Donuts Or the Planet? What Would Alberta Health Minister Liepert Choose?

The creative folks over at TruthFool.org have put out an excellent video that underlines the cartoonish proportions of the destruction and deadly legacy that the relentless pursuit of “black gold” has brought to northern Alberta.  Unfortunately for the people of Fort Chipewyan, who are hardest hit by the toxic development that is the Alberta tar sands, this is not a cartoon, it is their every day reality.

I’m certain the feeling of living in some kind of alternate reality hits the citizens of Fort Chipewyan when they hear their Provincial Health Minister, Ron Liepert, stand in front of a microphone with a straight face and assure them that the Alberta government will help those affected by high cancer rates but that those efforts will not focus on the environment.

We need to work with the community to ensure that there may be other factors such as lifestyle and those sorts of things that probably aren’t helping matters any.

Perhaps he should have kept it to “Duhhh”.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFPoUyw0aU4]

More links:

Stand With Fort Chipewyan on Facebook

Truthfool.Org

Warming Atlantic Linked To Hurricane Igor Devastation in Newfoundland

Much of the east coast of Newfoundland was devastated by Hurricane Igor on Tuesday. Roads have been washed out, electricity is gone, communities have been cut off from help, and one man has been washed out to sea. By now, at least 30 communities have declared a state of emergency.

The news coverage that I heard yesterday had locals emphasizing the unusual strength of Igor. The town clerk from Bonavista interviewed on As It Happens on CBC radio said he’d never seen winds that strong or rainfall that heavy in his lifetime – and Bonavista is on a windy, wet peninsula! Sam Synard, the Mayor of Marystown was quoted in The Star as saying:

We’ve never seen such a violent storm before.” Synard reported that more than 200 millimetres of rain was dumped in 20 hours, “and very few, if any communities in the country, could deal with that amount of rainfall.”

My heart goes out to Newfoundlanders – “The Rock” is one of my favourite places on earth. The header photo on my blog was taken during a visit last September.  I wish the good people of Newfoundland Godspeed in their recovery from this devastation.

Unfortunately, the warming of the atmosphere and the resulting warming of the ocean which has happened as a result of our unbridled burning of fossil fuels in the last century is making severe weather events like this more and more frequent. The economic as well as the human toll will only increase (the Newfoundland government is predicting it will take at least $100 million to repair the damage from this storm). Recent research has shown that we are experiencing more storms with higher wind speeds, and these storms are more destructive, last longer and make landfall more frequently than in the past. This is our new reality, in Canada and around the globe, as the Arctic ice and the permafrost melt, and the oceans get warmer.  We are starting to reap the destruction that we have sown, and it’s not going to be pleasant.

It’s time for all of us to demand that our governments, particularly at the federal level, start addressing this issue in more ways that just preserving Canada’s claim to the Arctic so we can dig up more oil and gas! For ways to do this, check out Cheryl McNamara’s recent post on Bill C311 – the Climate Accountability Act, or go to my “Action not Apathy” page.

More links:

National Geographic: Is Global Warming Making Hurricanes Worse?

Union of Concerned Scientists: Hurricanes and Climate Change

Popular Science: Hurricane, Climate Change Link Explained

Real Climate: Hurricanes and Climate Change – Is There A Connection?

Canada, Russia expected to win Arctic claims at UN

The following photos were taken around Marystown, on the Burin Peninsula, by Andrew Lundrigan, and posted on the FB page “Hurricane Igor Hits Marystown”

What Would You Do To Ensure Your Children and Grandchildren’s Future is Bright and Secure?

I have two intelligent, lovely daughters who, as of this September, have both left home to attend university in different parts of the country. The last few weeks have been a busy blur of packing and moving them. My husband and I are now adjusting to life without them, which feels lonely and liberating at the same time. This past Sunday, for the first time,  I went grocery shopping for just the two of us, and I realized with a pang that this is the way it will be from now on. On the other hand, I have spent very little time in the kitchen since we got home, so am feeling freed from the relentless need to ensure my entire family was eating healthy, well-prepared food. My husband is concerned that I may never cook again, but the good news is that he is a pretty good cook himself, so we won’t starve!

What has kept me out of the kitchen this week, besides a full-time employment contract, is the urgent need to address Bill C311, the Climate Accountability Act, which is approaching its second reading in the Senate next week. The Harper Conservatives continue to oppose this bill, and it needs at least 53 votes to pass (of the 105 Senators, 52 are Conservative). As Cheryl McNamara pointed out in Monday’s post, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce has taken the anti-science, anti- progress stance and is opposing this bill and is exerting its considerable influence lobbying more of the senators to vote against it, even though it was passed in the House of Commons.

