[All] GREN News Update June 15/2017

Lanteigne water.lulu at yahoo.ca
Thu Jun 15 14:36:52 EDT 2017


Hi folks
Let me start with the BIG news: 
Standing Rock Victory in the Courts! A US Federal Judge ruled the approval of the Dakota Access Pipeline approval was illegal. Orders were given for the completion of Environmental Assessments.  Details here: https://www.buzzfeed.com/briannasacks/judge-orders-review-of-dakota-access-pipeline-in-victory?utm_term=.pcJz4qBq1g#.yoa60gZgom


And now the rest of the news:

Local News 
World Environment Day with Blue DotWaterloo Regional Blue Dot celebrated World Environment Day featuring various guest speakers. Amoung them was GREN's Susan Bryant and there is a lovely photo of Kitchener Councillor Yvonne Fernandes with  Blue Dot member Tracy Rayner.  Videos and photos of the day can be viewed on the facebook page at  https://www.facebook.com/waterloobluedot/
Highlights from Waterstock in Erin OntarioThe event was well attended and featured displays from many advocacy groups. Here are some issues I learned about at this event: -New Numbers from Food and Water First regarding the alarming loss of farmlands in Ontario. See photos of their display which provides the current statistics
-A proposed quarry expansion by CBM is proposed for Hillsburgh Ontario over 123 acres of farmland, 90 feet below existing ground level & 5 ft above water table. Folks are encouraged to send emails to HillsofErin at gmail.com to oppose the rezoning. The Hills of Erin Residents' Group has formed to oppose the project. (Search for them on Facebook) -Concerned Residents Coalition (CRC) working to stop Hidden Quarry, a 30m below water table quarry pit near Rockwood. Groups website and details of the project are online here: http://sg.crcrockwood.org/
Water is Life at UW:  Quick SummeryGuest speaker Dr. Shiv Chopra helped to stop the use of bovine growth hormone in beef in Canada but he warns that milk products from US are still coming into Canada in powdered forms. The risks of free trade is the erosion of our own food security. We need to stop bottled water, put an end oil and fracking and say no to these free trade deals that puts food and water security at risk. 
Chief Leslee White_eye of Chippewas of the Thames states Elders are gathering on water source protection.  We need Rights for Water not just to Water. No longer should water be cheap. Let's price them out of the industry. Maude Barlow states 1. Human Rights to water has to be a goal. 2. It is a public trust, not to be commodified. 3. Water has rights.We need Navigables Water Act, Canadian Fisheries Act and Canadian Enviornmental Assessments back.  99.9% of our water supplies are at risk now that deregulation happened under Harper. We need a new water ethic. The head of Nestle is the water adviser for the World Bank. Water is a tradable good under GATT. Current trade agreements are a direct threat to water security. We lack of watet policy as the world approaches. The Ogallala aquifer will be gone in our lifetime.Dr. Vandana Shiva helped shut 4 Coca-Cola plants down using science and peaceful protests for 2 years. On average the plants use 1.5 to 5 million litres of water each day. She also protected the Forests for soil and water conservation relaying the fact that forests contributes to both water and air. The right kind of farming preserves water. She said "Humas is soil. It is the root of the word Human and I think humility and humidity." . 
June 22: Standing Rock to Six Nations Land defence across Turtle Island at University of Guelph.Speakers will include:
Vanessa Gray, Aamjiwnaang 
Myeengun Henry, Chippewa of the Thames
Todd Williams, Six Nations
Kayla Sutherland
This event is FREE for everyone. Soup and bread will be provided. This event is apart of the Summer Institute Guelph series, hosted by OPIRG-Guelph and Guelph Anti-Pipeline.Info here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1118223071656352/?ti=cl

Provincial News
St. Lawrence River Emergency Dam ReleaseInternational Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River Board agreed to increase the flow rate over the Moses-Saunders Power Dam near Cornwall, Ont. – from 10,200 to 10,400 cubic metres a second. That’s the equivalent of four Olympic-sized swimming pools draining into the river every second. This is an emergency measure that began yesterday. More water from Lake Ontario will flow into the St. Lawrence River than ever before to reduce the high water levels. The captain of a 225-metre vessel carrying 29,000 tonnes of iron ore to Hamilton Ontario spoke of the strong currents of the St. Lawrence saying “It almost turned us around.” Due to the recent floods, the water levels in the river rose 75.88 metres above sea level on May 29. This is the same river where oil vessels ship Line 9's tar sands products to the East Coast. 

