All us taxpayers  will be guilty of murder when such games produced by the publicly funded TVOntario inspire unbalanced individuals to blow up oil pipelines as shown in the game.   If even a single injury, or God forbid…a death is the  result of  TVO’s  management giving their approval to this “terrorist” game …. then they definitely don’t deserve a single penny from us.  If  they want to produce games, the kind that inspire madcaps to commit arson and murder, then let them produce them without using us as their accessories to potential future acts of arson and murder.

….A controversial pipeline is being pulled off the TVOntario website after sparking outrage in Alberta.


“We recognize the public concern regarding this game and have therefore decided out of an abundance of care to appoint individuals of experience and independent standing to review the game,” TVO said in a letter to Education Ministers Liz Sandals Friday.

TVO’s intention was to pull the video game from its website at least until a report is complete, expected to be by the end of April.


Sandals said she has serious questions about Pipe Trouble — a phone app video game in which a player attempts to build a natural gas pipeline without going so quickly that it causes livestock to die, people to become sick or an angry vigilante to blow up the project.


The game was developed in partnership with the publicly funded broadcaster.


Alberta Premier Alison Redford expressed disappointment that a taxpayer-funded game would depict the blowing up of pipelines.


“It’s exactly opposite of Canada’s interests given all of Canada benefits from a strong and diverse energy sector,” Redford said.


Earlier in the day Ontario Tory MPP Monte McNaughton called for the game to be pulled because it promotes a radical environmental agenda and has become a national embarrassment for the province.


Premier Kathleen Wynne should shut down the project and apologize to Alberta, he said.


Taxpayer-funded TVOntario put $10,000 into Pipe Trouble and $80,000 into the related documentary, Trouble in the Peace, which highlights the battle of British Columbia farmer and father Karl Mattson with gas companies in Peace River.


TVO has defended the entire project as balanced and appropriate, and well within its mandate of engaging people in important issues of the day……..

Oww, my sides would be hurting from laughing at the irony of this situation, if it weren’t a deadly serious joke that the Conservatives are playing on Canadians.

On a public relations mission to convince the public that the BC coast will be safe from oil spills, the clean-up vessel ran aground on a sandbar, and was delayed by hours.

British Columbia’s largest oil spill response vessel got stuck on a sandbar en route to a federal news conference where Monday about strengthening Canada’s oil spill defences.

This was only a test. If this had been a real emergency, coastline would be covered in oil. Joe Oliver would be cackling.

You really have to love it when a press conference fails so badly for any politician hell bent on pitching a catastrophic idea destined to ruin lives and our environment.

. . . → Read More: Saskboy’s Abandoned Stuff: Oil The Humanity!

This is an unpolished analogy of Canada’s attitude toward the tarsand/climate change problem. Let’s say Canada is a person complaining about their weight (they think their carbon footprints are too heavy). To solve this problem they read a diet book that their friend Europa suggested to them, and they even try to get FIT in [...]

Brad Wall went to Washington in order to pitch the Keystone XL pipeline project. In doing so, he made some really absurd claims, that CTV failed to juxtapose against the scientifically accurate situation that Wall mischaracterized. Joe Oliver of the Conservatives has also been making totally absurd claims about Canada’s environmental track record under his [...]

“Now, the death of Hugo Chavez offers the promise of domestic oil market changes that could roil the energy world and place substantial opportunities at the feet of Canadian oil companies whose expertise in heavy crude is directly applicable to Venezuela’s Orinoco oil fields.” – Globe and Mail By: Obert Madondo | The Canadian Progressive | March 5, 2013: READ MORE

Download: earthgauge-podcast-feb28-2013-final.mp3

This week on Earthgauge, we hear speeches and interviews from the huge ‘Forward on Climate‘ rally in Washington D.C. on February 17. We have speeches by Van Jones of Rebuild the Dream, Bill McKibben of 350.org, Michael Brune, executive director of the U.S. Sierra Club, and Jacquie Thomas of the Saik’uz First Nation in B.C., and interviews from the rally with Michael Brune and Canadian author/ activist Naomi Klein. We also have our weekly update from Kathy of Ecology Ottawa on local environmental events and campaigns in the area.

