Erin backs Blue Dot campaign for environmental rights

As published in The Erin Advocate

It was an easy decision for Town Councillors to declare Erin as a Blue Dot community, in support of David Suzuki’s bid to guarantee environmental rights in Canada’s constitution. It will not oblige them to spend money or doing anything different.

The real debate will be within the federal and provincial governments, which would have to endorse any change to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

“I love this town – every part of it is bordered by rolling hills, woodlands, farms and waterways,” said resident Gerry Walsh, requesting council’s support at the April 21 meeting. “Together, everyone in our Town can declare this basic human right – to breathe fresh air, drink clean water and eat healthy food.”

Erin is the fourth municipality in Ontario to commit to these principles. So far, most of the support has been in British Columbia. Mayor Al Alls has promised to express his support for the Blue Dot Movement in a letter to Premier Kathleen Wynne.

Supporters of the Blue Dot Movement celebrate after Erin Town Council
 passed a declaration in favour of a constitutional right to a healthy environment.
Left to right: Joanne Kay, Myrtle Reid, Gerry Walsh and Don Chambers.    

Details of the campaign are available at bluedot.ca. Suzuki supporters hope to build grassroots pressure from local communities to support a Charter amendment. That would require the official support Parliament plus seven provinces, representing more than 50% of Canada’s population.

It is a very ambitious and idealistic plan, since senior level politicians will no doubt consider the many court cases that it will take to define citizens’ rights on air, water and food. Imagine the impact if anyone in a big city could claim a legal right to breath air unpolluted by cars and factories. Who would pay the cost of bringing clean drinking water to all First Nations communities or making good food available to everyone now living in poverty?

I did not get the impression that Town Council was signing up for a revolution. But faced with climate change, dwindling oil, over-population, erosion of our natural heritage and unsustainable consumption, that’s what we’re talking about.

At its core, the environmental movement is promoting a new culture with different expectations. Green policies may save money in some areas, but will require radical changes to our economy in the areas of transportation, energy generation, food supply, housing, health care, taxation and environmental protection.

“It reminds me of the industrial revolution,” said Walsh. “This is the next phase we’re moving into. Some people are going to suffer and some people are going to benefit, but we have to move forward.”

Efforts to enshrine environmental rights in the constitution were unsuccessful when the Charter was negotiated 35 years ago, but they are definitely worth advocating again. More than a hundred countries have them in their constitutions, resulting in progress rather than chaos.

Enforcement of legal rights will always be problematic, but in general, if a country enshrines its goals, they are more likely to be at least partly achieved.

It is important to remember that Charter rights are not absolute, but are subject to “such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.” This puts issues in the hands of politicians, the law-makers, which is quite proper. Some would argue that environmental rights could be expanded by the courts under the Section 7 right to “life, liberty and security of the person”, or by direct reference of a question from a government to the Supreme Court.

Judges, however, should not be creating major changes to the Charter of Rights. The most legitimate process is the more difficult one. If a political consensus for environmental rights can be built throughout the country, with sustainability as a widely accepted priority, a formal constitutional amendment will become a logical final step. That consensus does not yet exist, but it is interesting to see the construction work going on in our own town.

In the meantime, environmentalists need to continue doing what they do best – convincing the public and elected representatives to support policies that will help us weather the coming storm.

Permaculture author predicts major upheaval

As published in The Erin Advocate

It’s difficult to put your finger on permaculture. It’s more than a way of gardening, but it’s not a formal science. It’s more than an attitude, but it’s not quite a religion. In its purer forms, it is too radical for most people, but it is having an influence on our culture, and it could become more prominent if things really start to fall apart.

Permaculture author Peter Bane was in Erin last week promoting the core strategies of this “way of thinking” to a receptive audience of about 50 at All Saints Church. The meeting was hosted by Transition Erin, which is part of a movement that sprang from the ideals of permaculture.

Bane is the author of The Permaculture Handbook and publisher of Permaculture Activist journal. Farmer Val Steinmann introduced him as a North American leader in the field, helping make permaculture a global movement, taking it “from the fringes, to the mainstream of church basements”.

