Ecosystems

Final as approved by Sierra Club (US & Canada) on 5 December 2011

Whereas the Asian carp (bighead, silver, grass and black) have invaded extensive portions of the United States waters and the silver and bighead carps present a serious and immediate threat of invasion into the Great Lakes ecosystem, via the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal; and

Whereasthe Asian carp have caused ecological devastation in the Illinois and Mississippi River systems in specific river sections where they have become well established—95 percent of the biomass in some river sections is composed of Asian carp; and

Whereasthe Asian carp cause this devastation through highly efficient reproduction and filter feeding that effectively removes the plankton that serve as the base of the food chain—without enough plankton to support forage fish, shellfish and other species, native species decline ; and... Read more »

B.C. scientists are among more than 133 experts from across North America joining the call for permanent protection of old-growth rainforests in Clayoquot Sound.

CBC Video (January 2012)

Pipeline debate heats up Sierra Club executive director John Bennett and Ethical Oil spokesperson Kathryn Marshall discuss the public hearings for the Northern Gateway pipeline and whether opponents are acting on behalf of foreign interests Watch: 10:51

CBC News (January 2012)

If the federal government's salvo at environmentalists opposed to the Northern Gateway pipeline this week came as a surprise to some, it was a welcome defence of an important economic project to others.... Read more »

Canada's natural resources minister has entered the fray over the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline with a controversial public letter accusing "radical" environmentalists of trying to delay the project and undermine the country's economic interests.

In an open letter released on the eve of the first public hearing on the proposal, Joe Oliver says environmentalists and other "radical" groups are trying to hijack the regulatory process.

More than 4,300 groups and individuals have signed up to speak at the regulatory panel hearings, which begin Tuesday in Kitimat, B.C.

"Their goal is to stop any major project no matter what the cost to Canadian families in lost jobs and economic growth," Oliver wrote in the letter. "No forestry. No mining. No oil. No gas. No more hydro-electric dams."... Read more »