The Environment Thread

[Tracker]

2 hours ago, Mark H. said:

Inconclusive.  The predictions are for a polar bear population decline by the middle of this century - although it is nice that the bears had a good winter.  As for the Dr, she is now free to write more for the Heartland Institute. 

And obviously global warming/climate change is a hoax because it snowed in Brandon last night.

[Mark H.]

13 minutes ago, Tracker said:

And obviously global warming/climate change is a hoax because it snowed in Brandon last night.

Normally we would be seeding our crops by now - global warming, where art thou? 

[Tracker]

1 hour ago, Mark H. said:

Normally we would be seeding our crops by now - global warming, where art thou? 

Well, I can't speak for anyone else, but I planted lettuce seeds yesterday, so that crop is doing well.

[Mark H.]

1 hour ago, Tracker said:

Well, I can't speak for anyone else, but I planted lettuce seeds yesterday, so that crop is doing well.

Yes, we’ve seeded some veggies, but no field crops yet. 

[Tracker]

4 minutes ago, Mark H. said:

Yes, we’ve seeded some veggies, but no field crops yet. 

Wuss.

[blue_gold_84]

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/goldman-sachs-official-says-companies-switching-to-zoom-instead-of-business-travel-could-hit-oil-demand-by-up-to-3-million-barrels-per-day-2020-05-07

It's almost like there's a better, less wasteful, more innovative way to do business.

[pigseye]

On 2020-05-09 at 4:35 PM, Mark H. said:

Normally we would be seeding our crops by now - global warming, where art thou? 

At the peak, we farmed about 4,000 acres and were always done seeding before the May long weekend. Then it was off to Falcon Lake camp ground with about 20 friends for good time, when that used to be allowed. 

[Mark H.]

1 hour ago, pigseye said:

At the peak, we farmed about 4,000 acres and were always done seeding before the May long weekend. Then it was off to Falcon Lake camp ground with about 20 friends for good time, when that used to be allowed. 

This is certainly not one of those years - we'll be happy to finish by the end of May.

[pigseye]

4 minutes ago, Mark H. said:

This is certainly not one of those years - we'll be happy to finish by the end of May.

It's brutal, just like last falls rains, good luck. 

[Tracker]

30 minutes ago, Mark H. said:

This is certainly not one of those years - we'll be happy to finish by the end of May.

But most farmers are outstanding in their fields.

[Mark H.]

1 hour ago, Tracker said:

But most farmers are outstanding in their fields.

Literally and figuratively.

[pigseye]

For those who aren't familiar with Dr. Soon, here is the hatchet job Greenpeace tried doing on him,

 

And here is the latest study vindicating him and his theories,

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/ab72a9/meta

Dr. Soon is brilliant scientist and I hope his career recovers and that he gets the respect he deserves. 

[Tiny759]

4 hours ago, Mark H. said:

This is certainly not one of those years - we'll be happy to finish by the end of May.

Livestock rancher here. I can’t remember The last time we have had a normal spring/summer. Flood in 2011-2014. 2015-2017 was recovering from the floods. And then 2018-2019 have been droughts. Past 3 years in my area ranchers have been scrambling to get enough feed for the animals 

[pigseye]

1 minute ago, Tiny759 said:

Livestock rancher here. I can’t remember The last time we have had a normal spring/summer. Flood in 2011-2014. 2015-2017 was recovering from the floods. And then 2018-2019 have been droughts. Past 3 years in my area ranchers have been scrambling to get enough feed for the animals 

Remember the dust bowls in the late 80's - 90's, everyone started trying zero tillage and planting shelter belts and then...…..it was over and back to normal for a decade. 

[Tiny759]

6 minutes ago, pigseye said:

Remember the dust bowls in the late 80's - 90's, everyone started trying zero tillage and planting shelter belts and then...…..it was over and back to normal for a decade. 

The late 80’s..... I’m sure I would remember if I was born in the 80’s lol 

[pigseye]

8 minutes ago, Tiny759 said:

The late 80’s..... I’m sure I would remember if I was born in the 80’s lol 

Believe me, the weather here goes from one extreme to the next, just have to ride it out. I can remember swarms of grasshoppers that would you swear were locusts ravaging the crops. 

[Mark H.]

2 hours ago, Tiny759 said:

Livestock rancher here. I can’t remember The last time we have had a normal spring/summer. Flood in 2011-2014. 2015-2017 was recovering from the floods. And then 2018-2019 have been droughts. Past 3 years in my area ranchers have been scrambling to get enough feed for the animals 

Last summer was dry but we did have a good crop - the rains we did get were timely.  Of harvest I cannot say as much - soybeans were harvested in the snow, some wheat sprouted because we didn't get it off before the heavy Sept. rains. 

[Mark H.]

1 hour ago, pigseye said:

Remember the dust bowls in the late 80's - 90's, everyone started trying zero tillage and planting shelter belts and then...…..it was over and back to normal for a decade. 

Our worst year was 2005 - complete drown out - absolutely zero crop.  We got 3 inches of rain 20 minutes, when most of the crop was just coming up - that was it for that year. 

[pigseye]

Most our land was Red River clay, real tiger **** when wet, had to use rice tires on the combines many years and could only put 100 bushels in the hopper at a time, trucks had to stay on the roads and combines had come to them, what a marathon. At least in the drought years you get half a crop as that clay always seemed to have some moisture left in it. Good times. 

[Mark H.]

16 minutes ago, pigseye said:

Most our land was Red River clay, real tiger **** when wet, had to use rice tires on the combines many years and could only put 100 bushels in the hopper at a time, trucks had to stay on the roads and combines had come to them, what a marathon. At least in the drought years you get half a crop as that clay always seemed to have some moisture left in it. Good times. 