I have emailed all the Senators and sent letters to half of the insurance company executives identified by Cheryl on Climate Response. Obviously, I have more work to do – and so do you, if you haven’t yet let the senators as well as the insurance and financial companies hear your voice.

If you need some motivation, read about 82-year old grandmother and activist Betty Krawczyk‘s courageous campaign to bring attention to old-growth logging in British Columbia, and her current situation – the BC government is asking that she be locked up for life for her actions! She is on CBC’s The Current this morning. I will post that link as soon as it’s available.

More links:

Interview with Anna-Maria Tremonti on CBC’s The Current, Wednesday September 22, 2010

Betty’s Early Edition

I Support Betty on Facebook

Climate Crunch – Canada’s Unelected Senators Under Pressure From Chamber of Commerce To Vote Against Clean Energy Future

Today’s guest blogger is Climate Champion Cheryl McNamara, who has blogged on 350orbust before about the Canadian Climate Change Accountability Act, Bill C311. Cheryl organizes Climate Response, a grassroots group whose purpose is to elevate the public conversation on climate change and encourage the transition to a low-carbon economy. Her blog Carbon Slim offers tasks and tips to help readers reduce their carbon footprints. This was first posted on Carbon Slim Friday September 17.

Urge Senators to Pass Bill C-311, the Climate Change Accountability Act
This is something I’ve thrown myself into. I’ve put a lot of work into it, so you don’t have to.

Canada is close to passing the Climate Change Accountability Act, but it’s under threat by Conservative Senators. Parliamentarians passed the Bill (C-311) in May. Now the Bill needs the support of 53 Senators. Of the 105 Senators, 52 are Conservative.

The situation is precarious. Years of hard work to get the Act to this point could prove meaningless if it does not get the support from all 53 opposition Senators: 49 Liberal Senators, two Progressive Conservatives and two Independents.

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce is calling on its members to lobby the Senate to oppose the Bill. Join me in a concerted citizen campaign in support of Bill C-311. The Bill resumes debate on September 28th.

What’s the Big Deal? – If passed into law, the Climate Change Accountability Act will set science based emissions reductions, require the government to produce five year target plans, establish independent reviews, and punish polluters who break regulations. It will also position Canada as a global leader in the transition to a low carbon economy.

I heard Dr. James Hansen, one of the world’s top climatologists, speak in Toronto on Wednesday. Dr. Hansen heads NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies. He’s been sounding the climate action clarion call for decades. Dr. Hansen reminded us that addressing climate change is a moral issue. The safe level of greenhouse gas parts per million (ppm) in the atmosphere is 350. In the past, natural global warming has taken place at a rate of .0001 ppm. Currently, we are experiencing an increase of an astonishing 2 ppm per year. According to Hansen, if we burn all the fossil fuel left on the planet, the greenhouse gases will constitute 1000 ppm in our atmosphere.

What to do – Please visit http://www.trunity.net/climateresponse/topics/view/53728/ for sample letters to Senators and their emails. Just cut and paste. Easy. If you have a bit more time and love strategy, cut and paste the sample letters to the CEOs of insurance companies and financial firms, who are Chamber of Commerce members. The letters ask them to lobby the Senate to support the Bill. I also include contact details. Please send these letters off and spread the word.

On September 28th Senator Neufeld will speak out against the Bill when the Senate resumes debate on it. Let’s bombard the Senate with emails. Soon I will craft sample targeted emails to Liberal Senators, PC Senators and the Independents, and upload them onto the Climate Response campaign page.

Also – please join the Facebook page, Urge Senators to Support Bill C-311 – http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=152085321489110

Let’s insure that the Climate Change Accountability Act becomes law. And when that’s done, let’s work to usher in a government that respects it.

Writing To People Who Should Know Better

Today’s guest blogger is Cheryl McNamara, whose blog Carbon Slim offers tasks and tips to help readers reduce their carbon footprints. Cheryl also runs Climate Response, a grassroots on-line group whose purpose is to “elevate the public conversation on climate change and the transition to a low-carbon economy”. The following article is from August 4, 2010:

Some of you have been asking about my Carbon Slim blog. My apologies for the spotty installments. I’ve been busy writing to Canadian Senators and now, the President of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, to stop plotting to kill Bill C-311, the Climate Change Accountability Bill. The Bill is now before the Senate.

