How To Accessorize With Tiny Birds: They understand that serene moments should be treasured, as they are few and far between.

Design of a little duck and poster in a 3D pixel style.

Sevensheaven images and prints are for sale at sevensheaven.nl

Exercises in graphic abstraction.

More voxel [volumetric pixel] work can be found over here.

There was a major development over the weekend in the case of a US research vessel, RV Marcus Langseth, seeking to conduct seismic testing in Canada's first marine protected area.

Environmentalists are fuming after learning the federal government has given permission to a U.S. research ship to begin controversial seismic testing in Canadian waters, despite an ongoing court challenge.

"The issue at stake here is the fact that by issuing this clearance permit for the vessel, they are valuing American interests above that of the Canadian environment and Canadian species at risk," said spokesman Kori Brus. "They've given no reason; they've simply done it."

A foreign affairs spokesman on Sunday would not confirm the ship has been given clearance to begin its test program. He refused to comment, saying the issue was before the courts.

While the Canadian government is refusing to comment on a decision that threatens blue whales and the integrity of the nation's first marine protected area, environmentalists ARE fuming - and rightfully so. The federal government's own documents demonstrate a full awareness of the impacts this testing will have on endangered whales, and they have allowed this research to go forward regardless of the best science available.

We're in court tomorrow working to have the permit issued to the US vessel stayed. More to come then.

Stylized 3D illustration with voxels (3D pixels), about building castles in the air.

More at Sevensheaven.nl

Two illustrations I created on the same day, using two quite different styles. I love variation in my work.

More at Sevensheaven.nl

cross posted at Ecojustice

Following years of pressure from Ecojustice and other environmental groups, federal Environment Minister Jim Prentice has announced that new sewage regulations for our municipalities are on their way:

Canadian municipalities will have to bring their leaky sewage treatment plants up to snuff under new regulations to be unveiled by the Harper government later this year.

The new rules will set performance benchmarks, timelines and monitoring and reporting requirements for the country's 4,000 wastewater facilities, Environment Minister Jim Prentice said Thursday in Saint John, N.B.

The feds are also planning to make funding available through the federal infrastructure fund. Taken together, these changes are long overdue, much welcomed, and fall directly in line with Ecojustice’s recommendations – most notably from our National Sewage Report Card, Great Lakes Sewage Report Card, and just last month in Flushing Out the Truth.

The draft regulations will be made available in December, and we’ll be looking forward to providing our comments to ensure that these long awaited changes provide the safe and healthy water that Canadians deserve.

Cross posted at Ecojustice.

Today Ecojustice released Flushing Out the Truth, a report highlighting the tens of billions of litres of untreated sewage that are knowingly allowed to flow into the Great Lakes each year because of the province's inadequate sewage system.

Much of the untreated waste made its way into water bodies through sewage bypasses -- diversions which carry excess sewage to lakes or rivers when treatment plants are over capacity or have technical problems.

Added to that are combined sewage overflows, which occur in older systems where stormwater and sewage from sinks, toilets and drains gush along the same pipe. Bad weather can cause the pipes to overflow into a lake or river.

It’s the wastewater equivalent of fixing gridlock by letting cars drive on sidewalks.

Rather than allowing sewage to overflow and be diverted before proper treatment, Ecojustice has been calling on government’s to ensure systems can handle the capacity they need to – by mitigating combined sewage systems and investing in green infrastructure that reduces the amount of storm water entering the system in the first place.

The report also singled out Ontario's worst offenders. Niagara Falls topped the list with sewage releases totaling almost 7 billion litres in 2007 alone. Other cities with more than a billion litres of sewage released during 2006-7 include: Hamilton (5 billion); Windsor (4.3 billion); Welland (3.9); Toronto (2.7 billion); Sudbury/Greater Sudbury (2.6 billion); London (1.8 billion); and Leamington (1 billion).

Read the report here.

It has become hard to avoid the news over Bisphenol A (BPA) lately (here, here, here and many, many more). As an avid water drinker — in addition to beer, of course! — I have sworn off plastic disposable water bottles for a while now and mainly used my trusty Nalgene water bottles. Made of lexan (polycarbonate) it is nearly indestructible and was always with me on hikes.

No more Nalgene bottles for me, however. With the recent news of Bisphenol A, I swore off my old-school Nalgene bottles (at last count, I think we had 6 of various forms in the house) and went to REI to buy a new bisphenol A free water bottle. Here's where things get interesting: REI has voluntarily removed all bottles containing BPA from their shelves! According to their staff they are only selling BPA free bottles, predominantly from CamelBack. Cool, nice job REI, I'm glad to see you out ahead of this issue.

But wait, there's more! If you bought any BPA containing bottles from REI under an REI membership, you can return them for a full refund! Sadly, many of my bottles predate my membership, but at least one bottle is being returned for a refund. Two more bottles, neither of which appear on my membership purchasing history, have REI labels printed on the bottle, so I hope to return these as well so I can replace them with new BPA free bottles.

REI, once again, you prove what a great company you are. Your customer friendly policies will have me coming back and paying (sometimes) high prices again and again.

The discovery of a vast underground lake is offering the best hope yet for an end to the war in Darfur. At 30,750 km2 it is the size of Lake Erie and will provide much needed influx of water, and an opportunity for peace, to the Sudan's drought stricken north.

