This week:

• WWF Canada communications director Josh Laughren reflects on some early participation numbers from Earth Hour 2009, which involved a respectable fraction of the human race, contemplates the value of Earth Hour symbolism, and addresses some common criticisms.
• The TGM news team considers new international pressures on Canada to change course on global warming policy.

The headlines in brief:

• The Canadian government has admitted that it may have to come in line with new American regulations on global warming.
• Ontario has passed a new public health bill that requires larger industries to publish a list of all toxic chemical usages to the public.
• Ecojustice Canada filed for a new approval hearing for Shell tar sand expansions after the company cancelled plans to implement green-house gas reduction strategies.
• Ontario announced this week that provincial institutions would be required to buy exclusively locally grown food from now on.
• The world’s oil giants are found to be investing less in renewable energy on average than countries without oil in a new study.
• The first full-scale deep ocean mining project is set to take place off the coast of Papua, New Guinea in 2011.

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- Photo credit: Denmar -