Click the audio player above to stream the show or right click here to download.

Forward on Climate!

I was fortunate to have the opportunity to cover the huge Forward on Climate rally organized by 350.org, the Sierra Club, the Hip Hop Caucus among others. Roughly 40-50,000 people gathered on Washington’s national mall to urge . . . → Read More: Earthgauge Radio: EG Radio February 28 2013: ‘Forward on Climate’ special with Bill McKibben, Van Jones, Naomi Klein, Michael Brune and Jacquie Thomas

I attended the huge Forward on Climate rally in Washington D.C. last week and tomorrow I’ll be playing speeches from the rally by Van Jones of Rebuild the Dream, Bill McKibben of 350.org, Michael Brune, executive director of the U.S. Sierra Club, and Jacquie Thomas of the Saik’uz First Nation in B.C.

We’ll also hear my interviews with Michael Brune and author/ activist Naomi Klein. Things are heating up these days and it ain’t just the weather!

Earthgauge Radio airs every Thursday morning at 7:00 AM on CKCU 93.1 FM in Ottawa and around the world at www.ckcufm.com. Earthgauge is Ottawa’s only radio program dedicated exclusively to environmental news and commentary from Ottawa, across the country and around the world. Podcasts on iTunes and right here on earthgauge.ca.

. . . → Read More: Earthgauge Radio: Tomorrow on EG Radio: our ‘Forward on Climate’ special show!

Dear President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry:

As a concerned Canadian, I am writing to urge you to reject TransCanada’s application to build the Keystone XL pipeline for purposes of transporting dirty oil from Alberta’s tar sands to refineries in the United States.

I assure you that not all Canadians are quite as eager to export climate-busting bitumen as our federal government seems to be. Many of us recognize that the high energy demands required to exploit this unconventional resource give it a dangerously large carbon footprint. For this reason, we consistently oppose similar projects, such as pipelines to the Canadian West Coast by Enbridge and Kinder Morgan.

According to estimates of greenhouse gas trajectories needed to avert runaway climate change, global emissions need to be peaking right about now (if not earlier). That means that we as a planet need to start drastically decreasing our use . . . → Read More: Song of the Watermelon: An Open Letter to Barack Obama and John Kerry

  (Edited) by Obert Madondo | The Canadian Progressive | Jan. 26, 2013: The Eco Tour comes to Ottawa! Join award-winning geneticist and broadcaster David Suzuki and award-winning, bestselling author and economist Jeff Rubin for an evening of discussion of how to create a truly sustainable future. The finer details: What: An Evening with David Suzuki and Jeff Rubin: The ECO READ MORE

February 25, 2013

The Line 9 pipeline was built to carry oil from Montreal, Quebec to Sarnia, Ontario. But now Enbridge wants to reverse the flow and run ta…

Check out my latest article for the Common Sense Canadian on the massive climate change rally last weekend in Washington D.C. Here’s the link:

http://thecanadian.org/item/1950-keystone-xl-massive-civil-disobedience-is-next-mark-brooks

I am pleased to be acting as an Ottawa correspondent for the excellent online publication The Common Sense Canadian, British Columbia’s premier environmental news journal. CSC combines cutting-edge video, audio, and reporting and editorials from former BC Environment Minister and Hall of Fame broadcaster Rafe Mair, documentary filmmaker Damien Gillis, and a host of formidable contributors and guest editorialists who bring you the stories and opinions our establishment media won’t publish.

Here’s article in full:

Keystone XL: Massive Civil Disobedience is Next

Last weekend’s rally in Washington, D.C. is being called the largest climate change rally in history. At least 35,000-40,000 people from all over North America came out on what was an unseasonably cold and windy winter day to demand that U.S. President Barack . . . → Read More: Earthgauge Radio: Keystone XL: Massive Civil Disobedience is Next

There’s a suspicious situation uncovered at the UofR, by CBC. IPAC, the CO(2) CCS project was audited, and there were apparent conflicts of interest in how some of the money was spent. The report stopped short of saying there was crime, but implied there was the possibility of it. Only last week I saw a [...]

