banner drop; food; climate; biofuel; bike lanes; birds

Tue Apr 29 19:12:32 EDT 2008

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When you inhale, you are taking the strength from God.
When you exhale, it represents the service you are giving to the world.
B.K.S. Iyengar

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Greenpeace activists let it all hang out at Premier’s fundraising dinner

EDMONTON, Canada — On April 24, 2008, Greenpeace activists delivered a
clear message to Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach, dropping from the ceiling
above the annual Edmonton Premier’s Dinner as he was delivering his
fundraising speech, unveiling a banner as they descended that read:
“$telmach: The Best Premier Oil Money Can Buy.”

Two climbers dangled from the catwalk, distracting the over 1000
supporters of the Alberta Conservative party, who each paid $450 to listen
to Premier Stelmach speak at the dinner, held at the Shaw Conference
Centre in Edmonton. The Greenpeace protest disrupted the activity as the
audience turned their attention to the activists and the hanging banner
while Tory staff hurried to deal with the unexpected message.

"This government has approved every tar sands proposal that has come
across its desk, last year the Premier appointed Suncor VP Heather Kennedy
as deputy minister of tar sands development and his former Campaign
manager Randy Dawson has been hired as a nuclear power lobbyist by Bruce
Power. If this doesn't speak to lapdog politics, I don't know what does,"
said Mike Hudema, tar sands campaigner with Greenpeace. "There hasn't been
a single tar sands project that has been rejected. It appears the Premier
is either unwilling or unable to say no to big oil, despite the massive
costs to Albertans."

Recent Greenpeace polls have shown that Albertans are particularly
concerned with the amount of water the tar sands are using, and if
development continues as planned, it is set to suck up more water than the
entire city of Toronto uses in one year.

"The Athabasca, Peace and Slave rivers have lost nearly half their water
and for the next 50 years Western Canada will continue to face diminishing
water supplies," continued Hudema. "While the profits are shipped across
the border, Albertans are left to clean up the mess."

Greenpeace climbers Denise Ogonoski and Steve Anderson, both Edmonton
natives, were arrested, along with tar sands campaigner Mike Hudema, for
trespassing. They were released on the scene.

Photos,video, what you can do:
http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/en/campaigns/tarsands/stelmach-fundraising-dinner

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Eat locally, survive globally

National food policy should give priority to local agriculture over
globalized agribusiness
<http://www.thestar.com/printArticle/418620>http://www.thestar.com/printArticle/418620

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March the warmest on record over world land surfaces

March 2008 was the hottest month on record on Earth.
Read the article:

<http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080418/march_weather_080418/20080418?hub=SciTech>http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080418/march_weather_080418/20080418?hub=SciTech

NOAA Press release:
<http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2008/20080417_marchstats.html>http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2008/20080417_marchstats.html

Nicholas Stern:  “I Underestimated the Threat”

Sir Nicholas Stern told Reuters he was badly mistaken in the predictions
contained in his highly influential 2007 “Stern Review.”  “Emissions are
growing much faster than we'd thought, the absorptive capacity of the
planet is less than we'd thought, the risks of greenhouse gases are
potentially bigger than more cautious estimates, and the speed of climate
change seems to be faster," he said.

Read the story (English):
<http://uk.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUKGOR65702120080416>http://uk.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUKGOR65702120080416
<http://www.buzzle.com/articles/190987.html>http://www.buzzle.com/articles/190987.html

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We fill our tanks while they can't fill their stomachs
Date: April 19 2008, Sydney Morning Herald

"We drive, they starve" is the summation of the shift of the North
American grain harvest into ethanol plants. More than 240 kilograms of
corn - enough to feed one person for a year - is required to produce 100
litres of ethanol, enough to fill the tank of a modern four-wheel-drive.

http://www.smh.com.au/text/articles/2008/04/18/1208025479320.html

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Biofuel Production Soars, Despite Concerns
Worldwatch Institute

Global biofuel production grew 20% in 2007. The U.S. and Brazil now
produce 95% of the world's ethanol, and Germany leads in biodiesel
production. But is this good news? Recent scientific studies and rising
food prices have provoked international debate about the role that
biofuels should play in our energy system over the coming years. Read on
for a concise analysis of the most important biofuels trends.

http://www.worldwatch.org/node/5450?utm_campaign=vital_signs_online&utm_medium=email&utm_source=biofuels

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Group wants money for bike lanes and public transit, not automakers

Thursday, April 24, 2008
by John Bonnar, Toronto Social Justice Magazine

Streets are for People delivered their “petition car” to Queen’s Park
Tuesday, demanding the Liberals invest in bike lanes, public transit and a
train system instead of handing out millions of dollars in loans and
subsidies to the ailing auto industry.

