WELCOME TO THE WORLD HUMANITARIAN

 PEACE AND ECOLOGY NEWSLETTER.

Years ago, when I set out to help a  These Nobel prize winners helped to release the  Greenpeace crew from Russian custody. Black United States Senator win the White House, I did not  know how difficult the task was going to be, but unfortunately I  quickly learned. My personal goal was to slow global warming and  Barack Obama was my candidate for the job. Obama was my hope along with  the hope of a few million others for some real changes,  but so far  change has not been forthcoming and next year the president of the  United Nations: Ban Ki-moon, will be inviting world leaders to a  U.N. summit conference on the topic of global warming. He will be  extending that invitation to  international business leaders and  I will be reporting  to you, along with several thousand  of my journalist compatriots on whom exactly  attends the conference and  which individuals decide they  can continue to ignore the problem. It may be our last  chance to slow and reverse global warming and at  the very least, we  can ignore and slow down the  individuals and companies who do not take  global warming  seriously. Signed: Joseph Raglione  Executive director: The World Humanitarian  Peace and Ecology Movement. ============================================================== THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE WAS FROM  PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA. Joseph -- When you and I set out on this journey three years ago,  we knew that ours would be a lengthy struggle to build  a new foundation for this country -- one that would  require squaring off against the special interests who  had spent decades stacking the deck in their favor. Today, it is clear that you have shifted the odds. This morning, I signed into law a bill that represents  the most sweeping reforms of Wall Street since the Great Depression, and the toughest consumer  financial protections this nation has ever seen.  I know that I am able to do so only because the tens  of thousands of volunteers who make up the  backbone of this movement overcame the most  potent attack ads and the most powerful lobbying  the special interests could put forward. Our special-interest opponents and their Republican  allies have now set their sights on the elections in November as their best chance to overturn the  historic progress we've made together. Organizing for America counts entirely on supporters  like you to fight back -- no special interests,  no corporate PACs. To keep making change and to  defend the change we have already won, Because of Wall Street reform, we will ensure  that Americans applying for a credit card, a  mortgage, or a student loan will never again be asked to sign their name under pages of  confusing fine print. We will crack down on  abusive lending practices and make sure that  lenders don't cheat the system -- and create a  new watchdog to enforce these consumer protections. And we will put an end to taxpayer-funded bailouts,  giving us the ability to wind down any large financial  institution if it should ever fail. The passage of Wall Street reform is at the forefront  of the change we seek, and it will provide a  foundation for a stronger and safer economy. It is a foundation built upon the progress of the  Recovery Act, which has turned 22 months of job losses into six consecutive months of private-sector  job growth. And it is a foundation reinforced by the historic health reform we passed this spring, which  is already giving new benefits to more than 100  million Americans, ushering another 1 million Americans into coverage by next year. But today's victory is not where our fight ends. Organizing for America and I will move forward in  the months ahead on the tough fights we have  yet to finish -- even if cynics say we should wait  until after the fall elections. This movement has  never catered to the conventional wisdom of  Washington. And we have fought to ensure that  our progress is never held hostage by our politics. You and I did not build this movement to win one election. We did not come together to pass one  single piece of legislation. We are fighting for  nothing less than a new foundation for our country  -- and that work is not complete. As we face the  challenges ahead, I am relying on you to stand  with me. We need you to contribute so we have the resources necessary going into the election.  Please  donate $5 or more today and help Organizing for America  lay the groundwork for the fights that lay ahead.  https://donate.barackobama.com/WallStreetReformed Thank you for helping us get here, President Barack Obama

Paid for by Organizing for America, a project of the Democratic National Committee -- 430 South Capitol Street SE, Washington, D.C. 20003. This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. Contributions or gifts to the Democratic National Committee are not deductible as charitable contributions for income tax purposes. =============================  If you wish to help the World Humanitarian Peace and Ecology Movement, please send your donation, large or small, to Joseph Raglione, The World Humanitarian Peace and Ecology Movement....3851-56th.,St., Laval West, Laval,  Quebec, Canada.  H7R1M5  We will send you a Tax Receipt and full disclosure information as to where  your donation is going and for what purpose. Thank You For Your Help!                  Change Email Address | Unsubscribe

The Secretary-General of the united nations,

 Ban Ki-moon, with

 important off-the-cuff remarks at a Sierra Leone press conference.

Q: What is the UN’s concern on climate change and how is 
Sierra Leone expected to participate in this process? Secondly, are
 you concerned that Russian troops will go beyond the Crimean 
region of Ukraine?

