Expanding Tailings Pond at Copper Mountain Mine ‘Flirts with Disaster’ for B.C., Washington – The Energy Mix: Much of the impetus for new mine development in B.C., and the
tailings ponds that follow, is being driven largely by demand for raw
materials for the renewable energy equipment, electric vehicles, and
batteries needed to reverse carbon pollution from that other well-known
form of extractive resource development, fossil fuels. “When proponents
wax lyrical about the new energy economy, we tend to focus on sunshine
and sea breezes,” he writes. ” But a new energy economy will also
require mountains of minerals. One of the most essential is copper,” and
“until a more circular economy arrives, we have to use virgin ores,
often mined in foreign nations.”

The op-ed lays out the tragic environmental damage that has resulted
from past tailings pond failures, including the 2014 collapse at the
Mount Polley copper mine, when 6.6 billion gallons/25 billion litres of
toxic waste flooded into sockeye salmon spawning grounds and fresh water
supplies.

Expanding Tailings Pond at Copper Mountain Mine ‘Flirts with Disaster’ for B.C., Washington – The Energy Mix: Much of the impetus for new mine development in B.C., and the
tailings ponds that follow, is being driven largely by demand for raw
materials for the renewable energy equipment, electric vehicles, and
batteries needed to reverse carbon pollution from that other well-known
form of extractive resource development, fossil fuels. “When proponents
wax lyrical about the new energy economy, we tend to focus on sunshine
and sea breezes,” he writes. ” But a new energy economy will also
require mountains of minerals. One of the most essential is copper,” and
“until a more circular economy arrives, we have to use virgin ores,
often mined in foreign nations.”The op-ed lays out the tragic environmental damage that has resulted
from past tailings pond failures, including the 2014 collapse at the
Mount Polley copper mine, when 6.6 billion gallons/25 billion litres of
toxic waste flooded into sockeye salmon spawning grounds and fresh water
supplies.Read More

Groups Pan ‘Farcical Attack’ in ‘Anti-Alberta Energy’ Commission Report – The Energy Mix:

Gray says the Allan inquiry should matter to Canadians as an “alarming
use” of government powers: it “attempts to marginalize and demonize”
groups working to protect citizens from climate and ecological harms,
and “equates ‘anti-Alberta energy campaigns’ with any efforts to
question fossil fuels”. It “declares any effort to protect lands,
forests, or wetlands from B.C. to Ontario as inherently anti-Alberta
energy because such protected lands might get in the way of pipeline
that oil and gas companies want to build”, ignores environmental groups’
collaborative work with the oil and gas industry, and wrongly implies
that community opposition to fossil fuel development is somehow unique
to Canada.

Groups Pan ‘Farcical Attack’ in ‘Anti-Alberta Energy’ Commission Report – The Energy Mix: Gray says the Allan inquiry should matter to Canadians as an “alarming
use” of government powers: it “attempts to marginalize and demonize”
groups working to protect citizens from climate and ecological harms,
and “equates ‘anti-Alberta energy campaigns’ with any efforts to
question fossil fuels”. It “declares any effort to protect lands,
forests, or wetlands from B.C. to Ontario as inherently anti-Alberta
energy because such protected lands might get in the way of pipeline
that oil and gas companies want to build”, ignores environmental groups’
collaborative work with the oil and gas industry, and wrongly implies
that community opposition to fossil fuel development is somehow unique
to Canada.Read More

‘One of the scariest things I have ever been through’: Rare tick-borne disease on the rise in Ontario: Artist Alice Hinther’s high-energy life came to a screeching halt on July 6 when she suddenly began to feel sick with flu-like symptoms. When the fever, aches, sore throat, nausea and exhaustion continued, she dragged herself to Smiths Falls, near her cottage, for a COVID-19 test.

That test came back negative, but Hinther’s condition worsened.

She eventually ended up in isolation at the Kingston Health Sciences Centre, hooked up to oxygen and barely aware of her surroundings, while doctors tried to figure out what was making her so sick.