Bane calls permaculture “a design system rooted in ecological science”, focused on care of the earth, care of people and fair distribution of surplus. This is linked to awareness of limits within nature, and the need to limit population and consumption.

“It’s a way of thinking about problems and turning them into solutions holistically – we can do it in our lives, we can do it in our businesses, we can do it in our communities,” he said.

“Permaculture is fundamentally about economic democracy, about recreating resources at the local level so that everyone has enough. The problem with our economy is that is continues to concentrate wealth in a few hands. There are more than a billion people on this planet who are hungry every single day.

“In the process of building the industrial economy over the last 200 years, we have destroyed large parts of the earth. We have to recreate the wealth that our ancestors inherited and used up to bring us to where we are today.”

The idealism of the movement can be seen in goals such full employment, with full enjoyment of worthwhile work.

“If we were all doing more of what we really liked and loved to do, those would be those jobs that need doing. Planting trees, cultivating gardens, taking care of people, building community among wonderful people like this,” he said.

“The answers are in our front and back yards, in our neighbourhoods. By turning our attention to building soil at home, growing food, processing and trading it locally, we can build the local economy, rebuild our health and restore the basis for economic democracy by creating real resilience. Food sovereignty means political sovereignty.”

The message also has that familiar apocalyptic tone. The ravages of climate change, energy shortages, overpopulation and depleted soils will destroy the wasteful economy that we know, and if we survive, we will all have to manage with less of everything. Bane says the problems are too entrenched to be solved by governments, and that it will take grassroots movements to make progress.

“Now, we’re living in the time of the whirlwind – all these things are squeezing us into smaller and smaller space,” he said. “What we’re about is redesigning human culture. It’s a complete cultural transformation we’re after. Everyone is going to go through a traumatic and amazing cultural upheaval over the next two decades. We’d better be prepared, because it’s coming at us, like it or not.”

In practical terms at home, permaculture means taking control and looking for opportunities to conserve water and energy, recycle waste of every sort, grow food or buy from local producers and let nature do more work for us. Within the economy, it means shifting from oil to wind, solar and biomass energy and producing much of what we need locally.

The ideas are already well known, but we have not been forced to really take them seriously. When the crunch comes, the permaculture folks want to be ready to throw humanity a lifeline.

China wants to build business bridges with Erin

As published in The Erin Advocate

Investment and trade in agricultural products is an area of growing interest for businesses in China, and they are looking at rural areas such as Erin for opportunities, according to the Chinese Consul General.

Fang Li and a team from the consulate in Toronto visited Erin last week at the invitation of Mayor Lou Maieron, who organized an Agriculture and Environmental Sustainability tour of Wellington County.

“You are famous for your agricultural industry,” said Li. He noted that while China is the world’s most populous country, it has relatively limited farmland and needs to import good quality grain and organic foods.

Mayor Maieron presented an Erin flag to Consul General Fang Li and his entourage.

“I believe you are in a very sound position to develop economic and trade relations with my country. Also many Chinese enterprises are going abroad for opportunities, especially in high-tech sectors such as information and communication, and renewable and clean energy. I think you could find some suitable Chinese partners.”

Economic and trade relations between Canada and China have increased rapidly since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1970. Canadian statistics show trade valued at $73 billion (US) in 2013, making China its second largest trading partner.

China’s growth rate has slowed in recent years, but it is still at 7.7%. It is a huge market, with annual imports valued at almost $2 trillion (US). It also had 97 million tourists visiting other countries last year, each spending an average of $1,000.

Chinese investments in Canada total some $50 billion, primarily in energy, mining, telecommunications, appliances and financial services. New areas of investor interest include food products, renewable energy, real estate and high-end manufacturing, said Li.

The China Canada Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement, signed in 2012, is intended to protect the rights of investors from each country. Li urged the federal government to ratify the agreement.

Also visiting Erin was Sophia Sun, founder of the Canada China Investment Association, which sponsored Maieron’s trip to China with other mayors last year.

