The catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is devastating marine life and coastal livelihoods. Greenpeace has a team on the ground. For recent pictures of the spill and clean up efforts click here and to follow the lastest updates at http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/

Obama has suspended the plans for expansion of offshore drilling. With plans of more seismic testing/oil exploration in our sensitive Arctic environment without any proper investigation to the potential impacts could be, and BC government’s attempt to lift the offshore oil and gas moratorium on BC’s coast, tell Harper the threat of such a catastrophy in our waters is unacceptable and to cut our addiction to oil and support renewable energy. If we allow super tankers and offshore oil drilling in our waters it isn’t ‘if there is a spill’ it is ‘when there is a spill’ and once there is a spill, the damage is already done.

Email him at pm@pm.gc.cato tell him we don’t want this…

April 27, 2010 –– In preparation for the upcoming June 2010 G8 meeting in Muskoka, Ontario, Canada’s Minister of International Cooperation, Bev Oda, is meeting with other G8 development ministers in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Greenpeace and other environmental groups want the G8 and G20 to take action on climate change.

On the crucial question of financing emissions reduction and adaptation in the developing world, it’s a showdown between Robin Hood and the Great Vampire Squid… and so far the Vampire Squid is winning…

The Robin Hood Tax

Coming out of the debacle of the Copenhagen climate conference last year, one of the few hopes for progress in 2010 has been that the rich developing countries will ante-up funds to stop greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change impacts in the world’s poorest regions (think about the drought-ridden African Sahel; the low-lying coastal areas of …

Earlier this month, Conservation international in partnership with Duke University’s project GloBAL (Global By-catch Assessment of Long-lived Species) released a report with alarming findings for the sea turtle huggers of the world. The report found that not thousands as previously thought but millions of sea turtles (approximately 8.5 million) were caught as bycatch in global fisheries between the years of 1990 and 2008.

In a country like Norway, where the national energy company is state-owned, the theory goes something like this: the government takes a back seat on day-to-day operations, trusting the CEO to steer the company in the right direction. The government’s mandate is to only intervene if and when the public starts to lose faith or rallies up against a corporate decision that either appears corrupt or goes against the mandate of the government they elected.

Well, that time has come.

The company responsible for spilling 20,000 litres of oil into the Michael Biggs ecological reserve at Robson Bight in August 2007 has been found guilty on 20 pollution charges. Ted Leroy trucking was operating a barge carrying logging equipment when it tipped its load into the reserve where threatened Northern Resident killer whales frequent.  This case has highlighted many concerns related to increased traffic along the sensitive BC coast, the potential impacts tankers and other vessels could have on a larger scale, and who pays the financial cost of clean-up when our oceans play the ultimate cost.  For more information about the verdict and potential threats of spills to our coast click here.