500 Ducks Die after Landing on Tailings Pond

Only
a week after Ed Stelmach announced his government would be spending $25
million dollars to paint the black tar sands green, more than 500
migratory ducks are dying after landing on a toxic Syncrude tailings
pond.

NOW is the time to demand ACTION from
the Albertan government! The tar sands are a dirty, toxic, and
environmentally devastating megaproject that endangers not only the
lives  of animals, but of people living in downstream communities and
Albertans working and living in the tar sands region.

The
tar sands lie along a major migratory bird pathway, and tailings ponds
are a feature of all open-pit mines in the tar sands region. This
development is clearly in contravention to the Migratory Birds
Convention Act, which states:

5.1 (1) No person or vessel shall deposit a substance that is harmful to migratory birds, or permit such a substance to be deposited, in waters or an area frequented by migratory birds or in a place from which the substance may enter such waters or such an area.

As
the Alberta government continues to approve all proposed tar sands
projects (no proposal to date has ever been rejected), Alberta is
looking at having tar sands tailings lakes which combined will cover an
area greater than five Sylvan Lakes (a lake the size 42.8 square
kilometers).

After this accident, the
Alberta government is painting itself as an unfortunate David to the
growing Green Goliath – a movement that is calling for a no new tar
sands approvals. What our government should be asking is, if it took a
whistleblower to report this disaster, how many more have gone
unreported in the past? How is the Alberta government going to monitor
future tar sands projects if it can’t even reliably keep watch over
existing ones?

ACTION is needed to ensure
our political decision-makers know that the Canadian people are calling
with one voice for a TAR SANDS TIME OUT!  It is time to
stop unmitigated tar sands development! 

Continue reading “ACTION ALERT: Call Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach and Prime Minister Harper to Demand Action on the Toxic Tar Sands! – Sierra Club of Canada”

San Francisco has banned plastic bags, let’s follow their lead here in Atlantic Canada. One Atlantic Superstore location in Halifax, … Continue reading Ban Plastic Bags in Atlantic Canada

Why?  The Conservative government is “paralyzing” parliament’s Environmental Commitee by blocking the Climate Change Accountability Act, Bill C-377.  This bill would enable Canada to take on science based targets to reduce its emissions 25% below 1990 levels by 2020.

Conservative Members of Parliament are paralyzing the work of the
Environment Committee by blocking the Climate Change Accountability
Act, Bill C-377.  If the Conservative MPs don’t stop their tactics this
all important bill could be killed.  Opposition parties are united in
their support for this bill that would see Canada take on science based
targets to reduce its emissions 25% below 1990 levels by 2020.
 Conservative members have stalled the committee agenda for 5 meetings
by not letting other members of the committee talk. If they continue,
they could kill this important bill, and block all other work relating
to the environment.

The Conservative MPs and the media need to know Canadians disagree with their tactics.

The committee is meeting again on Wednesday and needs to hear from you this week.

Continue reading “URGENT ACTION – the Government has paralyzed parliament’s environmental committee and is preventing a crucial piece of climate change legislation from being approved”

“By saving the woodland caribou’s remaining Boreal Forest habitat, we’ll also help protect one of the world’s largest natural carbon reserves and slow the effects of climate change.”

thegreenpages.ca network is working with the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society to help gather signatures to convince the Federal Government to identify and protect Woodland caribou habitat under the Species at Risk Act.

UPDATE: NEW YOUTUBE VIDEO!!!

Caribou and you: The bomb

Visit the web site to learn more: http://caribouandyou.ca/

Continue reading “Caribou and you: The bomb”

Smart Growth BC is seeking inspiring stories of local and regional governments that have taken action to improve the health … Continue reading Searching for stories: health and the built environment

Canada’s Boreal Forest, a 1.3 billion acre green garland stretching
from Yukon to Newfoundland, is one of the world’s most unique and
important ecosystems. The billions of birds raised in North
America’s Bird Nursery leave their nests in the fall and migrate to
winter locations throughout North, Central and South America. Many of our favorite backyard birds began their lives in the Boreal.

Unfortunately, the Boreal Forest is steadily being carved up by unchecked oil and gas, mining, logging, and hydro development. While less than 8% of the Boreal is permanently protected, already 30% has been allocated to industry.

Continue reading “Sign the Petition to Protect the Boreal Birds!”

It’s great to be Canadian! (Toronto: March 13, 2008) – Many countries will participate in Earth Hour on March 29 … Continue reading Canada leading global Earth Hour effort

More than 300,000 seals will be cruelly killed this year. 98% of the seals killed in the past 2 years … Continue reading Take Action to End the Seal Hunt

Sierra Club BC and our allies are calling on the federal government to initiate a marine use planning process for … Continue reading North Coast Pacific Ocean Needs Protection

Cars and light trucks produce about 10 percent of Canada greenhouse
gas emissions and are the largest source of individual emissions.
Measures must be taken to reduce emissions.

On January 17, 2008, the Government of Canada announced
for the third time that it will regulate automotive fuel economy. For
the third time, it failed to say just what the regulation will require.
This time however they provided a deadline for comments – March 15,
2008.

Continue reading “Canadians Want Clean Cars”