Daily Archives: September 5, 2013

Population growth increases climate fear

Leave a reply

By Carolyn Lochhead, reposted from sfgate.com,Sept 2, 2013

The Rocinha slum in Rio de Janeiro, long a serious problem, shows one of the dangers of overpopulation - although many Rio slums have improved since 2011. Now half the world, including Brazil, is below the 2.1 fertility rate needed for zero growth. Photo: Felipe Dana, Associated Press

The Rocinha slum in Rio de Janeiro, long a serious problem, shows one of the dangers of overpopulation - although many Rio slums have improved since 2011. Now half the world, including Brazil, is below the 2.1 fertility rate needed for zero growth. Photo: Felipe Dana, Associated Press

Washington -

California has 157 endangered or threatened species, looming water shortages, eight of the 10 most air-polluted cities in the country and 725 metric tons of trash washing up on its coast each year.

California also has 38 million people, up 10 percent in the last decade, including 10 million immigrants. They own 32 million registered vehicles and 14 million houses. By 2050, projections show 51 million people living in the state, more than twice as many as in 1980.

In the public arena, almost no one connects these plainly visible dots.

For various reasons, linking the world’s rapid population growth to its deepening environmental crisis, including climate change, is politically taboo. In the United States, Europe and Japan, there has been public hand-wringing over falling birthrates and government policies to encourage child-bearing.

But those declining birthrates mask explosive growth elsewhere in the world.

In less than a lifetime, the world population has tripled, to 7.1 billion, and continues to climb by more than 1.5 million people a week.

A consensus statement issued in May by scientists at Stanford University and signed by more than 1,000 scientists warned that “Earth is reaching a tipping point.”

An array of events under way - including what scientists have identified as the sixth mass extinction in the earth’s 540 million-year history - suggest that human activity already exceeds earth’s capacity.

Climate change is but one of many signs of environmental stress. “The big connector is how many people are on earth,” said Anthony Barnosky, a UC Berkeley integrative biologist. MORE

Ecocide Alert! Who has more say in what happens to your precious drinking water?

Leave a reply

by Devon Page, reposted from Ecojustice, Sept 3, 3013

Who has more say in what happens to your precious drinking water: ordinary Canadians like you or the giant multinational corporation Nestlé?

Unbelievably, according to the Ontario Ministry of the Environment: Nestlé does.

Nestlé takes up to 1,113,000 litres per day of public water from the best public aquifer in Southern Ontario near Hillsburgh and sells it as bottled water, earning huge profits.

Nestlé Waters Canada had negotiated a deal with the Ontario government’s Environment Ministry giving it the right to override public interest provisions that restrict water supply in the case of serious drought. This meant that there would be no mandatory restrictions, and, if they chose to, Nestlé would have the right to keep taking water even in the event of a drought.

But despite fierce opposition from Nestlé and the Ontario government Ecojustice lawyers intervened – on behalf of Wellington Water Watchers and the Council of Canadians – to protect public water by arguing to have the Nestlé deal overturned at Ontario’s Environmental Review Tribunal.

We intervened and won – the first round. The Tribunal has agreed that the settlement between Nestlé and the Ontario Ministry of the Environment is inconsistent with the Ontario Water Resources Act and approving the deal without a full hearing is not in the public interest.

But this is only the first step: Now that the Tribunal has ruled that we must proceed to a full hearing we need your help.

Will you consider making another special gift today, to ensure that we are successful in this precedent-setting case? It could determine who controls your drinking water in the future – the people of Canada – or multinational corporations.

Something’s wrong when the Ontario government won’t require Nestlé to take less water from a community aquifer during drought conditions.

Water belongs to you - not corporations.

It must be managed in a way that sustains Canadian communities while protecting your environment. We feel the Ontario government is dodging its duty as a trustee of our water, a common resource.

The issue isn’t just bottled water. It’s about respecting the “public trust” and your right to a healthy environment.

We want the government to restrict the amount of water Nestlé can pump during drought conditions. We want the government to respect its role as a “trustee” of our common water resources – protecting them for the benefit of current and future generations.

Sadly, the Nestlé case shows why our common resources need more protection.

If every Canadian had their right to a healthy environment recognized, protections would be enshrined and strengthened for common resources, like water, making all decisions by governments accountable to the public.

But your contribution today means Ecojustice can continue our vital work defending nature and Canadians’ resources by retaining expert witnesses and using the law to defend your water, air, land, and wildlife.

More than 20 years of courtroom wins have only come about because concerned citizens like you agree with a simple premise: that it is our governments’ duty to protect the environment. Armed with your financial support, Ecojustice’s unique approach of combining strategic legal action with scientific expertise has made us one of Canada’s most effective advocates for the environment.

We will need all our experience because this will be a difficult case. One we must win.

The stakes in this case are extremely high. You can help stop corporations like Nestlé from controlling your precious water. It’s incredibly important that Ecojustice win this critical Tribunal hearing. And it’s why I must ask again for your invaluable support.

With my sincere thanks,
Devon Page
Executive Director

PS: Your support for cases like this is crucial to our success at defending the environment.
Please act today by sending your donation in the enclosed envelope – and thank you once again!

PPS: Please consider joining the Defenders Club, the Ecojustice monthly giving program, and maximize your support with a monthly donation by cheque or credit card. Whatever you can do today will make a difference for your environment.