“I was completely blown away by the advancements, the culture and the history of a civilization that is more than 5,000 years old,” said the mayor. “We learned how Canadian clean industries, agriculture and other industries could help China and how we could do some business. There’s a great need. The Chinese are wanting to improve their diet, with dairy, animal husbandry – beef and pork – and crops. That’s something that we can do very well.”

The day started with a breakfast meeting at David’s Restaurant, hosted by David Netherton and Mary Shields of the East Wellington Chamber of Commerce. Several business people interested in or currently selling products to China were in attendance.

After Li’s speech and a brief question and answer session with Erin residents, Maieron brought the Chinese delegation for a tour of his trout farm, Silver Creek Aquaculture, then to visit the Angelstone International show jumping venue on County Road 50.

From there they went to see the Bioproducts Discovery and Development Centre, and the Biodiversity Institute at the University of Guelph. They also went to see the family dairy farm and bio-digester of Mapleton Mayor Bruce Whale. To finish the day they toured the Grand River Raceway in Elora and watched horse racing over dinner.

Town to track and cut energy use

As published in The Erin Advocate

A new energy conservation plan could help redirect money to core services at the Town of Erin and improve its public image, according to a report from Financial Analyst Larry Wheeler.

Town council was told on June 3 that the Green Energy Act requires municipalities to develop and implement energy Conservation and Demand Management (CDM) plans starting this year.

“A commitment to being ‘green’ will be perceived as a positive development in the eyes of the public,” said Wheeler.

The plan for energy consumption cost savings must include the administrative offices, council chambers, both ice rinks, both community centres, both fire halls, the Hillsburgh ambulance station, the Erin village OPP office, both Roads Department storage and equipment depots and all Water Department facilities.

It will include data on energy use and greenhouse gas emissions last year, goals for reducing consumption and managing demand, and proposed actions with expected savings and timelines.

Council had set aside $16,000 for development of the plan in the 2014 capital  budget. The goal is to generate cost savings in 2014, plus ongoing savings from restraint strategies.

“It is hoped that by including members of the most affected departments in the CDM planning process, that the concept of reducing the demand for energy in the future will overlay all strategic decision making processes,” said Wheeler.

Kids spread the word on energy conservation

As published in The Erin Advocate

Erin councillors are staying well hydrated and well informed on water issues thanks to a presentation from the Water Rockers.

Abbey Collings and Jessie Cuthbert from the Grade 6 class at Erin Public School appeared as a delegation at the May 20 council meeting, presenting each of the politicians with a steel water bottle. The class has sold 200 of the special Erin bottles and hopes to sell more.

“We’ve done a lot of research this year about world water issues,” they said. “Our class came up with 2 main goals: to get our school and local community to use reusable water bottles every day, and to get everyone to appreciate how lucky we are to have our local water supply.”

Water Rockers Jessie Cuthbert (left) and Abbey Collings give
water bottles to politicians at a Town Council meeting.

The Water Rockers have submitted articles to the Advocate, appeared on Erin Radio and convinced all of the downtown businesses to support the Blue W conservation program. If people see a Blue W sticker in a business window they can fill a reusable water bottle there for free and get a discount on coffee or tea if it is sold there.

With the slogan, Erin: Our Local Water Rocks, the students are part of a movement to promote the use of tap water instead of bottled water, which is more expensive and uses up more energy. Businesses can register and people can get more information at www.bluew.org.

Local students have engaged in many environmental efforts in recent years, including work to qualify as Eco Schools. Public School Trustee Kathryn Cooper has led an effort to embed environmental principles into school board policies, both for curriculum and operation of buildings.

She said the Water Rockers are a good example of students being motivated to take action, in line with a mandate to create links with local communities.

Early this year, the Upper Grand School Board Business Operations Committee approved an “environmental sustainability action plan”, agreed to hire a Sustainability Coordinator and directed that environmental factors be considered in all board policies and decisions.
“We want to create environmentally conscious citizens,” said Cooper. “The work has just started. We need to push to integrate the policy into the schools.”

When principals and teachers are working on School Improvement Plans, they will now have stronger backing to try ideas for advancing student learning by incorporating environmental concepts into various subject areas, and they will be held accountable in this regard, said Cooper.

