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THE EUROPEAN EXAMPLE
Note: This is the second instalment of a two-part article. Restricted urban car parking is complemented by excellent public transport in the form of busses, trams and light rail - both above and underground. The busses, of course, suffer from any traffic congestion which might exist. However, many trams enjoy their own right of way, and are only blocked at intersections. Moreover, in many countries, traffic regulations do not allow cars to enter an intersection until they have room to proceed beyond it. Of course, in Ontario, drivers turning left are expected to station themselves in the middle of the intersection, waiting for an opportunity to turn. If this does not occur, they can block traffic, leading to gridlock. My biggest surprise came when I borrowed a car from our Dutch friends. Within minutes, I realized that cars are "2nd Class citizens" on the Netherlands' roads. These are uncompromisingly narrow. Barely wide enough to accommodate commercial traffic, they require greater levels of skill and attention from car drivers than do our roads. Intercity highway lanes appear to be at least 1 metre narrower than those on our 400-series roads.
In small towns, streets often have obstructions projecting into the roadway, making it narrow. This is extremely effective in slowing traffic. Speed bumps are also used to bedevil fast drivers. Villages are connected to each other by a network of bicycle paths which are completely separate from the roads. The railway station in Groningen has parking for 30 cars, and around 10,000 bicycles! The car parking places are free, but only for 15 minutes - enough to drop off your luggage. Then you must drive to another (costly) car park and about 10 minutes walk away! On our way out of Holland by train, I got off at several stations and found similarly huge bicycle parking facilities. In effect, if you are going somewhere by train, you are well advised to arrive at the station by bicycle. The majority of European participants on our towing tour had arrived in Denmark by train. One rower was returning to Germany by car, and offered to take us to Hamburg where we could get a train connection to north Holland. She warned us that we might see traffic congestion outside Hamburg, and she was right. Somewhat later, I thought about this traffic jam. Clearly, Europeans assess the likelihood that they will encounter heavy traffic and then decide whether to use their cars or to take the train. One group of Dutch rowers from Amsterdam elected to travel by train despite the fact that the four of them could have saved an appreciable amount of money by driving together. They told me that they wanted a peaceful trip! Unfortunately, North Americans seldom have this choice. Despite such cheerful sounding names as "Pathfinder", "Sportage", "Venture", "Breeze", "Caravan", etc., our vehicles spend most of their time battling traffic congestion. I am writing this in the back seat of our car, driving north on the 400 from Barrie late Sunday afternoon, looking at the relentless column of Torontonians returning home from their country cottages. I cannot think that their weekend was much of an "Escape" or an "Excursion" - more a "Safari" to be endured by an "Intrepid" driver. Where can we find a politician who has the courage to create a choice for us? Peter Bursztyn is a CFRE member and an environmental activist who lives in Barrie.
QUOTABLES...Henry Ward Beecher My sincere apologies for coming out late with our March newsletter this year. I was faced with a dilemma: Bring it out early in February and skip all the reporting from my trip to Germany or get it out late in April with the full quarterly account of my activities. With Christmas and the New Year holidays behind us it didn't take long to get back into full swing. Preparations for our 6th Annual General Meeting combined with a high-profile workshop at the end of May always need to be started early. Also the great opportunity to publicize our work at the Annual Organic Conference at Guelph University in late January takes time to prepare for. With the Volunteer help from Vitold, Andrea and Elise it turned out to be a great success with quite a number of new members signed up. Two days before that conference I attended a Lake Huron Initiative workshop sponsored by the Michigan State Department for Environmental Quality as board member of Great Lakes United (GLU) for Lake Huron region. These functions are always great opportunities to promote the goals of CFRE and to point to the grave danger of radioactive emissions from the world's largest nuclear plant, near Tiverton on Lake Huron's shore, the Bruce Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP). Earlier that week I received an invitation from Queen's Park to appear and testify before the Select Committee on Alternative Fuels chaired by Jim Wilson's Parliamentary Secretary Dr. Doug Galt, on January 29. In spite of the short preparation time I believe I was able to impress the committee with my presentation mainly featuring energy conservation. Anyone interested in the text of my presentation can contact me to get the Hansard Version, which I requested. Another function to fulfill came shortly before my departure for a 2-month visit to Germany: I was invited to be one of a number of presenters at the Guelph University Environmental Science Symposium on Feb. 2. My presentation titled People Power: the new energy revolution was well received. Yes, and then I left the wintery Bruce Peninsula to look for Spring in Germany, and for a bit of relaxation with the help of friends and relatives. Well, the crocus and daffodils were out, but a week after arrival winter made a short re-appearance to remind us it was still only February. To take advantage of new information available I travelled to Stuttgart, southern Germany to attend a 2-day Renewable Energies Congress, enjoying the hospitality of great friends during my stay. Another opportunity came with an event in Wels, Austria, called the World Sustainable Energy Day, which I decided not to pass up. Representatives came from all over the world and, looking over the listing, it turned out that I was the only one from Canada! Again, lots of great, encouraging information gleaned which will be available to everyone interested to clean up our environment and save money at the same time. To meet a deadline for a submission to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) I had to take time during my vacation to prepare and transmit the text to Ottawa. This submission on our concerns regarding the safe handling and storage of radioactive waste at the BNPP, which is being financed by Ontario ratepayers will be presented by me at the Ottawa hearing April 18. Again, the text will be available to anyone sending a postage paid, pre-addressed envelope and is also available by writing to the CNSC. Just to remind you, if it is at all necessary, that the big moment of electricity deregulation / open competition happens next month. That's why it is all the more important to come to our May 26 workshop and AGM to get the latest on strategies and suggestions on how to cope with the new electricity system! I'm promising a workshop with high-profile presenters well worth the trip to the St. Clements/Waterloo YMCA facility and the $ 40 registration fee (this time please send a deposit of$ 10 with pre-registration!) Let's also celebrate Earth Day (Apr. 21) by coming up with even more electricity conserving measures to lessen our footprint on this planet - our only home!
