Opinion: Is net-zero putting Canadians’ pensions in jeopardy? — Financial Post
Canadians should be asking why CPP's investment fund has put millions into a company that has never made a profit
It's Climate Change I tell'ya!! IT'S CLIMATE CHANGE!!
- Thread starter B00Mer
- Start date
Changing climate making snowmobiling riskier, OPP say
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Fakiha Baig
Published Mar 22, 2023 • Last updated 1 day ago • 2 minute read
Police in Ontario are warning that climate change is shortening the snowmobiling season and making a growing number of trails dangerous for riders across the province.
Ontario Provincial Police say 13 snowmobilers have died so far this season — which runs from November to April — with many falling through ice. A total of 13 people died last snowmobiling season but police note that this season isn’t over yet.
Paul Beaton, OPP’s motorized snow vehicle co-ordinator, said milder winters have shortened the snowmobiling season and that’s concerning.
“Maybe that does represent an increase because we’re having the same number of deaths over a shorter period of time,” Beaton said in a phone interview.
“We do have a very narrow season and we’re seeing it reduce year after year.”
The number of trails in Ontario not safe for snowmobiling has increased as the season shortens, he said
“This may tie into global warming,” Beaton said.
Milder winters have altered snowmobiling routes that might once have been considered safe, he said.
“We’re not getting the good snowpack and the consistent cold weather riders need to have solid trails, frozen waterways. The next thing you know, all that ice that may have been safe to travel on changes drastically,” he said.
“It’s not able to support the weight of you or your snowmobile so people have gone through the water and have perished.”
Some riders have been venturing out to remote areas that don’t have designated trails as they search for thicker snow and ice, Beaton said, making the sport more dangerous.
Provincial police said 46 per cent of this season’s fatal snowmobiling cases occurred in Ontario’s northeast and almost all of those who died were men between the ages of 25 and 34 because they may be more likely to take on the hobby.
“People being aware of how the weather can impact riding safely is incredibly important,” Beaton said.
Pierre Challier, the owner of a Quebec company that takes people on snowmobiling expeditions in several regions, said his operation has had to transform the way it works as weather patterns change.
“Sometimes it’s difficult to organize an expedition because, in some regions, we don’t have ice or there is less snow,” said Challier, who owns Nord Expe Inc.
Trail guides with Nord Expe prepare well in advance for expeditions, he said, recommending that all snowmobilers do the same.
“We need to have knowledge of all the weather during the winter such as when the ice is built, is it built with or without wind, snow falls, rain falls,” he said. “If there is any doubt, guides make holes everywhere … to see if there is cracks, slush, the thickness of the ice.”
Beaton, of the OPP, said snowmobiling can still offer an exhilarating sense of freedom but it needs to be done with more caution.
“We hope that they have fun,” he said. “We hope that they’re able to come back and tell stories about the happy times and not share stories of loss and grief.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 22, 2023.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Fakiha Baig
Published Mar 22, 2023 • Last updated 1 day ago • 2 minute read
Police in Ontario are warning that climate change is shortening the snowmobiling season and making a growing number of trails dangerous for riders across the province.
Ontario Provincial Police say 13 snowmobilers have died so far this season — which runs from November to April — with many falling through ice. A total of 13 people died last snowmobiling season but police note that this season isn’t over yet.
Paul Beaton, OPP’s motorized snow vehicle co-ordinator, said milder winters have shortened the snowmobiling season and that’s concerning.
“Maybe that does represent an increase because we’re having the same number of deaths over a shorter period of time,” Beaton said in a phone interview.
“We do have a very narrow season and we’re seeing it reduce year after year.”
The number of trails in Ontario not safe for snowmobiling has increased as the season shortens, he said
“This may tie into global warming,” Beaton said.
Milder winters have altered snowmobiling routes that might once have been considered safe, he said.
“We’re not getting the good snowpack and the consistent cold weather riders need to have solid trails, frozen waterways. The next thing you know, all that ice that may have been safe to travel on changes drastically,” he said.
“It’s not able to support the weight of you or your snowmobile so people have gone through the water and have perished.”