SG: For your first question on climate change, I had an in-depth
 discussion with President Koroma in my bilateral meeting and with the
 cabinet members, including the Vice-President. This is one of the
 most serious, important issues which world leaders must tackle
 without wasting any further time. 

Time is of essence. You have seen so many such cases of extreme 
weather patterns which have been striking all around the world. 
It is not only in the developing world; it happened even in the 
middle of New York, Manhattan. So it is happening. 

Climate change is happening much, much faster than one would 
expect. The science has made it simply clear that climate change 
is happening because of human behaviour. And if it is happening
because of us then it is us, we, human beings, who must address
this one, who must correct [it]. We have only one earth, 

one planet earth. Some people who are wasting, who do not support
this, may think that we have “planet B”.
No, we only have one planet earth. There is no plan B. 

We have only plan, one plan A. That is why I really am emphasizing 
the importance of this issue, particularly we need a political
 leadership role. That is why I am convening on 23 September 
this year at the United Nations a world leaders climate change

summit meeting. This time I am inviting not only political leaders but
business leaders and civil society leaders because this is one that 
everyone must be doing.There [are] no national, geographic
 boundaries. Climate change might have happened 

because of some part of industrialized countries but the impact does
not respect any natural borders. It impacts the whole world, 
all of us. We must have a universal, global, legal climate agreement
 by 2015, next year. That is a must. 

That is why the United Nations has taken three priorities now:
one priority, the Millennium Development Goals. 
The second priority: define post-2015 […] 

that is sustainable development goals. Then climate change. 

So I have invited President Koroma and he gladly accepted that 
he would come,and I asked President Koroma, African leaders, 
that they raise their voices. If not African leaders who have 
to raise voices, who will do it? We need to do it.

On your second question, in fact I am not here to address all these
 questions but while I stay here, I am also addressing this issue. 
This is very, very serious issue. Even this morning in Freetown,
I had a long talk with Secretary of United States John Kerry on how
 to address this issue. During the last few days, 

I have been engaging with many world leaders, starting from 
President Putin of the Russian Federation and I met the 
Foreign Minister of Russia two days ago in Geneva. 
I have been engaging with the leaders of France, Great Britain,
Germany, the European Union, the OSCE and many world leaders 
with whom I have discussed this matter very seriously. 

As Secretary-General of the United Nations, what is most important
 and urgent is that the principle of unity, sovereignty and territorial 
integrity of Ukraine must be protected. Preservation, protection of
 this is very important. This is a fundamental principle of the
United Nations Charter.
It is clear. At the same time, I have been urging both parties and
 other concerned parties to lower down their temperature, 

lower their unnecessarily provocative rhetoric. I have been urging 
Russian and Ukrainian authorities to sit down together and engage
 in constructive and direct dialogue to resolve this issue.
 I have dispatched my Deputy Secretary-General, Jan Eliasson,
 to Kiev. He is now in Kiev.
I also dispatched my Special Envoy Robert Serry

to Kiev. He visited Crimea yesterday and he is still in Crimea to 
apprise the situation there and how the United Nations can help 
this one. Most importantly, this should be resolved between the
parties concerned. But because peace and security in Ukraine has
very serious regional and in a sense global implications, we must
address this issue on an urgent basis. And I am urging from 
Freetown again those leaders of Russia and the Ukrainian 
authorities to sit down together and directly resolve this issue. 

And the UN is ready to provide whatever assistance and role to play 
in first of all defusing these tensions and also help maintain all 
United Nations Charter principles of unity, sovereignty and territorial
integrity.
Thank you.

Q: What message of hope do you have for the people of Sierra Leone 
that as we journey into the Agenda for Prosperity the UN will continue
to stand by us until we attain sustainable national development?

SG: Thank you. Before I answer your question, let me add one [thing]
which I had forgotten to mention about the situation in Ukraine. 
I have decided to dispatch the Assistant Secretary-General 
for Human Rights, Mr. Ivan Simonovic, to Ukraine to visit

Kiev and the eastern part of Ukraine, including Crimea, to see and
monitor the human rights situation there. 
his is what I wanted to add to the AP correspondent.

On the question raised by you - what kind of message we can 
learn from the people of Sierra Leone-, my first answer would 
be that the people of Sierra Leone should be very proud of 
what they have achieved. Out of this civil war, out of war, 
you have successfully established peace and stability not only
for your own country but also for the region. From a recipient 
country of United Nations peacekeeping operations,

you have transformed yourself as a donor country in peacekeeping 
operations. 

As I just mentioned, you are at least participating in six or seven 
peacekeeping operations.

