George Carlin - 1937 - 2008

Oh Beautiful for smoggy skies, insecticided grain,
For strip-mined mountain's majesty above the asphalt plain.
America, America, man sheds his waste on thee,
And hides the pines with billboard signs, from sea to oily sea.
~George Carlin

George Carlin: American Radical by John Nichols

I think it’s the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately. - George Carlin....

“The real owners are the big wealthy business interests that control things and make all the important decisions. Forget the politicians, they’re an irrelevancy. The politicians are put there to give you the idea that you have freedom of choice. You don’t. You have no choice. You have owners. They own you. They own everything. They own all the important land. They own and control the corporations. They’ve long since bought and paid for the Senate, the Congress, the statehouses, the city halls. They’ve got the judges in their back pockets. And they own all the big media companies, so that they control just about all of the news and information you hear. They’ve got you by the balls. They spend billions of dollars every year lobbying - lobbying to get what they want. Well, we know what they want; they want more for themselves and less for everybody else,” ranted the comedian whose routines were studied in graduate schools.

“But I’ll tell you what they don’t want,” Carlin continued. “They don’t want a population of citizens capable of critical thinking. They don’t want well-informed, well-educated people capable of critical thinking. They’re not interested in that. That doesn’t help them. That’s against their interests. They don’t want people who are smart enough to sit around the kitchen table and figure out how badly they’re getting f**ked by a system that threw them overboard 30 f**king years ago. You know what they want? Obedient workers - people who are just smart enough to run the machines and do the paperwork but just dumb enough to passively accept all these increasingly shittier jobs with the lower pay, the longer hours, reduced benefits, the end of overtime and the vanishing pension that disappears the minute you go to collect it. And, now, they’re coming for your Social Security. They want your f**king retirement money. They want it back, so they can give it to their criminal friends on Wall Street. And you know something? They’ll get it. They’ll get it all, sooner or later, because they own this f**king place. It’s a big club, and you ain’t in it. You and I are not in the big club.”

Prosecuting oil companies?

This takes a bit of guts.

James Hansen: Twenty Years Later: Tipping Points Near on Global Warming

[Monday] I testified to Congress about global warming, 20 years after my June 23, 1988 testimony, which alerted the public that global warming was underway. There are striking similarities between then and now, but one big difference....

The difference is that now we have used up all slack in the schedule for actions needed to defuse the global warming time bomb. The next president and Congress must define a course next year in which the United States exerts leadership commensurate with our responsibility for the present dangerous situation....

CEOs of fossil energy companies know what they are doing and are aware of long-term consequences of continued business as usual. In my opinion, these CEOs should be tried for high crimes against humanity and nature. If their campaigns continue and “succeed” in confusing the public, I anticipate testifying against relevant CEOs in future public trials.

Twenty years of near total inaction, lies, deceit, misrepresentation, distortions and denial about climate change.

Dr. Hansen was also the guy who blew the whistle in 2005 & 2006 on the Bush administration's attempts to squelch researchers and research that concluded global warming was caused by human activity.

Biking to OPSEU

(l to r) Marsha Gillespie, Steve Crossman, Heino Neilson,
Paul Bilodeau, Randy Robinson, Joyce Hansen

On Thursday, June 19th, 2008 a number of OPSEU's 100 Lesmill staffers biked to work (and with a few groans and moans) back home at the end of the workday. Heino Nielsen, who lives at the western edge of the city, just a stone's throw from Mississauga, was furthest away from Head Office. That said, event coordinator, Randy Robinson, who lives in the city core, biked out to meet Heino and then "escorted" Heino for his full ride in. This gave Randy the longest trip in that day. (Nothing like making life a little tougher for oneself than necessary, or did he think that Heino would cheat by taking his bike onto the subway? hmmm)

Paul Bilodeau joined the group at a point on the lakeshore (Ellis St. and Lakeshore Rd). The others joined in on the Don Valley trail at Gerrard Street near Riverdale Farm. The majority of the trip was on dedicated bike trails which extend along the lakeshore and up the Don Valley.

Many of the Thursday group also bike to work.

The bike ride drew attention to a number of green initiatives and improvements underway at Head Office. From energy saving lightbulbs to bike trips it all makes a difference. The trip also took place during Toronto's Bike to Work Month.

