from the Ontario Environment Commission
TORONTO, June 5, 2013 — Ontario's Environmental Commissioner Gord Miller says the government's long-term energy policy could wipe out some of the gains that have been made in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
by Eric Michael Johnson
A century ago, industrialists like Andrew Carnegie believed that Darwin’s theories justified an economy of vicious competition and inequality. They left us with an ideological legacy that says the corporate economy, in which wealth concentrates in the hands of a few, produces the best for humanity. This was always a distortion of Darwin’s ideas. His 1871 book, The Descent of Man, argued that the human species had succeeded because of traits like sharing and compassion. “Those communities,” he wrote, “which included the greatest number of the most sympathetic members would flourish best, and rear the greatest number of offspring.”
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from the International Monetary Fund
A new report from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) urged policymakers the world over to reform subsidies for products from coal to gasoline, arguing that this could translate into major gains both for economic growth and the environment. The comprehensive study, Energy Subsidy Reform — Lessons and Implications, released today, estimates that energy subsidies amount to a staggering $1.9 trillion worldwide — the equivalent of 2½ percent of global GDP, or 8 percent of government revenues.
by Ken Battle and Sherri Torjman
The demise of the National Council of Welfare, announced in the 2012 Budget, would have punched a huge hole in Canada’s social policy database. The Council’s annual Welfare Incomes and Poverty Profile reports had for decades provided invaluable information on welfare and low income. Rather than simply lamenting this potential loss, the Caledon Institute of Social Policy is acting to rescue this important data by taking over its preparation and distribution.
from the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada
Pro-choice people across the country are in deep mourning after the announcement of the death of Dr Henry Morgentaler. The 90-year-old retired doctor died peacefully at his Toronto home earlier this morning after a short illness.
More than two years into the triple-meltdown crisis at the Fukushima No 1 power plant, workers continue to wage a desperate battle to keep the stricken reactors cool while trying to contain the 400 tons of radioactive water produced by the process each day.
Tokyo Electric Power Co must decommission the three reactors, but the water is thwarting the effort. The decommissioning, if it ever starts, will take decades.
Here are some questions and answers on the encroaching problem and its implications for public health and the environment:
Why is radioactive water accumulating and how much is there?
As of May 7, Tepco had routed 290,000 tons of radioactive water into some 940 huge tanks at the complex, but 94,500 tons remain inside the basement floors of the reactor buildings and other facilities.
Tepco must perpetually pour water over the melted cores of reactors 1, 2, and 3 via makeshift systems to prevent the fuel from melting and burning again.
But the cores’ containment vessels were damaged by the meltdowns, allowing the highly radioactive coolant water to leak and flow into the basements. The dangerous radiation levels have prevented workers from getting close enough to fully assess the damage, let alone start the decommissioning process….
Read the whole story on Japan Times
by Ken Tanaka
But where are you really from?
from the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers union
OTTAWA, May 27, 2013 /CNW/ — "Canadians should be outraged that the federal government is shoving millions of taxpayer dollars into American advertising to promote Keystone XL," says Dave Coles, President of Canada's largest energy workers' union. The Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada has learned that since 2010-11 Natural Resources Canada has increased its advertising budget by 7000 percent.
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by Owen Weber
You too can dance like the Peanuts cartoon characters!
Visit the website of comedian Owen Weber!
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from This Hour Has 22 Minutes
Mary Walsh's character shines on Parliament Hill.
