oil canada vs' the great bear rainforest

chadwick

http://youtu.be/S3bKmz4od3g

i need your help. years ago while attending a environmental science/fisheries class we watched a film on, "fish in trees." that is very close to the exact title but not quite. i am having very much difficulty in finding this educational film. it is about black bear dragging salmon into the trees of the rainforest where the salmon decompose into the moist earth allowing trees to soak up marine nutrients. those trees get those marine genes or however it is in their dna.

a black bear only eats maybe 30% of a salmon. the rest of the salmon rots in and among the trees nearby the rivers and streams. a black bear only goes a short distance into the bush with a salmon in its jaws. this means the trees near the salmon run filled waterways are the only trees getting the marine nutrients.

badass.

so let's just put a pipeline through one of the most sensitive and beautiful ecosystems in the world.
oil companies need to back the fuck up and now! this is extremely important and environmentalist and good-hearted people need to unite to shut oil companies down and keep them out of this rainforest in British Columbia, Canada.

polaris_x

ya ... it's brutal ... our right wing neo con gov't is pushing this agenda ... our only salvation is that the province will fight it ...

Jason P

Just send the oil to Texas instead. Problem solved.

Drowned Out

Jason P wrote:

Just send the oil to Texas instead. Problem solved.

They want to do both.
And that creates a second major problem....potential spills over the Ogallala Aquifer (you know that!)


Is this the story that spurred your thread, chadwick?
http://www.marketwire.com/press-release ... 651968.htm

May 02, 2012 15:05 ET
Oil Spill Reported in the Great Bear Rainforest

Gitga'at Nation Reports Large Spill Believed to Be From Sunken Munitions Ship; Calls on Federal Government for Immediate Response and Full Clean-Up

HARTLEY BAY, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - May 2, 2012) - The Gitga'at Nation of Hartley Bay is reporting an oil spill, between two and five miles long and 200 feet wide inside the Grenville Channel, not far from the proposed tanker route for the Enbridge Gateway pipeline. The spill was spotted by a commercial pilot and reported to the Gitga'at Nation and the Canadian Coast Guard yesterday evening.
A Coast Guard landing craft from Prince Rupert is on its way to the spill, and expected to arrive by 12pm. The Gitga'at are sending their own Guardians to take samples and have chartered a plane to take aerial photos of the spill.
"If this spill is as big as the pilots are reporting, then we're looking at serious environmental impacts, including threats to our traditional shellfish harvesting areas," says Arnold Clifton, Chief Councillor of the Gitga'at Nation. "We need an immediate and full clean-up response from the federal government ASAP."
Heavy oil, known as "bunker c" is thought to be upwelling from the USAT Brigadier General M.G. Zalinski, a U.S. army transport ship that sank in 1946 with 700 tonnes of bunker fuel on board. The Canadian government has been saying it would remove the oil and munitions from the ship since 2006, but with no results.
"Right now we're focused on getting a handle on the size of the spill and the clean-up that's required," says Clifton. "But this incident definitely raises questions about the federal government's ability to guard against oil spills and to honour its clean-up obligations. As a result, our nation has serious concerns about any proposal to have tankers travel through our coastal waters, including the Enbridge proposal."
The spill is just the latest in a series of spills of bunker oil and diesel coming from the Zalinski and the BC Ferry Queen of the North, which sank in 2006. Despite government assurances of clean-up, both wreckages continue to leak fuel, fouling the marine environment, and heightening the fear of future oil spills. :evil:
The Gitga'at depend on the ocean for 40% of their traditional diet.
Photos of the spill are available here, with aerial photos and b-roll expected shortly:
http://andrewfrank.ca/2012/05/02/oil-sp ... ainforest/

chadwick

polaris_x wrote:

ya ... it's brutal ... our right wing neo con gov't is pushing this agenda ... our only salvation is that the province will fight it ...

i hope the first nations people kick the hell out of modern day government

chadwick

Drowned Out wrote:

Jason P wrote:

Just send the oil to Texas instead. Problem solved.

They want to do both.
And that creates a second major problem....potential spills over the Ogallala Aquifer (you know that!)


