Day 22, Enbridge Enlightenment? Letter to Prime Minister Harper

I didn't want to write about the Enbridge pipeline, everyone knows about it already.

Couldn't find a neutral picture when searching for
Enbridge images, so here's a BC bear instead.
That's relevant, right?

Several friends, people who usually never care about environmental issues, told me they don't want a pipeline.

Yet none of them have done anything to stop it.

So, here it is. Most people need to see an ad flash across screens/billboards/radios several times before taking action. Hopefully this topic in peoples' newsfeeds will be one more poke, and they will use the resources here to share their opinions with relevant government and companies. 

This stuff is complex, it changes daily (e.g. the latest spill in Wisconsin). Share your findings here so everyone can get a better understanding.

Or go on public record to the government's registry sharing your opinions here, open until Aug 31st.




Starting Point: Summary of Key Issues from The Canadian Press

Route: Northern Gateway would run between Bruderheim, Alta., northeast of Edmonton, to a marine terminal at Kitimat B.C. on the northern coast.

Length: 1,172 kilometres

Estimated Cost: ~$5.5 billion (source)

Day 21, Wal-Mart's Slightly Sustainable Seafood

Wrapping up sustainable seafood for now will be the letter to Wal-Mart.  They're 5/8 in Canadian and 12/20 in US rankings.

One of the positive steps they've made is "partnered with the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP) to help the company trace all of its seafood back to the sea and identify ways to engage with the fisheries and farming operations" (GP).

This is no surprise, despite many issues with Wal-Mart, a lot of their sustainability initiatives have been proper: beyond glitz and PR, tacking the more systemic, difficult, and long-term issues such as improving products along the supply chain.

Day 20, Free José Ramón and Pascual, Amnesty International to Mexican Prez Calderón

Today's letter is through Amnesty International, one of the more famous organizations that leverages the strength of international outcry, generally in the form of petitions and letter campaigns.

People from all over the world write letters for someone they will never meet, who will probably never directly impact their lives in any way.

But it's also about principles - we want to live in a world where human rights are respected, and if they are violated it helps everyone when we speak up.

José Ramón and Pascual, illegally detained for increasing water to their village

Also, Amnesty writes the letter for you, so the lazy bonus is strong!

This letter is for two indigenous leaders detained in Mexico for legitimately increasing access to water. They are to spend 7 years in prison for a crime they didn't do because of their work with water. Full story here.

Letter taken directly from Amnesty website: 

Day 19, Why not Cogeneration? Poor Policy, Energy Minister Bentley?

Ever heard of cogeneration or combined heat and power (CHP)?  If you're reading from Europe, there's a good chance you've enjoyed its benefits.

North America typically uses natural gas for heating or electricity. CHP lets you do both simultaneously - use natural gas to generate electricity, and the waste heat can also be used for heating. It’s way more efficient, saves money, and decreases emissions. 

CHP can be used independently for a large factory or building, or it can be built to feed back into the grid. Many homes in Europe are heated from nearby industrial plants' waste fuel.

Why don't we use it?
Meh, probably because it's just not that common here.
It's not the first thing that comes to mind when building a place.

The International Energy Agency thinks CHP could provide 35% of electricity in G8+5 countries by 2040. Not bad. 


How does it relate to today's letter?

Day 18, Shrimp Antibiotic Cocktail, Letter to Costco

When I met some Thai fishermen, hearty people who sprinkled MSG on their food as they would salt, many refused to eat Thai shrimp. Why?

Antibiotics
Most of those succulent shrimp grow on crowded farms, disease is rampant, which is combated by pumping the shrimp (and, by extension, us) with antibiotics...some which have been banned in the USA.

If the States banned something, you know it's pretty bad.


Then there's the environment....
Shrimp farms destroy coastal mangrove forests (pictured), which are important stores of carbon and biodiversity. After five years so much sludge builds in farms they are unusable.

Not all shrimp are farmed, though...so you don't have to give them up altogether. That's why we need better labelling, something many of my letters have asked for.



Today's Letter
Also, our letter today is to the WORST OFFENDER on the Canadian List, and number 13 out of 20 in the States. Drumroll for....Costco

Day 17, Avoid Mercury with Smaller Fish, and letter to Metro

In the pre-humans-taking-over-planet era, fish were one of the healthiest foods around. Today, there are at least two major health concerns with fish: heavy metals (e.g. mercury) and antibiotics.

Luckily, avoiding fish on the RedList can also be good for your health.

1. Mercury stays in your body, and can be passed down to vulnerable babies through their mothers.

Easy Rule of Thumb?
"I shall have the smallest fish your restaurant has to offer, sire"

The bigger fish are more likely to have gathered a lot of mercury throughout their lifetime of snacking on little fish.

Sweet! Shrimp are tiny! I'm good to go, right?!

Er....not so fast....here's tomorrow's blog entry if you want the details (click shrimpy):

Day 16, Red Fish, Blue Fish ... Seafood to Avoid (and letter to Sobeys)

Most supermarket chains still sell some of the 21 Red List species; we can send a powerful message by buying less of them. Sobeys, unfortunately, sells the most Red List species in Canada.

Red List Fish
Atlantic haddock (scrod), Atlantic cod, Atlantic halibut, Atlantic salmon (farmed), Atlantic sea scallops, Chilean seabass, Greenland halibut (turbot), Hard shell clams (Arctic surf clams), New Zealand hoki, Orange roughy, Sharks, Skates and rays, Swordfish, Tropical shrimps and prawns, Tuna - buluefin, bigeye, yellowfin, King crab, Monkfish, Alaska pollock, Rockfish/red fish, Hake, Fraser River sockeye salmon. Pics, methodology, and details here.

But what will still be tasty to eat?!

Day 15, Safeway's Sustainable(ish) Seafood

Encouragingly, GP isn't leaving all of these supermarkets out to dry. They work with (interested) supermarkets to develop better policies, as well as with government to create policy requiring responsible fisheries management.  

And by "encourage" I mean they sued the government for doing so little to protect marine fisheries.  

Safeway is only third in Canada, but first in the United States, placing just above Whole Foods.

US Rankings