She likes the idea of coordinating school gardens and composting with kitchen operations, and using fruit trees as part of plans to “green up” school grounds.

The board is always looking for ways to save money in its operations. As an example, Cooper would like to reduce the use of photocopying and paper, which costs the board about $1 million per year.

Solar panels have been installed at 41 schools, including Brisbane and Erin Public, feeding power into the Hydro grid. Schools can track their renewable energy production live on-line and compare cloudy and sunny days.

Brisbane has generated 17.5 MWh of electricity since last May, while Erin Public has generated 18.2 MWh. Each school has offset more than 16 metric tons of carbon that would have flowed into the atmosphere if dirty energy sources had been used for equivalent generation. That’s about the same benefit as 30% of an acre of pine forest, or of not operating an average passenger car for 3.57 years.

The solar panels are producing income of about $375,000 a year for the board, some of which is funding the new Sustainability Coordinator position.

“We want to re-invest that money in learning and more energy efficiency,” said Cooper.

The board’s procedure for environmental issues is now guided by the following goals:
“Environmental education enables students to develop the knowledge and skills they need to be environmentally active and responsible citizens and to apply their knowledge and skills cooperatively to effect long term change.

“Students must be active participants in shaping their future. Student engagement involves the active participation of all students in sustainable environmental practices, a strong student voice in decision making, and involvement in the school and community in meaningful ways.

“By exercising environmental responsibility in the management of its own operations, the Board can serve as a model of corporate citizenship for students and the broader community and ensure coherence with the environmental messages conveyed by the curriculum.”

Private firm could design and operate sewers

As published in The Erin Advocate

If the Town of Erin proceeds with a sewer system, councillors will have to make a crucial choice. Do they figure out exactly what they want and hire someone to do it? Or do they simply state what has to be achieved, then take bids from companies willing to take the risk of designing and operating the system?

The current Servicing and Settlement Master Plan (SSMP) will only set out a general vision, including decisions on whether to proceed with some type of sewers, and what areas should be serviced (Erin village, Hillsburgh or both). After that, the next phase of the environmental assessment process would deal with details of how it could be done.

“What do we know about small bore or traditional gravity sewers?” said Roy Val of Transition Erin, who brought guest speakers to a Transition Erin workshop in March, for Town councillors, staff and the public. “Give it to the people who know, and will be responsible for it for 30 years.”

Two companies that could potentially bid on designing, financing and running the whole thing as part of a Public-Private Partnership made presentations at the workshop.

“We are taking the risk, so we want to get the design right,” said Richard Nie, president of Koester Canada of Brantford, with projects in 85 locations in Ontario. He said this model opens up the possibility of choosing from any technology that is on the market.

“You are not experts, so you shouldn’t be doing it. It’s a procurement issue. People worry about us scrimping, but we usually go further. We are trying to find synergies, to reduce costs. Essentially, we pass risk downwards. The same performance guarantee we’re giving you, we’re passing down to our suppliers. We vet them for their assets and capability to back those performance guarantees.”

Efficiency could be gained by sharing staff for relatively small locations such as Erin. For example, one operator could be doing the water sampling at half a dozen small plants. The company could also provide centralized alarm and reporting functions, do bulk purchasing of parts and chemicals to get lower costs, and be able to deliver the advantage of broad experience with equipment at many plants, he said.

Typically, a firm that wins a contract like this will set up a subsidiary utility company to deal with all financial and management issues for a specific system. Nie said having a private enterprise with its own money at risk reduces the risks and costs for the Town, eliminates frequent Requests for Quotation (RFQs) and reduces the chances of costly delays.

“It’s actually cheaper over the long term,” he said.

The revenue from on-going sewer charges paid by homeowners, which can be set up to include individual connection costs, covers a firm’s operating costs, including insurance. It also creates a surplus that goes towards paying down the capital loan taken out for construction, and a profit for the company.

“A lender or the municipality can take an equity stake in the company, and earn part of the profit,” said Nie, noting that the 30-year cost of operating the system is far greater than the cost of building it. “No one makes money unless it works.”