Is this the story that spurred your thread, chadwick?http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/oil-spill-reported-in-the-great-bear-rainforest-1651968.htm

May 02, 2012 15:05 ET
Oil Spill Reported in the Great Bear Rainforest

Gitga'at Nation Reports Large Spill Believed to Be From Sunken Munitions Ship; Calls on Federal Government for Immediate Response and Full Clean-Up

HARTLEY BAY, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - May 2, 2012) - The Gitga'at Nation of Hartley Bay is reporting an oil spill, between two and five miles long and 200 feet wide inside the Grenville Channel, not far from the proposed tanker route for the Enbridge Gateway pipeline. The spill was spotted by a commercial pilot and reported to the Gitga'at Nation and the Canadian Coast Guard yesterday evening.
A Coast Guard landing craft from Prince Rupert is on its way to the spill, and expected to arrive by 12pm. The Gitga'at are sending their own Guardians to take samples and have chartered a plane to take aerial photos of the spill.
"If this spill is as big as the pilots are reporting, then we're looking at serious environmental impacts, including threats to our traditional shellfish harvesting areas," says Arnold Clifton, Chief Councillor of the Gitga'at Nation. "We need an immediate and full clean-up response from the federal government ASAP."
Heavy oil, known as "bunker c" is thought to be upwelling from the USAT Brigadier General M.G. Zalinski, a U.S. army transport ship that sank in 1946 with 700 tonnes of bunker fuel on board. The Canadian government has been saying it would remove the oil and munitions from the ship since 2006, but with no results.
"Right now we're focused on getting a handle on the size of the spill and the clean-up that's required," says Clifton. "But this incident definitely raises questions about the federal government's ability to guard against oil spills and to honour its clean-up obligations. As a result, our nation has serious concerns about any proposal to have tankers travel through our coastal waters, including the Enbridge proposal."
The spill is just the latest in a series of spills of bunker oil and diesel coming from the Zalinski and the BC Ferry Queen of the North, which sank in 2006. Despite government assurances of clean-up, both wreckages continue to leak fuel, fouling the marine environment, and heightening the fear of future oil spills. :evil:
The Gitga'at depend on the ocean for 40% of their traditional diet.
Photos of the spill are available here, with aerial photos and b-roll expected shortly:
http://andrewfrank.ca/2012/05/02/oil-sp ... ainforest/

naw man that aint the story that sparked my interest, but i am very grateful for your sharing of this information.
i am sad as fuck right now.

polaris_x

chadwick wrote:

polaris_x wrote:

ya ... it's brutal ... our right wing neo con gov't is pushing this agenda ... our only salvation is that the province will fight it ...

i hope the first nations people kick the hell out of modern day government

that's a tough one too because you are looking at a community that has many economic problems ... the prospect of "jobs", especially high paying ones like oil and gas are always gonna be very tempting ...

brianlux

The whole tar sand oil thing is a travesty. Huge masses of beautiful land and forest ravaged for costly oil that just delays the inevitable, continues to contribute to raising CO2 levels in the atmosphere and filling the pockets of oil execs with money. Stupid and short-sided.

By the way, check out Derrik Jensen's book Endgame. Very pertinent to this subject.

zarocat

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/canada-p ... 11637.html

A prominent NASA scientist penned a provocative column in the New York Times Thursday, suggesting the end of civilization could be nigh, thanks to Alberta's 'tar sands.'
"Global warming isn't a prediction. It is happening. That is why I was so troubled to read a recent interview with President Obama in Rolling Stone in which he said that Canada would exploit the oil in its vast tar sands reserves 'regardless of what we do,'" climatologist James Hanson wrote.
"If we were to fully exploit this new oil source, and continue to burn our conventional oil, gas and coal supplies...twenty to 50 percent of the planet's species would be driven to extinction. Civilization would be at risk."
Hansen, who has directed the NASA Goddard Institute of Space Studies for nearly three decades, has published numerous articles on the subject of climate change.
In recent year's he's become an activist, once getting arrested at a White House protest against mountaintop coal mining.
His solution to stop Canada's 'exploitation' of the oil sands is for the U.S. government to introduce a different kind of cap and trade system.
"We should impose a gradually rising carbon fee, collected from fossil fuel companies, then distribute 100 percent of the collections to all Americans on a per-capita basis every month. The government would not get a penny," he wrote.
"Most Americans, except the heaviest energy users, would get more back than they paid in increased prices. Not only that, the reduction in oil use resulting from the carbon price would be nearly six times as great as the oil supply from the proposed pipeline from Canada, rendering the [Keystone] pipeline superfluous, according to economic models driven by a slowly rising carbon price."
This isn't the first time Hansen has weighed-in on the oil sands, but his musings comes on the heels of a parliamentary report suggesting Canada won't meet its emission targets - a report, which made it on to the New York Times website, on Tuesday.