Staffers Aura Bellin and Michele Dawson-Haber will be biking in on another day this month from their homes in the north end of the city. Michele also participated in the Toronto to Niagara Falls Ride for Cancer on June 21, raising a substantial donation from her pledgers!

Thanks to Heino Nielson for this report.

Composting: Best disposal method

Niagara sets bar for waste disposal

Niagara's landfill sites were filling up, and it had to decide what to do. Faced with the usual clamour from companies with competing technologies, it took the radical step of commissioning a report to compare what it called the "true cost" of different ways of dealing with food waste and leaf-and-yard wastes (including brush)....

The report looked at what the results would be from using four different technologies: composting, landfills that flare the resulting methane gas, landfills that use the methane for generating electricity, and incineration or gasification techniques. It did not compare the results produced by biodigesters, which also create methane for generating electricity.

It found that composting far and away had the least impact. The true cost of landfills with flaring was 3.8 times more costly, landfills with methane used for producing electricity was 2.5 times more costly, and the "best case estimate" for incineration or gasification was 3.2 times more costly.

Carpooling - June 23 - 27

One relatively easy way to reduce smog is by carpooling with someone from your neighborhood or along the route to the office. There are a a lot of advantages to carpooling.

Why not try carpooling for at least a day or two during the Clean Air Commute - June 23 - 27?

To make networking easier, there's a new carpooling website called PickupPal. Check it out.

PickupPal calculates the carbon emissions saved through carpooling. Any reductions that you report to us will go toward OPSEU's goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption by 2% in 2008.

Other things you can do for the Clean Air Commute include taking public transit, walking, biking or canoeing to work instead of single occupancy driving. If working from home is an option for a day or two, avoiding the commute altogether can be quite rewarding.

Event: R5 - The rising price of fuel

Pollution Probe will be hosting a free Public Forum on The Rising Price of Fuel: What will it Mean for Consumers, the Auto Industry and the Environment?

When: Monday, June 23rd from 7 - 9 PM (refreshments at 6:30 PM)
Where: Delta Chelsea Hotel, Rossetti Room

Presentations from Bob Seguin, Ontario Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, David Greene, Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Ken Kurani, Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California; and Richard Cooper, Executive Director, J.D. Power and Associates Canada.

Tailing Impoundment Areas

Huh? What's a "tailing impoundment area" you ask? It's the new designation for 16 lakes across the country that are downstream from mining operations and will be receiving wastes materials. In other words, it's a dumping ground for the mining industry. Tip of the hat to Aleksandra Grzywaczewska, Local 535 at the Art Gallery of Ontario for this story.

Lakes across Canada face being turned into mine dump sites
CBC News has learned that 16 Canadian lakes are slated to be officially but quietly "reclassified" as toxic dump sites for mines. The lakes include prime wilderness fishing lakes from B.C. to Newfoundland.

Environmentalists say the process amounts to a "hidden subsidy" to mining companies, allowing them to get around laws against the destruction of fish habitat.

Turn your car into a hybrid

Well, not quite yet, but coming soon....

New Kits Turn Any Car Into a Plug-in Hybrid

Soon drivers will be able to get at least double the gas mileage of a Toyota Prius hybrid, thanks to a spate of new aftermarket kits that convert any car into a plug-in electric vehicle. But they’ll have to pay upwards of $10,000 to do so...

Hat tip to Wendy Elliot for this story.

Canada taken to court over Kyoto

Media Advisory

Canadian Government to be challenged in court for failing to uphold federal climate change law

Lawyers will argue in court that Kyoto commitment broken

TORONTO - Canada will be the first country ever to be brought to court for its failure to comply with domestic law and meet its international commitments to combat global warming. On behalf of Friends of the Earth Canada (FOE), pro-bono lawyers from Paliare Roland Barristers and Ecojustice (formerly Sierra Legal Defence Fund) will be in court challenging the Government of Canada for violating the Kyoto Protocol Implementation Act.

When: Wednesday, June 18, 2008, 9:30 am (FOE and legal representatives will arrive at 8:50 am)

Where: Federal Court, 180 Queen Street West, Suite 200, Toronto Ontario (see map)

"Things are different now...."