To read my exchange with Perrin Beatty, President of the Chamber of Commerce, who is urging industry to lobby the Senate to kill the Bill, visit http://www.trunity.net/climateresponse/blogs/view/149327/?topic=28777

For my correspondence with Marjory LeBreton, Leader of the Government in the Senate, visit http://www.trunity.net/climateresponse/blogs/view/147728/?topic=28777

Things are little hairy, what with the US Senate not doing a damn thing about climate change, despite 2010 being the hottest year on record. Governments are failing us because, let’s face it, they receive campaign money from big oil and coal, or believe we must hitch our economic wagon to oil and coal extraction.

350.org is mobilizing citizens through its 10.10.10 campaign. If governments won’t act, people will. Time is of the essence. It’s not time to give up. In five years time, if no significant action is taken on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, then god help us all.

Bill Mckibben, who spearheaded 350.org, has this to say about the matter – http://www.tomdispatch.com/archive/175281/

More links:

If you are interested in being notified and contributing comments when articles on climate change and alternative energy appear in the mainstream media, click here to join Climate Response.

“Russia’s Problem Is Our Problem” As Drought and Fires Devastate Country

Tyler Hamilton’s column in The Star yesterday made the point that Russia’s current struggles with fire and drought could well become our problem in the future, if moves are not made to address the rapid climate changes that are occurring from our warming of the atmosphere. He posits this scenario:

Dozens of cottages have been destroyed and smoke from the affected regions has engulfed Toronto. Premier Dalton McGuinty declared a state of emergency and warned residents to stay indoors.

Meanwhile, low water levels and unprecedented power demand from air conditioning have forced rolling electricity brownouts across the province, with Ontario’s coal fleet – scheduled for complete shutdown by 2014 – operating at full capacity and making the pollution much worse.

Ontario is in no way alone. Heat and drought have devastated this year’s prairie wheat harvest, causing market prices to double on fears there will be a global wheat shortage.

Go to The Star.com to read all of  “Russia’s climate problem is our problem“.

In an follow-up to this article on Clean Break, Hamilton said that he received an email from a frustrated Environment Canada scientist with regard to the data that his department has available on the rising temperatures. The email mentioned the current muzzling of climate scientists and  said:

“government scientists were very unhappy” that this science, funded by Canadian taxpayers, was not being made known and easily accessible to the general public.”And yes, I fear reprisals if my name is attached to anything,” he wrote.

One of the links provided by the scientist shows that the Canadian national average temperature for the spring of 2010 was 4.1°C above normal, based on preliminary data, which makes this the WARMEST SPRING ON RECORD since nationwide records began in 1948. The previous record was in 1998 which was 3.2°C above normal. THIS IS THE SECOND SEASON IN A ROW TO SET A RECORD FOR ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES.

I’m posting the graph full size here, because in the past links to Environment Canada information on our changing climate have been changed or deleted when I revisit the site.

The second link shows graphically how temperatures are expected to rise between now and 2100 in Canada and throughout the rest of North America.

As Hamilton states,

This data, against the backdrop of the Russia heat wave and Pakistan flooding, should be front-page news.

Why isn’t it?

From the NASA Earth Observatory, satellite pictures of the fires and smoke in Russia from August 4:

This could very well be in our future, if our leaders don’t start to lead on this issue.

Go to 350.org for ideas and inspiration on what you can do to encourage them, or check out my action not apathy page. We’re all in this together – remember that you will have to look your children and grandchildren in the eyes in 20 years when they ask you what YOU did about the climate crisis while there was still time.

Searching For Good News This Friday

It seems like a good idea to end the week on a positive note, so lately I have been trying to do just that on my Friday blogs. However, this week has been a particularly discouraging one for those of us concerned about having a safe planet for our children and grandchildren. First, there was the death of climate legislation in the U.S., then there’s the just-published NOAA State of the Climate Report based on work by 300 scientists in 48 countries shows that, globally, the last 10 years have been the hottest on record. And let’s not forget about the study published in Nature shows that phytoplankton, a microscopic food crucial to marine life, is dying out due to the climate change-related rise in ocean temperatures. And I haven’t mentioned that this week marked the 100th day since the BP oil disaster began, or that Australia’s new Prime Minister Julia Gillard has taken the approach of another year of inaction while a “citizen’s consensus” group discusses climate change and carbon taxing. And please, let’s not even talk about “King Stephen“, our Canadian PM, whose pathetic stance on this urgent issue is “we won’t do anything until the Americans do”.

