Nope, it’s not a spooky tale left over from Halloween. After word got out that Canada’s flax seed crops had been cross-contaminated with a genetically modified variety, the country’s entire flax industry is in peril.
Canadian province Ontario is to introduce green-coloured licence plates, available only to drivers of plug-in hybrids and battery-powered electric vehicles.
Sounds like another gimmick? Well, here’s the deal - vehicles sporting the new green plates will be able to drive in the province’s dedicated carpool lanes until 2015, even if only one person is in the vehicle.
Speaking about the initiative, Transportation Minister Jim Bradley said, “The McGuinty government’s plan is to have one out of every 20 passenger vehicles on Ontario’s roads an electric vehicle by 2020.”
On the one hand, we will have more water around us with sea level rising. On the other hand, though, drought caused by climate change will leave possibly billions of people without clean water.
This will cause great health and global security issues. Most of these problems will be caused by water imbalances.
When dermatologist June Irwin first stood up in 1985 to speak at a Hudson, Quebec, town council meeting about the potential link between synthetic lawn pesticide and herbicide use and human and animal illnesses, she was written off as a flake. Irwin persisted, though, attending “every single town meeting in Hudson for six consecutive years - each time reading aloud a different letter with new observations and facts.” Eventually, she got her message across, and Hudson (population 5000) became the first town in North America to ban the use of these chemicals.
The new study examined 166 countries in total. With climate change, it is hard to guess who will be hit the worst, but here is one scientific attempt at ranking the countries’ vulnerability to climate change.
In a “precedent-setting” sentence, The Star has reported that Toronto-based Pak Sun Chung has been sentenced to 106 days plus an additional nine months in jail for two federal offenses under the Species at Risk Act. The judge also banned him from hunting or fishing in Ontario.
Repeat offender Chung was found this time with what is described as “a plethora of wildlife, alive, dead, and quartered.” He also reportedly has $27,000 in fines related to the 13 prior convictions. Chung was previously arrested twice for the same turtle poaching crime in less than six weeks during 2007.
If you’re living a gluten free life, there are a couple of companies that I’ve come to love over the years for the wonderful products they make. They’re both great time savers for those days when you’re rushed, short of time, or just don’t have the means to prepare a meal from scratch.
Pamela’s Baking Mix is an all purpose gluten free baking mix that I use to make pancakes (just add eggs and water), scones, biscuits, and corn bread. Many of the recipes just involve adding eggs, butter, and an ingredient or two, making them fast and easy to make. It also has dozens of other uses as well, including brownies, breads, muffins, and bagels.
Seal hunting has long been known as a cruel practice by animal rights activists and conservationists. Yesterday, the European Union took steps to ban seal products including “fur skins, organs, meat, oil and blubber.” An exception is made for seal products originating from indigenous people and “marketed on a not-for-profit basis”. The Environment News Service explains:
In its announcement of the new regulation, the Council said that several EU member states have adopted or intend to adopt legislation prohibiting trade in seal products, and the regulation “will harmonize rules concerning the marketing of seal products so as to avoid fragmentation and distortion of the internal market.”
Earlier this month, the government of Ontario (Canada’s largest province by population) suspended the process for the building of two new nuclear reactors, citing skyrocketing costs and responsibility to taxpayers as the main deterrent.“Emission-free nuclear power remains a crucial aspect of Ontario’s supply mix,” Smitherman said Monday. “Unfortunately, the competitive bidding process has not provided Ontario with a suitable option at this time.”
The proposed 10 year, multi-billion dollar project may eventually be restarted, but government spokespeople confirmed that all bidders have been asked to extend their proposals indefinitely.
In order to cut harmful emissions from maritime vessels, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the next steps of its coordinated effort on Wednesday. The steps include creating a rule under the Clean Air Act that would establish tough engine and fuel standards for U.S. flagged ships. The proposed rule would harmonize with international standards and lead to improved air quality throughout the country.
The Northwest Passage is opening up. As Arctic ice melts, the shipping season will grow, and with it, the pressures on the fragile Arctic ecosystem.
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