US refugees, Earth Hour, privatization, drugs, nuclear, green events

[angela bischoff]

Deep peace of the rolling waves to you
Deep peace of the shining stars
Deep peace of the flowing air to you
Deep peace of the quiet earth
May peace fill our souls
May peace make us whole

- Celtic prayer

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American Refugees are flooding into Canada: Tens of thousands of Americans
are now economic refugees

In September of 2007, the city of Windsor, which borders the United States,
officially asked for financial assistance from Ottawa to deal with American
refugees flooding into Canada. This is proving to be the tip of the iceberg,
and only the first wave of economic refugees that have been created in the
United States.

There are now tent cities being built outside most large US metropolitan
areas, one of the largest of which is in Los Angeles. The following report
from the BBC highlights the consequence of the US subprime meltdown and
the fears that the crisis is growing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnnOOo6tRs8

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Earth Hour - <>http://www.earthhour.org
Turn off ALL lights - across Canada and the world!
Sat. March 29, 8 - 9 p.m.

Created to take a stand against the greatest threat our planet has ever
faced, Earth Hour uses the simple action of turning off the lights for one
hour to deliver a powerful message about the need for action on global
warming.

This simple act has captured the hearts and minds of people all over the
world. As a result, at 8 pm March 29, 2008 millions of people in some of
the world’s major capital cities, including Toronto, Edmonton, Copenhagen,
Toronto, Chicago, Melbourne, Brisbane and Tel Aviv will unite and switch
off for Earth Hour.

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News about privatization and the fight to preserve public services,
resources, spaces and enterprise - a new Canadian site

StraightGoods.ca is proud to announce the addition of another new member
to our family of websites:
<http://www.PublicValues.ca>www.PublicValues.ca. PublicValues.ca is an
online newsmagazine presenting news about privatization and the fight to
preserve public services, resources, spaces and enterprise. We plan to
update it frequently, and we encourage readers to submit ideas and
articles.

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http://www.thestar.com/News/Ontario/article/350146
Drugs found in Ontario water: Study

Mar 24, 2008 09:30 AM
THE CANADIAN PRESS

HAMILTON – A new study reports finding traces of painkillers and other
drugs in drinking water from 15 southern Ontario cities.

The places are not identified but all are said to be within easy reach of
Environment Canada's National Water Research Institute in Burlington.

Most compounds were reduced to trace or non-detectable levels after
passing through water treatment plants, but the researchers say the fact
any chemicals were found is a sign of potential exposure to many more.

The study, by University of Waterloo researcher Mark Servos, appears in
the current issue of the Water Quality Research Journal of Canada.

Compounds detected include painkillers such as ibuprofen,
cholesterol-lowering drugs and the common household antibacterial agent
triclosan.

This study follows recent U.S. findings of a vast array of pharmaceuticals
in the drinking water of at least 41 million Americans.

A spokesperson for the Ontario Environment Ministry says results of a
study it conducted on water from 17 municipal plants are under review and
will be released "sometime this year."

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Nuclear is Not Clean
(submitted for publication to the Ottawa Citizen)
21-Mar-08

I take strong exceptional to your editorial, "Rehabilitating Nuclear".

To call nuclear "clean" because it doesn't produce CO2 is as absurd as
calling coal clean because it doesn't produce plutonium.

Nuclear power is not clean. It produces the most toxic waste byproducts
of any industry on earth. That's why you cannot buy private insurance
to protect your property or your person against a nuclear accident.
That's why the Nuclear Waste Management Organization estimates it
will cost over $20 billion just to baby-sit nuclear wastes for the
next 300 years -- a small fraction of its million-year toxic time-span.

Why are radiation levels in Lake Ontario growing larger year by year?
It is because Canadian reactors annually release into the environment
hundreds of trillions of becquerels of radioactive hydrogen, called
"tritium".

Tritium is a cancer-causing agent. It has been shown with laboratory
animals that tritium causes irreversible damage to genes and
chromosomes. The US National Academy of Sciences confirms
that even low chronic exposures to large populations will cause
increases in disease.

But the biggest problem with nuclear power is that it produces plutonium
as a byproduct and requires enriched uranium as a fuel. (Even the new
CANDU reactors will be using enriched uranium rather than natural uranium.)

But plutonium and highly enriched uranium are the raw materials for
nuclear weapons. You cannot spread nuclear power without spreading the
technologies and materials needed to produce atomic bombs.

Nuclear power cannot solve the global warming problem. The
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found in a March 2007 report
that over the next 25 years, nuclear power could increase its contribution to
global electricity production from 16% (in 2005) to 18% (in 2030). That is no
solution, it is just a relatively small contribution. The same report
found that renewable electricity could grow from 18% (in 2005) to 35% (in
2030).

Germany is a case in point. In less than 10 years, 20,000 megawatts of
wind power was installed. The entire Canadian nuclear industry only offers
about 15,000 megawatts. Germany is leading all European countries in
reducing greenhouse gasses while phasing out nuclear power. Two of its 17
reactors have already been shut down, and a third one is about to be
closed. They are all slated to be closed by 2020.

Gordon Edwards, Ph.D., President,
Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility
http://www.ccnr.org/

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300 Green Events in Canada
http://Planetfriendly.net/calendar/

Three hundred green and sustainable events in Canada, today and in the
seasons upcoming. It's truly inspiring to see what's going on, for greener
communities and a sustainable world:

...find great events to attend...
...get ideas for things to do in *your* community...
...meet & collaborate with others who care about the same things you do...
...make the leap from participant, to volunteer, to organizer...
...promote your own event, and plan ahead to avoid date conflicts...
...find your niche and make a difference!

Visit the Planetfriendly Calendar regularly:
http://Planetfriendly.net/calendar/

Post your own event, course or conference:
http://Planetfriendly.net/calendar/

- Peter Blanchard
People and Planet
Gateway to a Greener, Healthier Canada Since 1998
http://www.Planetfriendly.net

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<>Women's Voices for the Earth presents:
Green Cleaning Parties!

Starting today, the first day of spring, people across the country will
host parties to teach friends and family how to make their own "green
cleaners" from ingredients they know are safe and non-toxic.

More than 100 people, from Florida to Hawaii, have already pledged to host
green cleaning parties. Be part of the nationwide movement to reduce
exposure to toxic chemicals in your home! Sign up now!

A green cleaning party is a fun way for you and your friends to learn how
to make non-toxic cleaners from common ingredients like vinegar, baking
soda and olive oil - ingredients time-tested for effectiveness!

A growing body of evidence suggests that chemicals in some conventional
cleaners may cause harm to your health.  And because cleaning
manufacturers are not required to list all ingredients on their product
labels, you have no way of knowing what chemicals are in products, and
therefore, how to avoid them.  The best solution is to make your own!

Sign up to host a party at: http://www.womenandenvironment.org/greenclean/
WVE will send you all the information you need (including recipe cards,
supply lists, and an informational DVD) to make your party a success!

Happy Green Cleaning!

Erin Thompson
Sr. Campaigns Organizer

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