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2008 05 13
Will The Great Lakes Be Another Aral Sea?
Given that Canada is the land of glacier-fed streams, and (relatively) clean water, it is hard to imagine the Great Lakes being great no more—but it is possible. Just take a look at the Aral Sea in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan for an example of what havoc exploitative policies can cause on a seemingly robust ecosystem. We tend to think such savage exploitation will never happen here, but we also thought the Cod Fishery would go on forever, and Passenger pigeons were so plentiful that we could kill them at our pleasure. The truth is, we are opportunistic creatures who can rationalize just about any travesty as long as there is a short-term dollar to be had, or an economic advantage to be gained. To compound a bad situation, when it comes to the environment time is our enemy, and not for the obvious reasons. No, time lets us forget what once was. Like the proverbial frog in a slowly warming pan of water, our condition is always relative to what we remember with accuracy. SInce most of us seem to suffer from advanced Alzheimer’s when it comes to remembering the natural environment, will that be frog’s legs anyone? That’s why when the Great Lakes Compact was made between provinces and states bordering the Great Lakes it seemed that rational thought and long-term preservation of natural resources might actually win the day. But wait:
The drought of 2006 swept across North America’s Great Plains sucking water from the (...read more...)
2008 05 09
Canada’s GreenDex Ranking
The National Geographic Society released a green index that ranks countries based on the sustainability. The bad news: Canada is among the worst (and will continue to decline as we ramp up our oil sands processing on the way to becoming an “energy super-power"). But the Greendex does not focus on governments and industry, it zooms in on what consumers in those countries are doing ranking them accordingly.
And the details of what we do wrong?
For more information on how we are really bad stewards of our environment, download the complete PDF.
2008 05 07
Nature Protects Better
Bangladesh’s Sundarbans mangrove forest Remember when Katrina decimated New Orleans? Some scientists argued that the destruction of nearby swamps in the Mississippi delta took away an effective storm surge barrier and, well, you saw the results. The problem with man-made barriers is that they are only as strong as their weakest link. A section of canal wall fails and it is so-long Ninth Ward. Yet we continue to remove natural barriers like swamps and mangrove forests.
This week’s typhoon in Myanmar provides another warning to developers everywhere: remove natural barriers to storms at your own risk. According to a BBC report deaths caused by the storm were directly related to the loss of Mangrove forests that grow in salty marshes all over the world.
When 300,000 people in Bangladesh died in flooding there, the country instituted a policy to let the mangrove forests of the Sunderbans forest grow into a natural storm barrier protecting the low-lying nation. Global warming makes mangrove (...read more...)
2008 05 01
Is Ontario A Have Not Province?
 Let's face it. We were all a little bit shocked when the Toronto Star announced yesterday that Ontario was now a bit player in the Canadian provincial hierarchy. "Ontario is not the mighty king of the economy any more," said TD's chief economist, Don Drummond, predicting the province could get $400 million in 2010 and $1.3 billion the following year.There is the argument neatly summed up by one of the Country's more respected economists. Unless we are either pumping oil or making cars for some other country's automobile sector, we are nothing. Well, I don't buy it. Rather than wail that the sky is falling, in a quarterly driven profit and loss blinkered vision of reality, why not use this obvious sign that industry is changing as a reason to revamp our economy and prepare to take on the real big "NEXT" markets? We all know what they are. I wasn't surprised to read a few short weeks ago that the German industrial sector has made a few good deals buying up Canadian environmental technology companies and relocating them to Europe. Some European countries are literally changing their landscape because of an economic shift to sustainable, knowledge-driven industries. What about this picture don't our policy makers understand? Big cars pollute, cause global warming, and use too much of a non-renewable commodity. Plus, no one in their right mind wants them now except as a symbol of conspicuous consumption that would make Thorstein Veblen blush. Still, here we are bemoaning the (...read more...)
2008 04 28
Canada’s Fragile Fresh Water System
Water seems abundant in Canada, but is it really?
In the land of glacial waters and spring thaws the last thing most Canadians think about is where their next drink of clean water is coming from. Big mistake. Canada does not have a limitless supply of fresh water. Only a small fraction of the water we see when visiting the Great lakes, for example, is "new" and if we consume it or pollute it or otherwise make it unusable it will not be readily replaced. In today's Globe and Mail John Austin makes his case to Canadians that we have to protect and conserve this finite resource:
2008 04 23
Boeing And Airbus Meet To Reduce Carbon Footprint Of Air Travel
Aviation industry competitors AIrbus And Boeing signed an agreement Tuesday that will let them work together to reduce air travel’s carbon footprint. According to AFP:
Unlike Virgin Airline’s recent use of biofuels to reduce CO2 emissions, this agreement is premised on improving aircraft routing efficiencies which will reduce the amount of time an aircraft is airborne consuming fuel. Fuel savings generated from this tactic could top 10% in Europe and more in the United States where air traffic is heavier.