Some riders have been venturing out to remote areas that don’t have designated trails as they search for thicker snow and ice, Beaton said, making the sport more dangerous.
Provincial police said 46 per cent of this season’s fatal snowmobiling cases occurred in Ontario’s northeast and almost all of those who died were men between the ages of 25 and 34 because they may be more likely to take on the hobby.
“People being aware of how the weather can impact riding safely is incredibly important,” Beaton said.
Pierre Challier, the owner of a Quebec company that takes people on snowmobiling expeditions in several regions, said his operation has had to transform the way it works as weather patterns change.
“Sometimes it’s difficult to organize an expedition because, in some regions, we don’t have ice or there is less snow,” said Challier, who owns Nord Expe Inc.
Trail guides with Nord Expe prepare well in advance for expeditions, he said, recommending that all snowmobilers do the same.
“We need to have knowledge of all the weather during the winter such as when the ice is built, is it built with or without wind, snow falls, rain falls,” he said. “If there is any doubt, guides make holes everywhere … to see if there is cracks, slush, the thickness of the ice.”
Beaton, of the OPP, said snowmobiling can still offer an exhilarating sense of freedom but it needs to be done with more caution.
“We hope that they have fun,” he said. “We hope that they’re able to come back and tell stories about the happy times and not share stories of loss and grief.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 22, 2023.
Changing climate making snowmobiling riskier, OPP say
The OPP is warning that climate change is shortening the snowmobiling season and making a growing number of trails dangerous for riders.
Good thing they kicked their white oppressers out .
This makes me really angry that this whole Climate Change idiocy means that the poor countries, like Africa, will never climb out of poverty & Western leaders are hell bent & determined to make us just as poor - over time. Hopefully we can reverse all the policies once we get a reliable government in power - OMG did I just say that? A "reliable government" is that an oxymoron? Huh
Africa will never have a "hard goods" industrialization but they will be an agricultural powerhouse probably sooner than later.
Theyll get to the agro giant point very quickly. Heavy industry beyond mining and smelting ain't gonna happen.
Well, as was previously posted, any mining is done my children who apparently aren't worth worrying about. Mining is being done, just not by machine!! It's sick!!
That's only cobalt in the Congo. Mining is huge in Africa and 99% above the board.
Meatball made with DNA from extinct mammoth
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Mike Corder
Published Mar 28, 2023 • Last updated 1 day ago • 3 minute read
A meatball made using genetic code from a mammoth is seen at the Nemo science museum in Amsterdam, March 28, 2023.
A meatball made using genetic code from a mammoth is seen at the Nemo science museum in Amsterdam, March 28, 2023. PHOTO BY MIKE CORDER /THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
AMSTERDAM — Throw another mammoth on the barbie?
An Australian company on Tuesday lifted the glass cloche on a meatball made of lab-grown cultured meat using the genetic sequence from the long-extinct pachyderm, saying it was meant to fire up public debate about the hi-tech treat.
The launch in an Amsterdam science museum came just days before April 1 so there was an elephant in the room: Is this for real?
“This is not an April Fools joke,” said Tim Noakesmith, founder of Australian startup Vow. “This is a real innovation.”
Cultivated meat — also called cultured or cell-based meat — is made from animal cells. Livestock doesn’t need to be killed to produce it, which advocates say is better not just for the animals but also for the environment.
Vow used publicly available genetic information from the mammoth, filled missing parts with genetic data from its closest living relative, the African elephant, and inserted it into a sheep cell, Noakesmith said. Given the right conditions in a lab, the cells multiplied until there were enough to roll up into the meatball.
More than 100 companies around the world are working on cultivated meat products, many of them startups like Vow.
Experts say that if the technology is widely adopted, it could vastly reduce the environmental impact of global meat production in the future. Currently, billions of acres of land are used for agriculture worldwide.
But don’t expect this to land on plates around the world any time soon. So far, tiny Singapore is the only country to have approved cell-based meat for consumption. Vow is hoping to sell its first product there — a cultivated Japanese quail meat — later this year.