‘One of the scariest things I have ever been through’: Rare tick-borne disease on the rise in Ontario: Artist Alice Hinther’s high-energy life came to a screeching halt on July 6 when she suddenly began to feel sick with flu-like symptoms. When the fever, aches, sore throat, nausea and exhaustion continued, she dragged herself to Smiths Falls, near her cottage, for a COVID-19 test.That test came back negative, but Hinther’s condition worsened.She eventually ended up in isolation at the Kingston Health Sciences Centre, hooked up to oxygen and barely aware of her surroundings, while doctors tried to figure out what was making her so sick.Read More

Poison with your cereal, anyone?: Health Canada is proposing to more than double, triple and quadruple
the Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) – also known as parts per million –
in oats and bran, lentils, peas, and 25 types of beans such as
chickpeas, kidney beans, and pinto beans, as well as nuts such as
almonds, pecans and walnuts, mostly coming from the United States.
Glyphosate is already prevalent in the environment. There is
contamination in drift from the air or wind, dust, and
possibly in shipping containers. Residues of glyphosate are already
being found in children’s cereals and other products marketed to children.

If allowed by Health Canada, this increase in glyphosate levels in
field crops will also affect organic products, since it will legally
allow more of the glyphosate or Roundup residue in these products. And
if independent organic certification organizations limit the parts per
million allowed via certification, then it will mean that Canadian
organic farmers may have a difficult time getting some crops certified.
Either way – the outcome will affect our environment and hence organic
crops.

To be clear, in 2015, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) identified glyphosate, the world’s most commonly used herbicide, as a probable human carcinogen.

Poison with your cereal, anyone?: Health Canada is proposing to more than double, triple and quadruple
the Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) – also known as parts per million –
in oats and bran, lentils, peas, and 25 types of beans such as
chickpeas, kidney beans, and pinto beans, as well as nuts such as
almonds, pecans and walnuts, mostly coming from the United States.
Glyphosate is already prevalent in the environment. There is
contamination in drift from the air or wind, dust, and
possibly in shipping containers. Residues of glyphosate are already
being found in children’s cereals and other products marketed to children.If allowed by Health Canada, this increase in glyphosate levels in
field crops will also affect organic products, since it will legally
allow more of the glyphosate or Roundup residue in these products. And
if independent organic certification organizations limit the parts per
million allowed via certification, then it will mean that Canadian
organic farmers may have a difficult time getting some crops certified.
Either way – the outcome will affect our environment and hence organic
crops.To be clear, in 2015, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) identified glyphosate, the world’s most commonly used herbicide, as a probable human carcinogen.Read More

Two Manitoba Municipalities Declare Agriculture Disaster – The Energy Mix: The Western Producer reports that the federal government has now committed support for drought-stricken farmers through the AgriRecovery program as it waits for the provinces to accept the proposed changes to the AgriStability program.

As the various levels of government consider options for aid, the situation for farmers in the region is growing desperate, writes
CTV News. “We have three dugouts here and they’re all dry,” said John
Dyck, who raises 125 head of cattle west of Teulon. “When we get to the
yard, you can see the grass—it’s like pavement.”

Despite rainfall in early June, Manitoba’s Interlake region has seen as low as 40% of normal precipitation over the past month, writes
the Manitoba Drought Monitor. Reported yields for first-cut hay are 50
to 80% of normal, and the combination of heat and drought stress is
causing crops to mature faster than usual—likely leading to losses.

Two Manitoba Municipalities Declare Agriculture Disaster – The Energy Mix: The Western Producer reports that the federal government has now committed support for drought-stricken farmers through the AgriRecovery program as it waits for the provinces to accept the proposed changes to the AgriStability program.As the various levels of government consider options for aid, the situation for farmers in the region is growing desperate, writes
CTV News. “We have three dugouts here and they’re all dry,” said John
Dyck, who raises 125 head of cattle west of Teulon. “When we get to the
yard, you can see the grass—it’s like pavement.” Despite rainfall in early June, Manitoba’s Interlake region has seen as low as 40% of normal precipitation over the past month, writes
the Manitoba Drought Monitor. Reported yields for first-cut hay are 50
to 80% of normal, and the combination of heat and drought stress is
causing crops to mature faster than usual—likely leading to losses.Read More