Unifor Calls for National Moratorium on Fracking

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Photo credit: dgrinbergs / Foter.com / CC BY-NC

Photo credit: dgrinbergs / Foter.com / CC BY-NC

PORT ELGIN and TORONTO, ON, Nov. 14, 2013 /CNW/ – Unifor, Canada’s largest energy union, is calling for aCanada-wide moratorium on all new oil and gas fracking. Already the provinces of Quebec and Newfoundland andLabrador have introduced moratoriums on fracking. Nova Scotia has banned fracking while undertaking a review. Unifor is now pushing for a national moratorium.

Unifor is raising concerns about the safety and environmental risks associated with fracking as well as the lack of informed consent by First Nations about fracking activities on traditional lands.

In the statement unanimously passed by the 25-person Unifor National Executive Board, the union expressed support for the non-violent protest efforts by First Nations to resist fracking activity on their lands. The Unifor National Executive Board is made up of elected representatives from across the country and a variety of economic sectors, including energy.

“Unconventional gas fracking has the potential to have catastrophic effects on our environment and economy. The safety risks are also a major concern for our union,” said Unifor National President Jerry Dias.  “Just because we can carry out this activity does not mean we should. We must enact a national moratorium on fracking activity.”

Dias also noted that it would be folly for Canada to reorient our entire energy infrastructure around a short-term surge in an unsustainable energy supply.

From the statement:

“Any resource extraction industry in Canada must confront the problem of unresolved aboriginal land claims, and the inadequate economic benefits (including employment opportunities) which have been offered to First Nations communities from resource developments.  This problem is especially acute with fracking because of the widespread land which would be affected by the activity, and the heated, profit-hungry rush which the industry is set to quickly unleash.  Many Canadians share these concerns with the potential economic, social, and environmental damage of an unregulated fracking industry.

Instead of being guided by short-term swings in prices and profits for private energy producers, Canada’s federal and provincial governments must develop and implement (in cooperation with other stakeholders) a national plan for a stable, sustainable energy industry that respects our social and environmental commitments, and generates lasting wealth for all who live here.”

To read the full statement, please visit:http://www.unifor.org/sites/default/files/attachments/neb_resolution_on_fracking_nov2013_e.pdf

SOURCE Unifor

Top climate scientists call for fracking ban in letter to Gov. Jerry Brown

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Photo © Karen McLain Evening Light | Design by Anne Novak for ProtectMustangs.org

Photo © Karen McLain Evening Light | Design by Anne Novak for ProtectMustangs.org

By Paul Rogers

Posted:   11/12/2013 04:07:39 PM PST in the Mercury News

Twenty of the nation’s top climate scientists have sent a letter to Gov. Jerry Brown, telling him that his plans supporting increased use of the controversial practice of hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” will increase pollution and run counter to his efforts to cut California’s global warming emissions.

The letter is the latest example of the increased pressure that environmentalists and others concerned about climate change have been putting on Brown in recent months. Their argument: the governor can’t say he wants to reduce global warming while expanding fossil fuel development in California.

“If what we’re trying to do is stop using the sky as a waste dump for our carbon pollution, and if we’re trying to transform our energy system, the way to do that is not by expanding our fossil fuel infrastructure,” said Ken Caldeira, an atmospheric scientist at the Carnegie Institution for Science at Stanford University.

Caldeira signed the letter along with other prominent climate scientists, including James Hansen, the former head of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies; Richard Houghton, acting president of Woods Hole Research Center in Massachusetts; and physicist Michael Mann, a professor of meteorology at Penn State University.

The letter called for Brown to place a moratorium on fracking, as New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has done.

“Shale gas and tight oil development is likely to worsen climate disruption, which would harm California’s efforts to be a leader in reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” it notes.

Brown did not respond Tuesday afternoon to a request for comment on the scientists’ letter. But last month he said in response to question from this newspaper, “As you know, I signed legislation that will create the most comprehensive environmental analysis of fracking to date. It will take a year, year and a half, maybe a little longer. And I hope that all the people, critics and supporters alike, will participate and offer their best thoughts.”

The oil industry criticized the scientists’ letter.

“The authors of this letter, while clearly very respected in their fields, do not present an accurate or realistic picture of our energy needs and our energy future,” said Tupper Hull, a spokesman for the Western States Petroleum Association in Sacramento.

“California is going to need petroleum-based energy for a long time, even as it transitions to a lower carbon future.”