*One thing I'd like to mention which some people who have not been there might NOT know is that, just as much natural gas is pumped into the oil sands to extract the oil sand. It also takes two barrels of water to produce one barrel of oil.

chadwick

i am scared to read this information and i am scared to read about the leaking sunken vessels that do not get the much needed attention they need. i would like to go up there and help out by doing something, anything. if i am meant to study and work in the fields of environmental science then by-golly i'll end up doing so, if it is destiny. one thing is for sure, it is sad as fuck when stupid bullshit is going on.

why can't we just slap the shit out of these oil assholes? and i am as serious as a heart attack
i need a fucking sword to stick up these fuckers' ass. indian cheif rainforest and bear gave me the knowledge and power to do so

i'm goin for a swim. out

brianlux

zarocat wrote:

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/canada-politics/nasa-scientist-james-hanson-says-civilization-risk-canada-172311637.html

A prominent NASA scientist penned a provocative column in the New York Times Thursday, suggesting the end of civilization could be nigh, thanks to Alberta's 'tar sands.'
"Global warming isn't a prediction. It is happening. That is why I was so troubled to read a recent interview with President Obama in Rolling Stone in which he said that Canada would exploit the oil in its vast tar sands reserves 'regardless of what we do,'" climatologist James Hanson wrote.
"If we were to fully exploit this new oil source, and continue to burn our conventional oil, gas and coal supplies...twenty to 50 percent of the planet's species would be driven to extinction. Civilization would be at risk."
Hansen, who has directed the NASA Goddard Institute of Space Studies for nearly three decades, has published numerous articles on the subject of climate change.
In recent year's he's become an activist, once getting arrested at a White House protest against mountaintop coal mining.
His solution to stop Canada's 'exploitation' of the oil sands is for the U.S. government to introduce a different kind of cap and trade system.
"We should impose a gradually rising carbon fee, collected from fossil fuel companies, then distribute 100 percent of the collections to all Americans on a per-capita basis every month. The government would not get a penny," he wrote.
"Most Americans, except the heaviest energy users, would get more back than they paid in increased prices. Not only that, the reduction in oil use resulting from the carbon price would be nearly six times as great as the oil supply from the proposed pipeline from Canada, rendering the [Keystone] pipeline superfluous, according to economic models driven by a slowly rising carbon price."
This isn't the first time Hansen has weighed-in on the oil sands, but his musings comes on the heels of a parliamentary report suggesting Canada won't meet its emission targets - a report, which made it on to the New York Times website, on Tuesday.

*One thing I'd like to mention which some people who have not been there might NOT know is that, just as much natural gas is pumped into the oil sands to extract the oil sand. It also takes two barrels of water to produce one barrel of oil.

Thanks for posting this, zaraocat! It's very true- more and more energy is needed to extract oil. All the easy to get to stuff is gone and we keep going to greater and greater lengths to get more oil as then net gain in energy keeps decreasing. The concept is called EROEI, energy returned on energy invested. When the EROEI of a resource (in this case, oil) is less than or equal to one, that energy source becomes an "energy sink", and can no longer be used as a primary source of energy. Oil extraction continues to slide down that slope and all the while, the oil we are burning continues to add to anthropogenic global warming.

We seem to be deer caught in the headlights on this one. I don't know about the rest of you but I still don't hear very many people talking about it let alone taking any action. A good place to start is visiting 350.org

Drowned Out

Had a friend post this on fb today...I'm not home; tryin to watch this on a wireless 3G card, not workin too well.....
Looks great tho...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAnRFd3jBqQ

Standup4Greatbear Documentary

A film based on Norm Hann's 400km standup paddleboard expedition along the proposed north coast oil tanker route in British Columbia. The goal of the expedition was to bring awareness to the traditional food harvesting areas of the First Nations and the incredible marine ecosystems of the Greatbear Rainforest

zarocat

brianlux wrote:

zarocat wrote:

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/canada-politics/nasa-scientist-james-hanson-says-civilization-risk-canada-172311637.html

