Greenspiration News: pesticides, psych drugs, green growth

[angela bischoff]

Greenspiration News

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Did you know that Prime Minister Stephen Harper is the son of a senior
Imperial Oil executive*, otherwise known as Esso, Exxon, and Mobil? This
is the largest corporation on the planet. Stephen Harper's brother also
works in the oil industry. No wonder our Prime Minister doesn't take
climate change seriously and is milking the tar sands without concern for
future generations.
-a

* from Andrew Nikiforuk's new book Tar Sands: Dirty Oil and the Future of
a Continent

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Americans must diet to save their economy
New Scientist

Want to save the US economy? Go on a diet.

That's the message ecologists are trying to get across this week. They say
the apparently looming energy crisis could be averted if US residents cut
their calorie intake.

David Pimentel of Cornell University and colleagues have drawn on an
extensive body of existing studies to highlight the wastage in the US food
production chain.

Their conclusion is that energy demands could easily be halved.

The average American consumes about 3747 kcal per day compared to the 2000
to 2500 kcal per day recommended by the US Food and Drug Administration.

The 3747 kcal per day figure does not include any junk food consumed.
Producing those daily calories uses the equivalent to 2000 litres of oil
per person each year. That accounts for about 19% of US total energy use.

Using data from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, Pimentel
estimates that half of the energy used to make food in the US is spent
making animal products - meat, dairy and eggs.

He calculates that if Americans maintained their 3747 kcals per day, but
switched to a vegetarian diet, the fossil fuel energy required to generate
that diet would be cut by one third.

Full article:
http://environment.newscientist.com/article/dn14391-americans-must-diet-to-save-their-economy.html

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Ban on pesticides may face NAFTA test

Globe and Mail, Oct. 22

Dow AgroSciences is considering using the controversial
investor-protection provisions of the North American free-trade agreement
to seek compensation from the federal government over Quebec's ban on the
cosmetic use of pesticides. <snip>

Quebec instituted its pesticide ban in 2006, and Dow's action could have
wide-ranging impacts. Ontario has recently adopted a similar measure, as
have many municipalities, based on a precautionary public-health approach
of minimizing exposures to these chemicals. <snip>

The Dow claim is the latest in a long string of disputes to arise under
Chapter 11 – a legal back-channel that permits foreign investors to detour
local courts and sue the federal government before an international
tribunal.

Foreign Affairs lists nine active arbitrations to which Canada has been
named as a party.

The government is defending against a similar Chapter 11 claim filed by
another U.S.-based chemical producer over lindane, a suspected carcinogen
banned or no longer used in many countries. When Canada moved to end the
use of the fungicide on seed treatments, U.S.-based Chemtura Corp. sued
for $100-million in damages. That arbitration is going on behind closed
doors.

Many of the NAFTA Chapter 11 actions have been based on complaints that
pollution regulations harm business, raising concerns that companies are
trying to use the trade treaty to stop governments from taking actions to
protect public health or the environment. <snip>

Rick Smith, executive director of Environmental Defence, says Dow is
“quite transparently” trying to stop pesticide bans from spreading around
the country and he predicts the company will face a public backlash for
its position.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081022.wpesticides22/BNStory/National/?page=rss&id=RTGAM.20081022.wpesticides22

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EU's pesticides may damage brain 

Reuters, October 24, 2008

OSLO — Many pesticides used in the European Union may damage brain growth
in fetuses and young children, according to a study published on Friday.

"Because many of them are by design toxic to the brain of insects, it is
very likely that they are also toxic to human brains," he said of a review
of almost 200 scientific reports worldwide about the brain and pesticides.

The developing brain of the fetus and young child is far more sensitive
than the adult brain to disruptions from chemicals, they said.

More than 25 per cent of fruits, vegetables, and cereals contain
detectable residues of at least two pesticides.

Full article:
<http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081024.weupestic1024/BNStory/Science/home>http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081024.weupestic1024/BNStory/Science/home

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Canada bans the use of BPA in baby bottles

20-Oct-2008 -  from Foodnavigator-usa.com

Canada has become the first country in the world to take regulatory action
to limit the use of bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical found in baby bottles
and some food packaging. <snip>

“There is evidence that low-level exposure to BPA, particularly at
sensitive life cycle stages, may lead to permanent alterations in
hormonal, developmental or reproductive capacity,” states the assessment
notice. <snip>

Health Canada said that it will work with industry to limit BPA in the
linings of infant formula tins, but that it does not propose to eliminate
or reduce its use in other canned goods.

Executive director of the Canadian group Environmental Defence, Dr Rick
Smith, argues that the government should go further and ban the use of BPA
completely.

“With the non-toxic alternatives available, the federal government should
require a transition away from BPA in all its applications in food and
beverage containers, as soon as possible,” he said.

