HOME
CONTACT US
NEWSLETTERS
WORKSHOPS & DISPLAYS
MEMBERS PAGES
FAQS
ADVOCACY
RESOURCES & LINKS
HOME
CONTACT US
NEWSLETTERS
WORKSHOPS & DISPLAYS
MEMBERS PAGES
FAQS
ADVOCACY
RESOURCES & LINKS
Return to Newsletter list
Return to main page
|
HELPING ONTARIANS GO GREEN AND GET GREEN AT HOME "Ontarians know that fighting climate change presents a huge opportunity to save money and energy, right at home", with these words the Premier introduced a bundle of programs towards the end of June worth $150 million, set aside in the 2007 Budget, to upgrade homes and help Ontario meet its greenhouse gas emission targets.
These are all well thought out programs and we congratulate the Premier on his commitment to "green our homes". All depends now on the conditions and regulations which are usually attached to these programs. We strongly encourage our members to look into taking advantage of the financial incentives offered and begin with their retrofit and solar installation planning!! There is a toll-free number to contact for information on details : 1-888-668-4636.
WE LOST A DEDICATED MEMBER AND ACTIVIST... Norman Alcock left this world on March 11 at the age of 88. He joined CFRE almost at the start of our organization and was a great supporter of the cause. Having worked as a nuclear physicist for Atomic Energy Canada Ltd.(AECL) in the early days of their Chalk River Research Laboratories he came to realize the huge problems with storing nuclear waste. At a Symposium on Bruce Nuclear Waste Management held by the Bruce Peninsula Environment Group he expressed his strong belief that this long-lived, dangerous waste should never be buried underground, but kept as safe as possible, where it was produced and where it could be monitored. The Coordinator knew him as a gentle, enthusiastic person. Shocked at the proliferation of nuclear armament he, together with his wife Patricia, founded the Canadian Peace Research Institute in 1961. He was in demand all over the world with his ideas on making the world a safer place to live. His contributions were finally realized when he was awarded the Order of Canada in 2004. When he moved to Utterson near Huntsville his son Stephen built him a house featuring many renewable energy features which he loved to point out to visitors. He will be remembered as a model to us all.
The weather of this past summer continues to be an indicator of nature's warnings that modern human behaviour and thinking have enormous consequences. Only selfish, materialistic thinking disputes the impact human life has on the rest of the natural kingdom. So, the following questions may arise: What can I do about the current situation; Who and what can I believe; and Where do I turn for the real truth? What a dilemma for the human mind. After carefully examining the human potential, and with due respect for everyone's opinion and beliefs, I would like to offer some personal observations. Human health and survival is dependent upon the health and vitality of the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat, the soil and natural elements of our environment, and the ability to live in peaceful and harmonious co-operation with all life forms. So when I am exposed to the difficulties of modern human existence, my life decisions must reflect an internal objective reality that promotes love and respect for all humanity and our natural home. No matter what the area of human endeavour, serious problems seem to arise. The solutions to these difficulties are simple but usually require a dramatic shift in awareness and most often alter the materialistic habits encouraged by modern society. We, at CFRE, have concentrated our vision towards the energy sector. As population demands increase and outside influences cause deterioration of current technologies and infrastructures, the problems of energy sustainability are becoming critical. Power production and consumption require immediate attention. The study of solutions and alternatives must take into account the side effects and negative impacts on the health of all life forms today and tomorrow. The greater the waste, the toxicity, reliance of heavy technologies and destructive powers of these solutions, the more these methods should be avoided and vice versa. When we look at issues from a purely objective viewpoint with a degree of respectful detachment that includes the needs of all concerned, the answers become quite clear. Only our intellect and power hungry desires prevent the best alternatives and innovative ideas from emerging and becoming a part of daily responsible thinking and living. To conclude, it is my hope that we can all look for the objective truth in all and take full responsibility for our decisions. Be Well. Vitold Kreutzer; 519-923-3005