The mammoth meatball is a one-off and has not been tasted, even by its creators, nor is it planned to be put into commercial production. Instead, it was presented as a source of protein that would get people talking about the future of meat.
“We wanted to get people excited about the future of food being different to potentially what we had before. That there are things that are unique and better than the meats that we’re necessarily eating now, and we thought the mammoth would be a conversation starter and get people excited about this new future,” Noakesmith told The Associated Press.
“But also the woolly mammoth has been traditionally a symbol of loss. We know now that it died from climate change. And so what we wanted to do was see if we could create something that was a symbol of a more exciting future that’s not only better for us, but also better for the planet,” he added.
Seren Kell, science and technology manager at Good Food Institute, a nonprofit that promotes plant- and cell-based alternatives to animal products, said he hopes the project “will open up new conversations about cultivated meat’s extraordinary potential to produce more sustainable foods, reduce the climate impact of our existing food system and free up land for less intensive farming practices.”
He said the mammoth project with its unconventional gene source was an outlier in the new meat cultivation sector, which commonly focuses on traditional livestock — cattle, pigs and poultry.
“By cultivating beef, pork, chicken, and seafood, we can have the most impact in terms of reducing emissions from conventional animal agriculture and satisfying growing global demand for meat while meeting our climate targets,” he said.
The jumbo meatball on show in Amsterdam — sized somewhere between a softball and a volleyball — was for show only and had been glazed to ensure it didn’t get damaged on its journey from Sydney.
But when it was being prepared — first slow baked and then finished off on the outside with a blow torch — it smelled good.
“The folks who were there, they said the aroma was something similar to another prototype that we produced before, which was crocodile,” Noakesmith said. “So, super fascinating to think that adding the protein from an animal that went extinct 4,000 years ago gave it a totally unique and new aroma, something we haven’t smelled as a population for a very long time.”
— Associated Press reporter Laura Ungar contributed from Louisville, Kentucky.
![aptopix-netherlands-mammoth-meatball-scaled[1].jpg](https://forums.canadiancontent.net/data/attachments/16/16040-3ac64ba7727d5e26aea0ef8fd86b253b.jpg "aptopix-netherlands-mammoth-meatball-scaled[1].jpg")
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Mike Corder
Published Mar 28, 2023 • Last updated 1 day ago • 3 minute read
A meatball made using genetic code from a mammoth is seen at the Nemo science museum in Amsterdam, March 28, 2023.
A meatball made using genetic code from a mammoth is seen at the Nemo science museum in Amsterdam, March 28, 2023. PHOTO BY MIKE CORDER /THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
AMSTERDAM — Throw another mammoth on the barbie?
An Australian company on Tuesday lifted the glass cloche on a meatball made of lab-grown cultured meat using the genetic sequence from the long-extinct pachyderm, saying it was meant to fire up public debate about the hi-tech treat.
The launch in an Amsterdam science museum came just days before April 1 so there was an elephant in the room: Is this for real?
“This is not an April Fools joke,” said Tim Noakesmith, founder of Australian startup Vow. “This is a real innovation.”
Cultivated meat — also called cultured or cell-based meat — is made from animal cells. Livestock doesn’t need to be killed to produce it, which advocates say is better not just for the animals but also for the environment.
Vow used publicly available genetic information from the mammoth, filled missing parts with genetic data from its closest living relative, the African elephant, and inserted it into a sheep cell, Noakesmith said. Given the right conditions in a lab, the cells multiplied until there were enough to roll up into the meatball.
More than 100 companies around the world are working on cultivated meat products, many of them startups like Vow.
Experts say that if the technology is widely adopted, it could vastly reduce the environmental impact of global meat production in the future. Currently, billions of acres of land are used for agriculture worldwide.
But don’t expect this to land on plates around the world any time soon. So far, tiny Singapore is the only country to have approved cell-based meat for consumption. Vow is hoping to sell its first product there — a cultivated Japanese quail meat — later this year.
The mammoth meatball is a one-off and has not been tasted, even by its creators, nor is it planned to be put into commercial production. Instead, it was presented as a source of protein that would get people talking about the future of meat.