It is not only on the African continent, […] in Lebanon, UNIFIL. 
That means you are contributing to global peace and security. 
You should be proud of that. Now you are making remarkable 
economic progress -- 13 to 14 per cent annual economic growth.
That is remarkable. It is very difficult to see that kind of economic

growth at this time particularly. I know that many African countries
are making good economic progress, around 6 to 8 or 9, 
even 10 per cent. This 13-14 percent is remarkable. 
I hope this will continue under the leadership of President
Koroma. 
The United Nations will spare no effort in working together with
 concerned, related ministries and ministers and business 
communities to work for that progress so that President Koroma 
and his successors will be able to meet this vision of 
President Koroma, Agenda for Prosperity, even five years before,
 as he mentioned -- by 2030, in line with the United Nations
 sustainable development blueprint. Now, that I said should 
not be a source of complacency. There are many areas 
[in which] you have to grow. I have emphasized the importance
 of a firm foundation of rule of law, good governance, quality 
education. Those are two pillars on which you can build further. 

When you have good governance on the basis of a good
 rule of law system, you can build further your economic 
and social and political stability. When you have educated,
trained human resources through quality education that is 
promising a future much, much better and brighter future
of your country. 

This is what I can tell you based on the experience of my own
country, Korea: good education, good governance and 

foundation of the rule of law. I hope this will give some further
motivation to Sierra Leoneans to move ahead for a brighter, 
better future for all.
Thank you very much.

---

Off-the-Cuff on 5 March 2014

• Freetown, Sierra Leone - Transcript of the Secretary-General's remarks at a 
• Joint Press Conference with President of Sierra Leone

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  Attention world leaders! You do not have to spend Millions of Dollars creating armies and war machines.        Your Industrial polluters are the most dangerous people on Earth and global warming has arrived sooner than you thought,  assuming of course most of you can think.                                                                                -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) ( http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=80167&eocn=te&eoci=index) say 2012 was the ninth warmest year since 1880, continuing a long-term trend of rising global temperatures. The ten warmest years in the 132-year record have all occurred since 1998. The last year that was cooler than average was 1976.

The map (on their web site and) at the top depicts temperature anomalies, or changes, by region in 2012; it does not show absolute temperature. Reds and blues show how much warmer or cooler each area was in 2012 compared to an averaged base period from 1951–1980. For more explanation of how the analysis works, read World of Change: Global Temperatures.

The average temperature in 2012 was about 14.6 degrees Celsius (58.3 degrees Fahrenheit), which is 0.55°C (1.0°F) warmer than the mid-20th century base period. The average global temperature has increased 0.8°C (1.4°F) since 1880, and most of that change has occurred in the past four decades.

The line plot above shows yearly temperature anomalies from 1880 to 2011 as recorded by NASA GISS, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Climatic Data Center, the Japanese Meteorological Agency, and the Met Office Hadley Centre in the United Kingdom. All four institutions tally temperature data from stations around the world and make independent judgments about whether the year was warm or cool compared to other years. Though there are minor variations from year to year, all four records show peaks and valleys in sync with each other. All show rapid warming in the past few decades, and all show the last decade as the warmest.

Scientists emphasize that weather patterns cause fluctuations in average temperatures from year to year, but the continued increase in greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere assures that there will be a long-term rise in global temperatures. Each individual year will not necessarily be warmer than the previous year, but scientists expect each decade to be warmer than the previous decade.

“One more year of numbers isn’t in itself significant,” GISS climatologist Gavin Schmidt said. “What matters is this decade is warmer than the last decade, and that decade was warmer than the decade before. The planet is warming. The reason it’s warming is because we are pumping increasing amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.”

Carbon dioxide traps heat and largely controls Earth’s climate. It occurs naturally but is also released by the burning of fossil fuels for energy. The level of carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere has been rising consistently for decades, largely driven by increasing man-made emissions. The carbon dioxide level in the atmosphere was about 285 parts per million in 1880, the first year of the GISS temperature record. By 1960, the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration, measured at NOAA’s Mauna Loa Observatory, was about 315 parts per million. Today, that measurement exceeds 390 parts per million.

The continental U.S. endured its warmest year on record by far, according to NOAA, the official keeper of U.S. weather records. NOAA also announced that global temperatures were 10th warmeston record by their analysis methods.

“The U.S. temperatures in the summer of 2012 are an example of a new trend of outlying seasonal extremes that are warmer than the hottest seasonal temperatures of the mid-20th century,” NASA GISS director James E. Hansen said. “The climate dice are now loaded. Some seasons still will be cooler than the long-term average, but the perceptive person should notice that the frequency of unusually warm extremes is increasing. It is the extremes that have the most impact on people and other life on the planet.”

