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Premier Dalton McGuinty said the move is aimed at curbing use of energy-sucking dryers, which burn up to six per cent of Ontario's power.

This recent change is one of many in a movement pushing for less restrictions in the use of clothes lines. A new documentary, Drying For Freedom, highlights the banning of clothes lines in over 50 million homes in the United States, translating 5 billion dollars a year in electricity bills. The documentary follows the battle for the right to dry clothes asking why drying clothes became an environmental and social catastrophe and questions clotheslines being banned.

Located at the southern part of Haida Gwaii, Gwaii Haanas is widely considered an environmental jewel. The federal government and the Haida previously protected the land through a national park reserve and Haida Heritage Site. But the surrounding ocean ecosystem remains largely unprotected, despite a commitment to also protect it, made over 20 years ago.

The partnership agreement is an important step forward for a future Gwaii Haanas National Marine Conservation Area (NMCA). A similar partnership for the management of the Gwaii Haanas national park reserve is an international model for cooperative management.

"The Supreme Court has given Canadians back their voice and, with it, their ability to influence major industrial development across the country," said Ecojustice lawyer Lara Tessaro, who represented MiningWatch Canada. "This landmark decision confirms that the government can no longer shirk the environmental protection duties that Parliament has assigned to it."

The proposed open-pit mine would be located adjacent to an area called the Sacred Headwaters, the birthplace of the Stikine, Nass and Skeena Rivers. If built, it would endanger wildlife, destroy three trout-bearing streams and risk toxic contamination of two watersheds. The proposed mining project would wipe out pristine Black Lake by converting it into a "tailings impoundment area" - a dumpsite for toxic mine waste.

"These are serious issues where the public needs to be able to have a say. That's what we thought the law said, and now the Court has backed us up," said Jamie Kneen of MiningWatch Canada.

"Recent reports show subtle effects of BPA in lab animals that has raised concerns," said William Corr, deputy secretary of Health and Human Services. His agency will spend $30 million to study the chemical's effect on young children. "We are taking a much closer look."

The FDA had long declared BPA safe for adults and children. Now, according to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, BPA is of "some concern" for infants and children. Many manufacturers have voluntarily replaced BPA in products ranging from baby bottles to drinking water containers and some stores such as Wal-Mart have agreed to discontinue carrying some items.

As of June 2009, Canada's federal government proposed regulations to prohibit the advertisement, sale and importation of polycarbonate plastic baby bottles that contain BPA.

Public outcry led to a March 2009 ministerial referral directing the Clean Environment Commission (CEC), a provincial advisory body, to conduct an investigation into whether the "temporary" shutdown should be permanent. Private citizens from across Manitoba, The Concerned Citizens of the Valley (CCV), The Boreal Forest Network, Manitoba Wildlands, Manitoba Wildlife Federation, The MFL Occupational Health Centre, and The Green Parties of Manitoba and Canada voiced their opposition to the proposal. LP has threatened closure of the plant if it is forced to keep the RTOs in operation. Local residents are concerned about the impacts from permanent closure of the RTOs.

Numerous organizations and individuals marked the anniversary of the RTO shutdown while reaffirming their commitment to hold companies accountable. St Adolphe resident Cheryl Kennedy Courcelles commented: "We in Manitoba are leaders. We are only interested in dealing with corporations that meet our standards. If we keep our standards high we will attract those companies that will want to come and be leaders here with us. Doing what is right, pays dividends!"

Data collected between 1979 and 2005 shows in autumn polar bears are occurring more frequently on land and open water and less frequently on ice. This results in increased chances of human/bear interaction.

"Our results do suggest that bears that use the nearshore area are more likely to occur on land in recent years because their preferred habitat, sea ice, is unavailable," states Karyn Rode, polar bear biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife and co-author of the study. "This is one of the few data sets available over such a long time frame. It shows there has been a shift in habitat use."

This work highlights the need to develop programs to manage bear-human interactions in coastal areas. Bear-human interactions in communities and industrial areas in Alaska have been on the rise in recent years.

This study will be looked at closely by Canadian scientists concerned with polar bear survival.

The report, written by Sonia Shah, states a growing body of evidence indicates pesticide exposure may be playing an important role in the decline of amphibian and bee species. Scientists are investigating whether such exposures may be involved in the death of over one million bats in northeastern United States.

In the case of amphibians, Shah explains pesticides applied to fields in California Central Valley drift into the Sierra Nevada mountains, where they settle in the environment and are absorbed into tissues of amphibians. Meanwhile, bees and bats have suffered a similar fate - killed off by powerful pathogens that in practice seem to have taken advantage of animal populations immuno-compromised by pesticides.

Dr. Daniel R. Wildcat, workshop Co-Chair and Director of Haskell Indian Nations University Environmental Research Studies Center states, "Global warming scenarios point to disproportionate and increased impacts on Native peoples due to their unique relationship to land, theirsubsistence land-based economies, and the deep cultural and spiritual significance of their ties to the land."

At the workshop's conclusion, participants issued the Mystic Lake Declaration to offer solutions that can help Tribal communities and policy makers form plans to address climate change impacts. The Declaration was taken to Copenhagen to present at the United Nations Climate Change Conference.

As a climate conscious province, British Columbians support clean energy development but are concerned with how it is developed. Key recommendations from this report include:

• Ensuring energy conservation and efficiency is the highest propriety
• British Columbia's electricity supply needs to be as clean, renewable and low impact as possible
• Adopting a renewable electricity planning framework
• Reforming water licensing, land leasing and governance
• Strengthening environmental assessment process
• Developing an informed consensus about export of renewable electricity from British Columbia.

These recommendations come heavily endorsed by other environmental organizations.

Throughout 2010, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), joined by the Convention on Biological Diversity and other international partners, will lead events aimed to raise public awareness on reasons for conserving biodiversity. Events will include launch of IYB, world-wide celebrations, UNESCO Biodiversity Exhibit, and conferences including the UN General Assembly discussion of Biodiversity, Conference of the Parties (COP-10), Conference of the Parties -Meeting of the Parties (COP-MOP 5) and Conference of the Parties -Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (COP 15 CITES).

Movento was released onto the market in 2008. It is distributed by the plant along its entirety, killing pests where they live and feed. It targets immature insects through females by reducing ability to produce offspring and reducing chances of offspring survival.

A lawsuit was filed by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the Xerces Society to have the product pulled from the market after beekeepers had a record low year in bee numbers. Movento had been approved by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) without public comment (as required) and without evaluation of damage it could do to bee populations and economic, environmental and social impacts of bee decline.

US District Judge Denise Cote agreed with NRDC and has ordered that EPA reevaluate the chemical. As of January 15, 2010 it will be illegal to sell the chemical in the US. Movento is still available in Canada.

The Premiere acknowledged these are ambitious targets but Quebec is already leading the country with the best emissions reduction record. Since 2006 Quebec industrial sector has had 7% emissions despite a GDP increase of 41%.

Reaching this goal includes shifting the economy away from dependence on fossil fuels, implementing transportation sector GHG reduction initiatives, including GHG emission standards for vehicles, and developing electric vehicle technology.

Part of Quebec's GHG strategy is protection of half the land covered by Plan Nord. The Canadian Boreal Initiative (CBI) released a report stating that boreal forests are the largest terrestrial carbon sinks in the world. This fact has been largely ignored but Quebec is in the position to protect its forests as part of reaching GHG emission reduction targets. These forest protection steps will keep more than 13.8 billion tons of CO2 sequestered in Plan Nord boreal regions.