the senate

"By virtue of our appointment, we are able to focus on long-range issues that may not receive the same attention by politicians running for re-election. In this way, we provide a balance to Parliament that ensures that legislation and important concerns facing Canadians get the attention they deserve."
http://www.liberalsenateforum.ca/In-The-Senate/Our-Role

cattle as recyclers

Printed on a trading card from The Ontario Cattlemen's Association:

Cattle are recyclers. As plants grow, they take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. When cattle eat the grass, they burn the gasses back into the air. Some of this gas is carbon dioxide that is then recycled by the plants.

Uhm, wtf?
Mr. OED, please invent something that allows us to distinction between recycling that is good for the planet, from that which is bad for the planet. Because clearly, this company is greenwashing on semantics.

Throne Speech: Environment Critique

The following excerpt from the Speech from the Throne, 19 November 2008 sounds really good; it is uplifting and, I am surprised to say, almost inspirational. Here it is, with my observations:

Our Government understands that Canada’s economic prosperity cannot be sustained without a healthy environment, just as environmental progress cannot be achieved without a healthy economy. Our Government will continue its realistic, responsible approach to addressing the challenge of climate change.

responsible and realistic? the alliteration makes it sound nice, and it is surely meant to be reassuring, but it's also a cheap partisan shot.

Our Government has committed to reducing Canada’s total greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent by 2020.

I'm glad to see he's using all GHGs, not just carbon, but what year is he using as a baseline?

We will meet this goal while also ensuring that Canada’s actions going forward remain comparable to what our partners in the United States, Europe and other industrialized countries undertake.

While this may be good for the (currently deeply flawed) economy, it is not good enough to protect unique Canadian environmental needs.

We will work with the provincial governments and our partners to develop and implement a North America-wide cap and trade system for greenhouse gases and an effective international protocol for the post-2012 period.

Another partisan shot (implying other approaches would be ineffective), and buys him lots of time - a clear warning too that any delays will be the fault of the partners' and/or provinces. Does that qualify as bullying?

To meet the challenge posed by climate change, we will also need to make greater use of technologies that do not emit greenhouse gases.

No shit, sherlock, but what about the continued rape of the tarsands?

Our Government will set an objective that 90 percent of Canada’s electricity needs be provided by non-emitting sources such as hydro, nuclear, clean coal or wind power by 2020. In support of this ambitious national goal, our Government will continue to provide support for biofuels, wind and other energy alternatives.

"continue?" how about increasing them?

To ensure protection of our vital resources, our Government will bring in legislation to ban all bulk water transfers or exports from Canadian freshwater basins.

Outstanding! But what is "bulk water" - does bottling count? And for the Great Lakes, on which our southern neighbors have a legitimate 50% claim, what action will he take to prevent them from piping that water down to Arizona?

Our Government will work with all parties in Parliament to introduce sensible policies that can help consumers and improve our environmental well-being, such as increasing incentives for energy-saving home retrofits.

Glad to see he's reaffirmed the stupidity of scrapping the previous gov'ts program.

Bottom line: are these words meant merely to impress?

fast food - tasty, but...

some things you`d rather not know, but you're glad you do.

Another illustration of science (chemistry and research) raising
concerns of the 'fast food' industry i.e. tracing the source of this
industry's food supply and what is really in your combo/trio selections
from McDonald's, Wendy's and Burger King ...

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20081114/forbes_fast
_food_081115/20081115/