1. References

2. NASA (2013, January 15) NASA Finds 2012 Sustained Long-Term Climate Warming Trend. Accessed January 15, 2013.
3. NASA Earth Observatory (n.d.) World of Change: Global Temperatures. Accessed January 15, 2013.
4. NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (n.d.) GISS Surface Temperature Analysis. Accessed January 15, 2013.
5. NOAA National Climatic Data Center (2013, January 15) State of the Climate: 2012. Accessed January 15, 2013.

NASA images by Robert Simmon, based on data from the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, NOAANational Climatic Data Center, Met Office Hadley Centre/Climatic Research Unit, and the Japanese Meteorological Agency. Caption by Patrick Lynch and Mike Carlowicz.

Instrument: 

In situ Measurement

1. 
   Joseph Raglione27 February 2014 10:22

   Hello Gentle People:
   Did you know that a few years ago: Al Gore and John Kerry and Ted Kennedy and Michael Moore all contacted me? I am a nobody from Canada but I had something they needed...a powerful computer and a few million readers.They wanted me to write for their new young presidential candidate, a U.S. Senator by the name of Barack Obama.
   
   Millions of computer writers joined together to bring about an agenda of change and that change must continue today if we are going to survive global warming.
   
   Don't give up trying to find the facts because we have introduced informative and educational content well worth reading...especially the articles created by NASA and the information they distribute utilizing their spectacular satellites circling the Earth.  Instruments so well calibrated they can measure you inch by inch. Just joking folks but I do strongly suggest you pass on any article based on facts that helps to protect the environment. Greenpeace continues to be a great source of honest facts and the United Nations is excellent for understanding our human rights. Always try to discover what is educational and important and you do not have to be in school to learn new things!
   I am one of the many writers who today continue to use computers for social change and surprisingly, it is working! The new Electric Cars on the market would not have entered the market or even exist if we had not pushed hard for change. In order to create social changes within the United States and Canada and the World we must continue the struggle against selfish greed and industrial pollution. What makes me slightly different is the fact that I am willing to share my Blog space with other writers. I give them full credit for their work. Visit my human4us2blogspot...I use the space for publishing articles geared towards the world humanitarian peace and ecology movement. As a World Humanitarian I often link to: the United Nations, Green-Peace, the Sierra Club, the W.W.F, Amnesty International, the Campus Progress Report, and many many more including the office of the President of Russia, Senator Barbara Boxer, the Barack Obama campaign, the office of the Prime minister of Canada and I could go on for a while because I've been on the internet from the beginning. I also remember helping TIG or the "Taking it Global" kids with some surreptitious suggestions a few years ago and then I backed off and watched their progress. This brings me to an important point.
   If you want to change the world, don't ask for money and don't expect to be acknowledged or rewarded for your efforts. In fact expect the opposite because our specie: Homo Sapien, is an Omnivorous and territorial and often selfish creature and attempting to change our human nature using culture is a difficult task. You don't have to be any of the following: Buddha, Jesus Christ, Mohammed, Solomon, Ghandi or the Dalai Lama; just do the work needed for change and stay as positive and happy as possible. Being a Vegetarian helps! Don't forget to plant hundreds if not thousands of Trees everywhere. Trees are desperately needed to slow global warming. After planting Trees, make more than one food growing garden where it is needed most. I suggest in your own back yard but there is always a need in the middle of poor city areas.  Roof tops are great places for gardens if they are strong enough to hold the soil. I suggest gardens are necessary anywhere the poor and desperate congregate on this small Blue Planet we call Earth.
     Always use the following Ethics in whatever you do. They include: Freedom with Honesty and Justice, Courage with Compassion and Dignity, Tolerance with Sharing and Caring and Humor, Kindness with Peace in Love and in Harmony with all living things. I challenge you to find as many more positive concepts as possible and include them in the list.
   P.S. For you tough kids out there, don't forget to protest injustice at every possibility even if it means going to jail. Simply don't forget to do it the way Ghandi did, with non violent protest. ;-)
   Have a great day and a wonderful life!
   Signed: Joseph Raglione
2. 
   

---

February 27, 2014

Gentle People:

 I do not like being trained. In fact I dislike it intensely! However, if you must train people and animals, I suggest you follow the best guidelines.

 I will not be attending your training session but you can use this information as a basis for your new sessions.

  As a web based international journalist for human rights and the environment I believe in freedom with justice and courage, compassion with dignity and tolerance and humour, peace with love and harmony towards all life on Earth.

