Author: Fraser

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News from the Sierra Club of Canada (May 2008)

Sierra Club is 116 years old!

Sierra
Club was founded on May 28th, 1892 with 182 charter members, and John
Muir as first President elect. In its first conservation campaign, the
Club led efforts to defeat a proposed reduction in the boundaries of
Yosemite National Park.

Save BC’s Flathead Valley

Nestled into BC’s southeast corner is a wilderness area of global significance called the Flathead Valley.

Sometimes
compared with Africa’s Serengeti for its richness of species, the
Flathead’s rare convergence of wildlife and stunning vistas are under
threat from mountain-top removal coal mining and other industrial
development.

We can all encourage British
Columbia to permanently protect the Flathead Valley and safeguard it
from destructive coal mining in adjacent areas.

To find out more and sign Sierra Club BC Chapter’s petition.

Tar Sands Grassroots Engagement

Sierra
Club Prairie has a great new way for you to spread the word about the
Tar Sands and Nuclear Power to your friends and family! Our House Party kits
are all you need to host a social event with an environmental justice
theme! Invite your friends over for a potluck or a wine and dessert
evening, watch a video about the issue of your choice, look at images
of Alberta’s tar sands region or nuclear power, and read letters
written by those directly affected by these developments.

Then, engage in a discussion about what YOU can do to make your voice heard!

Kits include “Common Q&A” on each topic as well as “Suggested Discussion Questions” to get you going, and much more!

Click here to find out more.

Continue reading “News from the Sierra Club of Canada (May 2008)”

Business and Economics

Tax Shifting

Even corporate executives are geared up for a green levy.

Lawson Hunter

When
the chief executive officers from some of Canada’s most influential
corporations encourage government intervention to tackle climate
change, you know change is in the air. And in this case, the change
involves a tax shift, a green tax shift, that is.

In
classic economic terms, a tax shift involves the linear movement of
taxes from one source to another, or from one payer or item to another.
The Goods and Services Tax illustrates how a tax is shifted in a
straight line from producer to manufacturer to consumer. Linear
economic models, however, run counter to the cyclical nature of
ecological systems, which replenish resources to counteract the loss of
the original resource.

Continue reading “Tax Shifting”

Food and Health

Canada Chosen First to Receive The World’s Only Eco-Friendly Luxury Vodka



360 Vodka @ EPIC 2008

Originally uploaded by thegreenpages

360 Vodka sets a new industry standard for its commitment to the environment

Canadians have the opportunity to help save the planet one glass a time with the world’s greenest vodka. Leaving the smallest footprint possible, 360 Vodka combines environmental responsibility with the essence of luxury.

“Canadians are renowned for their commitment to the environment and living green, so we are proud to offer them a vodka that has an equally green state of mind,” said Ed Pechar, chairman of the Earth Friendly Distilling Company, owners of 360 Vodka. “Choosing Canada as the first export country to receive the environment’s favourite vodka was a natural choice.”

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Uncategorized

Little bug, big problem

Here’s your weekly Science Matters column by David Suzuki with Faisal Moola.

Little bug, big problem

Human beings are obsessed with size. We want bigger cars and bigger
houses, and, of course, men want bigger you-know-whats. But big isn’t
everything. A tiny insect about the size of a grain of rice, the
mountain pine beetle, has devastated British Columbia’s interior pine
forests, threatening enormous social, economic, and ecological
upheaval. The infestation, which is expected to kill close to 80 per
cent of B.C.’s mature pine forests, was caused in large part by global
warming and is now seen as a contributor to the problem that caused its
outbreak in the first place.

How can something so seemingly insignificant cause so much
damage? The mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) is a
naturally occurring insect that starts its attack when a female uses
its senses to find a pine tree (usually lodgepole) that is at least 80
years old. On finding a mature tree, she bores into it while releasing
a pheromone that attracts male beetles. When the sex-crazed males
arrive, they in turn secrete pheromones that attract more females. The
tree mounts a response by secreting a toxic resin that beats back a few
beetles. But the beetles have another trick up their sleeves – or in
their mouths. They carry spores of a blue-stained fungus, which are
released as they bore into the tree. The fungus puts a stop to the
spread of resin and allows the beetles to keep tunnelling.

Continue reading “Little bug, big problem”