powershift '09 - Feb. 27 - Mar. 2, Washington DC. - 12,000 youth gathered to fight climate change!


Thank you for making history at Power Shift 2009, the largest ever youth conference and lobby day on climate change. Thank you for raising your voice and demanding action, stopping at nothing-not even snow or bitter cold-until you were heard. You are the leaders of the next American energy revolution, one that will protect our planet while creating green jobs to build a strong and sustainable economy.


http://powershift09.org/




Flush hour: Oslo to run buses powered by biomethane from human sewage




Free, friendly and non-fossil - biomethane from human waste will soon power public transport in the capital city


It is available for free in huge quantities, is not owned by Saudi Arabia and it contributes minimally towards climate change. The latest green fuel might seem like the dream answer to climate crisis, but until recently raw sewage has been seen as a waste disposal problem rather than a power source. Now Norway's capital city is proving that its citizens can contribute to the city's green credentials without even realising it.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2009/jan/27/biomethane-energy




Democracy + Private Ownership = Capitalism
Democracy + Public Ownership = Socialism
Dictatorship + Public Ownership = Communism
Dictatorship + Private Ownership = Fascism



Eulogies and Condolences for Tooker
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Do we want to be remembered as the generation that saved the banks and let the biosphere collapse? George Monbiot


http://janinebandcroft.blogspot.com
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