Come on?! really?! I can't believe there aren't more mechanisms in place to prevent such gross inequity of riches.
And they pulled it off at a time of soaring energy prices, production problems in Venezuela, strikes in Nigeria, I could go on. And yet their shareholders are disappointed?!?!?!
Where do their profits come from? Our pockets, our land, our oceans, our people, our legacy!How will it's shareholders spend their winnings? On more shit that they don't need, generating more garbage, more GHG emissions, more pollution, more inequity and less peace.
That's the simplified version of what I have to say on the issue.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
Friday, July 25, 2008
Estelle Getty passes, July 22, 2008
On July 22, 2008, at approximately 5:30 a.m. PDT, Estelle Getty died in her Hollywood Boulevard home in Los Angeles from natural causes (according to her manager), three days before her 85th birthday.
She was best known for her role as Sophia Petrillo on the popular 1980s sitcom The Golden Girls. Petrillo was a wise-cracking old Sicilian mother of Dorothy Zbornak, played by Beatrice Arthur (the other main characters being played by Betty White and Rue McClanahan); in real life, Getty was in fact one year younger than Arthur.
(btw, smokestack, Rue McClanahan was actually the youngest Golden Girl, then Estelle Getty, then Bea Arthur and Betty White)
Friday, July 18, 2008
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Ontario boreal forest score it big
TORONTO (Reuters) - The government of the Canadian province of Ontario said on Monday it will conserve a huge swath of the province's northern boreal forest to protect polar bears and other wildlife and to help fight climate change.
The plan to protect permanently at least 225,000 square kilometers of the forest -- an area nearly the size of the United Kingdom -- won praise from environmental groups, which said it should serve as an example for other governments.
"We are overjoyed with the announcement," said ForestEthics senior campaigner Gillian McEachern. "This is the largest conservation commitment in Canadian history."
Ontario's northern boreal region takes up 43 percent of Ontario's landmass and soaks up about 12.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year. The protection of a big swath of it is a key part of the provincial government's plan to fight climate change.
Boreal forests are northern forests that are affected by long winters. They are made up mainly of evergreen conifers. The conservation plan aims to protect polar bears, caribou, wolverines and other wildlife that live in the Ontario region from climate change and to ensure that forestry and mining development doesn't destroy the forest's pristine ecosystems.
"(Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty) is providing some direction and some objectives to the process," said Monte Hummel, president emeritus, World Wildlife Fund Canada. "It's an invitation for everybody to come to the table and in my view that's how things should be solved."
Ontario's Liberal government said that scientists and native communities will work together to map and protect a network of conservation lands. As well, the government will work with northern communities and resource industries to create a sustainable development plan.
"Although the northern boreal region has remained virtually undisturbed since the retreat of the glaciers, change is inevitably coming to these lands," McGuinty said in a statement.
"We need to prepare for development and plan for it. It's our responsibility as global citizens to get this right, and to act now."
The plan to protect permanently at least 225,000 square kilometers of the forest -- an area nearly the size of the United Kingdom -- won praise from environmental groups, which said it should serve as an example for other governments.
"We are overjoyed with the announcement," said ForestEthics senior campaigner Gillian McEachern. "This is the largest conservation commitment in Canadian history."
Ontario's northern boreal region takes up 43 percent of Ontario's landmass and soaks up about 12.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year. The protection of a big swath of it is a key part of the provincial government's plan to fight climate change.
Boreal forests are northern forests that are affected by long winters. They are made up mainly of evergreen conifers. The conservation plan aims to protect polar bears, caribou, wolverines and other wildlife that live in the Ontario region from climate change and to ensure that forestry and mining development doesn't destroy the forest's pristine ecosystems.
"(Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty) is providing some direction and some objectives to the process," said Monte Hummel, president emeritus, World Wildlife Fund Canada. "It's an invitation for everybody to come to the table and in my view that's how things should be solved."
Ontario's Liberal government said that scientists and native communities will work together to map and protect a network of conservation lands. As well, the government will work with northern communities and resource industries to create a sustainable development plan.
"Although the northern boreal region has remained virtually undisturbed since the retreat of the glaciers, change is inevitably coming to these lands," McGuinty said in a statement.
"We need to prepare for development and plan for it. It's our responsibility as global citizens to get this right, and to act now."