But today’s Friday, and some good news is in order – let’s see:

Via 350.org: President Patil of India has announced that the President’s estate, Rasthrapati Bhavan, is now a certified green building, including the installation of solar power! Click here for the full announcement.

Via the wall of the Facebook group 1,000,000 Strong Against Offshore Drilling, this personal story:

I met a fellow the other day. He was planting fruit trees on our orchard. He had quit his job in the Alberta tar sands after the BP spill. He described to me the dangerous conditions in which they work in, the horrible daily mess that he had to help clean up, the countless gallons of fresh water wasted and the guilt he… felt every day. He said that everyone in the oil industry knows that they’re running out and that they will continue to drill in more and more places where extraction is tricky regardless of the environmental costs. He was disgusted with the oil industry. He’s a good dad and was making good money there, but decided to quit, pack up, and start a new job/new life working with troubled youth. Hearing his story gave me hope that even those who work for Oil know the horrible cost it is having on our lives.

Via Climate Progress: EPA Strongly Reaffirms Scientific Basis for Regulating Greenhouse Gas Emissions That Endanger Public Health

And on a personal note, part of our roof-mounted 7 Kilowatt solar panel system just arrived.  It looks like it’s the aluminium rail mounting system; we’re still waiting for the actual panels. It means that we’re another step closer to being part of the Ontario microFIT program. More details – and pictures – to follow!

Via Earthpolicy.org: Did you know? A bicycle is a marvel of engineering efficiency, one where an investment in 22 pounds of metal and rubber boosts the efficiency of an individual mobility by a factor of three. Click here for information on the League of American Bicyclists.

And on that theme, this weekend you can be part of “National Don’t Use Your Car Day(s)”. If you are on Facebook and want to sign on, click here.

This past week, the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly in favour of recognizing water and sanitation as human rights. Now that is good news – even though Canada abstained from the vote. For on this, check out the Council of Canadians website – www.canadians.org.

More links:

If you are in the U.S. and unhappy with the failure of the climate bill, go to 350.org’s “They Blew It. Let Them Know It” page where you can sign up to “shadow” your senator while he or she is on recess and send them the message that it’s outrageous that they threw up their hands over this crucial piece of legislation.

BP Gusher FINALLY Capped – It’s Time to Go Solar!

I don’t know about you, but by Friday I’m ready for some good news for a change, especially after hearing that the Canadian government is planning to spend $16-billion on fighter jets, by untendered contract. This is the same government that has done nothing to address climate change, by far the biggest threat to Canadians in the coming decades.  They seem to be caught in a time warp, still wrapped up in the Cold War when enemies could be clearly identified and – possibly – fought with fighter jets.

But back to the good news:

  • It seems that BP has finally capped the oil well that’s been spewing between one million plus to 4 million plus barrels of oil a day (nobody really knows, because BP has been low-balling the numbers since the beginning and the US government doesn’t seem to be in a big hurry to clarify how bad things really are).  We won’t know for sure if the oil has stopped permanently for a while, as now a time of monitoring begins. BP engineers will be monitoring pressure gauges and watching for signs of leaks elsewhere in the well.  Apparently, there is a chance that pressure from the oil gushing out of the ground could fracture the well and make the leak even worse!

This video is from 2 weeks ago, but Robert Kennedy Jr. has some interesting – and disturbing – things to say about the economic disincentives to swifter action by BP , and why they used toxic dispersants to hide the oil:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-KF-M_fgHg]

The U.S. Climate Network has an interesting page that has been clocking how much oil has been poured into the gulf so far, and the gauge can be adjusted up or down depending on whose estimates are used. Click on their name to go the page.