A prominent NASA scientist penned a provocative column in the New York Times Thursday, suggesting the end of civilization could be nigh, thanks to Alberta's 'tar sands.'
"Global warming isn't a prediction. It is happening. That is why I was so troubled to read a recent interview with President Obama in Rolling Stone in which he said that Canada would exploit the oil in its vast tar sands reserves 'regardless of what we do,'" climatologist James Hanson wrote.
"If we were to fully exploit this new oil source, and continue to burn our conventional oil, gas and coal supplies...twenty to 50 percent of the planet's species would be driven to extinction. Civilization would be at risk."
Hansen, who has directed the NASA Goddard Institute of Space Studies for nearly three decades, has published numerous articles on the subject of climate change.
In recent year's he's become an activist, once getting arrested at a White House protest against mountaintop coal mining.
His solution to stop Canada's 'exploitation' of the oil sands is for the U.S. government to introduce a different kind of cap and trade system.
"We should impose a gradually rising carbon fee, collected from fossil fuel companies, then distribute 100 percent of the collections to all Americans on a per-capita basis every month. The government would not get a penny," he wrote.
"Most Americans, except the heaviest energy users, would get more back than they paid in increased prices. Not only that, the reduction in oil use resulting from the carbon price would be nearly six times as great as the oil supply from the proposed pipeline from Canada, rendering the [Keystone] pipeline superfluous, according to economic models driven by a slowly rising carbon price."
This isn't the first time Hansen has weighed-in on the oil sands, but his musings comes on the heels of a parliamentary report suggesting Canada won't meet its emission targets - a report, which made it on to the New York Times website, on Tuesday.

*One thing I'd like to mention which some people who have not been there might NOT know is that, just as much natural gas is pumped into the oil sands to extract the oil sand. It also takes two barrels of water to produce one barrel of oil.

Thanks for posting this, zaraocat! It's very true- more and more energy is needed to extract oil. All the easy to get to stuff is gone and we keep going to greater and greater lengths to get more oil as then net gain in energy keeps decreasing. The concept is called EROEI, energy returned on energy invested. When the EROEI of a resource (in this case, oil) is less than or equal to one, that energy source becomes an "energy sink", and can no longer be used as a primary source of energy. Oil extraction continues to slide down that slope and all the while, the oil we are burning continues to add to anthropogenic global warming.

We seem to be deer caught in the headlights on this one. I don't know about the rest of you but I still don't hear very many people talking about it let alone taking any action. A good place to start is visiting 350.org

Also, from my experience while in the oil sands and others I've spoken with who were also up in the North, mention that much of the income generated by the oil companies go towards the exploration of the Arctic to eventually tap into it and extract. :thumbdown:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_selection

chadwick

brianlux wrote:

Thanks for posting this, zaraocat! It's very true- more and more energy is needed to extract oil. All the easy to get to stuff is gone and we keep going to greater and greater lengths to get more oil as then net gain in energy keeps decreasing. The concept is called EROEI, energy returned on energy invested. When the EROEI of a resource (in this case, oil) is less than or equal to one, that energy source becomes an "energy sink", and can no longer be used as a primary source of energy. Oil extraction continues to slide down that slope and all the while, the oil we are burning continues to add to anthropogenic global warming.

We seem to be deer caught in the headlights on this one. I don't know about the rest of you but I still don't hear very many people talking about it let alone taking any action. A good place to start is visiting 350.org

thank you very much, brianlux. i did not know this word. now i may add it to my vocabulary thank you for that.
i looked up the word, "anthropogenic."

"Caused or influenced by humans. Anthropogenic carbon dioxide is that portion of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that is produced directly by human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels, rather than by such processes as respiration and decay."

and

1. Of or relating to anthropogenesis.
2. Caused by humans: anthropogenic degradation of the environment.


thank you george bush and family, dick cheney and every other a-hole who just doesn't give a shit

lukin2006

Our Prime Minister doesn't like foreign environmentalist meddling in Canada's affairs...so just leave alone :P.

chadwick

lukin2006 wrote:

Our Prime Minister doesn't like foreign environmentalist meddling in Canada's affairs...so just leave alone :P.

canada is damn near environmentally perfect; what with the trash bags one recieves after paying for gas and stuff. y'all roadways are pretty fucking nice compared to your southern brothers and sisters. y'all have a beautiful bunch of mountains, trees, ferns, and moss. let's coat that shit and the salmon and bears and octopuses in crude oil crap. sounds fantastic to be like the idiots in the gulf of mexico.

your prime minister better grow a set and in a hurry. if he don't. it's fucking on.