He also said it is a “myth” that everyone has to hook up to make a project feasible. “It depends on the condition of the septic systems,” he said.

Also making a presentation was Peter Rupcic of Clearford Industries, which specializes in Small Bore Sewer collection systems, but can also do treatment plants, financing and operation. Last week the company announced it had won a $3 million, 30-year contract to build, own and operate both the water and wastewater systems for Fetherstone Mobile Park near Kemptville.

Residents of 41 homes there had been facing possible eviction due to malfunctioning septic systems. The new system will be built to accommodate up to 100 new homes. Clearford has also announced ClearDigest, a new type of septic tank that would only have to be pumped out after “decades” of normal use.

Val said the traditional “prescriptive” approach would require council (with the help of staff and consultants) to decide on issues in which they have no expertise. Residents would pay for each stage of the process, plus the retrofitting of any part of the system that turned out to be inadequate.

A “performance” approach, on the other hand, would encourage innovation, shift much of the funding and liability to the private sector and delay payment until the system is working.

“It’s a question of cash flow and risk,” said Val. The Town would own the sewer system in either scenario, but a Public-Private Partnership could promote entrepreneurial efficiency. There would be costs for the Town to hire experts to monitor the project.

“It’s like leasing,” he said. “It costs a bit more, but you have paid for something of value.”

Rupcic said, “The reality is that the government can’t fund everything.” He quoted from a C.D. Howe Institute study on water and wastewater that says billions of dollars in promised federal funding is dwarfed by the overwhelming needs of municipalities. Grants are unpredictable, with large ones often creating new problems.

“On the one hand, the possibility of getting ‘free’ money tempts municipalities to delay making necessary investments, and in fact, those that neglect their infrastructure are often rewarded. On the other hand, once grants do materialize, they allow a municipality to invest in unnecessary capacity,” the study said.

“Consumers, relieved of bearing the full costs of the water they use, over-consume. Municipalities, likewise relieved of incentives for efficiency, over-invest. Using other people’s money, municipalities build more infrastructure than they need and more than they can afford to operate and maintain.”

Gas bar approved for Erin village

As published in The Erin Advocate

A Petrogold Gas Bar at the north end of Erin village, with a convenience store and restaurant, has been given the green light by Town Council.

Existing buildings at the site of Brylyn’s Garden Market and Saucy Soup Restaurant at 280 Main Street will be retained for the project, which is expected to cost about $2 million.

Council gave conditional approval of the site plan at their February 18 meeting, rescinding a 1992 approval for a gas station that was never built and a more recent greenhouse plan.
A gas pump canopy cover is part of the project, along with curbed islands to control traffic flow, 25 parking spaces and a new septic system.

Developers Alexandr and Eugene Shcolyar said they plan to proceed with construction, with completion this year. No major changes are planned for the restaurant building.

A security deposit of $131,600 is required by the Town, to ensure all paving, landscaping, curbing, storm sewers and other site work is completed.

They will also have to make a contribution of $600 per metre of frontage, amounting to almost $75,000, for future construction of sidewalks. The Town already has $90,000 in the Sidewalk Reserve from the Shane Baghai development (Tim Horton’s, etc.) on the other side of the street.

“It will be some time before sidewalks are constructed,” said Planner Sally Stull, noting that there are drainage issues to be resolved in the area, and that the county road could be torn up at some point for sewers.

Mayor Lou Maieron reminded council that there is heavy pedestrian traffic in the area, and got support to have staff write a report explaining issues related to sidewalks.

Train display recreates Credit Valley landscape

As published in Caledon-Erin Sideroads

The locomotive glides smoothly through the hills of Caledon, hauling a precious cargo of memories along the banks of the Credit River.

The model Credit Valley Railway display that Steve Revell has built in his garage captures an era when trains were still a vital service for passengers and businesses in Caledon, Orangeville and Erin – complete with people, cars and the Niagara Escarpment terrain.