Since 2003, two hundred thousand people have died and a further 2 million have fled the north where water shortages and drought have fueled a human catastrophe of mass migrations and ethnic conflict. With the discovery of this new fresh water resource, plans are moving forward to drill 1000 wells in the area and bring relief to Darfur's people.

The conflict in the region, and the prospect of peace through water, underscores our reliance on the environment and the bigger risks that we're assuming in ignoring the environmental damage that is ongoing throughout the world.

Critics of that view point will point to the overpopulation in the region while turning a blind eye to the same pressures in the United States where the population has swelled to 300,000,000. Critics will downplay the role of environmental damage in bringing on the conflict while ignoring the fact that 12% of the Sudan's forests have been hacked down in past 15 years. Critics will also belligerently shout down the role of climate change in the drought, while embracing fictions and bedtime stories that allow them to ignore all evidence to the contrary and have an easy night's sleep.

Ultimately, it is all about responsibility.

The people of the developed world have built a civilization based on the ideal of personal responsibility. That ideal is the backbone of democracy and the foundation of the free market that drives our economy. What a fitting irony that we are facing unprecedented assaults on our democracy, spiraling debt, and growing environmental carnage while all we can throw up in our defence is litany of excuses.

"It's the Democrat's fault!"

"It's the Liberal's fault!"

"It's all China's fault!"

"It's single mothers' fault",

And the all time winner, "Al Gore's heating bill is too high".

The trend goes far beyond the issue of global warming, and now infects every aspect of our political culture. The reason is simple. We are fat, lazy and more interested in preserving our comforts than taking an honest look at our role in the world's problems. Doing that would mean real responsibility, and there is no time for that in a world of instant gratification and borrowed wealth.

America, and implicitly the modern western world, was built on "Life, Liberty and Freedom". Now the future holds a new American dream with a new call to battle - "Borrow, Spend and Forget"!

It's simple, comfy and easy next to that messy business of personal responsibility.

In the face of global warming and eight dry years, the United States is confronting its worst drought since the Dust Bowl years of the Great Depression. Between 1930 and 1940, 2.5 million people were forced to leave the southwest plains and 50 million acres of formerly productive land was destroyed thanks to a combination of drought and poor farming practices.

Nobody is saying the impacts of this year's drought are on that scale. However, Alabama Senators Richard Shelby and Jeff Sessions have are already requesting a disaster declaration for 19 Alabama counties as corn farmers and cattle ranchers face potential ruin. The more drastic consequences may occur much further north, in Canada.

The US federal government, particularly President Bush, still has not agreed to impose mandatory cuts on greenhouse gas emissions. Until they do, they are effectively saying that they are prepared to live with the consequences of global warming rather than try to prevent them. For the states already affected by drought this will mean longer and more severe water shortages and increasing strain on already endangered farmland. If that occurs, the US government will be left with three choices to address the looming catastrophe:

1. do nothing
2. relocate millions of people to more economically productive areas
3. gain controlling interests of Canada's fresh water supply.

One guess as to which option the US will choose. Abandoning large tracts of the country isn't just economically undesirable, it would also mean relinquishing two of America's most cherished bedtime stories - 1) that it's man's right to control and exploit nature for his own benefit, and 2) manifest destiny, the myth that "the American government was "destined" to establish uninterrupted political authority across the entire North American continent."

The US thirst for Canadian water is not a myth. It's a desire and policy goal that's been prepared for by international trade agreement's (NAFTA) and clearly stated by numerous US politicians, most recently Kansas congressional hopeful John Doll.

If the drought continues, look for renewed calls for large scale water diversions from Canada - an alarming possibility given rising world temperatures, shrinking glaciers, and a booming Canadian oil sands industry that has already swallowed up enough water rights to quench the thirst of a large city.

By a margin of 367-58, the Democrat led US House passed new legislation that would fund the upgrade and modernization of the sewage systems affecting 40 million Americans to the tune of $1.7 billion over five years.

The legislation would target combined sewer systems - older systems that collect rainwater runoff, domestic sewage and industrial wastewater in one pipe - which become overloaded during heavy rainfall and are currently responsible for the release of 850 billion gallons of untreated sewage into the environment each year.

The new bill would also go a long way in addressing sewage pollution in the Great Lakes. Earlier this year, Sierra Legal released the first ever analysis of sewage pollution in the Lakes, and found that combined sewage systems were one of the biggest reasons why 93 billion litres of raw sewage enters the lakes each year.

The fate of the spending, however, will likely fall to the president. Bush has already said that he opposes the bill, as he is committed to funding the destruction of water system infrastructure in Iraq to the tune of $275 million per day.

You'd think they could take a week off from Iraq and fund some basic water improvements on the home front.

Proving that there is no greater impetus for environmental protection than human need, China announced a raft of aggressive new measures to help reverse the ecological damage occurring alongside the nation's unprecedented economic growth.

New policies include an extensive water-saving plan to cut the nation’s water use per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) by 20 percent within five years, a new climate change plan aimed chiefly at mitigating future water supply shortages, and a policy to make provincial officials directly responsible for environmental harm.

Food security, global warming related water shortages and rising pollution levels were all cited as key concerns in bringing forward the new measures.

Now if we could get North Americans to similarly see the connection between environment and human health we'd really be on to something.