polaris_x

the achilles heel in this is jobs ... the oil and gas industry pays really well ... and a lot of people are making a lot of money ... some of them have bought into the lies while some know they are causing problems but hope that we will be able to adapt ...

chadwick

polaris_x wrote:

the achilles heel in this is jobs ... the oil and gas industry pays really well ... and a lot of people are making a lot of money ... some of them have bought into the lies while some know they are causing problems but hope that we will be able to adapt ...

eating and buying shit today w/ oil money will destroy y'all ecosystem/rainforest. very very very sad. i hope and pray the oil company big wigs all die today. i pray the common ppl are strong enough to not work for these evil insane oil pricks. it is very short sighted to do this oil insanity up there

chadwick

the clip i watched the other day said 80% of all canadians do not want oil business up there

80% nay is not 20% yay

polaris_x

the thing is there is an unhealthy disdain amongst provinces ... that isn't helped by the rhetoric of the political leaders ... west vs east ... once it gets there - the facts don't matter ...

our current pm hates environmentalists ... he doesn't believe in environmental issues - and you wanna know why? ... it goes to the crux of why this is a non-issue in the political world ... it's because he is/will be a wealthy man ... and the wealthy will survive global warming just fine ...

chadwick

polaris_x wrote:

the thing is there is an unhealthy disdain amongst provinces ... that isn't helped by the rhetoric of the political leaders ... west vs east ... once it gets there - the facts don't matter ...

our current pm hates environmentalists ... he doesn't believe in environmental issues - and you wanna know why? ... it goes to the crux of why this is a non-issue in the political world ... it's because he is/will be a wealthy man ... and the wealthy will survive global warming just fine ...

get him out of office in a quick hurry. when can you people vote his ass out?

chadwick

the native indians should be able to put up roadblocks on waterways and on land. it is theirs to live peacefully on and not in ruin from pollution.

polaris_x

chadwick wrote:

get him out of office in a quick hurry. when can you people vote his ass out?

not for another 3 years ... he got his majority last year which up until then has prevented him from unleashing his true agenda ... now that he has it - he has pretty much shat on democracy and accountability ... and just like some republicans in the US ... many that voted for him turn a blind eye ... he just pushed forth a budget that not only details spending but includes a bunch of provisions to gut environmental standards and processes ... it's 425 pages and not only did he do that - he limited debate on the topic to 1 week ... both acts unprecedented and really an afront to parliamentary democracy ...

as it relates to oil ... pretty much the entire province of alberta votes conservative short of one or two hippie ridings ... no other province has that kind of voting pattern ...

lukin2006

I can't speak for what the environment is like in all of Canada, but here in Southern Ontario it is the shits...over populated, congested, the beaches are often closed, the 401 from Windsor to New York State is a rolling warehouse for American Truckers using it as short cut to get from the mid west to the US eastern side...to my knowledge we receive no compensation for that whatsoever. To put it bluntly...most of Southern Ontario sucks :fp:.

lukin2006

We got a national park near us (point pelee), went there last summer for a day it was like the parking lot of wal mart...discusting...We got a closed high school near us right in the middle of a neibourhood...been closed for a good number of years...the building and property are just sitting becoming eyes sores...instead of the school board seeing if the town would interested in the property for free so they could turn into a park it just sits there with a for sale sign.

I could go on and on...how bout' the hunters in Ontario who shoot coyotes for no other reason than they are supposed to be nuisance, or baiting for deer and bears...yeah real hunters.

Sorry Canada are not that friendly to the evironment...or are Ontario or this Ontario government or municipalities...

brianlux

lukin2006 wrote:

Our Prime Minister doesn't like foreign environmentalist meddling in Canada's affairs...so just leave alone :P.

The environment does not recognize political boundaries. It's all the same planet.

brianlux

lukin2006 wrote:

We got a national park near us (point pelee), went there last summer for a day it was like the parking lot of wal mart...discusting...We got a closed high school near us right in the middle of a neibourhood...been closed for a good number of years...the building and property are just sitting becoming eyes sores...instead of the school board seeing if the town would interested in the property for free so they could turn into a park it just sits there with a for sale sign.

I could go on and on...how bout' the hunters in Ontario who shoot coyotes for no other reason than they are supposed to be nuisance, or baiting for deer and bears...yeah real hunters.

Sorry Canada are not that friendly to the evironment...or are Ontario or this Ontario government or municipalities...

