Letter from GREENPEACE re. Arctic drilling..

Dear Sarah, At last! Shell has left Canadian Arctic waters! Two months ago, I wrote to you with the news that Shell was trying to block the creation of a protected area in Lancaster Sound, Nunavut -- using oil exploration permits that expired in the 1970s. What’s worse, Shell said it wouldn’t give up its expired permits and allow the region to be protected, unless it could carry out seismic blasting there first. But today, I have good news: Shell has finally given up its dodgy oil permits in Lancaster Sound! Public controversy around Arctic oil and a lawsuit that was launched to force them to give up the permits have worked. Share the news and call on Trudeau to protect this region for good.  With Shell once again fleeing the Arctic with its tail between its legs, the way is finally cleared for this very important area to be protected. Lancaster Sound, located in the Northwest passage of the Canadian Arctic, is a stunningly beautiful landscape home to a spectacular array of wildlife including polar bears, seabirds and narwhals. Local Inuit - who depend on the region for their food, livelihoods and culture - have been fighting to protect this region for decades! It’s now up to the Trudeau government to protect Lancaster Sound permanently. Share the news and call on Prime Minister Trudeau stand up for Indigenous rights by protecting the Arctic.  Every day we’re seeing more indications that Arctic oil has no future. In order to fight climate change and safeguard the livelihood of millions around the planet, the Arctic must be protected. Working together I know we can secure permanent protection for this amazing region. In solidarity, Alex Speers-Roesch Arctic Campaigner, Greenpeace Canada P.S. Prime Minister Trudeau has pledged to protect the Arctic, defend Inuit rights and take leadership on climate change. Let's hold him to that promise.

We don't accept any money from companies or governments so we can be independent and challenge anyone who threatens the planet or peace. To help us keep fighting climate change, defending our oceans and protecting ancient forests, please make a regular donation. Thank you! Greenpeace Canada, 33 Cecil Street, Toronto, ON M5T 1N1

iT's MY pLaneT Too!

... so OF COURSE i care about global warming - & any oTHeR human activity contributing to its abuse! As i used to say when i was little, 'They're wrecking my fun!'

Here's my response to Douglas Todd's Vancouver Sun article "Who Cares Less About Global Warming?" at this link: http://goo.gl/jnA2

Forget conspiracy theories, fears, 'hoaxes' ET AL + pare down to the facts: Global warming or not, human activity has done needless damage to our planet Earth - mostly by rampant consumerism and resulting greed (eg. unethical corporations/humans doing whatever it takes to meet those demands, for selfish gains). Spilling gallons of oil into oceans; clearcutting whole chunks of forest without considering the powerfully regenerative, restorative benefits of trees and replanting accordingly; appropriating whole mountaintops in unsuspecting third-world regions to decimate all vegetation and wildlife for mlies around; further destabling those lands by grinding out endless chunks of rock for tiny bits of gold then chucking the resulting poisonous waste directly into freshwater systems (thus killing whole fish habitats and all other other life forms along the way)... Those are just a few of the countless wake-up calls to which people are responding with more than mere desire to restore nature's balance and establish less harmful ways of doing things.

Some European countries have already implemented changes to become 100% sustainable. Canada needs to step up and protect its Arctic from further development which – conspiracy theorists or not – WILL affect its complex ecosystems, as it has done to so many lush, thriving wilderness regions around the world which have been exploited by humans (many Canadian). That's fact - not theory - based on actual consequences of dangerous, risky activities... such as offshore oil drilling! (Does anyone around here read, or travel, or have a clue what's going on in the world?? Yikes..)

Scientists DO agree that Arctic polar ice (which influences and helps regulate global weather systems) is melting more quickly than expected/predicted, and that even boat travel thru newly-melted Arctic waters - which has picked up as a result - affects the area's ecological quality. People who care want to do something about it, starting with implementing - eg. legislating - positive changes in how we operate vis-a-vis how we treat our environment. Is that so wrong? Only to those who stand to make obscene amounts of $$ gauging out Earth's surface (i.e. those who probably already have)...

Wildlife (ya, those polar bears) are our best friends AND educators when it comes to our surroundings.  The less we interfere with their habitats and instincts (eg. by 'culling', mass slaughter and other gross indecencies inflicted on them - to our own detriment) the better their ability to inform us of atmospheric/ environmental/ terrestrial changes, impending disasters etc.

Poisoning our lands and waters, killling off other life forms to satisfy our immediate 'needs' (= greeds), dumping mine waste down rivers into once-pristine nature parks, ETC... the iDiOCY of these destructive human activities is obvious. AWARENESS of its rampancy in industry is what's making people speak out and take action, because governments are not.  'Ordinary' people wanting to help:  THIS is the humanity that fills me with hope and inspires me to act.  Those who simply knock down others or procrastinate with mindless "Lord and Saviour" phrases repeated randomly throughout bible-quoting irrelevancies have no (actual, apparent or intended) benefit or healing/selfless purpose.

Meanwhile, back on Earth - in the here and now, REALIZING THE DAMAGING CONSEQUENCES OF OUR ACTIONS - WANTING TO RIGHT THOSE WRONGS FOR EVERYONE'S BENEFIT is an obviously worthy mission.  Anyone who wants to argue with its basic moral principles, let alone its scientific basis, is surely out of touch with what matters - i.e. life itself...