Ontario Carbon Tax Success! The Second Carbon Tax Auction in in Ontario has just raised 504 Million! http://environmentaldefence.ca/2017/06/13/second-success-ontarios-cap-trade-makes-grade/
Enbridge Line 5 has HUGE issuesEnbridge's own documents shows years of noncompliance for Line 5's pipeline structural support spacing. 
http://www.petoskeynews.com/featured-pnr/pnr_topgallery/enbridge-document-shows-years-of-noncompliance-for-pipeline-supports/article_3c8da526-464f-11e7-915b-4f402df502a2.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=user-share



Ontario Helps First Nations & EnvironmentHere is a list of 25 different First Nation communities that qualify for Ontario grants to end diesel dependency. All they have to do is apply to get the funds. (I'm working with a group to help centralize this kind of data and hopefully we can create support mechanisms to help support their applications) https://www.ontario.ca/page/power-grid-connections-first-nations

Ontario is also offering economic development funds to First Nation communities which can go a long way to delivering clean water, better waste management programs and safer infrastructure https://www.ontario.ca/page/funding-indigenous-economic-development

Federal News
Tar Sands DeclineEnergy companies wrote down nearly 8 billion barrels of Canadian oil sands reserves last year. http://business.financialpost.com/news/energy/energy-companies-wrote-down-nearly-8-billion-barrels-of-canadian-oilsands-reserves-last-year
New Report shows flaws of Kinder Morgan's Oil PipelineCanadian Centre for Policy Alternatives report reveals the case for Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline is built on faulty assumptions, including tidewater & price fiction including overestimated oil supply by 43 per cent in 2038 and 13 per cent surplus of export pipeline capacity now that Line 3 and Keystone XL are approved. (Kinder Morgan assumed they wouldn't be) https://www.policyalternatives.ca/newsroom/news-releases/case-kinder-morgan%E2%80%99s-trans-mountain-pipeline-built-faulty-assumptions#sthash.CgcX8GS9.fWZM6Mwh.dpuf


CAPP removed Proposed Pipeline InfoThe Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers has dropped proposed pipelines from their demand vs. Pipeline Capacity figures! This was mentioned by Greenpeace's Keith Stewart on Twitter. He shows the two charts here: https://twitter.com/climatekeith/status/874634272803573760

TSX, Fossil Fuels and Pension RisksChief Economist Jeff Rubin wrote a report: The Case for Divesting from Fossil Fuels in Canada.. At a recent CIGI forum he warns 20% of the TSX is bound to fossil fuels. Former Bank of Canada rep Mark Carney advised that this figure should have only been 5% exposure to secure a more resilient system.  We are fiscally vulnerable in Canada unless we can divest Pension Funds and Investments from that 20% risk. The solution would be to get banks to offer tar sands free portfolios. Jeff Rubin's report is here: : https://www.cigionline.org/publications/case-divesting-fossil-fuels-canada

Enormous Ice Bridge Melted for the Last TimeAn Ice Bridge stretching across 187 kilometres of frozen Mackenzie Delta and Arctic Ocean in the Northwest Territories, linking Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk has melted and will not come back. It was a vital link for Northern Communities, Mining operations, the shipment of goods, fuel and much needed infrastructure.  https://www.desmog.ca/2017/05/17/famous-canadian-ice-road-melts-last-time