  I am excellent at what I do and if you want to win the next election, I strongly suggest you follow my example. Protecting and enhancing the natural environment along with human rights and human dignity, must always be a priority for you. Strong new consumer protection laws must be created with better and longer product guarantees. This will create work within your home nation and slow the importation of cheap junk from other countries.

  If you talk about creating environmentally friendly low income housing and public gardens within cities while banning gas burning cars and prioritizing all Electric vehicles: clean public transportation and Bicycle paths, you will win the attention and respect of the people. For example, President Obama espoused humanitarian and environmental concepts years ago and he won the White House! He began to lose public support when he was forced away from his original concepts by the Banks and the Oil and Coal industries and their Republican friends in Congress. Oil based Carbon must be removed from our atmosphere even if that means removing Oil and Coal from our economy. They must be replaced with clean energy creating alternatives which surprisingly, includes new and safer Nuclear Reactors.

 P.S. I can feel you shrugging your shoulders and getting ready to forget I exist. 

 That, I promise, will not work in your best interests. I am, however,  going to place your invitation on my Google blog and maybe it will create some interest for your Montreal NDP training session.

Joseph Raglione.

Executive Director: The World Humanitarian Peace and Ecology Movement. 

From: npd-qc@npd.ca
To: npd-qc@npd.ca
Subject: Formations NPD/NDP training sessions
Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2014 16:14:05 +0000

Bonjour,

Après la dernière formation en mi-février à laquelle 60 membres ont participé,  l'équipe d'organisation de la section Québec offrira deux autres journées de formation (une en français et l’autre en anglais) aux membres du NPD de la grande région de Montréal. 

La formation en français aura lieu le dimanche 23 mars de 10h à 16h au bureau de la Section Québec.

L’adresse est le 4428, boulevard Saint-Laurent, bureau 300 (entre Marianne et Mont Royal), situé à 10 minutes à pied du métro Mont-Royal. 

Les sujets suivants seront abordés: 

1. L'historique du Nouveau parti démocratique et ses accomplissements
2. La structure de la section Québec et rôle d'une association
3. Le financement
4. La préparation électorale
5. Défis et priorités pour 2015

Du café et des viennoiseries seront offerts le matin. Les participants auront une heure pour diner. Vous pouvez apporter votre lunch, ou manger à l'extérieur. Plusieurs restaurants sont proches du bureau de la Section Québec.

Veuillez confirmer votre participation à la formation en français avant le 14 mars à Emilie Beauchesne emilie@npd.ca 

Merci de votre collaboration, 

L’équipe de l’organisation

Section Québec du NPD

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hello,

Following the mid-February training session in which 60 of our members participated, the Quebec organization team will be offering two more training sessions (one in French and one in English) for members from the greater Montreal area. 

The English training session will take place on Saturday, March 22, 2014, from 10am until about 4pm at the Quebec Section office.

The address is 4428 blvd Saint-Laurent, suite 300 (between Marianne and Mont Royal), about a 10 minute walk from Mont Royal metro station.

 The following topics will be covered:

1.       The NDP’s history and accomplishments

2.       The structure of the Quebec Section

3.       Fundraising

4.       Election preparedness

5.       Challenges and priorities for 2015

Coffee and snacks will be provided in the morning.  Participants will be given an hour to have lunch at one of the many restaurants located near the Quebec Section office. 

Please confirm your participation in the English training session before March 14 by writing to: dan@ndp.ca  

Thank you for your collaboration. 

The Org Team

NDP, Quebec Section

COPE225:JL /  SEPB225:JL
=================================================

North Carolina’s Moral Monday movement held a massive “Moral March” in Raleigh on Feb 10,2014, which began at Shaw University ... Tens of thousands of activists—from all backgrounds, races and causes—marched from Shaw to the North Carolina State Capitol, where they held an exuberant rally protesting the right-wing policies of the North Carolina government.
They're protesting the state's Republicans, who took over the legislature in 2010 and the governor's office in 2012 with the financial support of greedy billionaire Art Pope and with their marching orders written by ALEC.

Here's what they (the government)did:
*eliminated the earned-income tax credit for 900,000 North Carolinians;
*refused Medicaid coverage for 500,000;
*ended federal unemployment benefits for 170,000;
*cut pre-K for 30,000 kids while shifting $90 million from public education to voucher schools;
*slashed taxes for the top 5 percent while raising taxes on the bottom 95 percent;
*axed public financing of judicial races;
*prohibited death row inmates from challenging racially discriminatory verdicts;
*passed one of the country’s most draconian anti-choice laws;
*enacted the country’s worst voter suppression law which mandates strict voter ID, cuts early voting and eliminates same-day registration.

