Mayhem requires strong leaders. Where are our leaders?

Hard to stay positive when so many are losing their jobs. The litany of manufacturing jobs that are being eliminated in Ontario is huge; U.S. Steel idles their plants in Ontario, Chrysler lays off 1200, media jobs are disappearing across the country, A-channel, Torstar and Obama takes a beating on his budget from Rush (what an idiot), and where the hell is Harper with his stimulus package? Why is the money not flowing into concrete plans?

Is bailing out dying and unsustainable industries the smart way to go? What about Canada's investment in green. Dalton has talked about it and promised 50,000 green jobs but what is the rubber-hits-the-pavement plan?

Maybe Obama has the answer with trying to spend his way out this mess with investments in green energy, education and health care. Quite a risk but what else can you do.

Can you imagine a way out of this mess and how long will it take for any kind of recovery to kick in? My guess early 2011.

Well at least we have spring to look forward to.

Catching up on all the news that's fit to barf.

Lots of negative news in the world these days. Ah happy spring. Where is the good news? Is there such a thing as good news?

Well here is at least one piece of good news.
Ontario pesticide ban looking like a go. And on first glance the ban looks pretty comprehensive. "Ontario's proposed ban on the sale and cosmetic use of pesticides will be the toughest in North America once it becomes law, supporters said Tuesday."

But really so what? We ban pesticides but will there be enough food?

Food prices soaring out of control. "we're plunging headlong into a world food crisis. Rocketing prices are squeezing billions and triggering food riots from Bangladesh to South Africa." Says avaaz.org

Apparently humans were almost extinct 70, 000 years ago.

Gas prices continue their upward trajectory like growing corn at a biofuel farm.

And the loss of high paying, once-secure manufacturing jobs at companies like GM continue to devastate Ontario's manufacturing sector. No wonder considering they still continue to build trucks and suvs that spit in the face (blow smoke up the arse maybe) of peak oil and pretend there is no environmental crisis. Come on people.

But at least the sun is shining today ;-)

First step in the Ontario pesticide ban

I was alerted via an email from Pesticide Action Burlington today that the Ontario Pesticide bylaw process has begun with a call to comment on what that bylaw may end up looking like.

Here is a snippet:

"In November 20, 2007, the government committed to a toxics reduction strategy to help protect Ontarians from potentially harmful environmental toxics. Further to this, the government has made a number of commitments with respect to the proposed ban on cosmetic uses of pesticides, including:

• “New legislation would also ban the cosmetic use of pesticides in our cities and towns.”
• “Legislation to ban the cosmetic use of pesticides to be introduced in the spring of 2008”.
• The ban would apply to cosmetic uses, such as “lawns, private gardens, parks and school yards” with a focus on “small towns and cities, not on restrictions for rural residents.”
• “Agriculture will be exempt. Ontario farmers already have stringent rules on the storage and application of pesticides.”
• “Golf courses will also be exempt but we would require golf courses to develop plans to limit the environmental impact of pesticides.”
• “We will also ensure that pesticides can still be used in situations where it is warranted to ensure public health (for example, to fight West Nile virus).”
• “The focus of our efforts will be on outreach and education on alternatives to pesticides on lawns. Enforcement will be a last resort.”

The government will look at other communities and jurisdictions, including Quebec, that have implemented bans on cosmetic uses of pesticides. Currently, the use of pesticides (including herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, or combinations of any of these) is restricted in a number of municipalities across Ontario. "

I urge anyone with an interest in this issue to follow the link, read the release and send a comment.

Airsick video from thestar.com

Oh and the Star also posted this great video called AirSick - my son loved it.



Here is the link to the video on youtube

Earth Hour: March 29, 2008, will it look the same as March 28?

The Toronto Star launched their coverage of Earth Hour over the weekend. thestar.com/earthhour has lots of great information and green living tips including a green life blog which has only one post so far but a lot of comments and ideas on being green.

My only observation so far - I hate the look of compact fluorescent bulbs - the light they give off is horrid. Are LEDs any better?

Mildly funny Green Party ad from Youtube

Slightly simplistic election video from the Green Party of Ontario vs the Grey Parties of Ontario. Parody of Mac/PC ads .

Using Ontario's power more wisely is not an option. Are people in Ontario, especially in the GTA, really committed to voluntarily reducing their energy consumption?

Pesticide presentation

Since this has now been publicly presented and distributed (and written about in the Burlington Post) I thought it would be fun to share the with a larger audience. You can read the entire presentation with notes in PDF format here.