A model train crosses the river on the Credit Valley Railway, approaching Forks of Credit Station just east of Belfountain, headed for Orangeville. Just to the north at Cataract, a branch line was opened in 1879, providing rail service to Erin, Hillsburgh, Orton, Fergus and Elora. Those rails were lifted in 1988 and it is now the Elora-Cataract Trailway.

Steve bought his first train set when he was 12, with earnings as a paper boy, though the hobby was soon surpassed by his interest in cars and girls. After he got married, his wife Donna knew of his previous interest, and bought him a train engine.

"That led to a railroad, in our first apartment, taking over the dinette," said Steve. "In our second place it took over a bedroom, and in our third place it took over the basement."

After moving to Erin in 1986, it was decided that no cars would occupy the double garage. It was to become the stage for an extravagant train and miniature landscape creation that would encompass Steve's interest in history, trains, classic cars and the natural environment.

Steve shows off his multi-level model train display, which has scenes from the 1950s depicting the industrial section of old Brampton, rural Caledon and the town of Orangeville.

"I use inexpensive materials and recycle them," said Steve. The viewing platforms are built out of bi-fold doors, and the hills and valleys out of foam and paper towel.

Basswood bark can be made to look like limestone outcroppings. Weeds and pickled lichen come in handy for greenery, though they can be improved with glycerine and green dye. And whiskers no longer needed by his cat serve as fishing poles for little people by the river.

He has built in "O" scale, which is 1/48 of actual size. A figure of six-foot-tall person is 1.5 inches tall, and rail cars are big enough to look inside. He has separate sets of trains, so he can portray the 1950s, 1960s or 1970s.

He uses old photos of historic buildings to learn their details, and if they still exist, he'll show up with a tape measure to make sure he gets the dimensions right.

"It's almost finished," he said, showing off the barn he had just added to his countryside. More than just an ongoing project, the display has become a meditative place, where the hum of remote-control engines helps him reflect on his explorations of the real world.

"It's a very soothing sound. I've been here. I've hiked here. I've explored these buildings. I've seen trains climbing these grades. It's re-creating good times."

Living in Mississauga and Brampton he was always close to the Credit Valley Railway, which had been part of the rail boom of the late 1800s, so it was an obvious choice for an ambitious modeler and history teacher.

"It goes through some of the most beautiful scenery in Southern Ontario," said Steve. A walk in his garage proceeds from Orangeville, though Cataract and Forks of the Credit, and into the industrial area of Brampton. It is something he has created for his own enjoyment, and he does not offer public tours.

Steve retired from the Peel Board of Education in 2002, after 17 years at Alloa Pubic School and 14 at Caledon Central Public.

"I'd take kids out for hikes to Cataract, through the Forks park, down to Forks of the Credit, and then up the escarpment," he said. It's a nature walk, a taste of local history and a lesson on the evolution of Canada's economy.

One of the many quarries in the Forks area that provided business for the CVR, and distinctive pink sandstone for construction of the Ontario Legislature building.

"Through the Credit Valley, you have the farms, the quarries, the bricks, the mills, the logging, the power generation. It's Ontario history, the succession of it, and that's why I love the Elora-Cataract Trailway."

Steve was part of the group that worked with conservation authorities to establish the trailway. He has also chaired the Erin trails committee, helping build the Woollen Mills Trail and expand the local hiking network.

"I always felt that I was fortunate, and that I should be giving back," he said.

He has a favourite bit of poetry by Alexander McLachlan (also known for an ode to Erin founder Daniel McMillan), who in 1874 wrote of the railway:

"And from Chinguacousy's fertile plains
We hear the thunder rally,
To open up wealth's thousand veins,
Throughout the Credit Valley."

Figures of Steve playing with a cat beside the tracks, along with his father Gerry and daughter Peggy. The train display allows him to enjoy his interest in vintage car models.

Rail fans have a fascination with the human drive to harness technology, undertaking high-risk ventures and altering the environment in hopes of making a profit. In an era without trucks and good roads, trains provided an efficient alternative to boats for the movement of freight, providing access to inland areas of Southern Ontario.