Very sad to hear these things. Your Midwest sounds a lot like our Midwest. We need to help people in all parts understand the importance of a healthy environment. It's a world-wide situation, it's all connected.

Drowned Out

lukin2006 wrote:

Our Prime Minister doesn't like foreign environmentalist meddling in Canada's affairs...so just leave alone :P.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2 ... sands.html

Oilsands critics put spotlight on foreign ownership

Anti-oilsands activists hit back at recent criticism of foreign funding of environmental charities Thursday by releasing a report showing oilsands companies are overwhelmingly foreign-owned.

ForestEthics Advocacy — a spin-off of ForestEthics, which is a registered charity — released a shareholder analysis conducted using Bloomberg statistics that found 71 per cent of all companies operating in the Fort McMurray, Alta., area are not Canadian.

Tzeporah Berman, of ForestEthics Advocacy, said the amount of foreign funding to Canadian environmental charities is low, while pointing to high foreign ownership of the oilsands.
Of the remaining companies that are headquartered in Canada, many are largely foreign-owned, the group says. For instance, while Husky Energy is a Calgary-based company, 91 per cent of it is owned by foreigners, most notably Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing.

On top of that, ForestEthics Advocacy (FEA) cited Statistics Canada numbers that showed 118,000 people were employed by oilsands production, accounting for less than one per cent of Canada's working population.

The group also tackled the issue of foreign funds going to Canadian charities.

"The percentage of foreign support, support from other countries, for Canadian environmental charities is very low compared to the philanthropic donations from Canadians," FEA's Tzeporah Berman said on a conference call Thursday.

Berman also defended the use of outside financial help, noting that if it weren't for cross-border support "we wouldn't have stopped acid rain."

The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers took issue with the way FEA presented its numbers.

"What is important is control and benefits back to Canadians," CAPP spokesperson Travis Davies wrote to CBC News.

He noted that 60 per cent of oilsands companies are Canadian controlled, meaning their boards and employees are largely Canadian and most decisions are made in Canada. Davies added that the companies pay billions of dollars in taxes and royalties to provincial and federal governments.

And while Davies did not dispute FEA's figure on the number of oilsands industry jobs, he said it was unfair to view that "in a vacuum."

The number employed in oilsands production "ignores the over half-a-million Canadians that depend on the oil and gas industry for their employment," argued Davies.

The FEA report comes after weeks of attacks on environmental charities by the Conservative government.

Environment Minister Peter Kent has accused unnamed groups of laundering foreign funds. Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver has called them "foreign-funded radicals." And Conservative Senator Nicole Eaton referred to green charities as "master manipulators who are operating under the guise of charitable organizations in an effort to manipulate our policies for their own gain."

The war of words began in January, the day before the Joint Review Panel was to start hearings into Enbridge's Northern Gateway Pipeline.

The government argument rests on the belief that environmentalists are working against the national interest and threatening Canadian jobs by opposing development of the oilsands. The Conservatives defend foreign oil companies by saying they are investing billions in Canadian infrastructure.

The government has accused environmental charities of abusing their tax-exempt status by engaging in more political advocacy than they are allowed to under the law. Tax laws are now being changed to give the Canada Revenue Agency more powers to investigate charities.

Environmental charities have reacted relatively quickly. ForestEthics spun off an advocacy arm last month so the parent organization would no longer engage in political activity. ForestEthics Advocacy is not a charity.

chadwick

Drowned Out wrote:

lukin2006 wrote:

Our Prime Minister doesn't like foreign environmentalist meddling in Canada's affairs...so just leave alone :P.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2 ... sands.html

Oilsands critics put spotlight on foreign ownership

Anti-oilsands activists hit back at recent criticism of foreign funding of environmental charities Thursday by releasing a report showing oilsands companies are overwhelmingly foreign-owned.

ForestEthics Advocacy — a spin-off of ForestEthics, which is a registered charity — released a shareholder analysis conducted using Bloomberg statistics that found 71 per cent of all companies operating in the Fort McMurray, Alta., area are not Canadian.

Tzeporah Berman, of ForestEthics Advocacy, said the amount of foreign funding to Canadian environmental charities is low, while pointing to high foreign ownership of the oilsands.
Of the remaining companies that are headquartered in Canada, many are largely foreign-owned, the group says. For instance, while Husky Energy is a Calgary-based company, 91 per cent of it is owned by foreigners, most notably Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing.

