Unusual flooding, erosion, something has changed about the Margaree River in Cape Breton, writes Sam Ainsworth. When local residents start pointing it clear cutting of the Margaree watershed by Port Hawkesbury Paper, the company fights back. An expert report, the local salmon fishers association, politicians all get mobilized to argue that things in fact are just fine. Not so fast, writes Ainsworth, ” The Margaree could be a beacon of light in a very dark history for salmon in this province but the clearcutting must be drastically reduced.”

Burning biomass to generate electricity is not green. In fact, using coal in the short term is cleaner. And short term here means for the next sixty to seventy years. Also, a very sad 2011 video of a clearcut at Higgins Mountain, Cumberland County.