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
U.S. energy company on trial in Canada for environmental crimes
Edwards v. DTE Energy
From a press release:
(Sarnia, Ontario) - On Monday, July 7, 2008 the Ontario Court of Justice set
a trial date for the prosecution of DTE Energy Company. The Michigan-based
coal-fired power plant operator faces charges for polluting the St. Clair
River. Judge Austin scheduled an ex parte trial after the accused declined
to appear in Sarnia Court on Monday. This is the first time that a U.S.
company has faced prosecution in Canada for transboundary pollution.
Detroit Edison, a wholly owned subsidiary of DTE, operates the St.
Clair/Belle River coal-fired power plant complex in eastern Michigan.
Monitoring data show that these facilities emit significant amounts of
mercury each year, with more than half landing locally in Canada and the St.
Clair watershed. When the mercury enters the St. Clair River, it spreads
throughout the food chain, harmfully altering fish habitat and rendering
fish unsafe for human consumption, which is a violation of Canadian
fisheries law. Mercury is a dangerous neurotoxin; a single gram of mercury
per year is enough to contaminate a 25-acre lake to the point that fish are
unsafe to eat.
Scott Edwards, the Informant in the case, initiated the private prosecution
in early 2007. Under Canadian law, citizens can use the criminal courts to
prosecute individuals and corporations for violations of the Fisheries Act.
The Fisheries Act is one of the country's most powerful environmental laws,
making it an offence to deposit pollutants into waterways, destroy fish
habitat, or contaminate fish.
"Two years ago I wrote a letter to DTE Energy asking for a meeting to talk
about the company's mercury emissions. The company has never responded to
this request. For two years DTE officials have refused to recognize Canada's
jurisdiction, declining to show up in court time and time again. With a
trial date finally set, I look forward to the opportunity to put all the
facts on the table," says Scott Edwards, Informant in the case known as
Edwards v. DTE Energy.
Scott Edwards is the Legal Director for Waterkeeper Alliance, a global
coalition of 180 grassroots environmental groups, and an authority on
mercury issues. He is being aided by three other affiliates of Waterkeeper
Alliance, Mark Mattson, Doug Chapman and Doug Martz. Mattson is lead
investigator and the Lake Ontario Waterkeeper. Doug Chapman is lead counsel
and the Fraser Riverkeeper, based in Vancouver. Martz is the St. Clair
Channelkeeper.
The trial is set to begin February 2, 2009 in Sarnia court.
From a press release:
(Sarnia, Ontario) - On Monday, July 7, 2008 the Ontario Court of Justice set
a trial date for the prosecution of DTE Energy Company. The Michigan-based
coal-fired power plant operator faces charges for polluting the St. Clair
River. Judge Austin scheduled an ex parte trial after the accused declined
to appear in Sarnia Court on Monday. This is the first time that a U.S.
company has faced prosecution in Canada for transboundary pollution.
Detroit Edison, a wholly owned subsidiary of DTE, operates the St.
Clair/Belle River coal-fired power plant complex in eastern Michigan.
Monitoring data show that these facilities emit significant amounts of
mercury each year, with more than half landing locally in Canada and the St.
Clair watershed. When the mercury enters the St. Clair River, it spreads
throughout the food chain, harmfully altering fish habitat and rendering
fish unsafe for human consumption, which is a violation of Canadian
fisheries law. Mercury is a dangerous neurotoxin; a single gram of mercury
per year is enough to contaminate a 25-acre lake to the point that fish are
unsafe to eat.
Scott Edwards, the Informant in the case, initiated the private prosecution
in early 2007. Under Canadian law, citizens can use the criminal courts to
prosecute individuals and corporations for violations of the Fisheries Act.
The Fisheries Act is one of the country's most powerful environmental laws,
making it an offence to deposit pollutants into waterways, destroy fish
habitat, or contaminate fish.
"Two years ago I wrote a letter to DTE Energy asking for a meeting to talk
about the company's mercury emissions. The company has never responded to
this request. For two years DTE officials have refused to recognize Canada's
jurisdiction, declining to show up in court time and time again. With a
trial date finally set, I look forward to the opportunity to put all the
facts on the table," says Scott Edwards, Informant in the case known as
Edwards v. DTE Energy.
Scott Edwards is the Legal Director for Waterkeeper Alliance, a global
coalition of 180 grassroots environmental groups, and an authority on
mercury issues. He is being aided by three other affiliates of Waterkeeper
Alliance, Mark Mattson, Doug Chapman and Doug Martz. Mattson is lead
investigator and the Lake Ontario Waterkeeper. Doug Chapman is lead counsel
and the Fraser Riverkeeper, based in Vancouver. Martz is the St. Clair
Channelkeeper.
The trial is set to begin February 2, 2009 in Sarnia court.
Friday, July 4, 2008
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
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