On top of that, ForestEthics Advocacy (FEA) cited Statistics Canada numbers that showed 118,000 people were employed by oilsands production, accounting for less than one per cent of Canada's working population.The group also tackled the issue of foreign funds going to Canadian charities.

"The percentage of foreign support, support from other countries, for Canadian environmental charities is very low compared to the philanthropic donations from Canadians," FEA's Tzeporah Berman said on a conference call Thursday.

Berman also defended the use of outside financial help, noting that if it weren't for cross-border support "we wouldn't have stopped acid rain."

The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers took issue with the way FEA presented its numbers.

"What is important is control and benefits back to Canadians," CAPP spokesperson Travis Davies wrote to CBC News.

He noted that 60 per cent of oilsands companies are Canadian controlled, meaning their boards and employees are largely Canadian and most decisions are made in Canada. Davies added that the companies pay billions of dollars in taxes and royalties to provincial and federal governments.

And while Davies did not dispute FEA's figure on the number of oilsands industry jobs, he said it was unfair to view that "in a vacuum."

The number employed in oilsands production "ignores the over half-a-million Canadians that depend on the oil and gas industry for their employment," argued Davies.

The FEA report comes after weeks of attacks on environmental charities by the Conservative government.

Environment Minister Peter Kent has accused unnamed groups of laundering foreign funds. Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver has called them "foreign-funded radicals." And Conservative Senator Nicole Eaton referred to green charities as "master manipulators who are operating under the guise of charitable organizations in an effort to manipulate our policies for their own gain."

The war of words began in January, the day before the Joint Review Panel was to start hearings into Enbridge's Northern Gateway Pipeline.

The government argument rests on the belief that environmentalists are working against the national interest and threatening Canadian jobs by opposing development of the oilsands. The Conservatives defend foreign oil companies by saying they are investing billions in Canadian infrastructure.

The government has accused environmental charities of abusing their tax-exempt status by engaging in more political advocacy than they are allowed to under the law. Tax laws are now being changed to give the Canada Revenue Agency more powers to investigate charities.

Environmental charities have reacted relatively quickly. ForestEthics spun off an advocacy arm last month so the parent organization would no longer engage in political activity. ForestEthics Advocacy is not a charity.

Drowned Out

lukin2006 wrote:

I can't speak for what the environment is like in all of Canada, but here in Southern Ontario it is the shits...over populated, congested, the beaches are often closed, the 401 from Windsor to New York State is a rolling warehouse for American Truckers using it as short cut to get from the mid west to the US eastern side...to my knowledge we receive no compensation for that whatsoever. To put it bluntly...most of Southern Ontario sucks :fp:.

Ya, I know not much can compare devastation-wise to what is happening in Ft.McMurray, but Southern Ontario is pretty f’n gross in a lot of ways. I moved to Burlington for a couple years in the late 80’s, and remember being so disappointed to learn that no one swims in the lake :( I’ve spent a lot of time along the Trent-Severn since then….I remember a few times, listening to the radio and hearing an air quality warning in TO….then hours later, looking down the lake and seeing what looked like fog rolling in….but it was brown – pure smog. So gross to see that kind of haze floating along those lakes, amongst Ontario’s beautiful hardwoods….

polaris_x

Drowned Out wrote:

Ya, I know not much can compare devastation-wise to what is happening in Ft.McMurray, but Southern Ontario is pretty f’n gross in a lot of ways. I moved to Burlington for a couple years in the late 80’s, and remember being so disappointed to learn that no one swims in the lake :( I’ve spent a lot of time along the Trent-Severn since then….I remember a few times, listening to the radio and hearing an air quality warning in TO….then hours later, looking down the lake and seeing what looked like fog rolling in….but it was brown – pure smog. So gross to see that kind of haze floating along those lakes, amongst Ontario’s beautiful hardwoods….

just as an fyi on this ...

that smog in the 80's all came from ohio ... it's the way the weather patterns are ... when it's smoggy in ontario - it's generally pollution from the midwest ... now that ontario has shut down most of its coal fired plants and manufacturing is abysmal - pollution and smog is down ...

the shut down of manufacturing has also helped with water quality ... if you goto the beaches in toronto - they have maintained blue flag status (international standard), which is the best, for the last few years ... also toronto ranked 2nd according to wwf in greenest cities in canada ...

i'm not saying its perfect here ... but there has to be some perspective too ...