On December 7, I participated in hastily convened consultations to develop a Climate Change and Clean Air Plan for Ontario. The McGuinty Liberals are running scared. Climate change is on everyone’s agenda and they haven’t got a wisp of a plan to deal with it. Read more »
I should have blogged this post weeks ago, after the November 16 PLAC meeting where we discussed the Cherry Beach soccer fields. I must say that this was not an easy issue for me to take a stand on.
It was first discussed at a PLAC meeting this summer, where the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation presented the plan, and it seemed, if not particularly inspiring, at least mostly harmless. We were told that this was an area of scrub with an open toxic ditch in dire need of remediation and capping. We were told it wasn’t being used at all. Making it into temporary astroturf soccer fields would be a small step to satisfying the demand for sports fields in the city, and could be rethought later into a broader park vision.
I went to the November 16 PLAC meeting and felt I had been lied to. Look at the Save Cherry Beach site to see a picture of the wasteland that was described. There are hundreds of trees on the site, some more than 40 feet tall. There is an open meadow that is currently enjoyed by butterfly enthusiasts. Worst of all, it is apparent that the remediation plan was developed after the site had been identified as a potential sports field. In other words, there was no concern about the toxicity until they thought about bulldozing it anyway. Seems awfully convenient then, to discover it is in need of capping. The truth is that by this reasoning the entire Portlands and much of Toronto might need to be covered over. Read more »
This is the second frightening blog I’m posting in 2 days. Sorry about that. I just watched a video clip which I was pointed to by Jeff Berg, who I know from Post Carbon Toronto. This is perhaps the most frightening clip I’ve ever seen on global warming. As always, I hope that the worst-case scenarios it portrays are entirely wrong. But once again, I question, who would want to take that chance?
What the movie explains in excruciating detail, is the effect that pollutants in the atmosphere have of shielding us from the worst effects of global warming. Read more »
On November 21, our Federal Green Party Association in Toronto-Danforth held its Annual General Meeting. It was a great atmosphere, with 25 enthusiastic people in a small room at Frankland Community Centre, 12 of whom jumped on board to form the new executive for 2007. These include most of the old faces as well as some enthusiastic and capable new ones. I’m looking forward to working with each and every one of them, and I’m hoping that with this larger board, we’ll be able to expand the work we do for our members and supporters in Toronto-Danforth. Here is your new executive:
I wanted to share my views on why green government is important. Please note the little g green. I would not have joined the Green Party if any of the other parties actually had a realistic environmental policy that they supported in power.
There is a dialogue about what individuals can do and what government can do. While both are important, it’s my opinion that if we ever want to lick this climate change threat, the participation of government at all levels will be absolutely critical. Read more »
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