Controversial Alzheimer’s drug highlights concerns about Health Canada approval process: Aducanumab was approved on the basis of what’s called a surrogate endpoint, which is a measurement that is supposed to reflect progression of a disease. In this case, the surrogate endpoint was the clearing of amyloid plaque — abnormal brain deposits often seen in Alzheimer’s patients — from the brains of those with Alzheimer’s. Aducanumab was successful in doing that, but it’s not the first drug that has been shown to clear plaque.

There have been more than 25 previous trials of plaque-clearing drugs and none of them showed any benefit for people with Alzheimer’s. One study followed elderly individuals with plaque and pathological changes typical of Alzheimer’s and found that they had no more cognitive decline that those with “normal” brains.

Controversial Alzheimer’s drug highlights concerns about Health Canada approval process: Aducanumab was approved on the basis of what’s called a surrogate endpoint, which is a measurement that is supposed to reflect progression of a disease. In this case, the surrogate endpoint was the clearing of amyloid plaque — abnormal brain deposits often seen in Alzheimer’s patients — from the brains of those with Alzheimer’s. Aducanumab was successful in doing that, but it’s not the first drug that has been shown to clear plaque.There have been more than 25 previous trials of plaque-clearing drugs and none of them showed any benefit for people with Alzheimer’s. One study followed elderly individuals with plaque and pathological changes typical of Alzheimer’s and found that they had no more cognitive decline that those with “normal” brains.Read More

IPCC Begins Marathon Meeting on New Climate Science Report – The Energy Mix: “Over the next two weeks, the scientists will go through their
findings line by line with representatives of 195 governments,” the BBC reports.
“It is expected that the short, 40-page Summary for Policymakers will
play an important role in guiding global leaders who will come to
Glasgow in November to deal with critical climate questions.”

While the IPCC process gives countries the opportunity to spin the Summary for Policymakers, and they often do, it does not permit them to alter the underlying science.

That summary, due for release August 9, is expected to be a “wake-up
call” for governments, experts say, not unlike another recent IPCC
production—its landmark, October 2018 report on how to hold average global warming to 1.5°C.

IPCC Begins Marathon Meeting on New Climate Science Report – The Energy Mix: “Over the next two weeks, the scientists will go through their
findings line by line with representatives of 195 governments,” the BBC reports.
“It is expected that the short, 40-page Summary for Policymakers will
play an important role in guiding global leaders who will come to
Glasgow in November to deal with critical climate questions.”While the IPCC process gives countries the opportunity to spin the Summary for Policymakers, and they often do, it does not permit them to alter the underlying science.That summary, due for release August 9, is expected to be a “wake-up
call” for governments, experts say, not unlike another recent IPCC
production—its landmark, October 2018 report on how to hold average global warming to 1.5°C.Read More

Athletes Swelter, Pass Out as Heat Wave Hits Tokyo Olympics – The Energy Mix: On Friday, Russian archer Svetlana Gomboeva collapsed in 33°C/91°F
heat during a qualifying round. A day later, Russian tennis player
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova needed a medical timeout after feeling dizzy
due to the heat. And organizers at Tokyo’s beach volleyball arena “have
started hosing down the sand after competitors complained it was burning
their feet,” NBC News reports.

“The finish line of the men’s triathlon Monday morning looked
something like a battlefield scene, bodies sprawled out on the ground,
trainers coming to the aid of overheated athletes, even a few being
helped off with their arms draped over shoulders,” adds Yahoo Sports columnist Dan Wetzel.

Athletes Swelter, Pass Out as Heat Wave Hits Tokyo Olympics – The Energy Mix: On Friday, Russian archer Svetlana Gomboeva collapsed in 33°C/91°F
heat during a qualifying round. A day later, Russian tennis player
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova needed a medical timeout after feeling dizzy
due to the heat. And organizers at Tokyo’s beach volleyball arena “have
started hosing down the sand after competitors complained it was burning
their feet,” NBC News reports.“The finish line of the men’s triathlon Monday morning looked
something like a battlefield scene, bodies sprawled out on the ground,
trainers coming to the aid of overheated athletes, even a few being
helped off with their arms draped over shoulders,” adds Yahoo Sports columnist Dan Wetzel.Read More

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