Writes Berman:
The fierce reaction against these policies led to the Moral Monday movement, when nearly 1,000 activists were arrested for nonviolent civil disobedience inside the North Carolina General Assembly. Rallies were held in more than thirty cities across the state and the approval ratings of North Carolina Republicans fell into the toilet. Sample signs at today’s rally: “OMG, GOP, WTF. It’s 2014, not 1954!!!” “Welcome to North Carolina. Turn Your Watch Back 50 Years!”...
The Moral Monday protests transformed North Carolina politics in 2013, building a multiracial, multi-issue movement centered around social justice such as the South hadn’t seen since the 1960s. “We have come to say to the extremists, who ignore the common good and have chosen the low road, your actions have worked in reverse,” said Reverend William Barber II, president of the North Carolina NAACP and the leader of the Moral Monday movement, in his boisterous keynote speech. “You may have thought you were going to discourage us, but instead you have encouraged us. The more you push us back, the more we will fight to go forward. The more you try to oppress us, the more you will inspire us.”
Here's what the Moral Monday protesters want:
1.Secure pro-labor, anti-poverty policies that insure economic sustainability;
2.Provide well-funded, quality public education for all;
3.Stand up for the health of every North Carolinian by promoting health care access and environmental justice across all the state's communities;
4.Address the continuing inequalities in the criminal justice system and ensure equality under the law for every person, regardless of race, class, creed, documentation or sexual preference;
5.Protect and expand voting rights for people of color, women, immigrants, the elderly and students to safeguard fair democratic representation.
Berman predicts the movement will continue to grow this year. Let's hope.
Posted by Teamster Power at 5:09 PM

------------------------------------------------------
In case you forgot: The Koch Industries Climate Denial Front Group is the
American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)

Read more about the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)
Find more recipients of Koch foundation money
$525,858 received from Koch foundations 2005-2011 [Total Koch foundation grants 1997-2011: $858,858]
American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is one-stop shopping for state elected officials interested in perusing the wares of an array of Koch-funded opposition organizations including IER, ACCF, Mercatus and other sources.The American Legislative Exchange Council is a member of the State Policy Network.

ALEC has successfully peddled corporate-written legislation to numerous states attacking the Kyoto Protocol, undermining climate science education in schools and numerous other anti-environmental legislation. ALEC has close ties to Koch Industries, which helped bail the organization out of financial troubles with a half-million dollar grant.

ALEC publishes its own materials as well, including a "Climate Change Overview for State Legislators" which downplays the science and risks of global warming and exaggerates the costs of addressing it. The Overview was written by Daniel Simmons, who moved from ALEC to become AEA's Director of State Affairs. Simmons was at the Mercatus Institute before ALEC and is a graduate of the George Mason University School of Law.

Charles G. Koch is a recipient of ALEC's 1994 "Adam Smith Award."

Read more about the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)
American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) on ExxonSecrets.org

American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) on SourceWatch.org

Find more recipients of Koch foundation money
View "Koch's Web of Dirty Money and Influence"

Topics
global warming
Tags
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The forest can't defend itself
The forest can’t defend itself

The forest can’t defend itself.

That’s why Greenpeace and two campaigners refuse to be silenced by a $7 million lawsuit by Resolute Forest Products for standing up to their reckless clear-cutting of Canada’s Boreal Forest. Sign the #StandForForests pledge now to help protect this critical habitat and add your name to the Guardian Tree as a symbol of our shared resolve to protect Canadian forests.

Yes, I stand with Greenpeace for forests.
Joseph Raglione

This has been a confusing week for me. For years I and my political activist friends voted against Nuclear fusion reactors. We were right to protest because the first reactors were commercial and dangerous and potential bomb makers. Yesterday, I discovered that the Coal and Oil industries were and continue to be also against Nuclear reactors; but for very different reasons. They are afraid of how today's clean and efficient and much safer reactors will create too much competition for them. In the past Oil companies actively supported anti-nuclear demonstrators. In the past nuclear bombs scared the living hell out of all of us. Hiroshima and Nagasaki along with thousands of above and underground Atom bomb tests terrified millions of people around the world and with good reason...we were staring death directly in the face!

Nuclear melt-downs entrenched the fear of nuclear energy deep into our souls. Mile-Island and Chernobyl and recently the Japanese disaster maintained that fear...but today there is proof that the cleanest energy creating systems on the planet belong to the Nuclear fusion industry. Nothing is fail safe but compared to Coal and Oil, nuclear energy has an extremely tiny risk, especially with the new reactors. A risk mitigated with modern day fail-safe systems which shut down the reactors the moment any problem is discovered. The modern day reactors even recycle and re-use their own nuclear waste.