New nukes for Darlington

Or are they? Pierre Charlebois, executive vice-president and chief operating officer with Ontario Power Generation says they are. He's talking about the taxpayers experience with the $4 billion Darlington nuclear site that ballooned to $15 billion by the time it opened in the early 90s. The newest investment in nuclear is said to be $26 billion, including 2 new reactors at Darlington.

Name one mega-project of any kind that's come in at budget? And who's to say what a dollar will be worth in 2018?

So much for conservation. So much for alternative energy and the transmission lines they need to expand. Who else is building new nukes anyway?

More to follow but in the meantime, you'd better teach your grandchildren how to save money to pay off the massive debt they're going to be saddled with. This could be one of McGuinty's biggest betrayals to date.

Environmental Bill of Rights

Advocates call for new powers for green whistleblowers

OTTAWA- A newly proposed charter of green rights would empower whistleblowers and average citizens by forcing the government to be more vigilant about environmental crimes and negligence, said a coalition of advocates on Parliament Hill on Thursday...

"This is nothing radical and this is not a new concept," said Will Amos, a staff lawyer at Ecojustice, an environmental law organization that is proposing the legislation along with the Sierra Club of Canada and the Friends of the Earth.

Climate Change Protesters Hijack Coal Train

From Common Dreams

Climate change campaigners hijacked a train carrying coal to Britain’s biggest power station this morning, swarming on to the roof of its 20 huge trucks.

The 40 protesters stopped the regular delivery service to Drax in Yorkshire disguised as railway workers in yellow warning jackets and waving red flags, having read up on standard railway safety rules.

Read the story here.

"Cap & share" emission reductions

Continuing the discussion about carbon trading, carbon taxes and "cap and trade", here's "cap and share" described by its authors as "a fair way to cut greenhouse gas emissions and tackle climate change".

Here's a flow chart of how it works:


This is a very interesting background document by Brian Davey called "Who owns the Sky?". He outlines the basic pre-conditions for an effective emission reduction system:

1. The necessity for an overall cap on greenhouse gas emissions
   
2. Control of carbon emissions should take place "upstream" (producers) and not "downstream (users)
   
3. Who Owns the Sky? "Scarcity rent"
   

The future of solar power

This is well worth reading.

Solar Power to Rule in 20 Years, Futurists Say
Now futurist and inventor Ray Kurzweil is part of distinguished panel of engineers that says solar power will scale up to produce all the energy needs of Earth's people in 20 years.

There is 10,000 times more sunlight than we need to meet 100 percent of our energy needs, he says, and the technology needed for collecting and storing it is about to emerge as the field of solar energy is going to advance exponentially in accordance with Kurzweil's Law of Accelerating Returns. That law yields a doubling of price performance in information technologies every year.

See Greenedia for more.

While we're on the solar theme, here's an innovation that mixes solar power and art.

"Solar panel mini power plants created in the likeness of flowers? Why not?...."

Read the article.....

Boy Scouts, trees & OPSEU

Thank you note from Barrie's 1st Mapleview Group for a contribution to their ScoutTrees program from OPSEU's Environment Fund.

On April 29, 2008, Scout Troops from across Simcoe County participated in the annual Scouts Canada Scout Trees program.

Thanks to a generous donation from OPSEU’s Green Fund, the Scouts from Barrie’s 1st Mapleview Group were able to purchase trees and refreshments for the event.

The planting took place at Springwater Provincial Park near Barrie, in an area designated for reforestation.

The day was overcast and threatening rain, but the bad weather held off long enough for the Scouts to plant over 1,200 trees.

1st Mapleview Group thanks OPSEU Environment Committee Members Gino Franche, Sandra Snider and Jennifer Giroux for their wonderful support.

Yours In Scouting,


Lynn Rogers,
Group Commissioner
1st Mapleview Scout Group

Guest editorial: Car pooling in the OPS

A guest editorial by Dan “the Smog Man” McKnight in the lead up to Clean Air Commute 2008 Week - June 23 - 27.

Save Money on Gas; Reduce Air Pollution – Join a Car Pool

Now it’s easy with “OPS Carpool”.