DEJA VU - WE HEARD IT ALL BEFORE!! With the flood of television ads for 'clean, affordable, reliable' nuclear energy, let's go back 15 years: "Nuclear industry campaign pushes green image" by Tom Spears, The SouthamStar Network, published in The Sun Times, Owen Sound, Feb. 11, 1992 Ottawa Nuclear power is the green wave of the future, according to television commercials from Canada's nuclear industry that begin Wednesday. The Canadian Nuclear Association says its ads will help counter the work of anti-nuclear groups such as Greenpeace and Energy Probe. "Our average customers Joe and Jane Public must be convinced" nuclear energy is safe and beneficial, CNA chairman David Anderson told the association's annual winter meeting Monday. The ads will run 2,256 times more than double last year's campaign of 1,000 spots. The ads are part of a five-year strategy that includes lobbying governments, advertising and providing teaching materials for schools, Anderson said. He said the strategy will focus partly on acid rain and greenhouse gases pollutants from other sources of electricity such as coal and oil that nuclear reactors don't produce. It will cost the CNA 4.2 million a year, he said. Thirty-five percent of Canadians already support nuclear power and 20 per cent are firmly against it, leaving 45 per cent as "persuadables" said Darrell Bricker of Angus Reid and Associates, which prepared an audience profile for the CNA. The English and French TV commercials portray ordinary people asking about problems like reactor accidents and disposal of waste uranium. Scientists and technicians reassure them everything's under control. Marc Perrault of the Groupe Everest agency, which designed the campaign, calls the campaign "the most honest ads around," but also said the characters in them aren't who the ads say they are. The professionals in each ad are labelled by name and occupation a biologist, a nuclear plant operator, and so on. In fact they're all actors, Perrault said. The Union des Artistes, which represents actors, wouldn't allow non-actors to appear in the TV commercials, he said. But he said the ad agency got affidavits from each "real person" testifying that he or she backs up what the actors say. Energy Probe's Norm Rubin denounced the ads as "seriously misleading" because the present actors as nuclear experts. "They are saying 'Have I ever lied to you before? And by the way, I'm not who I say I am'" he said in an interview. The CNA also presented its new logo, replacing the old maple leaf surrounded by electrons. "The (new) logo represents man harnessing the forces of nature while living in harmony with the environment," said Anderson. However, one conference delegate told the meeting that the "androgynous figure looks like a mutant from a meltdown accident."
THE NEW HALIFAX FARMERS' MARKET
Many years ago, Ziggy Kleinau first set foot on Canadian soil at Pier 21 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Pier 21 has recently had a complete facelift and now serves as a museum and modern cruise ship terminal. Next door, at Pier 20, plans are unfolding for a major update as well. Pier 20 will become the new home for the Halifax Seaport Farmers Market. The oldest continuous farmers' market in North America is in Halifax. It is presently located in an old brewery building which the market has now outgrown. The new Halifax Seaport Farmers Market will be a great improvement. An estimated $9,75 million will be spent to create the most ecologically efficient buildings in North America. The new market could open by June 2008. Energy Minister Bill Dooks said, "Were very focussed on reducing our greenhouse gas emissions and this is part of our mission. The building tackles climate change head on, demonstrating that it is possible to enjoy life to the fullest while using much less energy". The roof will be a garden, featuring sustainable turbines and solar collectors. Compared to together buildings of this type, this facility will use 85% less energy. Pier 20 will fit in beautifully will fit the Halifax waterfront and the local community. Not only will the building itself be eco-friendly, but enabling more shoppers to purchase food and other goods from local sources ill also have a positive eco-result. Here in Nova Scotia, as in the rest of Canada, many farmers are struggling to survive. It is hard enough to have one's livelihood subjected to the whims of Mother Nature, recent globalization of markets has now also placed another heavy burden on farmers. Canadian farmers, close to the breaking point, now have to openly compete with those in very distant countries. Our Canadian government keeps signing more free trade deals, worsening the situation. Here in bountiful Annapolis Valley, for instance, at the grocery store it is cheaper to buy and apple imported from China than it is to buy locally-grown. Buying produce at farmers' markets directly from local farmers makes sense. When you buy an apple from China, you're also buying the fossil-fuel which was burned to get that apple from so far away (and you are probably supporting apple growers who operate without our environmental ethics). Shopping at a local farmers' market makes sense. Shopping at the new eco-friendly Halifax Seaport Farmers' Market will make sense doubly. Perhaps Ziggy's first foot print in Canada had one positive influence which we're just now seeing come to fruition. ![[Google]](news47google.jpg)
Google's 1.6 MW Solar Powered Headquarters
QUOTABLES...E.F. Schumacher, Small is Beautiful
SPOTLIGHT ON...Nuclear Waste Management Organization The Minister of Natural Resources, Gary Lunn, has, without authorization from Parliament, directed the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) to start the search for a 'willing host community' to accept the over 2 1/2 million bundles of highly radioactive waste for deep geological storage for the hundreds of thousands of years of their deadly toxicity. In a news report (Huntsville Forrester) our Minister of Health, Tony Clement, has persuaded the Muskoka District Council in his riding to pass a resolution to declare the district a 'Nuclear-Waste -Free Zone. On behalf of our members the coordinator contacted Grey-Bruce MP Larry Miller asking him to follow Tony Clement's example to protect his constituents also. In spite of several emails over at least 6 weeks no reply has been received. Certainly a sorry way to ignore constituents' concern!!