Having learned to duck under a school desk during a nuclear bomb alert, I continue to fear nuclear fusion. The problem is that nuclear fusion is not killing us! Global warming created by Coal and Oil pollution, along with industrial by-products such as Plastic, are proving to be a lot more dangerous! If I were the president of the United States and I had a choice between the Oil industry and the Nuclear industry, I would choose the nuclear industry. They have cleaned up their act and the modern and safer reactors deserve another chance. As for the Oil and Gas industry, the C.B.C. has found new evidence of a cover up.

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A CBC News investigation has unearthed a critical report that the federal regulator effectively buried for several years about a rupture on a trouble-prone TransCanada natural gas pipeline.

On July 20, 2009, the Peace River Mainline in northern Alberta exploded, sending 50-metre-tall flames into the air and razing a two-hectare wooded area.

Few people ever learned of the rupture — one of the largest in the past decade — other than the Dene Tha’ First Nation, whose traditional territory it happened on.

In an early 2011 draft report about the incident, the National Energy Board criticized TransCanada, the operator of the line owned by its subsidiary NOVA Gas Transmission, for “inadequate” field inspections and “ineffective” management.

Final reports are typically published by the investigative bodies, either the NEB or the Transportation Safety Board, but this report wasn’t released until this January when the CBC obtained it through an access-to-information request.

The NEB said the delay was caused by an “administrative error” when an employee left without transferring the file over.

TransCanada did not respond to a CBC request for an interview.

Environmental policy expert Nathan Lemphers says he’s “deeply concerned” that the federal regulator kept the “fairly damning” report behind closed doors.

“It’s quite likely that there are other incidents like this that the public simply doesn’t know about,” said Lemphers, a former Pembina Institute analyst. “This one stands out simply because of its size and the timing and the company involved.”

Lemphers questions whether TransCanada’s contentious Keystone XL proposal, under environmental review in the U.S. at the same time, had a bearing on the regulator not publishing the Peace River Mainline draft report.

“It's hard to guess intentions,” said Lemphers. “It certainly seems fishy from the outside that this report was kept quiet due to an apparent administrative error. If the report came out it would have been, risen to immediate public attention.”

In January 2011, TransCanada was in the midst of negotiating dozens of U.S. safety requests on pipeline construction, operation and design on the controversial Keystone XL proposal. That was followed by several months of public comments in the States later that year.

The Keystone XL project, first proposed in 2008, is still in limbo. A crucial assessment released last week said there are no major environmental objections to the $7-billion mega-project, but a 90-day comment period still remains.

Members of Dene Tha’ First Nations community of Chateh, about 50 kilometres away from the site of the blast, also want to know why the report was not released until now.

“They should let the public know about these deficiencies that exist,” said Baptiste Metchooyeah, the former Dene Tha’ First Nation lands director. “We have to start saying something about these incidents, because the regulator is not there for us.”

According to the report, the pipeline spewed 1.45 million cubic metres of natural gas – equivalent to the volume of 580 Olympic-sized pools – over a period of hours before TransCanada stopped the flow and put out the fire.

Fabian Chonkolay, a local hunter who flew over the site, described the aftermath as looking like a “big ball of fire” had consumed the forest. “Just like when they drop a bomb,” he said.

Chateh residents fear that because the area is remote, it might be considered a low-risk area for pipeline operators, leading to fewer safety precautions. The pipeline runs under the community of Chateh, and hunters and trappers often travel in the area.

“It’s way in the bush, but there’s a lot of activities going on out there,” said Chonkolay.

The report reveals that the Peace River Mainline has a historically high rate of ruptures — six since the 1970s. The Alberta pipeline’s rupture rate is five times higher than Canada’s national rupture rate, reported in a 2004 study.

The pipeline had an uncommon problem: a bacteria that caused “particularly aggressive growth rates” of corrosion. But, as the NEB report notes, the bacteria was a known threat to the pipeline and caused a rupture in 2002.

The section of the pipeline that burst in 2009 was 95 per cent corroded. TransCanada’s own rules required that it physically inspect a pipeline when it reached 75 per cent corrosion, the report says.

The report notes the inline inspection tool failed to accurately assess the depth of the “corrosion within corrosion.”

Pipeline integrity experts say that given the pipeline’s high rate of ruptures and its known corrosion problems, the company ran along the “ragged edge” of the rules. Many operators use far lower thresholds, closer to 40 or 50 per cent corrosion, before inspecting.

The NEB says that since the incident, TransCanada changed criteria for identifying corrosion, while the NEB made changes to its management requirements for pipeline operators.

