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Richard Heinberg, author of Peak Everything, The Oil Depletion Protocol, The Party's Over and Powerdown, has written a fascinating (and from a Canadian perspective somewhat frightening) analysis of Canada's fossil fuel export obligations to the US under NAFTA. It's yet another example of how Canadian politicians sold Canadian interests down the river under the terms of this "agreement" and over the protests of thousands of Canadian people.

This entry is reprinted with permission from Richard's blog.

Proportionality

There is a strange clause in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that applies to only one country--Canada. The clause states that Canada must continue to supply the same proportion of its oil and gas resources to the US in future years as it does now. That's rather a good deal for the US: it formalizes Canada's status as a resource satellite of its imperial hub to the south.

From a Canadian perspective there are some problems with the arrangement, though. First is the fact that Canada's production of natural gas and conventional oil is declining. Second is that Canada uses lots of oil and gas domestically: 70 percent of Canadians heat their homes with gas, and Canadians drive cars more and further than just about anyone else. The problem is likely to come first with natural gas; as production declines, there will come a point when there isn't enough to fill domestic needs and continue to export (roughly 60 percent of Canada's gas now goes to the US).

That point is not decades in the future, it is fairly imminent.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has offered an eloquent apology to his country's indigenous population, specifically to the Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children known as the Stolen Generations. These children were removed from their families by Australian government agencies between approximately 1869 and 1969, by the …

The following article by Mike Nickerson, author of Life, Money and Illusion is reprinted with permission from Ottawa's Peace and Environment News (January-February 2008). Thanks Mike!

Transforming Our Culture: Toward Sustainability

Continuing with civilization requires more than fine tuning the present system. It requires metamorphosis.

Climate change, peak oil and all the other unfolding crises associated with pollution and resource depletion are all symptoms of one problem. There has been a fundamental change in the relationship between people and the Earth. We no longer have new frontiers to expand into when resources get scarce or our waste becomes intolerable. This change marks the maturity of the human species. Well-being now requires an equally fundamental change in how we manage our societies.

As long as the goal of expanding production and consumption is considered legitimate, we are in danger of overshooting planetary limits and collapsing. When sustainability gains legitimacy, as our primary goal, the possibility will emerge for evolving a mature social form, capable of long-term well-being. It is a Question of Direction.

Planning on buying sweets for your sweetheart on Valentine's Day? Make sure that you choose an ethical treat by consulting The Better World Shopping Guide before you head to the shops. Better yet, wrap up a copy of the Shopping Guide to accompany that organic, fair-traded chocolate!

Renewable Energy Access featured a story last week on Renault-Nissan and Project Better Place's plan to make Israel oil-free by 2010.

Too good to be true? Maybe not.

The plan is based on a implementing a country-wide electric car infrastructure which will include 500,000 re-charging facilities across the country.

From the REA story:

"...this group …