Ernie Randall

@fasc1nate My favorite Carl Sagan quote about our Pale Blue Dot “Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.”

The Pale Blue Dot is an iconic photograph of Earth taken by NASA's Voyager 1 Spacecraft on February 14, 1990. When Voyager 1 was 3.7 billion miles (6 billion kilometers) miles from the sun, far beyond Neptune, mission managers commanded it to look back toward home for a final time. It snapped a series of 60 images to create the first "family portrait" of our solar system. The picture known as the Pale Blue Dot shows Earth within a scattered ray of sunlight. Voyager 1 was so far away that Earth was just a point of light about a pixel in size.

Winter is almost here but many parts of Alberta are still experiencing drought conditions. This photo was taken last week at the Oldman Reservoir public recreation area boat launch. 1/4

@BarbLarochelle I would hope that Southern Alberta's farmers that voted strongly for the UCP would be having some sober second thoughts. Farming in the south without irrigation is pretty wells a lost cause. I hope that these same farmers are paying attention to the #MountainsNotMines #water

@CorbLund I'll do my best to fight this again, but may I just say that we wouldn't be here if folks in the SW and other rural ridings had not re-elected UCP MLAs. What did they think was going to happen? #WaterNotCoal #abpoli

Alberta, our govt has just quietly let foreign coal-co Northback/Benga REAPPLY for coal & water rights @ Grassy Mtn, headwaters of Oldman watershed in a critical drought. They'll take drinking & ag H2O, ruin the rest & leave us a huge $$ mess. Info: surl.li/ltvtd Pls RT

Danielle Smith is ignoring the concerns of tens of thousands of Albertans about coal mining in Alberta’s Eastern Slopes. Her track-record for ignoring her constituents and plowing through with her own agenda is abysmal. #AbLeg

The UCP is once again considering opening up the Eastern Slopes for mining. We heard from you in 2016 that the Eastern Slopes are not up for grabs. Our mountains, forests, and wild spaces are our collective heritage, culture and responsibility. #easternslopes #abpoli

#SprayLakeSawmills' plan to log more than 1,100 hectares in the Upper Highwood in #Kananaskis has reignited the conversation around #CriticalHabitat in a big way: Because as it stands, @FishOceansCAN and the #SpeciesAtRiskAct are *failing* aquatic species like the #BullTrout.

In early September the biological bomb changed the lives of more than 300 children and their families. Children with bloody diarrhea, fever, chills and vomiting packed the hospitals and emergency wards.

The toxin producing E. coli O157 is classed as a bioterrorism agent in the U.S. for good reason. But when the toxin bomb went off in Calgary, government practically failed to respond. Andrew Nikiforuk on the fragility of our high-tech food system. 🥬⚠️ thetyee.ca/Analysis/2023/…

“Albertans are very aware about the risks of #coal mines, and they don’t want to see them in the #EasternSlopes. I think there will be one hell of a fight,” says our Executive Director Katie Morrison in the latest from @TheTyee ✊🏼 #MountainsNotMines thetyee.ca/Analysis/2023/…

“Ministerial orders can be changed with the whim of the minister, or the direction of the premier. The next three to four months will be critical to understand exactly where this government is on coal,” #MountainsNotMines thetyee.ca/News/2023/09/0…

Three years ago today, the @bcndp government committed to the recommendations of the Old Growth Strategic Review and promised to protect at-risk old growth forests. None of the recommendations have been completed, and the most threatened ancient forests continue to fall:

It’s rare when someone in office really gets it, but our Banff Kananaskis MLA really does… #kananaskis #logging

Conservatives are saying to the CBC, "How dare you publish this science based article. Climate change should not be discussed, except to say it is a hoax." cbc.ca/newsinteractiv…

~A large swath of K-Country, a vital watershed is slated to be clear cut. More than 2K football fields worth of wilderness between the Elbow-Sheep Wildland & the Don Getty Wildland areas to benefit a private company above Albertans. calgaryherald.com/life/how-we-li…

@stopthespraybc This is what exists in a non monoculture planted with fire spreading pine looks like. And why Canada needs forest management that accounts for such wisdom being implemented in defending against future fire ravaged areas. Get the forestry lobby out of legislating.

Why do aspen burn less? Many reasons. They don’t have as much ladder fuels- those lower branches like on a spruce that pick up ground fires and transfer it into the canopy. They have thick flame retardant bark. They don’t have VOC resins or pitch like in pine that burn like gasoline. Their leaves build mulch that can burn in dry times like here but which store more water longer than blankets of needles. Their wood has higher water content than conifer. More precipitation penetrates through aspen canopy than conifer Up to three times the amount of snow accumulates under aspen compared to nearby conifer, leading to more water buildup Much more rain makes it to forest floor under aspen while thick conifer canopies intercept much more moisture where it then evaporates. Aspen make more efficient use of sunlight and don’t need as much leaf area meaning there is less biomass in an aspen canopy to burn. Probably more reasons but we all know when you want to light a campfire, you don’t use green aspen.

This is abundantly clear: “…conservatives remain far more invested in protecting the oil and gas industry’s status quo than the people and communities its emissions put at risk.” #cdnpoli nationalobserver.com/2023/08/22/opi…