The report on the 2009 rupture sat in draft stage for nearly three years, only coming to light when CBC obtained a copy this January.

NEB spokesperson Rebecca Taylor wrote in an email that the investigation closed Jan. 19, 2011.

“The delay in publishing this report to our external website in no way compromised the safe operation of the Peace River Mainline,” said Taylor.

CBC asked for the report last October on at least four separate occasions. NEB refused to release the report to CBC News, saying that it could be requested through access-to-information.

When the report was released, the final report was dated November 2013. A one and a half page section on TransCanada’s field inspection was redacted in the 2011 draft and changed in the final report.

NEB says they asked CBC to request the document through access to information to meet “legal and confidentiality obligations associated with the release of the document.”

For the Dene Tha’ First Nations community that lives above the pipeline, the focus is on what happens in the future.

In 2010, TransCanada began signalling its intent to decommission a 266-kilometre southern section of the line, built in 1968. The NEB is holding public hearings soon to get input as it decides whether to approve the move and the conditions.

But the section under review for decommissioning doesn’t extend into the northern Alberta region where Chonkolay lives.

“It’s an old pipeline,” said Chonkolay. “Heaven knows how many more damage it’s going to do in the future. … How many more times is it going to rupture?”

----- Original Message ----- An open letter... To: Barack Obama From Joseph Raglione. Distributed: January 29, 2014. 12:58 PM Dear President Obama. On some days I am not sure if you are simply stringing us along! Do Oil Pipelines remain on your political agenda? If so, what happened to all those alternative energy systems people have created? For example: Water and Wind Mills and Rooftop Solar Panels. How about super insulated homes or underground apartments? How about those fourth generation nuclear power plants that shut down at the smallest hint of a problem and reuse their own waste material? They are proving to be cleaner than Coal and Oil and they do not create global warming.

To quickly change the subject... How can it be possible that hand guns and assault rifles are legally allowed in the hands of almost every person within the United States? If the second amendment is the problem, hold a national referendum utilizing Television and Telephone and ask the question, should we amend the second amendment to limit assault rifles and hand guns? Personally, I believe the second amendment was created to protect your American ancestors from invasion by the British. it was not intended to create an armed camp today where children and babies are murdered on a regular basis. What human being with any sense of moral or ethical judgement wants to see innocent children slaughtered like Cattle? What fools within your federal government want to allow this kind of mayhem to continue? My next question is aimed at your new Medicaid system? Are you winning or losing ground? Are U.S. citizens getting the help they need from hospitals and clinics? Are multi-national corporations and special interest groups continuing to dictate terms to Washington members of Congress? If so who are these organizations and why are they not exposed in the Media? How can so many members of the Republican party be so ignorant about the fact of global warming? There is pictorial evidence that Glaciers have melted more within the last ten years than any other time in recorded history! Arctic Ice is also going fast and above the Arctic and Antarctic ice caps, large Ozone holes have become a terrible reality! They are created by man made pollution. With pollution, fresh water has become a commodity for sale in toxic plastic bottles and not free for everybody! To once again change the subject, why are Television commercials filled with polluting internal combustion engine cars when alternative all Electric vehicles are now available? Everybody is aware that Carbon Monoxide is a deadly gas and it should be outlawed and certainly not pumped into the air we all breath! What is happening with the national Electric Grid and the promised alternative energy sources? Has that been allowed to fail and if so who is responsible? T.V. should be regulated and violence reduced. They are using violence to sell almost everything on television. Educational channels should proliferate as opposed to so-called reality channels where millions of T.V. viewers are forced to sit and passively watch a parade of low intelligence people doing basically foolish attention grabbing stunts. These waste of time programs have one purpose and that is to sell cheap time limited and pollution creating products to people with low incomes and low intelligence. Products which quickly end up in large garbage dumps all over the world and also within large circular Gyers within our Oceans. Television viewers are brain-washed from childhood to watch violence on television. Repeated exposure to violence does desensitize the human capacity for generosity and compassion. Adults brought up by violence in the Media are desensitized to the violence in real life. This allows gun merchants to continue making obscene profits while proliferating deadly international wars! Television has become a corporate controlled vehicle for selling gas burning vehicles in order to maintain their economic status. I suggest science programs like the Discovery Channel replace much of the garbage now paraded on television. I suggest a strong code of Ethics be applied to all potential commercials on television. Two Important questions must be asked before any product be granted television time. 1. Is this product safe for people to eat or use? 2. How will this product affect the environment? For example, these two minutes of education are brought to you by Tesla, the anti- pollution Electric Car company. Signed: Joseph Raglione Ex/Dir: The World Humanitarian Peace and Ecology Movement.