In the 1870s, entrepreneur George Laidlaw built the CVR to compete with established rail lines. He had a $3,000 per mile government subsidy and huge investments from businesses and municipalities wanting reliable transportation. Wellington County pledged $135,000 and Peel $75,000.

"The CVR was already in serious financial trouble by the time it reached Erin in 1879," said Steve, in a booklet on Erin history he published in 2007.

Fraxa Junction, north-west of Orangeville.

"The arrival of the railway did facilitate travel to the outside world, but for the village itself the railway was more of a convenience than a stimulus for economic growth. Passenger service was limited after the Crash of 1929 and abandoned in 1958."

The CVR had a line west from Toronto to St. Thomas, a branch north from Streetsville to Orangeville and later to Georgian Bay, plus the Elora sub-branch.

The business collapsed under heavy debt in 1883, with its valued routes scooped up by Canadian Pacific, but the culture of the project is still admired.

A model of the old Orangeville station with its distinctive "witch's hat" turret and pointed roof as it looked in the 1950s. The real building was sold and moved in the early '80s, becoming a restaurant in downtown Orangeville.

Freight continues to move up and down the valley on the local CVR route, now used by the 55-km Orangeville Brampton Railway. The Credit Valley Explorer offers scenic train tours out of Orangeville and spectacular bridges remain as monuments to a bygone era.

Clean Air Alliance promotes sensible energy plan

As published in The Erin Advocate

Ontario's energy system always seems like a shell game designed to confuse the average,  income tax-paying, air-breathing Hydro customer. It is a never-ending strategy of subsidies and rebates designed to mask the true cost of electricity.

If we still owe billions of dollars in interest payments for nuclear reactors that are worn out, and still don't know what to do with the radioactive waste, does it make sense to borrow billions more to build new reactors?

Does it make sense to import coal from the US, and then, because we have excess generation, turn around and sell coal-generated power back to the US? Ontario has promised to close its coal-fired facilities by 2014, but the plants continue to spew air pollutants and toxins, along with carbon dioxide that is helping accelerate the harmful effects of climate change.

"We are the only jurisdiction in the planet that is phasing out coal for environmental and health reasons," said Angela Bischoff, Outreach Director for the Ontario Clean Air Alliance, speaking at the Fast Forward Film Festival in March. The Climate Change Action Committee of Erin presented The Last Mountain, a film about the fight to stop the removal of Appalachian mountain tops for their coal.

Ontario gets some of its coal from that region to fuel electricity generation plants. Bischoff said only three per cent of Ontario's electricity comes from coal, down from 25 per cent just seven years ago, and that coal could be eliminated ahead of schedule.

"Right now, we (Hydro customers) are subsidizing OPG (Ontario Power Generation) about $300-400 million every year just to keep those coal plants open. With the high cost of keeping the plants open and the low amount of coal that's being burned, it is no longer profitable to be burning coal, so we're lobbying to have the coal plants shut down early, like right now. We have 36 per cent excess electrical capacity on line.

"With green energy coming on line, natural gas coming on line, we don't need to be keeping these coal plants open...By shutting down the coal plants and committing no more dollars to nuclear expansion, we could meet all our energy needs much, much cheaper."

The Clean Air Alliance is a coalition of about 100 organizations across Canada, including businesses, municipalities and non-profit groups, committed to the goal of a 100 per cent green energy grid by 2030. They are opposed to the government's plan to build new nuclear plants (at a cost they put at more than $80 billion over ten years) to supply a significant part of Ontario's energy needs.

The current doubling of the transmission line through Erin is part of the infrastructure needed to deliver more electricity from Lake Huron reactors to Lake Ontario cities.

"Our strategy is to find political leadership...but none of the political leaders right now are advocating for a massive shutdown of the coal plants or a shift in funding away from new nuclear reactors to greener electricity," said Bischoff. After the huge cost over-runs of the past, the Alliance has advocated that the bid process for reactors reflect their full life cycle cost and that people be fully aware that nuclear energy has been highly subsidized by taxpayers.