QUOTABLES...19th century Cree saying One of the major winners of the Energy Globe Awards at the Austrian World Sustainable Energy Congress was a project from the Spanish region of Castilla-LaMancha. Within 3 years 31 wind farms were built in environmentally friendly settings which produce 1173 MW of electricity - more than the output of a nuclear reactor!! Together with 100 small hydro stations, a biomass generating and a photovoltaic power plant, the whole region is supplied by renewable energy electricity!! More on that in the next newsletter...  In our relentless campaign to enlighten our members and the general public about the viability and benefits of renewable and safe power from Sun and Wind and Micro-hydro we had another busy year. With the co-ordinator laid up after hip replacement surgery in January and subsequent convalescence in Germany, Board members and volunteers staffed our displays at the important Organic Conference at Guelph University. CFRE was represented at many other events in different parts of the province like Ottawa, Barrie, Oakville, Windsor, Hamilton, Toronto, Kitchener and Parkhill. We conducted four workshops, one in connection with our fifth Annual General Meeting at the YMCA Environmental Learning Centre, Paradise Lake, west of Waterloo. The others took place in Ottawa in April, and Owen Sound and Hamilton in October. To give Renewable Energy enthusiasts some hands-on experience, a demonstration site tour was hosted by the Solwind Enerco experts in the Goderich area. It was a well attended event. Many not able to take part are looking forward to a repeat in 2002. We were very honoured when a publication titled ôSharing Our Successesö issued by the West Coast Environmental Law Research Foundation in July featured CFRE as one of the organizations across the country in a chapter called ôProviding Progressive Modelsö. To convince government authorities that conventional energy generation and in particular dangerous and costly nuclear power is unsustainable, CFRE intervened in two licensing hearings of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC), in Kincardine and in Ottawa. The co-ordinator and several members attended open houses and information workshops offered by the private operator Bruce Power in connection with their plan to re-start two old laid-up reactors of the Bruce 'A' section. The CNSC put out a draft Scoping Document on the Environmental Assessment for the re-start with a short public comment period falling mostly during the Holiday Season. We asked for an extension but were turned down. One of our Board members, Cindy MacDonald, had to resign for personal reasons, but we were lucky to fill the vacancy quickly when Lisa Chupa from Hamilton agreed to serve. Vitold Kreutzer, our longest serving Board member, took over the post of Secretary from Cindy. Thanks to all of you for giving your valuable time and for your dedication! Our membership remained fairly constant at just over 1,000 members with some drifting away being quickly replaced by new ones. And everyone received our four quarterly newsletters either by mail or e-mail. Both our newsletters and our web site received frequent favourable comments. Thanks to Karen for her help with this! The Co-ordinator was featured in a front page article of the Kitchener-Waterloo Record in May, but a real highlight for him was to be able to stand on top of a 200 feet tall 850 kW Enercon wind turbine in Magdeburg, Germany - and he has a photo to prove it!! Wind turbines are beginning to pop up even in this backward province of Ontario! There is renewed hope that clean and safe renewable energy production will gradually replace polluting fossil and nuclear power in 2002 and beyond!! Green Tags are a way for you to support electricity generation from renewable sources. Every Green Tag you buy reduces the coal power emissions that cause smog, acid rain and climate change, and reduces our reliance on nuclear power. Each Green Tag supports the development of one Megawatt-Hour of clean, wind-generated electricity. That's about one-tenth the amount of electricity an average Ontario household of four consumes in one year. Regardless of where you buy your electricity from, you can buy Green Tags from Green Tags Ontario to support green energy. The Green Tag Program has been initiated right here in this area by the Grey Bruce Renewable Energy Co-op. You can get more information at http://www.greentagsontario.com or call 1-866-546-8414.
The Ontario Sustainable Energy Association (OSEA) is presenting workshops around the province. The inspiring one day events bring together individuals and organizations interested in developing community based green energy projects. OSEA facilitators will help participants develop an understanding of green energy opportunities and issues through case studies, guided exercises, and open discussion. Topics include organization options, green power aggregation, fund raising, as well as the fundamentals of wind and micro-hydro generation. You will also learn how to assess local needs and opportunities. If you are interested in finding out about a workshop near you, please contact Karen Gventer at 519-376-3272 or kgventer at sympatico.ca ![[Windmill]](news25wind.gif) You may not be aware of the recent progress on the Toronto Renewable Energy Co-operative (TREC) project - the wind turbine slated for Exhibition Place is a go! All approvals have been received and all major agreements signed for the Exhibition Place Wind Turbine! The foundation will be poured soon, and the Turbine is to be erected in September! The marketing name for the TREC WindPower Co-op is WindShare. For more information on TREC, WindShare, or the project, please see http://www.trec.on.ca or call 416-977-5093 CFRE will be present at the Waterloo Region Clean Air Fair in Kitchener (Lion's Arena) April 21, and at the Ottawa Environment Week Expo at the Nepean Sports Complex June 3-8. Come and see our displays!
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City streets are divided by concrete barriers into bus lanes, bicycle lanes and car lanes. Public transit is favoured over private cars. At traffic signals, busses get the green before cars do. Pedestrians and bicycles also have their own traffic signals - which must drive traffic engineers crazy!
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