Interactive Map of Current and Proposed Pipelines

Many people are highly concerned with existing and proposed pipelines running through their communities. Residents in these areas are given assurance of safety,  promises of jobs and a commitment to clean-up response in the event of a spill. Moving crude oil through pipelines has the public on edge, and with good reason. Just take a look at The Cautionary Tale of Kalamazoo, where 3.3 million litres of heavy crude oil destroyed more than 50 kilometres of waterway when a section of the Enbridge Line (6B) burst and flowed into Talmadge Creek, a tributary of the Kalamazoo River.

Please take a moment to view this interactive map of current and proposed pipelines. This map does not include a proposed expansion of Line 9 which, if approved,  will carry ultra-heavy crude oil from Montreal to Portland, Maine for export.

Related news: Bluegrass Uprising: Pipeline Resistance in Kentucky

A Reminder: The True Cost Of Oil

A few years ago Conservationist Garth Lenz wrote this article, Canadian Tar Sands And The True Cost Of Oil - the images provided show the massive destruction being caused by the development of  Alberta's tar sands.

"New federal research has strongly backed suspicions that toxic chemicals from Alberta’s vast oil sands tailings ponds are leaching into groundwater and seeping into the Athabasca River." The Globe and Mail

What can you do? Visit American's Stand in Solidarity & Canadian's Against the Oil Sands and sign the petition.

Industrial Chemicals Linked to Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have found a direct link between industrial chemicals and neurodevelopmental disabilities in children.  Here is an excerpt from the report, published in the Lancet Neurology Journal.

Neurodevelopmental disabilities, including autism, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, dyslexia, and other cognitive impairments, affect millions of children worldwide, and some diagnoses seem to be increasing in frequency. Industrial chemicals that injure the developing brain are among the known causes for this rise in prevalence.

Philippe Grandjean of the Harvard School of Public Health stated, “The greatest concern is the large numbers of children who are affected by toxic damage to brain development in the absence of a formal diagnosis. They suffer reduced attention span, delayed development and poor school performance. Industrial chemicals are now emerging as likely causes."

Read more:

Industrial Chemicals that Harm Developing Brains Have More than Doubled in the Past Seven Years

Children Exposed to More Brain-Harming Chemicals Than Ever Before

More Bad News From Fukushima

More bad news coming out of the severely crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.

TOKYO — About 100 tons of highly radioactive water leaked from one of the hundreds of storage tanks at the devastated Fukushima nuclear plant, its operator said Thursday, calling the leak the worst spill at the plant in six months. ( NY Times )

Related news:

Study claims USS Reagan crew exposed to extremely high levels of radiation near Fukushima

West Virginia Suffers Another Enviromental Catastrophe

Sad to see the beautiful state of West Virginia suffer yet another environmental disaster. This latest spill comes just one month after the devastation caused by a chemical spill in the Elk River.

More than 100,000 gallons of coal slurry poured into an eastern Kanawha County stream Tuesday in what officials were calling a "significant spill" from a Patriot Coal processing facility.

Emergency officials and environmental inspectors said roughly six miles of Fields Creek had been blackened and that a smaller amount of the slurry made it into the Kanawha River near Chesapeake

 "This has had significant, adverse environmental impact to Fields Creek and an unknown amount of impact to the Kanawha River," said Secretary Randy Huffman of the state Department of Environmental Protection. "This is a big deal, this is a significant slurry spill." (Source: West Virginia Gazette.)

I find this sickening! The waters are running black for approximately 6 miles, and the toxins in the slurry will most likely completely destroy the creek. Not only does this have a major environmental impact, the spill also threatens to harm the health of the people living in the areas affected!

Don't Let The Arctic Vortex Fool You

Due to the bone-chilling temps caused by the recent Polar Vortex,  many North Americans (myself included) were contemplating moving closer to the equator. Those who are skeptical about climate change were quick to use the extreme cold as a way to disprove global warming. Don't let the Arctic Vortex temperatures fool you, or those who are trying to dismiss climate change. Global temperatures are on the rise, resulting in extreme weather. Researches have found irrefutable evidence showing the Arctic is the warmest it has been in 44,000 years.

Related Articles
The New Arctic Frontier: Follow the Heat

The Price of Meat

I am not about to go on about the ethics of eating meat.  The reality is people eat a lot of it and that's unlikely to change anytime soon.  A feature on Rolling Stone covers factory farms and the under cover operations taken on by some to expose how they operate. Many people know about the reality behind food production and many more choose to ignore it.  Eating local, organic free-range etc. meat and produce is far more expensive in dollar terms when you're buying it at the grocery store.  However, what is the real price of your Christmas turkey, or a backyard BBQ?  Combined with the potential health impacts from pesticides and antibiotics and the environmental damage it just might be cheaper to spend a few extra bucks at the grocery store.

Food Activists Continue Fight Over GMO Labeling

photo credit: www.thedailysheeple.com

Food activists refuse to back down against Monsanto and the agribusiness giants' fight to keep foods containing their genetically modified organisms from being labeled. Consumers have the right to know what is in the products they, and their families, are eating. Everyone has the right to be informed, and corporations should NOT have the right to keep you from being informed! Here are a number of ways to join the fight in support of the labeling of GMOs.

Initiative 522 in Washington state will go before voters on November 5th. If this is your home state, get out there and vote YES!

Join the March Against Monsanto .

Tell Congress: Don't Pass a Farm Bill that Lets Monsanto Wipe Out State GMO Labeling Laws!

Colorado Flooding Poses Environmental Threat to Fracking Sites

This video, of the recent flooding in Colorado, shows just how vulnerable natural gas and oil extraction sites are.

Seeds Of Death

Ben & Jerry's Will No Longer Use GMO's

Popular ice cream company Ben & Jerry's will phase out genetically modified organisms in their products by 2014. 

CSA Southern Ontario

Met a lovely, like minded gal today who gave me the heads up on Plan B Organic Farms. If you live in southern Ontario and are interested in a CSA program, be sure to check them out.

List of all CSA programs in Ontario