That must have been we had tracks on combines & grain carts running out to the trucks. 

[Tiny759]

37 minutes ago, Mark H. said:

Last summer was dry but we did have a good crop - the rains we did get were timely.  Of harvest I cannot say as much - soybeans were harvested in the snow, some wheat sprouted because we didn't get it off before the heavy Sept. rains. 

Ya you have the ability to wait a bit. We have to start cutting hay in July and it was beyond dry.

[Fatty Liver]

Just more of the same, Jason Kenney doing his best to turn back the clock on environmental standards by 45 years without consulting the public before doing so.  This is what happens when money is valued more than life itself, selling off the natural environment that sustains us a nickel at a time.

Alberta to change restrictions on foothills coal mining to ease development

The Alberta government is changing its coal policies in a move it says is intended to make it easier to develop open-pit mines in one of the province’s most sensitive areas.  “Government is placing a strong focus on creating the necessary conditions for the growth of export coal production,” says a news release dated May 15.  

The changes, to come into effect June 1, abolish graduated protections that have been in place since 1976 for land in Alberta’s southwestern foothills.   The vast area of mountains, streams and meadows is home to threatened species such as grizzly bears and contains the headwaters for much of the fresh water in the southern prairies.

https://calgaryherald.com/business/energy/alberta-to-change-restrictions-on-foothills-coal-mining-to-ease-development/wcm/228e2bd9-8120-44c8-98b5-c33500744343/

 

Alberta Energy Regulator suspends environment monitoring for oilpatch over COVID

Recent environmental monitoring exemptions for the oilsands have been broadened to include Alberta’s entire energy industry.

The Alberta Energy Regulator says the decisions, posted Wednesday on its website, are in response to public-health concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic.

Companies no longer have to monitor fumes released by burning, or look for and repair leaks of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Surface waters need no longer be tested, unless they escape into the environment — and that water need no longer be tested in a lab.

Soil and groundwater monitoring is gone, “with the exception of any monitoring that is necessary to protect human health and ecological receptors,” the decisions say.

In-situ oilsands operations no longer have to conduct any wildlife monitoring, including research programs and population estimates. That includes remotely operated monitoring, although bird deterrents must remain in place.

Reclamation and wetland monitoring is also suspended, as are research requirements.

Keith Stewart of Greenpeace Canada has said his group isn’t aware of any other jurisdiction in the world that has gone as far as Alberta to roll back environmental protections during the pandemic, including the United States under President Donald Trump.

https://calgaryherald.com/pmn/news-pmn/canada-news-pmn/alberta-energy-regulator-suspends-environment-monitoring-for-oilpatch-over-covid/wcm/efc8c0d7-cf57-44f0-a532-9124f119c820/

[Tracker]

5 hours ago, Throw Long Bannatyne said:

Just more of the same, Jason Kenney doing his best to turn back the clock on environmental standards by 45 years without consulting the public before doing so.  This is what happens when money is valued more than life itself, selling off the natural environment that sustains us a nickel at a time.

Alberta to change restrictions on foothills coal mining to ease development

The Alberta government is changing its coal policies in a move it says is intended to make it easier to develop open-pit mines in one of the province’s most sensitive areas.  “Government is placing a strong focus on creating the necessary conditions for the growth of export coal production,” says a news release dated May 15.  

The changes, to come into effect June 1, abolish graduated protections that have been in place since 1976 for land in Alberta’s southwestern foothills.   The vast area of mountains, streams and meadows is home to threatened species such as grizzly bears and contains the headwaters for much of the fresh water in the southern prairies.

https://calgaryherald.com/business/energy/alberta-to-change-restrictions-on-foothills-coal-mining-to-ease-development/wcm/228e2bd9-8120-44c8-98b5-c33500744343/

 

Alberta Energy Regulator suspends environment monitoring for oilpatch over COVID

Recent environmental monitoring exemptions for the oilsands have been broadened to include Alberta’s entire energy industry.

The Alberta Energy Regulator says the decisions, posted Wednesday on its website, are in response to public-health concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic.

Companies no longer have to monitor fumes released by burning, or look for and repair leaks of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Surface waters need no longer be tested, unless they escape into the environment — and that water need no longer be tested in a lab.

Soil and groundwater monitoring is gone, “with the exception of any monitoring that is necessary to protect human health and ecological receptors,” the decisions say.

In-situ oilsands operations no longer have to conduct any wildlife monitoring, including research programs and population estimates. That includes remotely operated monitoring, although bird deterrents must remain in place.

Reclamation and wetland monitoring is also suspended, as are research requirements.

Keith Stewart of Greenpeace Canada has said his group isn’t aware of any other jurisdiction in the world that has gone as far as Alberta to roll back environmental protections during the pandemic, including the United States under President Donald Trump.

https://calgaryherald.com/pmn/news-pmn/canada-news-pmn/alberta-energy-regulator-suspends-environment-monitoring-for-oilpatch-over-covid/wcm/efc8c0d7-cf57-44f0-a532-9124f119c820/

Only 48 hours after Trump did much the same in the US. Could it be that Kenney worships at the feet of Trump?

[JCon]

On 2020-05-23 at 7:57 AM, Tracker said:

Only 48 hours after Trump did much the same in the US. Could it be that Kenney worships at the feet of Trump?

He loves the alt-right and grifting, so it makes sense.

[Fatty Liver]

3 hours ago, JCon said:

He loves the alt-right and grifting, so it makes sense.

De-listing protected lands and reducing parkland a couple of months ago was Kenney's setup to this punchline.