CBC reports, "Gros Morne National Park's status as a world heritage site may be in jeopardy due to plans for controversial oil exploration on Newfoundland's west coast, CBC News has learned. Black Spruce Exploration wants to use hydraulic fracturing -- the so-called fracking process of extracting natural gas from shale rock layers deep within the earth -- to find oil and gas in Sally's Cove and other areas, which lie just a few kilometres from the boundaries of the park. …The company (has) submitted its fracking and drilling plans for environmental review with the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board, but nothing has been presented to the Newfoundland and Labrador government yet."

Harper's public relations and spin team hit Vancouver in March claiming to have substantially revamped environmental protections for pipelines and tankers. Minister of Natural Resources Joe Oliver and Minister of Transport Denis Lebel described their new regime for oil spill safety against the backdrop of the Port of Vancouver. Minster Joe Oliver trotted out a line we are bound to hear more often, in the boilerplate of nonsense to which we seem to be inured, that the Exxon Valdez spill could never happen in Canada.

I am frequently asked how I maintain a positive attitude when confronted by Stephen Harper's destructive agenda -- dismembering our environmental laws and policies. Honestly, I can respond that most days I am encouraged by the ability of one MP to make a difference. That was not the case last week as, sitting late in the House for votes, news came over my Blackberry that the Cabinet had decided to withdraw from the United Nations Convention to Combat Drought and Desertification (UNCCD). It had the effect of a swift kick in the gut. I had to fight back tears for a day or so … just like when I read Bill C-38. I felt devastated.