Archive for Ecology & sustainability

Here’s an interesting neighborhood workshop. Admittedy, it didn’t work out so well for the first little pig.  But I imagine there were some techniques of which he wasn’t aware.

Straw Bale Building With Ben Polley
Monday, 2007 April 2, 7:30 pm
Grassroots–Riverdale, 372 Danforth Ave at Chester Ave
$10 ($5 for students/seniors/unemployed)

Pre-registration and payment are necessary to reserve one of the twenty spaces. Please call Grassroots at 416-466-2841 or register at either Grassroots location.     Read more »

Please sign the petition, tabled by our MPP Peter Tabuns, asking Ontario to meet our Kyoto requirements even if Canada does not.  Energy and Transportation are provincial mandates so a great deal of climate change legislation will have to be put in provincially anyway.

I participated in provincial climate change consultations a few months ago, which theoretically were supposed to lead to an Ontario strategy.  Unfortunately, judging by the 2007 Ontario budget, the response will be anemic.  We’ll keep the coal plants running, put in as many natural gas plants as we can as well, limit wind and expand nuclear.  Transportation funding focuses on roads rather than public transit.

If you can spare the time, phone or write your MPP as well.

This is a companion piece to my previous post, where I railed about carbon offsets becoming permission to go ahead with “business-as-usual”.  Well, it is incumbent on us not to have a business-as-usual campaign, then, whether or not we choose to go with carbon offsets.

So here are some ideas.  I welcome more.

1. Our signs will be stored in local depots and delivered on foot or bicycle.
2. Elena from our campaign team has offered her bicycle to be available to campaign staff running errands.  Several other members enthusiastically added that they would be happy to add a bike to the mix as well.
3. We will try to reduce emissions from heating by keeping the office cool (or, if the campaign ends up in the summer, we’ll try to keep the office warm to reduce emissions associated with electricity for cooling).
4. We will use 100% post-consumer recycled paper for our flyers and other materials.
5. We will scrupulously recycle everything we can at the office.
6. We will try to perform as many functions manually as we can.
7. We will try to reduce the energy used on lighting and computers by turning them off when they are not absolutely needed.
8. We will do our best to keep water use low.
9. We’ll try to eliminate disposables as much as possible — no styrofoam cups for coffee, for example.

As campaign manager, I’d like some input into whether we should offset our campaign or not.  Email me or add your comments below, and I’ll let those comments guide the decision.     Read more »

Today, 120 members of the House of Congress in the United States introduced the Safe Climate Act to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the United States by 80% by 2050.  Canada’s Liberal climate change plan calls for reductions of 60-80% by 2050.  The NDP calls for reductions of 80% by 2050 as well.  While some analysts propose even higher reductions, (George Monbiot, in his book “Heat” proposes reductions of 94% by 2030 for Canada) these are certainly in the range of what is called for.

Also today, the Star reported that all 3 opposition parties in parliament tabled amendments to the Clean Air Act that are so similar that consensus will likely be reached and these changes instituted.  All of this is great news.

There is one quibble I have with all of this legislation.     Read more »