Environment still top of mind

Europe continues to lead the fight against climate change while North American, Indian, and Chinese government and business leaders are asleep at the switch.

Already on track to reduce the emission of global-warming gases by an average of 5 percent below 1990 levels by 2012, the EU has now committed to a 20-percent and possibly as much as 30% reduction below 1990 levels by 2020.

One area that would certainly help is by increasing taxes on jet fuel. Taxing airplane fuel for international flights is prohibited by an archaic international agreement. I personally am required to travel at my office a fair bit. The current cheap price of these flights acts as an incentive for businesses to demand face to face meetings wherever possible. Many of these trips are unnecessary and would be avoided if the true costs of this harmful travel were reflected in the price of the ticket

Cute robots

Hmm. corporate greenwashing or ecobunk? Triton Logging is trumpeting its patented Sawfish™ technology. According to a news release, Triton wood has been selected for a list of top 10 green building products.

"With an estimated 300 million trees submerged worldwide, flooded forests represent a significant resource."

I don't know. There's something about hydro electric dams, flooded forests, and sustainability that just doesn't sit right with me. Maybe I'm too old-fashioned... But the little robot is so cute! But dams are bad! But the robot is cute! Oh the cognitive dissonance.

Environmentalism is very trendy right now. Maybe it's the dying planet. Even the US Army is getting into the game.

The Nature Challenge

If I had to list my most respected role model it would be David Suzuki. He's an environmentalist, but not a screaming roadblock-chaining type. The 'Suze is direct about what he expects people to do, but not nasty or vindictive. Overall a pretty friendly guy, but up-front and direct about what he thinks people should do.

So I try to make a substantial contribution every year to The David Suzuki Foundation because I think they do very good work. This enviro group has a few interesting initiatives. One of them is the Nature Challenge, which over 250,000 people have signed up for. The Nature Challenge is a set of ten steps that individuals can take.

These are my new year's resolutions so to speak. Ok, let's review see how I currently stack up. I am going to comment on each goal, and whether it is SMART (Specific Measurable Attainable R-something and Time Bounded)

1. Reduce home energy by 10%

This is an expensive and time consuming goal. We've been working on this since 2003 and have

invested substantially in houshold energy efficiency. But the truth is I don't know what the results are. Need to check the actual change in energy consumption

2. Eat meat-free meals once a week

Already doing it. This is dead simple Get some frozen wild salmon and throw it in the oven once a week. It's also inherently in one's self interest to not eat too much red meat.

3. Buy a fuel efficient, low-polluting car

This is pretty straightforward. If you are buying a new car, SUV's generally suck. The hard data for fuel efficiency is at fuelefficency.org. After reviewing the data, our car, a 1993 Saturn, supposedly gets 28 mpg city/ 36 mpg highway driving.

4. Choose an energy efficient home and appliances.

When we buy an appliance, we generally fork over a little extra cash to buy more efficient appliances. We have a BigWash Samsung washing machine and two efficient new Energuide appliances.

5. Stop using pesticides

Dead simple. I am inherently lazy, so not doing something is pretty easy. "Honey did you spray the weeds". "No, I am taking the Nature Challenge"

6. Walk, bike or take transit to regular destinations
Transit yes. Bike, mm not so much currently. We still end up using our car too much. I would like to get rid of it and switch to Zipcar.

7. Prepare your meals with locally produced food

This is quite difficult. I would rewrite the goal to say "Select Ontario or Canadian fruit wherever available. Avoid food from faraway places: kiwis from New Zealand, grapes from Chile, etc."

In Toronto and Vancouver there are agencies like Green Earth Organics that deliver organic, produce items. We are a GEO customer, and I am curious about where GEO gets its food and have put in an enquiry.

8. Choose a home close to regular destinations

Done. Though I burn a lot of fossil fuels getting to my Ultimate games in the summer.

9. Support alternatives to the car

Hmm, difficult to measure. This goal should be chartered to be more specific and measurable . E.g write one letter to an elected representative pushing for better transit funding.

10. Get involved, stay informed

This goal should be more specific and measurable.

Top NASA scientist speaks out

Dr. James Hansen from the Goddard Institute of Space Studies spoke in a webcast today that was watched by 500,000 plus viewers. The webcast is part of an emergency teach-in, designed to alert teachers, scientists, and other professionals of the necessity to act on global climate change by 2010.

My partner's architecture office sent two people to watch the webcast at a local engineering office. The entire engineering office was watching the webcast. The great news is that obviously climate change is taken seriously by teachers, scientists, engineers, and architects. Now it needs to be taken seriously by federal governments and business.

Hansen outlined some basic truths that are clear to most informed observers not on the payroll of the fossil fuel industry

1. Nuclear power is useful but not the only answer.

2. Technologies for fossil fuel reduction are already available. Political will is needed.

3. Regulation and taxation of fossil fuels is necessary to effect change.

In an ABC news story, Dr. Hansen says the U.S. federal government is attempting to silence him and other scientists that speak out on global warming issues.

Trash

I plan to consume, read, and eventually dispose of this collection of essays from MIT press. The book explores the meaning and psychology of garbage. From a typology of dust bunnies to an essay on brownfields redevelopment. In a consumptive society, our trash defines us to a large extent. So a study of the ethics and significance of trash is appropriate.

Frigid February

Politicians looked up this week and saw the storm over climate change brewing. Conservatives and conservative pundits, who until recently spent much of their efforts denying the problem existed, now shifted their efforts to painting the issue as hopeless. As in: there's nothing we can do about this, so might as well get really, really rich.

Toronto Bird Observatory

The Toronto Bird Observatory has a great site with lots of cute bird pictures, birds that are visible right here in the city if you know where to look. Their birding news feed on the right hand side of the blog is depressing. Items like "Global warming could wipe out most birds". That is fucking scary.

competitiveness and climate change

The latest Global Competitiveness report from the World Economic Forum shows that you can sign the Kyoto accord, make progress towards greenhouse gas emissions reductions and still remain economically competitive.

Out of the top 10 only the U.S. is not a Kyoto member. The U.S. signed it and later reneged on their committment under the Bush administration. The other countries in the top ten are: Switzerland, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Japan, Germany, the Netherlands, Singapore, and the United Kingdom; all Kyoto signatories

"The top rankings of Switzerland and the Nordic countries show that good institutions and competent macroeconomic management, coupled with world-class educational attainment and a focus on technology and innovation, are a successful strategy for boosting competitiveness in an increasingly complex global economy."Augusto Lopez-Claros, Chief Economist; Director, Global Competitiveness Network

Ward Hunt ice shelf breaks up

The Ward Hunt ice shelf on Ellesmere Island has broken after 3,000 years of undisturbed existence. NASA scientists attribute this change to human-caused climate change.

The breakup of the ice shelf is a loss to biodiversity since the shelf contained a rare microclimate known as an epishelf lake. An epishelf lake is a particular climate consisting of fresh, brackish, and salt water in a rare combination similar to that found in George Bush's brain.