“Every time another poor automaker comes begging for money our governments
cough it up,” said Streets are for People, who since 2002 has used
costumes, trumpets, and big tricycles “to liberate the commons from the
mundane rule of the automobile.” “Then, they say ‘Sorry, we don't have
money for transit or bicycle infrastructure.’”

According to Streets are for People, the auto industry dominates our
economy but also destroys our ability to live and breathe on this
planet. “The government is supposed to protect the public health,” they
said.  “It's time our money stopped supporting the very thing that is
killing us, and was put to positive use.  Let's put Ontario to work in
sectors that need working on.” <snip>

Full article plus photos:
http://storywordspics.blogspot.com/2008/04/group-wants-money-for-bike-lanes-and.html

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Powering past fossil fuels
Jose Etcheverry: "We are stuck in a paradigm of energy generation that is
two centuries old"

Sunday April 27th, 2008, Real News Network

Carbon capture technology is "putting the cart before the horse," climate
change policy analyst Jose Etcheverry tells The Real News' Afsan
Chowdhury, because the technology is unproven. Instead, Etcheverry, who
works for the David Suzuki Foundation, says the world should be focusing
on renewable resources such as wind and solar power. But large energy
producers are opposed to these types of energy, Etcheverry says, because
renewable energy is diffuse, can be owned and operated by anyone anywhere,
and therefore makes it impossible for the large energy companies to
continue to dominate the energy market.

Watch the 5 min. clip here:
http://therealnews.com/web/index.php?thisdataswitch=0&thisid=1405&thisview=item&renewx=2008-04-27+12%3A15%3A05

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Days Of Action - Point Pelee National Park

The Stephen Harper govt. has tentatively approved a plan by Parks Canada
to shoot thousands of nesting Double-crested Cormorants at Middle Island,
Point Pelee National Park beginning as early as next week ˆ April 29,
2008.

They plan to reduce the vibrant and historical colonial waterbird colony
by 90%, possibly killing as many as 7500 birds in the first week of May. 

Day of Action - Sunday May 18, 2008 (Victoria Day long weekend)

WHERE:
Point Pelee National Park ˆ primary location

Also
Ojibway Nature Centre ˆ Windsor
Pelee Island ferry docks - Leamington
Rondeau Provincial Park ˆ Chatham
Long Point Provincial Park ˆ south of Kitchener
Ward‚s Island - Toronto

The action is simple.  It involves handing out information asking visitors
to boycott Point Pelee National Park.  For those visitors already at Point
Pelee, we will ask them to wear black arm bands while in the park, and
consider cancelling future visits to the park.

All action will occur outside the park gates and off park property.

The Peaceful Parks Coalition has called for a boycott of Point Pelee
National Park because we believe a boycott would be effective.  Visitors
to Point Pelee are already at an all time low, and a strong rejection of
park policy by supporters could halt the shooting of cormorants scheduled
for the next five years. 

Parks Canada is part of a broader partnership, that includes the Ontario
Ministry of Natural Resources, Toronto Region and Conservation Authority,
Canadian Wildlife Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, whose
mandate is to kill double-crested cormorants at their nesting sites
throughout the Great Lakes basin, leaving so place safe for these birds
anywhere.

For detailed background information, please link to
<http://www.peacefulparks.org/>www.peacefulparks.org and
<http://www.peacefulparks.org/ppc/action_cormoranthm.htm>http://www.peacefulparks.org/ppc/action_cormoranthm.htm

The Peaceful Parks Coalition will provide all information factsheets,
organize transportation and billeting for those who can travel to Point
Pelee National Park, and will provide all participants with a protocol on
how to interact with the public. 

If you can help, please forward your full name, address and telephone number.

Peaceful Parks Coalition     W.
<http://www.peacefulparks.org>www.peacefulparks.org       
E. <mailto:ppc at peacefulparks.org>ppc at peacefulparks.org       T. toll free
1.877.785.8636

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