Okay, back to good news:

  • Morris County, New Jersey is planning to go solar with some unique financing. The county plans to install 3.2 megawatts of solar panels on county property roofs with the help of $30 million in county-guaranteed bonds. The remaining costs will be financed in conjunction with the energy utility Tioga Energy, which qualifies for federal solar tax incentives through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). Go to Green Tech at CNET.com for the full story.
  • The Solar Pebble, a low-cost solar lamp designed by three undergraduates at the University of Leeds in conjunction with Solar Aid, a UK charity which works to fight poverty and climate change, may prove to be revolutionary for families in Africa. The students’ company Plus Minus Design,

…is vying to replace unsustainable and potentially dangerous lanterns in the homes of off-grid Africans with the Solar Pebble. Engineered with the economic constraints of developing-world citizens in mind, the Solar Pebble will provide one hour of LED light for every two hours of charge, and will cost only $2.70 to manufacture…

The Solar Pebble provides light and a means of portable charging, but its implications are even greater. The lamp will ship partially assembled, providing jobs for locals who would finish assembly. Furthermore, Plus Minus Design hopes the lamp will increase radio usage, providing rural African families with HIV/AIDS prevention information.

Read the full story at Green Tech at CNET.com.  In fact, the Green Tech column written by Martin LaMonica is a really interesting resource about all things alternative – I highly recommend visiting it regularly.

More Links:

BP Stops Oil Spewing Into the Gulf As Well Tests Continue

More Than Half of New Power in US, EU is Green

David Suzuki asks “What’s the Real Bottom Line?”

David Suzuki,  a Canadian scientist, broadcaster, and tireless environmentalist who was recently voted the person Canadians most trust, has a new CBC radio show on Sundays between 11:00 and noon. The 10-part show,  The Bottom Line, premiered last week.  The first two hours have been fascinating listening. The show describes its goal as:

“Exploring the disconnect between our modern values and the natural world. Environmentalists are often told by politicians and corporate executives that without a strong growing economy we can’t afford to do the kind of things they are demanding, that the economy is the bottom line. This series is a celebration of the earth, the atmosphere, water, soil, and energy of the sun that work in tandem to sustain life on this planet. The true ‘bottom line’.”

The first episode featured discussions between Mr. Suzuki and Jim Prentice, Canada’s Environment Minister while they were in Haida Gwaai marking the expansion of a federal park. Suzuki pushes Prentice on the false dichotomy that still persists in this government’s attitude between the environment and the economy. The old “we can’t do anything about the environment unless we have a strong economy” argument. Suzuki clearly presents the urgency of climate change and environmental degradation, and Prentice doesn’t “get it” at all. His responses to Suzuki’s questions include such platitudes like: “It’s about balance.” “We are taking steps forward.”We’ve set a goal of reducing emissions to 17% below 2005 levels.” “I’m proud of the scientists we have at Environment Canada.” “We need technology to address these issues over time.

Really Mr. Prentice?!The former Chief Economist at the World Bank has said that if the world doesn’t deal in a heroic way to reduce emissions, the consequences of climate change are economically catastrophic. The risk to humanity from climate change is second only to the threat of nuclear war. And yet this is the anemic response Canadians get from our government – “we hope that some technology comes along to save us eventually because we can’t possibly find ways to reduce our emissions, the highest per capita in the world”! Good grief. It’s pathetic.

Anyway, The Bottom Line is worth listening to, just to hear Suzuki and Prentice offer their very different points of view. And Mr. Suzuki is pretty gentle on Mr. Prentice, considering that the Environment Minister’s responses were so inadequate.

Also in the first episode is an interesting interview with Lord Nicholas Stern, former Chief Economist at the World Bank and author of a report on climate change and economics for the British government. Stern says that the current view that separates the economy and the environment is “a basic analytical and intellectual mistake.” In the future, he asserts, the two will be seen as working together. And in response to David Suzuki’s questions about the lack of urgency in the world’s response to this looming disaster, Stern states that Britain and the rest of Europe know from their experience with two World Wars last century that the inability to cooperate internationally leads to disaster, and hopefully this experience will assist in addressing the problem of climate change:

We’ve got to use the rationality that developed with evolution to anticipate these problems. We’ve got the ability, we’re going to have to use that. If we wait for experience to tell us we’re in trouble it’s going to be almost impossible to get out of it. People need to understand the great dangers, but we need to go beyond that and talk about the great opportunities that we’ll create if we go the sensible route.

“Sensible route”? Sounds good to me! Are you listening, Mr. Prentice and Mr. Harper?

Listen to “The Bottom Line”.

More links:

David Suzuki Looks Back With a Hint of Regret. Globe and Mail

“The Bottom Line” on Facebook

The Global Deal: Climate Change and the Creation of a New Era of Progress and Prosperity by Nicholas Stern.