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Too Many Kids on Psych Drugs - Parts 1, 2 and 3
Fox News Feature

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73SRn1gdAdM&feature=related

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Do you think you'll be able to sustain your activism until you're 100
years old?  Do you aim to be standing up and speaking out when you're 100?
Here's your opportunity to meet and celebrate peace activist Muriel
Duckworth who has done just that.

Nov 2 in Halifax, a hundred voices will be raised in song at "Stand up!
Speak Out! The Muriel Duckworth 100th Birthday Concert".

For info,
<http://www.oxfam.ca/news-and-publications/events/muriel-duckworths-100th-birthday-concert-and-celebration>http://www.oxfam.ca/news-and-publications/events/muriel-duckworths-100th-birthday-concert-and-celebration

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Sorry, last newsletter I sent out the incorrect link to the following
article. Below find the correct link:

Bipolar Kids Need Nutrition, Not Junk Food and More Drugs

http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v04n15.shtml

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The Biggest Breast Cancer Risk Factor That No One Is Talking About

 AlterNet. Posted October 23, 2008.

While the media sound alarms about breast cancer's links to lifestyle
choices and genetics, a much more likely risk factor is going undiscussed.
---
During October, women are bombarded with media telling us what we can do
to stop breast cancer. Article after article after television human
interest segment informs us about personal risk factors such as smoking
and being overweight (although 70 percent of women who are diagnosed with
breast cancer have none of these factors) and about genetic risks (which
only account for 10 percent of breast cancers.) We are bombarded with
stories about the importance of getting mammograms and other tests. Then
there are the survivor stories (usually about women much younger, whiter
and cover-girl prettier than the average breast cancer survivor) that pull
at our heartstrings.

But there is very little mention of environmental factors such as auto
exhaust, and chemicals like parabens and phthalates that we are exposed to
every day.

The most deafening silence, however, is about radiation, which is a 100
percent known cause of cancer. We are exposed to radiation in a variety of
ways, through X-rays, CT scans and mammograms, but also by living near a
nuclear power plant or having been exposed to weaponry that uses depleted
uranium.

Full article:
http://www.alternet.org/healthwellness/104014/the_biggest_breast_cancer_risk_factor_that_no_one_is_talking_about?page=entire

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Cancer:

An estimated 40 per cent of the U.S. population will develop cancer at
some point in their lives. And with the population rapidly aging, the
problem will only become worse, the report stated.

...the "scourge of tobacco," which is a known cause of at least 15
different types of cancer, accounts for 30 per cent or more of all cancer
deaths.

Full article:	http://www.cbc.ca/cp/HealthScout/081024/6102411AU.html

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Green routes to growth

Recession is the time to build a low-carbon future with the investment
vital for economy and planet

Nicholas Stern, The Guardian, October 23 2008

There are two crucial lessons we must learn from the financial turbulence
the world has been facing. First, this crisis has been 20 years in the
making and shows very clearly that the longer risk is ignored the bigger
will be the consequences; second, we shall face an extended period of
recession in the rich countries and low growth for the world as a whole.
Let us learn the lessons and take the opportunity of the coincidence of
the crisis and the deepening awareness of the great danger of unmanaged
climate change: now is the time to lay the foundations for a world of
low-carbon growth. <snip>

The next few years present a great opportunity to lay the foundations of a
new form of growth that can transform our economies and societies. Let us
grow out of this recession in a way that both reduces risks for our planet
and sparks off a wave of new investment which will create a more secure,
cleaner and more attractive economy for all of us. And in so doing, we
shall demonstrate for all, particularly the developing world, that
low-carbon growth is not only possible, but that it can also be a
productive and efficient route to overcome world poverty.

Full article:
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/oct/23/commentanddebate-energy-environment-climate-change>http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/oct/23/commentanddebate-energy-environment-climate-change

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Mother settles landmark case over Zoloft
The Australian, October 27, 2008

THE Victorian mother who launched an unprecedented lawsuit against her
16-year-old daughter's GP claiming her child became suicidal after being
prescribed the anti-depressant drug Zoloft has reached a confidential
legal settlement with the doctor.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24555957-5013404,00.html

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The great emasculator.

Spanish men lose their mojo as pollution plays havoc with the male gender.

Granada Olive Press, Spain, October 23, 2008

Hombres today in parts of the country are suffering somewhat of a gender
crisis after male fertility rates fell and instances of homosexuality in
Spanish fish rose.

To compound this hispanic emasculation, male shellfish are being born with
female genitalia. And the reasons? The combined effects of
industrialization and pollution, according to two recently published
studies.

It is news that there is a decrease in semen quality that will cause los
machos most concern, however.

Full article:
<http://www.theolivepress.es/2008/10/23/the-great-emasculator/>http://www.theolivepress.es/2008/10/23/the-great-emasculator/

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