2008 04 22
Silver Donald Cameron On Paul Watson
SIlver Donald Cameron introduces his view of the great Sea Shepherd debate:
If you thought all Easterners supported Minister Hearn’s reckless seizure of a foreign vessel in International waters, well, you haven’t read Cameron’s blog, Silver Donald on Sunday. Is Paul Watson really gutless?
To read more of Cameron’s critique of Canada’s sealing policy, go to today’s Chronicle Herald. Meanwhile, in Watson’s personal blog on the Sea Shepherd site, the altercation continues:
2008 04 14
Sea Shepherd Stormed—But Fighting Back In Press
 Canadian Fisheries has once again proven that it thinks bad politics beats good policy. Last weekend’s seizure of the Farley Mowat—a Sea Shepherd Foundation protest vessel—proves the point. After an abysmal week for the Canadian Government agency where four fisherman drowned as a result of a towing accident involving a Canadian icebreaker, Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn decided to deflect the generation-old criticism of Canada’s sealing industry by arresting environmentalists. Leader of the Sea Shepherd organization Paul Watson made it easy for Hearn to take this step when he stated, “The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society recognizes that the deaths of four sealers is a tragedy but Sea Shepherd also recognizes that the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of seal pups is an even greater tragedy.” According to the CBC, Watson also described sealers as “sadistic baby killers” and “vicious killers who are now pleading for sympathy because some of their own died while engaged in a viciously brutal activity.” With eastern Canada enraged over Watson’s comments, Minister Hearn saw an opportunity to act and he did. He ordered the Mowat seized in international waters. Of course, this was Watson’s purpose all along: provoke a disproportionate government response to get headlines and reach an international audience. Read this quote from the Sea Shepherd’s web site:
Given the provocation, it is hard for Canadians to (...read more...)
2008 04 11
Failing Economics: A Story From www.readingtoronto.com
By Peter Fruchter @ Reading Toronto
 Hey -- what’s with the partial nudity? That’s just how Robert Nadeau regards economists. Because, according to his recent article in Scientific American, economists are scientifically ignorant. That’s why, on his view, Unscientific assumptions in economic theory are undermining efforts to solve environmental problems.Essentially, Nadeau’s argument isn’t that economic theories are inconsistent. Only absurdly incomplete. As if mainstream economists were describing nothing but straight narrow portions of spectacularly long winding roads. Thus, particularly when it comes to ecological impacting, economists mislead us. Their theories can’t lead us anywhere we need to go. Economic theories are misleading rather than explanatory due to how absurdly incomplete they are. Nadeau is calling for economic upgrades: Because neoclassical economics does not even acknowledge the costs of environmental problems and the limits to economic growth, it constitutes one of the greatest barriers to combating climate change and other threats to the planet. It is imperative that economists devise new theories that will take all the realities of our global system into account.Some economists might not take Nadeau’s threat to tinker economics lying down, though. “Bender”, for instance, commented that, In an article purportedly discussing economic analysis and environmental policy neither externality nor externalities ever appeared! I don’t know which is more depressing, that someone could be stupid and ignorant enough to produce this tripe or that the Scientific American has sunk so low as to publish it.How pedantic. That's exactly what Nadeau's talking about -- how overwhelming economic externalities like ecology are getting. But Nadeau not utilising the specific terms “Bender” recognizes resulted in “Bender” utterly missing Nadeau’s point. Standard economic theories mislead us precisely because environmental crisis constitutes such overwhelming externality. Nadeau’s right, of course. We are rushing full steam and toxic waste to being overwhelmed. (...read more...)
2008 04 09
Gore: Crisis of Citizenship Impedes Addressing Environmental Crises
By Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse (at http://www.dailykos.com — borrowed without permission but with good intentions)
Last month Al Gore discussed how our democracy crisis is impeding our efforts to address the climate crisis. As Gandhi said, "We must become the change we want to see" in the world. Gore stated that we can not solve the climate crisis until we solve the crisis of citizenship and democracy. The outcome we desire for global warming or any environmental issue is not going to be achieved by our beliefs unless it is accompanied by new behavior of citizen involvement at both the personal and political levels. Behavioral changes are good, like conservation, but Gore stated that it is more important to change the laws. Changing laws requires acknowledging an urgency of the environmental crises we face. We have not yet acknowledged that urgency with global warming. 68% of Americans agree that global warming is caused by human activity and 69% believe the earth is heating up in a significant way. However, we are missing that sense of urgency, which is reflected in the fact that global warming and environmental issues are ranked at the bottom of issues of importance. What we can do to move toward establishing that sense of urgency needed to trigger active citizenship which then triggers solving environmental issues is to understand the facts and analyze the issues. Once we agree upon the facts and analysis, then we must take action to change our political culture. This happened in Australia, which faced such a devastating drought that the people unified in a campaign to "lift the sense of urgency for the people about global warming and drought." The campaign included participation by newspaper, TV, radio and the internet, and it created the sense (...read more...)
2008 03 30
Earth Hour: Hit or Miss?