Brown has generally won high marks from environmental groups over his 40-year political career. He signed legislation requiring California utilities to generate 33 percent of their electricity from solar, wind and other renewable resources by 2020, for example. Last month, he appeared at an event in San Francisco to announce a pact with the governors of Washington state, Oregon and the premier of British Columbia to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

But he has come under increasing criticism — and public protests — this fall from opponents of fracking, the practice in which oil and gas companies inject water, sand and chemicals into the ground to fracture underground rock formations and release huge amounts of fossil fuels.

In September, Brown signed SB 4, a bill by state Sen. Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills, that requires companies that conduct fracking operations in California to notify all nearby property owners, obtain a permit from the state, conduct groundwater testing and disclose the chemicals they are using. The law takes effect in 2015. Opponents say that water pollution and increased air and climate emissions from fracking require a moratorium, particularly in the Monterey Shale, an area that stretches from Bakersfield to Monterey and holds billions of dollars of shale oil that could be recovered from increased fracking.

 

Link to the original article: http://www.mercurynews.com/science-environment/ci_24509392/top-climate-scientists-call-fracking-ban-letter-gov

Posted for educational purposes

Why are they rounding up America’s indigenous wild horses?

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It’s all about Fracking for natural gas (LNG) to EXPORT to Asia.

(Photo © Cat Kindsfather, all rights reserved)

(Photo © Cat Kindsfather, all rights reserved)

Why Asia? Because their economy is booming and they need tons of electricity for their lifestyle. Why not roof top solar? It’s clean and green . . .

Control the energy source of a country and you control that country.

America’s indigenous wild horses are living on top of huge natural gas deposits and pipeline routes so they round them up and dispose of them while fooling the public about it until it’s too late to realize you voted for a crook to represent YOU in government.

Wyoming’s New Groundwater Testing Program a ‘Model for the Nation’

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CASPER, WYO — The Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, including Gov. Matt Mead, gave unanimous final approval on Tuesday to new statewide rules that will require oil and gas drillers to scientifically establish and monitor the quality of groundwater around sites prior to, during, and after oil and gas development.

Environmental Defense Fund and the Wyoming Outdoor Council applaud this action, which they say establishes a groundwater testing standard that is a model for the nation.

“Governor Mead, his appointees and staff have shown great leadership in this effort,” said Richard Garrett, energy policy analyst with the Wyoming Outdoor Council. “The governor is right — and just about everyone agrees — collecting baseline water quality data prior to drilling, and following up with post completion sampling, are necessary steps. This rule will help protect everyone: landowners, Wyoming citizens, and industry.”

Mead said he wants the rule to be implemented and enforced by March 1.

“Wyoming should be proud of this rule,” Jon Goldstein, EDF senior energy policy manager said. “It sets a new national standard for groundwater baseline testing and monitoring related to oil and gas activity. The open, inclusive approach the state took in formulating this proposal has led to a strong, scientifically valid groundwater testing program. This rule will give Wyoming residents important information about the quality of their water.”

Wyoming’s new rule will be applied statewide. It will require that companies use a “radial approach” to sampling wells (testing drinking water sources within a half mile radius of new oil and gas wells) without an artificial cap on the number of wells tested, and it includes a required Sampling and Analysis Protocol (SAP) to ensure that procedures and parameters are consistently implemented.

Wyoming’s proposed SAP is currently the most detailed guidance provided by any state regarding how private wells should be sampled, the groups say.

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Environmental Defense Fund (edf.org), a leading national nonprofit organization, creates transformational solutions to the most serious environmental problems. EDF links science, economics, law, and innovative private-sector partnerships. Connect with us on Twitter, Facebook and our Energy Exchange Blog.

The Wyoming Outdoor Council (wyomingoutdoorcouncil.org) is Wyoming’s oldest independent conservation organization. The Wyoming Outdoor Council’s mission is to protect Wyoming’s environment and quality of life for future generations.

URGENT! Need HELP for #WildHorses 2day

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Cavalry horses left in Australia last century

We have only 2 days to double participation or we fail the wild horses. Please help! Join the Thunderclap (international outreach)  to Stop the Brumbie Killing: https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/6098-stop-killing-brumbies?locale=en Share it with your friends!

Politely contact The Prime Minister of Australia, Honorable Tony Abbott and request he stop the killings http://www.pm.gov.au/contact-your-pm

Sign and share the petition: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/258/184/025/stop-killing-the-brumbies/?z00m=20659573

Follow us on Facebook for updates and action to Save the Brumbies! https://www.facebook.com/ProtectMustangs

Follow Anne on Twitter for updates: https://twitter.com/TheAnneNovak and Protect Mustangs https://twitter.com/ProtectMustangs

Read about what’s happening: http://protectmustangs.org/?p=5461 and check our site often: http://protectmustangs.org/

Australia: Stop killing wild horses. Clinton Wolf and RSPCA spin piece (graphic images)

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Brumbies shot down and killed a few years ago at Frazier Downs. Why does the RSPCA support these cruel massacres? 

