On September 1, Franny Armstrong launched a new climate change campaign in the U.K. called "10:10", which aims at committing individuals, organizations and businesses to a 10% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by the end of 2010. The focus of this campaign is to get individuals to make personal choices about the environment, rather than being forced by government demands. Read more about this campaign in openDemocracy.
Sharon Roling
Halt For-Profit Clinics: UBCM Resolution
Delegates to the upcoming annual meeting of the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) will discuss a resolution to declare a moratorium on any further development of for-profit medical service clinics in BC. Vancouver is in the midst of a healthcare crisis, with large homeless and low-income populations. UBCM members and medical professionals argue that for-profit clinics will not help the situation, and may exacerbate it by luring physicians out of the public system. Read the full story in The Tyee.
BC Arts Cuts ‘Devastating’ Says Tory Minister
The BC Liberals decision to cut arts funding is devastating to cultural sector, and longstanding organizations are at risk of folding because of 90% cuts to their provincial funding. Political figures, such as Heritage Minister James Moore, argue that arts funding is an essential component of an economic stimulus program during the recession, and that there is a strong fiscal argument for supporting the arts. Read the full story in The Tyee.
Looking for ways out of a fine mess: UBCM Resolutions for 2009
As the economic recession strains budgets, cities in B.C. are looking for ways to collect hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid bylaw fines. At the UBCM’s annual convention the community of Courtney will be proposing that fines be applied to property taxes. This strategy would be difficult to implement in Vancouver, where half of residents are renters, and other strategies must be sought. Read about more strategies and find about the UBCM’s resolutions for 2009 at the Globe and Mail.
New Light on Copenhagen Climate Talks
As of Sept.1, the European Union stopped manufacturing and importing incandescent lightbulbs and will turn to more energy-efficient bulbs. This move precedes the United Nations climate conference in Copenhagen in December, which will significantly impact the success or failure of producing a binding global plan of action for the climate change crisis. Meanwhile in the U.S., wealthy oil, gas and coal industries are successfully weakening and derailing national climate change action. Read the full story in Truthdig.
Ten Ways to Make BC a Model for Urban Farming
The latest idea in urban agriculture is vertical farming, where high-rise buildings are used to grow crops without natural ecological processes. This idea is met with harsh criticism however, and professionals maintain that best approach to urban agriculture is to use natural ecosystem processes on a local scale. Find tips for urban farming and the full story in The Tyee.
One-year halt ordered for Simcoe County dump site
Simcoe County councillors voted in favor os a 1-year moratorium on the development of the Site 41 landfill in Tiny Township, northwest of Barrie, Ontario. Activits in opposition of the development feared that it would contaminate an underground reservoir that provides drinking water. Tiny Township mayor Peggy Breckenridge says the next step will be to completely cease the development of Site 41. Read the full story in The Star.
Top UN climate scientist backs ambitious CO2 cuts
Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) personally endorses ambitious goals to cut carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations to below 350 parts per million (ppm). The IPCC originally reported in 2007 that woldwide CO2 concentrations must be kept below 450 ppm to prevent critical global temperature rise, however a growing body of scientific evidence suggests that concentrations must be cut even more. Read the full story here.
Wind turbines to generate some 200 jobs in Windsor
EarthTronics Inc., an American developer of small wind turbines, is expected to announce next month that it will begin manufacturing its products in Windsor, Ontario. Windsor has the highest unemployment rate in the country as a result of Ontario’s declining auto sector, and an established EarthTronics plant could generate up to 200 new jobs. Read the full story in The Toronto Star.
Housing Policies Could Help Prevent AIDS, Says Study
A recently published study in the Harm Reduction Journal finds that injection drug users rank security issues, such as housing and physical safety, above concerns about catching diseases such as HIV/AIDS. Activists suggest that housing is a key issue in preventing AIDS infection, and emphasize the need for secure, barrier-free housing for street-involved populations. Read the full story in The Tyee.
Comox Valley Is Launching Its Own Currency
Comox Valley is launching its own currency, called ‘Community Way Dollars’, to strengthen and unite the local community in the wake of a strained economy. Community Way Dollars operate similar to an open money concept, where people contribute federal dollars to community organization and businesses, and receive the equivalent amount of community money in exchange. Community organizers are exploring the idea for the Downtown Eastside. Read the full story in The Tyee.
Campbell’s BC tax shift to impact family finances
Premier Campbell admits that harmonized sales tax (HST) shifts $1.9 billion per year in tax from businesses to B.C. families. He claims that HST will boost business investment, and garners support from a case study the Maritime provinces, where the adoption of HST had positive economic impacts. The study does however have several significant flaws, which Campbell blatantly ignores. Read the full story in The Tyee.