The ratings are in—Toronto’s energy use dropped about 9% over Saturday evening’s normal electrical consumption. Not bad, but when you think about it, not that great either. You have to wonder where most of that energy drop came from. My bet is that it was from the big commercial users—office towers, etc. Consumers? Well, the drop was probably 2 to 3%. After all, there was a hockey game on, right?
Maybe we were inspired by our leader, Stephen Harper. Turns out that Mr. Harper kept his lights on both at home and in the office. The Toronto Star writes:
Actions, as it is said, speak far louder than words. To his credit, Environment Minister John Baird turned off his lights, as did Stephane Dion, leader of the Liberal Party.
2008 03 26
The Anti-Green Policies Of Toronto Hydro
Toronto Hydro’s archaic pricing policies are bent on destroying the city’s position as a leader in sustainability. Why? A colleague of mine, Cameron Miller, discovered that Toronto Hydro customers are not treated the same when it comes to paying for electricity. Mr. Miller and his wife live in a condo in downtown Toronto. Retired now, they remain—more than ever—committed to reducing their environmental footprint. Like many Torontonians, they believe that conservation is essential to our city’s viability, and should be rewarded by our community-owned utility companies. It turns out that in Toronto being green makes one a bit of a fool—at least in the eyes of Toronto Hydro. Mr. Miller found out that he was paying more for his electricity than others who consumed far greater amounts. In fact, the more he reduced his use of electricity, the more he and others like him underwrite the excess consumption of others. Armed with proof, he went to the Ontario Energy Board. Here is his case:
This is about residential rates only.
2008 03 18
Bear Stearns: This Just May Change Things
If you find yesterday’s bailout of Bear Stearns by U.S. regulators to be more than a little hypocritical, well, join the rest of us. The so-called free market once again showed how it is anything but free, and that any absolute power—in this case the power of greed—corrupts absolutely. But where is the lesson that should be learned by an investment sector that ignored the need for risk management? By its actions, the U.S. government is showing that there is no lesson to be learned, or no penalty to be given. It also shows that in spite of its right-wing rhetoric, the “freest” world economy can and does interfere with the marketplace. Ironically, that’s good news for environmentalists. Now that the U.S. government has set this precedent, the right’s self-serving arguments about non-interference in free markets no longer apply. And now everyone knows it. Don’t get me wrong. I am not saying that the financial market place should be done away with or should be allowed to meltdown. What I am saying is that this week’s events clearly illustrate the role regulatory controls play in a complex world. There is a lesson here, but it is not, unfortunately to the free markets whose actions precipitated this crisis—they’ve been spared that rod. The lesson is to people and governments everywhere. We are reminded by the Bear Stearns fiasco that they do have the obligation, power, and right to use whatever regulatory levers exist to both save the economy, and save the environment. After all, what is more important, the financial health of rule-breaking investment firms that benefit the few, or the long-term health of the environment that benefits everyone?
2008 03 14
Oil Earth: Why The Energy Crisis Can Be Good
 With oil reaching the formerly unimaginable price of $110 a barrel yesterday, and the U.S. dollar sliding into global irrelevance, some Canadians of the political persuasion think this country is headed into a golden age of prosperity. Why? Oil sands of course. We have them, they don’t. Our leadership in Ottawa seems all too ready to dig up half of Alberta, pump billions of tons of CO2 into the atmosphere, and happily perpetuate the oil gluttony that is part of the American way of life. Oil revenues at these levels mean power—lots of it. Power buys access to the political theatre in Ottawa. And absolute power, as the old saying goes, corrupts absolutely. Innovative energy use, on the other hand, is not even a second thought in this environment. It is the last thing we consider, and only then when the Canadian public comes out of its slumber to say wait a second, don’t we need clean water to drink and fresh air to breath? Isn’t this the land of glaciers, and pristine watersheds? Not for much longer if we end our stewardship of local resources. Given the greed of the oil marketplace, I’m afraid things will get far worse for us before they get better. Our one hope is that escalating prices for post-peak oil will fuel the rise of alternative energy sources. If that happens, and if they are successful, market forces driven by efficient use of resources, may just disrupt the oil patch mentality we’ve embraced in Canada. But don’t hold your breath. Well, maybe you should.
2008 03 12
Businesses Want Green Payback
You have to understand the way businesses work. Any project a company engages in must benefit the financial bottom line of the company—even when that project helps save the planet. That’s what businesses do. Make money. The Globe and Mail ran a story yesterday on how Canadian firms are trailing behind Asian firms in their pursuit to green the workplace. It turns out that about 75% of those foreign firms want or expect to receive some return on investment this year as a result of shrinking their carbon footprint. They want to make money doing the right thing. For North American companies, on the other hand, that figure drops to 35%. Let’s face it. For more than a century now we’ve lived and worked a life based on conspicuous consumption of every resource available to us. Now we are paying the price for our environmental obesity by being slow in the uptake of new, green processes. Our loss. |
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