Sometimes, The Regina Mom wonders why she bothers to write her long blog posts, when others do it excellently with a short quote and video or are capable of piecing together a few headlines about the HarperCons' visit to China, the trade trip on which the Enbridge CEO has accompanied the prime minister presumably to tout the pipeline projected to forever change the B.C.

Since the Northern Gateway pipeline hit the news, The Regina Mom has read more posts about science than ever before. And it's not because science claims a place in her higher reading order.

As the HarperCon delegation of ministers and big biz boyz prepared to take off for China, the wise Yinka Dene Nation through whose lands the Northern Gateway pipeline is proposed to go, were busy writing letters. They sent one to the government of China loaded with examples describing how:

They expected 2,000 to attend and, according to police reports, 2,000 people demonstrated their opposition to the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline and shut down the main street of the small northern city of Prince Rupert, B.C. When 15 per cent of the 13,000 who live in any city are marching on the street, it's significant.

With the Superbowl over and done with and football fans looking for something to watch, The Regina Mom thought she'd share some great short vids for your viewing pleasure.

The first is actually a series of clips from the documentary On the Line, an award-winning film that shows what, exactly, is on the line with the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline. (These are not embedded here, but rather linked out to their site.)

One part of the brain can work something out while another part is doing something else, or so it seems. The Regina Mom stayed up all night. When that happens, it's usually because she's been engaged in a good read or a good write. This time it was neither. And it wasn't a party, either. No, this time TRM's eyes were glued to the screen catching up on episodes of The Young and The Restless and The Colbert Report, shows she watches only occasionally these days. It's as though her brain needed a time out from the case of overload she'd contracted by consuming a wealth of information about the tar sands.

Today the HarperCons stepped into the [cesspool / polluted waters] tar sands issue to announce a water monitoring project which will take 3 years and $50 million to fully implement. The Regina Mom agrees with Halifax NDP MP Megan Leslie; this is a PR stunt.

The HarperCons are certainly giving The Regina Mom a lot of opportunity to diss them. And that would be fun! Perhaps, if we give them enough rope... I know. It's wishful thinking, mirroring theirs, apparently. As a poster at one of the web boards I frequent said, "It's like the entire country is having a Stress Test." It does feel that way these days, for sure.

Franke James, the artist who was blacklisted by the HarperCons, lives in Joe Oliver's riding. She was excited to learn that he is open to meeting with environmental groups. So, she's issued a public letter, taking him up on his offer and requesting a meeting with him.

Yesterday in the House, Halifax New Democratic Party MP Megan Leslie wanted an answer from Oliver. She didn't get it. Nor does he, apparently, get it. Here's the video version which is really worth the 6:29 minutes of your time. Leslie is brilliant!

According to the Earth Policy Institute, direct subsidies to the fossil fuel industry worldwide amount to half a trillion dollars ($500,000,000,000) annually. That's a lot of zeroes for an industry that is killing people, plants, animals and whole ecosystems. That's more than $1.4 billion per day impacting the climate. Fortunately, Canada is not in the top 10, not even the top 25 of the countries most generous to the fossil fuel industry.