Tell the RSPCA to STOP endorsing the Brumby killings. “Aerial Cull” = Aerial Killing. They are shooting them down from helicopters. Recently the Lake Gregory Massacre killed thousands.

Contact the RSPCA here: http://www.rspca.org.au/contact-us

Brumby foal killed in Frazier Downs 2012

Brumby foal killed in Frazier Downs, Austalia 2012. Copyright protected. Courtesy Wild Horses Kimberley.

 

Read what the wild horse killers say and know that Clinton Wolf is a huge player in the extractive industry

“Clinton Wolf is the public face of the Martu people’s corporate campaign. He fronted mining executives in Fremantle this week, with a message that the traditional landowners are open for business.”

The real Clinton Wolf behind the Brumby massacre. Is he working to Frack Western Australia?

The real Clinton Wolf behind the Brumby massacre. Is he working to Frack Western Australia?

Shameful pro-kill spin piece is one-sided

Why didn’t they interview the wild horse advocates?

Cross-posted from The Bush Telegraph:

One of the country’s biggest horse culls has just been completed in the north of Western Australia, where more than 7000 brumbies have been shot from helicopters.

Feral horses are also aerially culled in the Northern Territory

But in Victoria and New South Wales this method is not an option, despite support from environmental groups and the RSPCA.

Author of the book Desert Lake, Kim Mahood, says feral horses are damaging fragile, arid landscapes.

“Lake Gregory is one of the most significant arid-zone wetlands in the southern hemisphere.”

Ms Mahood says, ironically, the cull is also needed to avert an animal welfare issue for the horses.

“The lake is lower than it’s been in ten years. It’s becoming very salty which means the horses are either poisoned by the salts or they move off to the handful of much smaller, fresh-water pools along Sturt Creek, at which point they start getting bogged and perishing in the waterways.”

Clinton Wolf is chair of the Aboriginal Lands Trust that carried out the cull, and says this is a very complex and emotional issue.

“They’ve had a connection with these horses for 120 years … but you can’t have six to seven thousand horses running around,” Mr Wolf said.

“When there was no water, the horses were coming into the community where you have two and three year old kids walking around.”

Kim Mahood says the area is an Indigenous Protected Area and a pastoral lease, which complicates the situation.

And she says the cull was an environmental requirement to allow the traditional owners to hold on to their traditional protected areas.

“The 99-year leases are due to come up for renewal in 2015…and the Pastoral Lands Board has threatened to take away the leases if something isn’t done about the feral horses.

“In 2002 the feral horses were identified as one of the biggest environmental issues for the region.

“With that number of horses, it couldn’t possibly be functioning effectively as a cattle station.”

Clinton Wolf agrees.

“We want to have these stations up to scratch so when the Pastoral Lands Board comes around they’ll say ‘no, you’re not in breach anymore, well done’,” he said.

Feral horses are also in large numbers in the Northern Territory where they are regularly aerially culled.

Executive Director of Flora and Fauna at the Department of Land Resource Management in Northern Territory, Alaric Fisher says wild horses are treated the same as any other feral animals.

“The landscape is suffering from a lot of ferals – horses amongst them, as well as camels, donkeys, buffalo and cattle in some places.

“On some properties horses are out of control through lack of any systematic management.

“We’ve had a lot of experience of aerial culls particularly through the management of feral camels…and have taken those techniques and applied them to horses as well.

“It’s an absolute requirement that each animal is shot (at least) twice and then they fly back over the animals to ensure they’re all dead.

“The location of every shot animal is recorded on GPS and they’re inspected subsequently by a vet and the welfare outcomes are audited.

“No animals were wounded and left behind and the average time to death was eight seconds,” Mr Fisher said.

The veterinary report from the recent NT aerial cull stated:

While not aesthetically pleasing, the technique of helicopter shooting for feral horses allows a far shorter duration of suffering when compared to any other method proposed to manage the population.

The Victorian Government is in the process of developing a management plan for the brumbies in the Victorian high country.

A spokesman for the state Minister for Environment and Climate Change sent a statement on feral horses to Bush Telegraph.

The Victorian Government is focussing efforts on other measures available including the live removal and re-homing of horses and the euthanasia of captured horses in a controlled environment. 
Parks Victoria is developing the Victorian Alps Wild Horse Management Plan … The draft plan will soon be open for public comment.