They promote a combination of three less expensive strategies to make nuclear power unnecessary: 1. Conservation measures to reduce demand. 2. Importation of clean hydro-generated power from Quebec, where they have excess electricity. 3. Efficient use of natural gas (capturing waste heat), as an interim measure.

She said these measures would allow the province to shut down reactors at the end of their useful service and not replace them, opening the grid to a flood of green, renewable energy. That will be generated not only by wind turbines and solar panels (both large-scale and home-based), but biomass processes, geothermal (extraction of heat from the ground) and new technologies such as capturing the energy from waves and rivers.

She also criticized the way wind farms are being developed in Ontario, with no control or ownership by local communities. Wind turbines have been well accepted in Europe where there has been strong community involvement.

The Alliance is urging people to contact political representatives to make their views known. More information is available at www.cleanairalliance.org and www.CoalMustGo.ca.

Erin student promotes benefits of plug-in cars

As published in The Erin Advocate

Kyle Pinto is part of a green wave of university graduates, trained to help businesses and consumers who want to make energy conservation a way of life.

He is on the University of Waterloo team for "EcoCAR 2: Plugging In to the Future" a three-year student competition focusing on electric vehicle technology. Teams from 15 universities across North America will strive to reduce the environmental impact of vehicles by lowering emissions and consumption of fuel (especially petroleum) – without compromising performance, safety and consumer acceptability.

Electric vehicles are on the market, but improvements are needed for large-scale penetration – from reducing battery weight and charging time, to designing practical back-up power and persuading people to charge up their cars like they charge up their cell phones.

"The public should give it a chance – it's about changing your habits," said Pinto. The three-year competition is in its first year, with modeling and simulation work, but Pinto is contributing as he is about to graduate in May with a Bachelor of Environmental Studies.

His work with the EcoCAR team is in the Outreach Program, raising awareness about the benefits of advanced vehicle technologies and how they reduce the impact of transportation on our environment and economy.


(Celebrity scientist David Suzuki dropped by to learn about the EcoCAR 2 project, at the EcoBuzz Conference at David Suzuki High School in Brampton last November. Hosting the display are Mark Goody, Director of Outreach with the Alternative Fuels Team at the University of Waterloo, and student Kyle Pinto at right.)

Of course, just driving an electric car will not save the environment. It is part of a huge puzzle that will include new technologies, a pervasive conservation attitude and a shift in consumer expectations.

"If you talk to most people, they are concerned about the environment," said Pinto. "But that doesn't always translate into purchasing habits. We're working to make it acceptable to consumers. We're judged on the utility of it."

While attending Erin District High School, Pinto participated in environment-related club activities. He chose Waterloo because it allowed him to combine interests in Environment and Business, which he has been doing for five years now, including co-op placements.

"Being young and idealistic, you think you can change things, but then you see what happens in the real world," he said. A career in environmental consulting is his goal, helping businesses reduce emissions and the carbon footprint of their buildings and operations.

Waterloo and the University of Victoria are the only two Canadian schools in the EcoCAR 2 competition. It is sponsored by the US Department of Energy (which has sponsored vehicle technology competitions for 23 years), GM (which provides a Chevy Malibu for each team to use), Natural Resources Canada and corporations such as Snap-on, Magna, Bosch and Siemens.

For the time being, hybrids come with a relatively high price tag, offset somewhat by government financial incentives. Surveys show that people who buy them were likely to have chosen a relatively expensive vehicle anyway, said Pinto.

Plug-in hybrids require a second fuel to kick in when battery power runs low, extending the usable range of the vehicles. This could be hydrogen, biodiesel, or the one chosen by the Waterloo team – ethanol.

"More infrastructure is needed to buy ethanol conveniently, but you just need a regular socket for battery charging," said Pinto.

There are issues with ethanol, since it uses crops as an energy source and takes considerable energy to produce. Still, it is considered a useful secondary fuel in some of the combinations being tried in new car designs.

The Volvo C30, for example, has a 272 kg battery pack, but to maximize that power source, especially in cold weather, the car heater is powered by ethanol. A 15-litre tank of ethanol could heat the vehicle during regular use for about three weeks.