Canadian Politicians Quietly Cancel 18-Month Investigation Into Tar Sands Pollution, Tear Up Draft Report

From the Montreal Gazette yesterday, this very alarming story:

Federal politicians from the government and opposition benches have mysteriously cancelled an 18-month investigation into oilsands pollution in water and opted to destroy draft copies of their final report, Canwest News Service has learned.

The aborted investigation comes as new questions are being raised about the Harper government’s decision to exempt a primary toxic pollutant found in oilsands tailings ponds from a regulatory agenda.

The government is in the process of categorizing industry-produced substances that could either be toxic or harmful, but has excluded naphthenic acid — a toxin from oilsands operations — from the list, and left it off another list of substances that companies are required to track and report.

The exclusion is “alarming” according to a letter sent Tuesday to Environment Minister Jim Prentice and Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq, since the federal and Alberta governments have already identified it as a primary source of pollution in liquid waste dumped into ponds after companies extract oil from the region. (Click here to read the full story)

Apparently this happened very quietly on June 17, and it took until now for the media to alert Canadians to the proceedings of the federal Environment Committee.  If our federal government was doing its job, they would be more concerned about the health of Canadians living around the toxic tar sands than the health of the oil industry’s bank balance. And if Opposition politicians were doing their job, it wouldn’t be up to CanWest News Service to let Canadians know, after a three week delay, when their government has failed in its job.

Conservative MP James Bezan chairs the Environment Committee. He expressed his “disappointment”  that MPs were unable to agree on the final report, but asserted a curious belief that the committee’s aborted investigation “has still brought important information into the public domain through the hearings and testimony from expert witnesses that have resulted in several independent reports and commentary.”

According to Canada.com, Liberal MP Francis Scarpaleggia said

“I . . . have no intention of letting go this subject that should be part and parcel of the true national water strategy Canadians demand and deserve. The Conservative government has a lot of answering to do for its persistent lack of leadership on water in general and on oilsands and water in particular. The Conservative government’s record on water and oilsands has been one of constant denial and foot-dragging.”

The exclusion by the Harper government of naphthenic acids from the list of toxic substances, particularly in light of the fact the United States has recently moved forward with specific reporting requirements for the substance, is hard to understand. The Harper/Prentice mantra about taking action on the environment has, for several years now, been that “we’ll do what the Americans do“. Apparently, this is only true when the Americans aren’t doing anything. Matt Price from Environmental Defense wrote:

Naphthenic acids are one of the main pollutants responsible for the toxicity of tarsands tailings to aquatic organisms, and have been shown to harm liver, heart and brain function in mammals. Naphthenic acids are also very long-lived, taking decades to break down.”

Price also said in the letter that the federal and provincial governments are already allowing some of the toxins to leak into groundwater and surface water.

“It is therefore urgent that all tailings pollutants, and naphthenic acid in particular, be properly assessed and managed to minimize the risk to human and environmental health,” he wrote.

When did it become okay for the Canadian government to blatantly cater to industry and cease looking after the health and well-being of Canadians, and our natural resources?  If this is NOT okay with you, please take action. Write a letter (or an email, but a letter is more effective) or phone your MP, and then contact the MPs on the Environment Committee.

Click on the MP’s name to go to their contact info:

Chair, Environment and Sustainable Development Committee

James Bezan, Conservative MP for Selkirk-Interlake, Manitoba,

email:  Bezan.J@parl.gc.ca,

Vice-Chairs:

Bernard Bigras, Bloc Quebecois, Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie, Quebec

David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa-South, Ontario

Members of Environment and Sustainable Development Committee:

Francis Scarpaleggia, Liberal MP for Lac-Saint-Louis, Quebec

Linda Duncan, NDP MP and Environment Critic, Edmonton-Strathcona, Alberta

Scott Armstrong, Conservative, Cumberland-Colchester-Mosquodoboit

Christian Ouellet, Bloc Quebecois, Brome-Missisquoi, Quebec

Blaine Calkins, Conservative, Wetaskiwin, Saskatchewan

Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, Quebec

Mark Warawa, Conservative, Langley, B.C.

Jeff Watson, Conservative, Essex, Ontario

Stephen Woodworth, Conservative, Kitchener Centre, Ontario

More links:

Contact info for all Members of Parliament

Satellite Photos of Alberta Tar Sands Tailing Ponds

Indigenous Environmental Network

“Bigger Issues Than Ducks” Alberta Environment Minister tells Middle East Audience

4 Billion Litres a Year: Tar Sands’ Toxic Leakage