Parks Victoria will provide final recommendations to the state government in 2014.
The RSPCA consistently supports aerially culling of wild horses and, in a submission to the Victorian Management Plan, accuses the Victorian Government of placing more importance on public perceptions than on animal welfare.

Parks Victoria prematurely and publically ruling out shooting will make it all the more difficult to now convince the public of the relative humanness of it. This situation could damage the reputation of Parks Victoria …and have adverse welfare impacts on the horses themselves.

Clinton Wolf, chair of the Aboriginal Lands Trust in Western Australia

Kim Mahood, author of Desert Lake, published by CSIRO.

Alaric Fisher, Executive Director of Flora and Fauna at the Department of Land Resource Management, Northern Territory

See more evidence of Frazier Downs cruelty here: http://pindanpost.com/2012/11/27/control-of-unwanted-horses-shot-from-helicopters/#jp-carousel-24919

Indigenous vision for Kimberley irks Greens

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FORMER ALP national president Warren Mundine and wealthy Perth dealmaker John Poynton are behind a plan to promote indigenous investment by building a $600 million port near the Kimberley town of Derby to service the massive offshore oil and gas industry.

But the plan could spark a fresh stoush with green groups over the industrialisation of the Kimberley, which boasts vast unexplored deposits of coal, bauxite, uranium and iron ore that could one day be shipped out through a new port.

A supply base at Point Torment, 30km north of Derby, would be aimed initially at servicing Woodside Petroleum’s planned $40 billion Browse liquefied natural gas project near Broome, which has attracted opposition from environmentalists who say the Kimberley should remain undeveloped.

West Australian Greens MP Robin Chapple said any development at Point Torment, which he described as a pristine piece of coastline, would be “another nail in the coffin for the Kimberley”.

Mr Chapple called on West Australian Premier Colin Barnett to reject the plan. “It flies in the face of what the Premier has said — that we wouldn’t have any further industrialisation of the Kimberley,” he said.

Mr Barnett has expressed support for a supply port to service the LNG industry at Point Torment, saying it should not be built at Broome because of the need to preserve the town’s tourism industry.

He told The Weekend Australian the government had held talks with firms with petroleum interests in the Browse Basin, off the Kimberley coast, to determine their interest in using Point Torment, but “in reality it will be a commercial decision which drives future development”.

Leading Perth-based investment bank Azure Capital, which is run by Mr Poynton, is behind the Point Torment plan. It is understood a Malaysian investment consortium has expressed an interest in helping to develop such a project.

The plan is being driven by an Azure director, indigenous leader Clinton Wolf, and forms part of the bank’s efforts to identify investment opportunities that would benefit Aborigines and involve them as shareholders.

A company called Point Torment Supply Base has been set up to examine the viability of building the facility. The directors are listed as Mr Mundine, Mr Poynton, Mr Wolf and fellow Azure Capital director Simon Price.

Mr Wolf said the plan was at a preliminary stage and would only go ahead if it was economically viable and was supported by traditional owners and other stakeholders.

But he said talks would be held soon to outline the proposal and get feedback from key players.

Mr Mundine, who chairs the Australian Indigenous Chamber of Commerce, said he believed a new supply base and port facility at Point Torment could help the development of the Kimberley’s huge mineral reserves.

He became a director because he wanted to ensure that any development benefited Aborigines. “This is about closing the gap, it’s about Aboriginal people having skin in the game,” he said. “This type of project needs to go ahead otherwise you will keep people in poverty.”

He said the Kimberley was bigger than most European countries and that Australia’s environmental laws were strong enough to ensure responsible development.

Shire of Derby president Elsia Archer said the town was desperate for a developer to build a port, which could also be used for the region’s live cattle exports.

A WA government report in 2005 identified Point Torment as a suitable site for heavy industry, suggesting it could be home to an alumina refinery, which would be underpinned by bauxite mining on the Mitchell Plateau in the northern Kimberley. It said the West Kimberley had deposits of diamonds, iron ore, copper, lead, zinc, silver, nickel, uranium, coal, tin, mineral sands and onshore petroleum.

Oil company Buru Energy recently announced a major discovery in the Canning Basin area of the Kimberley, prompting WA Resources Minister Norman Moore to say last month he expected an exploration surge. But the viability of a supply base at Point Torment will be linked to whether Woodside and other LNG companies, including Shell and Japan’s Inpex, support it.

There is speculation that Shell plans to use ports in Broome and Darwin to support its Prelude LNG project, while Inpex is said to have settled on Darwin.

– See more at: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/policy/indigenous-vision-for-kimberley-irks-greens/story-fn9hm1pm-1226268282835#sthash.YhxLdHT9.dpuf