RING OF FIRE
Get this………..Ontario Premier Doug Ford is pushing forward with plans for a proposed mining belt in Northern Ontario called the Ring of Fire, which, from an emissions standpoint, would be equivalent to the Alberta Tar Sands. Crazy right?!?!!? Currently, the area is covered with peatlands which serve as one of the worlds biggest refrigerators. Globally peatlands trap 0.37 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) a year – storing more carbon than all other vegetation types in the world combined! Who loves Peat! The problem is when peatlands warm, they release that trapped CO2 in the form of methane. This mega project risks converting 35 billion tonnes of cooling, CO2-storing peat into a greenhouse gas emitter, spewing forth some of the most dangerous vapours — methane.
We'll keep our eyes peeled for opportunities to bring POW's voice to the table with other allies. Currently, the federal environment minister, Jonathan Wilkinson, has agreed to conduct a regional assessment on the Ring of Fire s to consider potential adverse effects on climate change, fisheries and endangered species as well as a high likelihood of impacts on the rights of Indigenous people. Stay tuned.