Fracking for the cure?
It’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month and pinkwashing has reached new depths with global oil and gas drillers Baker Hughes painting 1,000 of its drill bits pink to commemorate the occasion. Says the company, “The pink bits serve as a reminder of the importance of supporting research, treatment, screening and education to help find cures.”
For the second year in a row the company is donating $100,000 to the Texas-based Susan G. Komen foundation. Ecowatch.com has launched a petition asking the foundation to end its relationship with the Baker Hughes, pointing out that “at least 25 per cent of the more than 700 chemicals used in fracking are linked to cancer.”
HALF OF PLANET’S WILDLIFE WIPED OUT
WWF’s most recent Living Planet report doesn’t mince words. In less than two human generations, the world’s mammals, birds, amphibians and fish have been decimated by 52 per cent, all since 1970. Habitat loss, hunting and fishing are the main causes, with climate change adding to the pressure. WWF says we need to halt priority habitat loss, expand protected areas and redirect financial flows to “value nature” asap.
LEGO DUMPS SHELL PARTNERSHIP
After a Greenpeace video connecting toy manufacturer Lego to Shell’s Arctic oil drilling went viral, the Danish toy giant announced it’s ending its 40-year marketing partnership with Shell. Under the current arrangement, if you fill your tank with 30 litres of gas or more at a Shell station, you can score a free Lego toy. The deal isn’t being cancelled per se but won’t be renewed, according to the toy maker. For its part, Shell has been drawing up the paperwork to resume drilling in the Arctic in 2015, but says it hasn’t decided whether it will actually move forward with those plans.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK:
“Our government is making significant progress on addressing climate change.”
Federal environment minister Leona Aglukkaq responds to Environment commissioner Julie Gelfand’s report, which called federal action on greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions “slow,” “uncoordinated” and “unsatisfactory.” The commish singled out the feds’ failure to regulate the oil and gas sector, whose emissions have grown by 27 tonnes since 2012, and noted current federal efforts to address GHGs will have “little effect” in meeting our 2020 greenhouse gas reduction targets.
ecoholic@nowtoronto.com | @ecoholicnation
