I think it's a bit unfair that the federal government should be getting all the attention when it comes to the environment, and I thought it rather curious that the provincial and municipal governments have been relatively silent on the issue. It's time to stir the pot.
Municipal governments could be doing a tremendous amount to lower greenhouse gas emissions. For instance, why isn't the municipality putting more energy efficient bulbs in traffic lights? LED lights, which use 90% less energy than conventional bulbs aren't just for christmas lights! How about making improvements to municipal buildings to use less energy all year around? What about rooftop gardens on city properties to cut down on air conditioning? What about enacting policies for powering down comuters not just at night, but putting them into low power mode after 1 minute of inactivity? What about all city vehicles being hybrids?
Municipalities need to alter building standards so that new houses use significantly less energy than they do now.
What about a civic challenge? We offer a five year property tax break for the house that cuts their ghg's the most. Or, how about a challenge of some kind between the towns of Newmarket and Aurora, and the town that meets their emission targets first, gets treated to an all out wiz-bang party hosted by the losing town!
All I hear these days is climate change denier this, or climate change denier that. I'm not hearing any ideas.
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2 comments:
Good for you - it seems that everyone (yes, me included) is pointing fingers in every other direction but back at myself.
It is my contention that this is why the Liberals are pointing their environment guns at Alberta -with only 28 seats, we are fair game and it makes the rest of the country sigh a big sigh of relief that they will maybe be overlooked.
Our municipal council voted down a proposal for a recycling firm to provide door to door pickup of recycled materials - the cost - $5.00/month added to our already low utility bills. $5.00!!!!! The reason - because the townspeople would protest.
Maybe if everyone did a little bit more at home instead of just thinking that it is someone else's problem......
As much as government points fingers at everyone and anyone, the ultimate task of reducing greenhouse gas emissions is an individual one. As individuals we must make choices consistent with the desire to reduce GHGs.
It's up to us.
The Liberals will bleat as long as it results in votes, and unfortunately, the are many votes to be gotten in Quebec and Ontario. Therefore, it is Alberta that will suffer for the Liberals lack the willpower to make changes across the country.
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