Harper touts the value of scientific evidence.

Theology in the Vineyard

Prime Minister Stephen Harper in a rare interview given to his favourite media outlet the CBC, invoked the role of science when it came to the excellent initiative on maternal , newborn and child health this past week.

“It’s hard for me not to get very emotional about this because we know, we scientifically know, what vaccinations and immunizations have done for us, personally, in our generation and for generations after us.”

The World Health Organization, estimates 1.5 million children under the age of 5 die each year from diseases that could be avoided with vaccinations, including polio and pneumonia.

It turns out that some Canadians who apparently get their health info from the internet are not vaccinating their children. There has been an outbreak of measles in a few areas. An area in BC reported 400 kids affected with the disease.

The Prime Minister’s advice to fellow Canadians :

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The David Suzuki Foundation has published a response to the above question. Part of what they write is:

“We’ve upset the Earth’s carbon cycle by burning fossil fuels and destroying forests and wetlands. Plants help rebalance it by absorbing carbon dioxide and producing oxygen. Thanks, plants! A warming planet also means longer growing seasons and stimulated plant growth in many areas (although it’s causing drought and reduced plant growth in some parts of the world). And rising atmospheric CO2 actually increases pollen production. Add to that the extreme weather impacts of climate change that can exacerbate allergy symptoms and other respiratory problems (rain and higher temperatures create more moulds and fungi in some places; more dust contributes to allergies and asthma in drought-stricken areas), plus the all-around increases in ground-level ozone, smoke and pollution, and you’ve got a recipe for mass discomfort, illness, death and rising health care costs.”

The whole article is available at: http://www.davidsuzuki.org/blogs/science-matters/2014/05/you-might-be-allergic-to-global-warming/

Yinka Dene Alliance member Jasmine Thomas attended the Annual General Meeting of ENBRIDGE here in Canada, and here is just a snippet of what she had to say to Enbridge’s board and shareholders:

“I come from Saik’uz which is located in the heart of BC. Our community is affiliated with the Yinka Dene Alliance and we are a coalition of First Nations opposed to Northern Gateway who have never signed any treaties or have settled land claim agreements with Canada or the province…

We will continue to uphold our legal ban against this project and will assert our Aboriginal rights and title to the fullest extent possible. Whether Canada, or your company, decide to move forward with this pipe dream despite all opposition, thousands of Canadians have committed to hold the wall with us….

So my question to you Mr. Monaco, and your board is:

“Will Enbridge walk away from this doomed project, and if not, is Enbridge prepared to come to our communities, look our people in the eyes, and say face-to-face that Enbridge does not believe our nations have the authority to say NO to its unwanted project in our own unceded territories?””

Sunday, April 27, 2014 was a “Tree Planting Party” for 10,000 Trees For The Rouge.

Resilience

5,000 trees were planted in the Rouge River watershed on April 27, 2014. This adds to over 173,000 trees that they have planted over the past 25 years. That’s a positive step towards changing the world for the better, and restoring natural habitat!

One storyteller recorded this event in words and photos at:

www.thecuriouscreature.com/2014/04/30/tree-planting/

Kinder Morgan says oil spills can be good for the economy*

Photo: dvids. Used under a Creative Commons BY-SA 2.0 licence.

Kinder Morgan has managed to find a silver lining in oil slicks: they could create jobs.

That’s according to a 15,000 page application Kinder Morgan has submitted to the National Energy Board for the Trans Mountain Expansion Project (a document so large that it “stands over two metres tall and fills 37 binders”).

In a section of the application dedicated to the risks and effects associated with oil tanker traffic and the possibility of oil spills, Kinder Morgan finds that “spills can have both positive and negative effects.” In particular, “spill response and clean-up creates business and employment opportunities for affected communities, regions, and clean-up service providers.”

While it is true that a massive oil spill in the Strait of Georgia likely would create a demand for “clean-up service providers,” an oil company leading off their analysis of the socioeconomic effects of oil spills by pointing to all the jobs that would be created is as absurd as leading off an analysis of the effects of a recession by pointing out it will lead to a boom in demand for repossession service providers.

The report goes on to list a dozen negative effects of oil tanker spills, notably the devastation of fishing stocks, tourist industries, widespread property damage, cultural heritage sites, the “traditional lifestyles” of aboriginal communities and, of course, a significant impact on human health. But far as the economy is concerned, Kinder Morgan wants you to know an oil spill also has a positive side.

Since the filing of this application in December, the NEB has rejected 27 climate experts from delivering testimony and quietly dropped oral hearings from the Trans Mountain pipeline review, reducing the approval process to a “mere paperwork exercise.” 

* originally published at: http://www.pressprogress.ca/en/post/kinder-morgan-says-oil-spills-can-be-good-economy

 

One of Canada’s premier scientific bodies has issued a critical report on the state of hydraulic fracturing in the nation, saying the industry has outpaced credible baseline data, scientific knowledge and necessary monitoring.

A commentary by Andrew Nikiforuk is available at:

http://thetyee.ca/News/2014/05/01/Frack-Slow-Report/?utm_source=daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=010514

Photo of frack fields in northern B.C. by Hayley Dunning.