“We wanted to get people excited about the future of food being different to potentially what we had before. That there are things that are unique and better than the meats that we’re necessarily eating now, and we thought the mammoth would be a conversation starter and get people excited about this new future,” Noakesmith told The Associated Press.
“But also the woolly mammoth has been traditionally a symbol of loss. We know now that it died from climate change. And so what we wanted to do was see if we could create something that was a symbol of a more exciting future that’s not only better for us, but also better for the planet,” he added.
Seren Kell, science and technology manager at Good Food Institute, a nonprofit that promotes plant- and cell-based alternatives to animal products, said he hopes the project “will open up new conversations about cultivated meat’s extraordinary potential to produce more sustainable foods, reduce the climate impact of our existing food system and free up land for less intensive farming practices.”
He said the mammoth project with its unconventional gene source was an outlier in the new meat cultivation sector, which commonly focuses on traditional livestock — cattle, pigs and poultry.
“By cultivating beef, pork, chicken, and seafood, we can have the most impact in terms of reducing emissions from conventional animal agriculture and satisfying growing global demand for meat while meeting our climate targets,” he said.
The jumbo meatball on show in Amsterdam — sized somewhere between a softball and a volleyball — was for show only and had been glazed to ensure it didn’t get damaged on its journey from Sydney.
But when it was being prepared — first slow baked and then finished off on the outside with a blow torch — it smelled good.
“The folks who were there, they said the aroma was something similar to another prototype that we produced before, which was crocodile,” Noakesmith said. “So, super fascinating to think that adding the protein from an animal that went extinct 4,000 years ago gave it a totally unique and new aroma, something we haven’t smelled as a population for a very long time.”
— Associated Press reporter Laura Ungar contributed from Louisville, Kentucky.
That’s ‘cuz of the Trudeau Carbon Tax on Canada’s 1.6% of the global total of nightly emissions ….something something tipping point averted, etc….and by the time we’re at $170/ton in 2030 you’ll be eating ecologically green Mammoth Meat Balls grown in Justin’s sock draw.
Should Canada follow Italy's lead and ban lab grown meat?
More information on these products is needed before they're approved for human consumption here
Author of the article:Brian Lilley
Published Apr 03, 2023 • Last updated 1 day ago • 3 minute read
Italy is looking to ban lab grown meat as well as using flour from crickets in pizza or pasta. The Italian government says it’s about protecting Italy’s food supply, its heritage and its food culture.
Should Canada follow Italy’s lead?
Based on the reaction of my stomach when I think about eating a lab grown “burger” or some cricket pasta, my answer should be a strong yes, let’s ban it all. I’m also someone who values freedom, including the freedom to choose whacky dietary options and who believes the role of government should be limited.
At best, I can say, we need more information on these products before they’re approved for human consumption in Canada.
By more information, I don’t just mean more information for regulators, I’m talking about more information for the people who count the most here, the consumers. Regulators are people who crunch numbers, analyze and follow rules set by others – consumers will be the ones making clear choices in the grocery aisles and will need clear information.
Given that Singapore has already approved lab grown “chicken” for nuggets and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has given preliminary approval to a company growing lab based “chicken,” we need to have this debate now.
We are likely to see lab grown “chicken” products on American shelves within a year or so, but will consumers know what they are getting? That’s the biggest issue that I see, whether people will know that the “meat” they’re buying isn’t real regular meat but something started in a petri dish and grown in a lab.
I use quotation marks when referring to these products because if they’re approved, one thing that shouldn’t be allowed is to have these products adopt the names of the products they are mimicking.
Unless a product came from a real live chicken, it shouldn’t get to call itself chicken. Unless the beef product once stood on four hooves in a field while mooing, it shouldn’t get to claim that it’s beef, or a hamburger, or meatball or anything of the sort.
It’s true that lab grown “meat” starts out by extracting stem cells from a living, breathing, healthy animal and then growing “meat” in a lab. That doesn’t make it a chicken or a cow by any definition, it’s the epitome of a genetically engineered product and not one I want sitting on my plate.