QUOTABLES...They are highly reliable, they have long lifetimes, and they require very little maintenance." from "Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists", July/August 2000
Europe's only Zero-Emissions factory for Photovoltaic modules, the Solar-Fabrik GmbH in Freiburg/Germany uses exclusively renewable energies for production! Climate change seems to be on the minds of many people these days (and so it should be) with droughts and floods and heat waves in many parts of the world. In Ontario, this summer has brought us a severe lack of rain and the hot, sunny weather has vacationers delighted but farmers and food processors worried. Are we succeeding in getting our message out that everybody can do his/her part helping to make a difference by cutting back on energy and water use and at the same time saving money on their utility bills? Well, we have been trying pretty hard by participating in public events like the Great Lakes United (GLU) AGM and the Shared Air Summit in Toronto in June, where there is always an opportunity to comment on public policy. The coordinator was one of nine presenters at a 'Symposium on Energy Generation and our Environment' in Jarvis, arranged by the MPP for Haldimand-Norfolk-Brant , Toby Barrett, addressing the future of the Nanticoke Generating Plant. In his presentation he emphasized those making the choices have to consider the effects on those who can't speak for themselves, small children and babies. To underline his point he projected pictures of two of his youngest grandchildren on the screen. We have had displays at the 'Art of Being Green' festival in Lanark in July and at the 'Renewable Energy Fair' in Goderich in August. CFRE will be present again at 'The Feast of Fields' at Everdale Farm (Hillsburgh) September 16. The coordinator and our new board member Frank (Barney) Barningham attended the Information Meeting on the 'Annual Report of the Safety Performance of the Nuclear Power Industry' in Underwood, held by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC), and asked some critical questions. At the AGM of the Organic Meadow Cooperative in Guelph the coordinator suggested farmers should take advantage of the government's Standard Offer Program by installing systems to harvest the wind and the sun together with their crops. Responding to the Federal Minister of the Environment's announcement of establishment of Review Panel Environmental Assessment Hearings on Bruce Power's New Build Project and OPG's proposed Deep Geological Repository for low- and intermediate level nuclear waste at the shore of Lake Huron, we decided to apply for intervenor status and asked for funding from the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency. GLU and the Provincial Council of Women of Ontario asked us to represent them, too, in our interventions. At the time of writing we are still awaiting word on our funding request. The whole review process will likely take 3 years or longer and require a huge time input. Anyone wanting more information on these projects is invited to contact the coordinator. After our high profile workshop at the AGM in May we now are planning to hold a workshop in Hamilton at the Royal Botanical Gardens on Thursday, August 30th. Unfortunately due to the timing we could not provide this information for members on the mail-out list in the area, but sent an e-mail alert to our e-mail contacts. The theme of the workshop "Nanticoke: Coal or Nuclear? There is a better solution!" addresses the controversy about how to replace the power when the coal-fired generating station is to be closed in 7 years' time. We intend to show that, instead of a large central generating plant, there is the great opportunity for small, distributed renewable energy co-ops, where the power could go directly to towns and villages without ending up in high-voltage transmission lines. Small shareholders' investment would stay in the community and provide fair returns and create local jobs. Citizens have to be fully informed about the dangers of so-called clean and safe nuclear and clean coal generation. With the provincial election being set for October 10 we all have an opportunity to choose which direction our future energy supply will take and if the government will wholeheartedly support energy conservation and efficiency with effective programs. Quiz your candidates on their stand and also very important vote for a fairer election system in the Referendum, where every vote counts! We hope we can elect a government that is truly committed to provide a cleaner, safer environment for our children and grandchildren!! 
True horsepower transportation-no air pollution!
Go to previous newsletter Return to Newsletter list Return to main page |