Some highlights:

"We have to ask what is the City of Burlington waiting for? Where is our leadership and vision?

As you can see from the numbers on this slide (130 Canadian municipalities of which there are 25 Ontario Municipalities) there is a groundswell of smart, environmentally aware communities who are acting on the concerns from residents and recommendations from professionals like the Canadian Cancer Society, the Ontario College of Physicians and environmental lobby groups.

These municipalities are passing and enacting pesticide by-laws that protect the health and environment of their people. And today the city of Hamilton announced that a partial ban on lawn and garden pesticides will go into effect in Hamilton on Labour Day 2008.

It is important to remember that these communities are demonstrating environmental awareness and strong leadership. Where is Burlington’s leadership?

Anyone of us can search on the internet or in libraries for information that supports or denies the health effects of exposure to pesticides. Healthy and vigorous debate is an important part of the democratic process, but as more and more communities enact bylaws banning pesticides the tipping point of public pressure will only increase.

We urge you to take the time to absorb the information presented to you tonight and reflect on Mayor Jackson’s vision from the May 9 Burlington Post “My vision for Burlington’s future is one where we can live, work, and play in a clean and healthy environment.”

Finally as the great ad man David Ogilvy once said “Don't bunt. Aim out of the ballpark.”

2 worth reading

A couple of good reads from thestar.com today.

The first story is on how "Green" fuels are potentially worse for global warming.
snip
"Using biodiesel derived from rapeseed would produce between 1 and 1.7 times more greenhouse gas than using conventional diesel, the study estimated."
end snip

The second story is a good opinion piece by Kathleen O'Hara about our provincial leaders lack of leadership on green issues - Leaders fumble green ball

snip
"...we can't allow our energy future to be hijacked by profit-driven corporations the way the Internet was. "The great promise of the Net ... has been compromised, at every step of the way, by commercial interests determined to gain a foothold over the medium."

Yes, the world is getting off to a rocky start when it comes to "saving civilization." Here in Ontario, it doesn't look like any person or party is going to lead us out of the increasingly hot wilderness – no matter what the election outcome. That is a disgrace when so much is at stake."
end snip

The last lecture.

The video below is making the internet buzz. Carnegie Mellon professor Randy Pausch will be dead from terminal pancreatic cancer in the next month or so.

His last lecture is inspiring, heartfelt and courageous.

Ontario election blah

I never really trust surveys but I thought this one was a little interesting.

Thestar.com is running a survey on their election page asking readers "What Ontario election issue is most important to you?"

Here are the current results.

Taxes 27%
Health care 21%
Cash for cities 16%
Schools funding 14%
Environment 12%
Fighting poverty 7%


What saddens me about the results of this random, non-scientific poll is where the environment issue ranks. I thought it would be higher given the recent rhetoric around the world.

The top 2 issues are really about preservation of the self and I certainly appeciate being overburdened by taxes and underserviced by our health care industry but frankly if we do not get our environmental issues under control taxes and health care will be the least of our worries.

Or am I being too pessimistic and gloomy?

Slowly getting back in the groove

I have been shunning the computer and have only just now gotten back to thinking about all the work I have to do. And now that we have gotten through my daughter's 9th birthday and the start of school we can try and catch up.

The next big agenda item is finishing up the pesticide ban presentation for the September 25 meeting at Burlington's city hall. The meeting looked like it was going to be a no go with the provincial liberals campaign promise to ban the use of pesticides throughout Ontario. But I guess we are going to go through the excercise anyway.

With regards to the liberal election promise I never have much faith in seeing these things coming to fruition - but you can read the details (as skimpy as they are) here.

"Many fruits, including peaches, apples, pears and grapes, were found to contain residues of pesticides, the report said. However, the ban the Liberal Party is contemplating would not apply to farmers.

Both proponents and critics of pesticide use have called on the province to pass legislation on what is permitted. Mr. McGuinty will introduce legislation if his party wins a second term in office. No decision has been made on what the penalties would be for breaking the ban."

And just for the record I will not be voting Liberal - even with this "promise" on their platform.

Older, not necessarily wiser.

Latest census numbers are out and hey guess what? We are getting older. What I want to know is what happens when Canadians start dropping like flies. And at what point will the tipping point occur?

SNIP
"Statistics Canada says the numbers of retirement-aged Canadians in the workforce will continue to increase — in less than 10 years, one in five people in the workforce will be aged 55 to 64.

"In about 10 years Canada may have more people at the age where they can leave the labour force than people at the age where they can begin working," said Statistics Canada."