This week:

• Theological correspondent Simon Watson brings a prominent aboriginal voice to TGM: we’re very pleased to feature Native American poet, literary critic, activist and novelist Dr. Paula Gunn Allen. In part one of the program, she speaks with Simon Watson about the ways in which nature permeates her literary work. In part two of the program, Allen presents a reading of her poetry.
• Kevin Farmer and Jordan Poppenk speak about the pledge voiced by the Federal Conservatives this week that no formal withdrawal will be made from the Kyoto protocol, even though Canada has rejected its targets.

The headlines in brief:

• The Montreal Metropolitan Community has pitched a one billion dollar waste-management plan to the Quebec government that would eliminate as much GHG as by taking 200,000 vehicles off the road;
• Budget woes threatening Toronto’s Green Plan were relieved when Toronto city council voted to endorse Mayor David Miller’s controversial new taxes;
• A federal report has warned of ballooning billion-dollar economic losses due to climate change and smog in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa and Windsor;
• The Quebec Liberal cabinet approved construction of the $840-million Rabaska liquefied natural gas port in Levis;
• Alberta Environment Minister Rob Renner has announced a 10 cent to $1 surcharge on all new paint purchases to fund a provincial waste management strategy;
• The Alberta government has ordered the village of Boyle, northeast of Edmonton, to immediately cut down on its water consumption;
• Canada’s biggest energy company, EnCana Corporation, faces environmental charges after installing a gas pipeline in a southeastern Alberta wildlife area without a permit;
• Environment Minister John Baird said this week Canada will not formally withdraw from the Kyoto protocol;
• A major UN report says that environmental degradation is affecting the health, wealth and well-being of people around the world;
• Scientists say that the California wildfires are difficult to blame on climate change, but that evidence suggests forest fires will be more common in the future.

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