Michael Pritchard turns filthy water drinkable

Wake Up, Freak Out - then Get a Grip

Wake Up, Freak Out - then Get a Grip from Leo Murray on Vimeo.

1/2 of Caribbean Coral Reefs died in the last year

This just breaks my heart. While I was in Kenya on '05 I picked up my PADI. It was the first time I had been able to go down, up to thirty feet, (up until this point, I was limited to snorkelling and glass-bottomed boats) and see the East African coral reef in all its glory. I was astounded. It has been said that you can see more life in the coral reef in ten minutes than you can see in a tropical rainforest in ten days.

Kenya's coral reefs had been dwindling due to poaching; fortunately, the Kenya government were smart enough to realise that Kenya's bread and butter was vanishing off the ocean floors and banned any kind of poaching from collecting shells and starfish to fishing. I am happy to say that Kenya's coral reefs are in the midst of a resurgence. But now it seems all those effort will have been for naught. After having seen all the beauty the ocean has to offer, there is no other way to put this other than - Hearbreaking

Ottawa Posturing on Environment.

Ottawa spends $155.9M to help oil industry go green

Ottawa will spend $155.9 million to make Alberta's oil and energy industry more environmentally friendly, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced Thursday.

Most of the money will be spent studying ways to capture carbon dioxide emitted from the province's oilsands and store it underground, instead of releasing the polluting gas into the atmosphere.

A federal-provincial task force will be set up to study the technology, Harper said.

"Most exciting of all, if we can perfect this technology, we can use it not only to curb Canada's contribution to greenhouse gas production, but we could also export it around the world," Harper said, while making his announcement in Edmonton.

The money will also support a project in Edmonton designed to convert municipal waste into electricity. Efforts to design a coal-fired electricity plant that releases almost no emissions will also be funded.

Harper, flanked by Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach, reassured the oil industry that new technology will not harm business.

"All Canadians are looking for a balance between economic growth and environmental protection," Harper said. "Finding that balance is the fundamental challenge of our time."

Sierra Club Criticizes Funding

Some environmentalists were critical of Thursday's announcement. The Sierra Club said the government should be working to cut carbon dioxide emissions altogether, rather than encouraging a continued dependence on oil.

"Canadian and Albertan taxpayers should not be footing the bill for this industry to clean up its act," Lindsay Telfer, a Sierra Club director, said in a news release.

"If the government is serious about reducing emissions, it should eliminate all subsidies and develop a solid plan for putting absolute reduction targets on industry."

Harper's announcement came on the day the Alberta government introduced legislation requiring about 100 high-polluting companies to reduce their emissions output starting July 1.

Greenhouse gas emissions in Alberta have increased by 40 per cent since 1990, largely because of the oil industry.

Source: CBC

In addition the Sierra Club's objections I have a few of my own.

Darrell and I were spit balling (no comments from the peanut gallery, please) the other night about some of the things that both the provincial and federal governments can do to make Canada greener and set an example for the world. I remember a time when Canada was a trendsetter in the world. Today it seems, Canada is years, if not decades behind the leading countries.

• Why can't Canada mandate that any and all government buildings if not, the entire country refrain from using incandescent light bulbs?
• Why don't all government buildings & schools have comprehensive recycling programmes that are above and beyond the rest of the country? Shouldn't our elected and appointed officials be setting an example for the rest of the country?
• Why are government issued cars not fuel efficient or hybrids?
• Why are parking enforcement officers driving full size cars? All they really need is a smart car with a bike rack.
• Here in Toronto, Why do I only see garbage and newspaper receptacles at the TTC (Toronto Transit Commission)? Where's the recycling?
  
• Why don't gas stations have recycling facilities especially with all the products sold in plastic containers such as windshield wiper fluid, anti-freeze and oil to name a few. Also, on a road trip, most people empty their trash and recycling at gas stations. All those water bottles, pop cans and fast food wrappers end up in the trash, not the recycling.

Canada and it's residents need to step it up. Of all the nations in the world that recycle paper, Canada doesn't even crack the top ten. Why is that?

Thanks to Darrell for the brainstorming.