What’s remarkable is the political alignment that has taken place in support or opposition to these products being introduced for human consumption. While once upon a time the political left would have been strongly against these products, many on that side of the political spectrum are the strongest supporters of lab grown meat citing climate change as a reason. On the other side are many conservative-minded voters who wouldn’t have given this a second thought a decade or so ago.
I’ve been opposed to tinkering with the food supply for a long time, not from a purist point of view but a practical one. More than a decade ago, I was producing front-page stories about federal and provincial funding for “mouse pig” — a pig bred to poop less after having mouse DNA spliced into its genetic structure.
It promised the ability to put more pigs into less space with less contamination due to waste. Thankfully, that project was dropped, as it appears the fish with the six-pack abs also faded away.
Any experimentation with our food supply needs to be done cautiously with a “do no harm” approach. It also shouldn’t be done without giving consumers all the information they need, including clear packaging telling you what you are buying.
Perhaps lab grown meat is part of our future as a society but at this point, it’s not part of mine, not until I have more information to make a clear decision. We’re not there yet.
blilley@postmedia.com
torontosun.com
More information on these products is needed before they're approved for human consumption here
Author of the article:Brian Lilley
Published Apr 03, 2023 • Last updated 1 day ago • 3 minute read
Italy is looking to ban lab grown meat as well as using flour from crickets in pizza or pasta. The Italian government says it’s about protecting Italy’s food supply, its heritage and its food culture.
Should Canada follow Italy’s lead?
Based on the reaction of my stomach when I think about eating a lab grown “burger” or some cricket pasta, my answer should be a strong yes, let’s ban it all. I’m also someone who values freedom, including the freedom to choose whacky dietary options and who believes the role of government should be limited.
At best, I can say, we need more information on these products before they’re approved for human consumption in Canada.
By more information, I don’t just mean more information for regulators, I’m talking about more information for the people who count the most here, the consumers. Regulators are people who crunch numbers, analyze and follow rules set by others – consumers will be the ones making clear choices in the grocery aisles and will need clear information.
Given that Singapore has already approved lab grown “chicken” for nuggets and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has given preliminary approval to a company growing lab based “chicken,” we need to have this debate now.
We are likely to see lab grown “chicken” products on American shelves within a year or so, but will consumers know what they are getting? That’s the biggest issue that I see, whether people will know that the “meat” they’re buying isn’t real regular meat but something started in a petri dish and grown in a lab.
I use quotation marks when referring to these products because if they’re approved, one thing that shouldn’t be allowed is to have these products adopt the names of the products they are mimicking.
Unless a product came from a real live chicken, it shouldn’t get to call itself chicken. Unless the beef product once stood on four hooves in a field while mooing, it shouldn’t get to claim that it’s beef, or a hamburger, or meatball or anything of the sort.
It’s true that lab grown “meat” starts out by extracting stem cells from a living, breathing, healthy animal and then growing “meat” in a lab. That doesn’t make it a chicken or a cow by any definition, it’s the epitome of a genetically engineered product and not one I want sitting on my plate.
What’s remarkable is the political alignment that has taken place in support or opposition to these products being introduced for human consumption. While once upon a time the political left would have been strongly against these products, many on that side of the political spectrum are the strongest supporters of lab grown meat citing climate change as a reason. On the other side are many conservative-minded voters who wouldn’t have given this a second thought a decade or so ago.
I’ve been opposed to tinkering with the food supply for a long time, not from a purist point of view but a practical one. More than a decade ago, I was producing front-page stories about federal and provincial funding for “mouse pig” — a pig bred to poop less after having mouse DNA spliced into its genetic structure.
It promised the ability to put more pigs into less space with less contamination due to waste. Thankfully, that project was dropped, as it appears the fish with the six-pack abs also faded away.
Any experimentation with our food supply needs to be done cautiously with a “do no harm” approach. It also shouldn’t be done without giving consumers all the information they need, including clear packaging telling you what you are buying.
Perhaps lab grown meat is part of our future as a society but at this point, it’s not part of mine, not until I have more information to make a clear decision. We’re not there yet.
blilley@postmedia.com
LILLEY: Should Canada follow Italy's lead and ban lab grown meat?
