|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
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 support Watson’s efforts to ban sealing. That’s why Green Party leader Elizabeth May decided that it was time to distance herself from the group. She resigned from her role as an advisor to the Sea Shepherd society.
Canada’s bad policy on sealing makes Watson’s job easier. The story is already in the world’s news cycle, and Canada’s image abroad is eroded first and foremost by the primitive spring blood ritual, and then by the making of laws meant to prevent observers from covering the slaughter. When a Canadian icebreaker rams an environmental protest vessel in international waters it is easy to guess how the story will be played by the world’s press. From the Australian News site:
From the Globe and Mail:
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. Not just economically. But should economists seek to internalize theoretically and factually overwhelming externalities like environmental crisis? No. By no means. Absolutely not. There is no economic solution to our problems. Rather, let’s better appreciate how limited and incomplete economic theories are -– and let’s start looking way past economics for what it means to be more natural. What it means to be at all natural. Can we do that? Toronto living is just about the most economically affluent anywhere –- ever. We expect some economic turbulence ahead. Will we be willing to look past it –- for what it means to be more natural? Or do we remain forever fixated on economic maximizing -- regardless how affluent we get? Regardless the cost to everything natural so precariously remaining? [Peter Fruchter teaches in the Division of Humanities at York University.] Screenshot from here.
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 of urgency that led to a changed government with a new prime minister whose first action was to change position on global warming by ratifying Kyoto. Gore warned that we can not wait until we face water shortages like the drought in Australia.
The extreme event apparently must be either an event with national impact or a regional crisis for which people nationwide can identify. I say this because Katrina did not trigger any campaign or movement to change laws to remedy the natural or man-made disasters in NOLA. Years of massive environmental disasters in Appalachia have similarly been met with silence. Gore is right that we can not wait for a drought like Australia. However, something is preventing public recognition of a sense of urgency with environmental issues. One obstacle is that many environmental issues are usually implicitly (if not also expressly) mocked as simply a liberal "tree hugger" issue that really is not important, but simply a case of tree hugger activists who have too much spare time on their hands. We can see this to some extent with the global warming deniers who have been effective in delaying action by decreasing political (...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.
2008 03 04
Great Lakes Water Protector: The Sierra Club
The Great Lakes are a precious legacy preserved in geologic time. Formed by glacial ice over millennia, the lakes contain enough fresh water that if emptied, they’d cover the entire Untied States to a depth of nine and a half feet (and there are certain groups who like that, and would make it happen a few million litres at a time). Not surprisingly, names for this liquid treasure range from the obvious “Great Lakes” to the more poetic “sweet water” and the explorer-daunting, “inland sea.” No matter what their name, the lakes have no equal anywhere on earth. That’s why they are such an attraction, and such a target. In a recent interview Canada’s Maude Barlow commented
The Sierra Club of Canada is a active protector of this precious resource. In partnership with other North American environmental groups, the club is acting to ensure our politicians do everything they can to preserve the lakes. But, as the Ontario chapter of the club writes, the fresh water is challenged by:
In spite of these threats, as a species we seem to think that if we can see a thing in its entirety we also understand it. The overarching view from space shown above gives such an impression. We control this thing is its unstated subtext. Yet, we know that the idea is absurd. The lakes are in many ways an expression of the complexity found in each one of us because, as some speculate, water molecules from, say, Georgian Bay, at some time have been part of everyone—no matter where on earth. This visceral relationship between water and humans cannot be understood simply in a means and ends way, as a resource to be commodified and sold off. There are mythic truths about our evolution wetting Ontario’s shores every day. Those truths are beyond priceless, they are worth protecting anyway we can.
2008 02 21
Superlinear Cities And The Future Of Urban Design
It turns out that city’s are not like organisms. Instead of slowing down as they get bigger, cities speed up—at least as far as their ability to create new wealth—not to mention their improved environmental efficiency. In this way they are not linear systems where a standard input of energy or capital results in a predicted output of productivity. They are superlinear entities. At least that’s what a group of researchers at Arizona’s State University suggest in a study released in 2007.
With half the world’s population now living in cities, traditional urban design methodologies are being rendered as obsolete as, say, using a slide rule to calculate the dynamics of weather systems. There are too many critical, non-linear relationships taking place.
Most urban designers have no idea about the superlinear forces shaping modern cities. Their limited toolkits include poorly quantified ideas about densities, and zoning . . . principles that while useful in some ways no longer are reliably predictable in their contemporary applications. Tomorrow’s “superlinear cities,” if I can call them that, will have to be designed using a mixture of quantitative and qualitative strategies that don’t exist today. Existing city design pedagogy is driven more by fashion than by information-driven research. That’s not surprising given the complexity involved. Still, we expect more from our urban design and architecture schools given the historically important changes facing the modern city. Where is the school that brings together information technology, macroeconomics, and design? If we are to create productive, sustainable cities of the future, urban designers will need all those skills and more.
2008 02 15
Green City Rankings
Want to know which Canadian city is the most environmentally friendly? Corporate Knights magazine released its latest rankings this week, and here are the results. Surprised that Toronto ranks number one?
2008 02 08
More Evidence Against Biofuels
Corporate Knights Forum is against biofuels. We’ve already written about how they replace one bad energy habit with another. Still, people argued that even if corn based fuels do compete with people for diminishing food supplies, at least they are cleaner. Or not. Turns out that researchers are skeptical about those claims. Here is what the International Herald Tribune has to say on the topic:
The cause of this environmental rethink? Turns out that in the environmental ledger someone forgot about the line item titled, “Land Use Change.”
2008 01 31
WalMart: Agent Of Green?
The New York Times ran an article January 24th on the The chief executive of Wal-Mart Stores, H. Lee Scott Jr., said that “we live in a time when people are losing confidence in the ability of government to solve problems.” But Wal-Mart, he said, “does not wait for someone else to solve problems.”WalMart promises to reduce the energy used by its products by 25%, and will force its suppliers to be more ethical in their treatment of workers. blockquote>Mr. Scott also said he would press for suppliers in China, which are known for flouting environmental rules, to comply with that country’s environmental regulations and would require them to certify that they meet industry standards. |
Read what people are saying about the environmental issues that impact us all
Blog posts about wind energy
Blog posts about sustainability
Blog posts about green investing
Blog posts about hybrid autos
Blogs mentioning Zerofootprint
|
The best green news sources on the Net
Hugg
Green Car Congress
Green Girls Global
Grist
Eco Worrier
Inhabitat
Lime
Real Climate
Treehugger
World Changing
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