The NDP still opposes Northern Gateway

A very interesting post today by Joe Romm at ThinkProgress.org. Based on the recent comments of the new U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, Romm is speculating that Kerry “shows no sign whatsoever of backing down from the moral urgency that has made him a true climate champion.” Click the video link above to see Kerry’s first big foreign policy speech in which he says the following:

We as a nation must have the foresight and courage to make the investments necessary to safeguard the most sacred trust we keep for our children and grandchildren: an environment ravaged by rising seas, deadly superstorms, devastating droughts, and the other hallmarks of a dramatically changing climate.

As Romm writes, “Does this sound like a man who is going to launch his term as Secretary of State approving the expansion of one of the dirtiest sources of fossil fuels in the world? . . . → Read More: Earthgauge Radio: Will John Kerry reject Keystone XL?

From Andrew Nikiforuk in today’s Tyee. The full article, called ‘Why can’t Alberta break even?‘, is worth a read.

How do you know when you live in petro state? Here are some key signs:

When your government pays 30 per cent of its road, education, and hospital bills with finite and volatile hydrocarbon revenue.

When your province posts five budget deficits in a row during a so-called “bitumen boom.”

When the billionaire owner of a hockey club (the Oilers) donates $430,000 to extend the 40-year rule of a one party state that ran out of ideas 30 ago.

When Alberta Health says it can’t comment on the public health impacts of hydraulic fracturing because Alberta Energy is responsible for “sustainable energy development.”

When the government approves 100 bitumen projects over a ten-year period without a cumulative impact assessment.

When government officials ban the use of the word “tar sands” the . . . → Read More: Earthgauge Radio: How do you know you live in a petro state?

By Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (Press Release) | Feb. 21, 2013: OTTAWA — A failure to carefully regulate the Canadian bitumen industry is putting Canada on a dangerous economic and environmental trajectory, says a new report released today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) and the Polaris Institute. The study’s original, integrated analysis READ MORE

The Conservative government is out of control. The Guardian UK newspaper confirms what environmentalists have already suspected (since the Conservatives have openly accused them previously): This Conservative government regards environmentalists as a threat to national security. It’s offensive, absurd, and an extreme step into authoritarian police-state behaviour. -(UofR image, to keep this blog post from [...]

Stephen McDavid interviewed by CBC/SRC about climate change action: Stephen explains that the pipeline is a line in the sand. Using it, is crossing that line. I’ll explain why there is a line, further on in this post. I was also interviewed. The CBC reporter was pleased to learn from me (off camera) that there [...]

The Pentagon recently admitted that Taliban attacks are on the increase in some regions. One of the factors that may be driving this trend is the fight for control of Afghanistan’s oil reserves. Antonia Juhasz is author of Black Tide and the Tyranny of Oil. Her recent article on Afghanistan and oil can be found in the January edition of Atlantic Monthly. She speaks with Redeye host Sean Mullen.

rey-2013-02-12a.mp3

read more

Noam Chomsky is considered a rogue commentator in the United States. His critiques of power illustrates the gross realpolitik that runs the US government and its foreign policy. Traditionally, we tend to think of ourselves as the “good guys”. In reality though, we seldom have that role. A look at the recent history of the Middle East confirms this hypothesis, excerpt from Alter.net.

Q: Does the United States still have the same level of control over the energy resources of the Middle East as it once had?

NC: The major energy-producing countries are still under the control of the Western-backed dictatorships. So, actually, the progress made by the Arab Spring is limited, but it’s not insignificant. The Western-controlled dictatorial system is eroding. In fact, it’s been eroding for some time. So, for example, if you go back 50 years, the energy resources — the main concern of U.S. planners . . . → Read More: Dead Wild Roses: Western Backed Dictatorships – Our Energy Bread and Butter