Auditor Speaks on Sask. PipelinesSaskatchewan government lacks written policies & procedures to evaluate province's existing pipeline systems. They must do more says Auditor. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/sask-pipelines-auditor-1.4148024
Here is the first national assessment of Canada’s freshwater ecosystems in decades World Wildlife Fund reports 93 out of 167 sub-watersheds have experienced habitat loss. Freshwater Is at Risk. Handy video with maps to show the distribution of the issues doing the damages is online here: http://blog.wwf.ca/blog/2017/06/12/canadas-freshwater-risk-heres/?hootPostID=ea73c19ed6de48403b7412ce1c9f9df4Full PDF report is here; http://assets.wwf.ca/downloads/WWF_Watershed_Reports_Summit_FINAL_web.pdf?_ga=2.247247181.891394252.1497266572-984777005.149726657
Canada has a new Marine Protected Area off Cape Breton 
The 4,364-square-kilometre area east of Scaterie Island, N.S., will now be off limits to oil and gas activities and bottom-trawling. It's roughly three-quarters the size of Prince Edward Island.http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/st-anns-bank-protected-area-cape-breton-1.4151602


International
EU commissioned Pesticide Report & BRAIN DAMAGEPesticides can cause brain damage and organic food is the future, EU report says. California data shows links to attention deficit issues and poorer intellectual development. Another  report states an estimated 13 million IQ points a year are lost as a result of pesticides, which represents a loss of approximately €125bn (£109bn) across the European Union. News Article here; http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/environment-report-eu-pesticide-link-brain-damage-lower-iq-billions-of-pounds-lost-organic-food-a7771056.htmlHere is the link to the full report http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2016/581922/EPRS_STU(2016)581922_EN.pdf
US Energy Report: Renewable Milestones Made! Renewable Energy Outproduces Nuclear In the US with Wind and Solar providing over 10% of energy needed. Non-Hydro Renewables exceeded 12%  http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Solar-Energy/Renewable-Energy-Outproduces-Nuclear-In-The-US.html
Faith Groups Vs. Fossil FuelsThe day of ExxonMobil’s AGM, a coalition of faith and non-faith groups are staging events to call for the Church of England to divest from the company. Faith based divestment are pulling millions away from fossil fuels but want more action. http://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/32697
Exxon Shareholders have spoken! On a related matter, 62% of ExxonMobile's shareholders voted for Exxon to disclose their corporate risks regarding climate change. https://insideclimatenews.org/news/31052017/exxon-shareholder-climate-change-disclosure-resolution-approved

Families can easily build solar biodigesters themselves
T.H. Culhane, founder of the international nonprofit Solar C.³I.T.I.E.S., turns garbage into biofuel & compost using low tech affordable means as featured in National Geographic here: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/06/sponsor-content-coors-light/
India Commits to Sell Only Electric Cars by 2030 
https://futurism.com/an-end-to-fossil-fuels-india-commits-to-sell-only-electric-cars-by-2030/

California Ending Fossil FuelsCalifornia Senate Bill 100, was approved with a 25-13 vote to commit to 100% Fossil Fuel Free California by 2045. https://www.ecowatch.com/california-sb-100-renewable-energy-2429029310.html

Bloomberg's new Climate Change WebsiteBloomberg has just opened their new website dedicated to Climate Issues. Money and Climate Change are all linked! https://www.bloomberg.com/climate-changed


Take Action! 
Please Sign the official Parliamentary Petition e-880 to secure an Environmental Assessment for Site C. Signing requires an email confirmationhttps://petitions.ourcommons.ca/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-880
Take Action to help BC Salmon stay healthy. https://www.support.ecojustice.ca/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=1943&ea.campaign.id=65485&ea.tracking.id=twitter
Protect consumers from Big Banks who misbehave (The root of many bad environmental projects ) https://act.leadnow.ca/protect-consumers/


Have a great day folks! 
Lulu :0)


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