Lab grown meat has its supporters and will soon be economically viable but is it something we should embrace or be wary of consuming?
If youre that desperate for non meat protein eat Saskatchewan lentils and peas. It works just fine for India.Should Canada follow Italy's lead and ban lab grown meat?
More information on these products is needed before they're approved for human consumption here
Author of the article:Brian Lilley
Published Apr 03, 2023 • Last updated 1 day ago • 3 minute read
Italy is looking to ban lab grown meat as well as using flour from crickets in pizza or pasta. The Italian government says it’s about protecting Italy’s food supply, its heritage and its food culture.
Should Canada follow Italy’s lead?
Based on the reaction of my stomach when I think about eating a lab grown “burger” or some cricket pasta, my answer should be a strong yes, let’s ban it all. I’m also someone who values freedom, including the freedom to choose whacky dietary options and who believes the role of government should be limited.
At best, I can say, we need more information on these products before they’re approved for human consumption in Canada.
By more information, I don’t just mean more information for regulators, I’m talking about more information for the people who count the most here, the consumers. Regulators are people who crunch numbers, analyze and follow rules set by others – consumers will be the ones making clear choices in the grocery aisles and will need clear information.
Given that Singapore has already approved lab grown “chicken” for nuggets and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has given preliminary approval to a company growing lab based “chicken,” we need to have this debate now.
We are likely to see lab grown “chicken” products on American shelves within a year or so, but will consumers know what they are getting? That’s the biggest issue that I see, whether people will know that the “meat” they’re buying isn’t real regular meat but something started in a petri dish and grown in a lab.
I use quotation marks when referring to these products because if they’re approved, one thing that shouldn’t be allowed is to have these products adopt the names of the products they are mimicking.
Unless a product came from a real live chicken, it shouldn’t get to call itself chicken. Unless the beef product once stood on four hooves in a field while mooing, it shouldn’t get to claim that it’s beef, or a hamburger, or meatball or anything of the sort.
It’s true that lab grown “meat” starts out by extracting stem cells from a living, breathing, healthy animal and then growing “meat” in a lab. That doesn’t make it a chicken or a cow by any definition, it’s the epitome of a genetically engineered product and not one I want sitting on my plate.
What’s remarkable is the political alignment that has taken place in support or opposition to these products being introduced for human consumption. While once upon a time the political left would have been strongly against these products, many on that side of the political spectrum are the strongest supporters of lab grown meat citing climate change as a reason. On the other side are many conservative-minded voters who wouldn’t have given this a second thought a decade or so ago.
I’ve been opposed to tinkering with the food supply for a long time, not from a purist point of view but a practical one. More than a decade ago, I was producing front-page stories about federal and provincial funding for “mouse pig” — a pig bred to poop less after having mouse DNA spliced into its genetic structure.
It promised the ability to put more pigs into less space with less contamination due to waste. Thankfully, that project was dropped, as it appears the fish with the six-pack abs also faded away.
Any experimentation with our food supply needs to be done cautiously with a “do no harm” approach. It also shouldn’t be done without giving consumers all the information they need, including clear packaging telling you what you are buying.
Perhaps lab grown meat is part of our future as a society but at this point, it’s not part of mine, not until I have more information to make a clear decision. We’re not there yet.
blilley@postmedia.com
LILLEY: Should Canada follow Italy's lead and ban lab grown meat?
Lab grown meat has its supporters and will soon be economically viable but is it something we should embrace or be wary of consuming?
There must be a huge C02 dump hitting in the next few days.
PS...its -19° right now.
PS...its -19° right now.
Temperature records fall as April cold spell lingers
April 5 and we're still in the grip of Jack Frost. According to Environment Canada, several communities across the province broke temperature records ...
www.cjme.com
The northern hemisphere is experiencing the cold. Odd unless you consider solar storms driving the arctic cold south.Temperature records fall as April cold spell lingers
April 5 and we're still in the grip of Jack Frost. According to Environment Canada, several communities across the province broke temperature records ...