Have you ever driven to a meeting, looked around the room, and seen other staff who also drove from the same place? If only you had known in advance you could have car pooled and saved money, gas & reduced air pollution. Pollution Probe estimates that if you car pool with just one other person you will save about $ 2000.00 a year, and cut your air pollution in half.

Well now there is a web-based tool to assist Ontario Public Service (OPS) staff in forming their own car pools for commuting to work or business travel. It’s called “OPS Carpool”, and it can be found at “intra.ene.gov.on.ca/carpool” or under “My Services” on “myOPS”.

As OPSEU members we can be proud this site was created by OPSEU represented staff at the Ministries of Transportation (MTO) and Environment (MOE). This is just another example of how the efforts and creativity of OPSEU members can have a significant positive impact on our environment.

I originally created this intranet site to help MTO staff reduce smog. MOE felt all ministries could also benefit from this application, so it was expanded to include all OPS staff. Hopefully this site can be expanded to even more people in the future.

OPS Carpool allows staff to review existing car pools, or post their own car pool listing. This application is designed to be user friendly. Maps are used to help match staff to a desire carpool. This site also contains maps of MTO’s car pool lots across Ontario.

So why drive alone ? With today’s high gas prices it’s time to get someone else to help pay. Your efforts to car pool will also help us all breathe a lot easier by reducing smog & green house gases. Let OPS Carpool get you started to a cheaper, cleaner, and less stressful commute.

Dan “the Smog Man” McKnight
President OPSEU Local 270 (Ministry of Transportation staff in Niagara) Dan is affectionately known as "The Smog Man" by his colleagues at the Ministry of Transportation where he is a senior policy analyst. He has pedaled his way to work each day for the past 12 years. He credits the facilities at the St. Catharines office for allowing him to do it. “I'm saving money, doing something positive for the environment, reducing traffic congestion, getting exercise, and I have about two hours a day extra family time.” Dan has led MTO’s Clean Air Commute event since its inception several years ago.


Note: The link in the article is only available within the OPS network.

Native plants

Thinking of re-introducing native plants into your environment?

OPSEU is taking first steps to do so at its head office in Toronto with help from Janice Hagan and her partner Greg, a professional gardener and passionate, native plant promoter.

One of the big questions is - "What's should be planted?". Here's a couple of lists of native, Ontario plants that demonstrates the range of available options. Hat tip to David Cox.

Native trees and shrubs.
Native wildflowers

Note that while all of these plants grow in Ontario, not all are native to the Toronto area.

Offsetting tar sands destruction?

This report, commissioned by the Pembina Institute, proposes a "win/win" scenario for offsetting the tar sands projects.

In an effort to prevent irreversible decline of species and biodiversity in Alberta's Boreal Forest, industry can take important steps to offset their environmental impacts by setting aside or restoring areas of equal or greater value to the lands disturbed. So says a report, Catching Up: Conservation and Biodiversity Offsets in Alberta's Boreal Forest, released today.

Sounds good in theory. But once the tar sands are drained, what's to stop industry from moving over to the so-called protected areas? Or to put it another way, "Let us tap the oil sands and we promise to leave other areas alone. For now."

GreenNexxus

Check out GreenNexxus, an environmental-focused, social networking site (like Facebook).

GreenNexxus provides the ability for people, organizations and businesses to share, publish and contribute green knowledge for the purposes of reducing our collective environmental impact.

While international in scope, GreenNexxus is Canadian-based.

Guest editorial: Car Sharing

Small world. Elizabeth and I are both from Local 520! I had no idea we had such expertise until I ran into her at Head Office one day and we started chatting.
--------------

Guest Editorial - Transportation Transformation: Car Sharing
By Elizabeth Reynolds (Member - OPSEU Local 520)
(founder of AutoShare – Car Sharing Network Inc.)

Car Sharing Definition

The Victoria Transportation Policy Institute* offers this comprehensive definition of car sharing: “Carsharing refers to membership-based automobile rental services intended to substitute for private vehicle ownership. It makes occasional use of a vehicle affordable, even for low-income households, while providing an incentive to minimize driving and rely on alternative travel options as much as possible.”

Car Sharing in Canada

Car Sharing is perhaps the most significant change in car use patterns since Henry Ford began paying his workers enough to afford one of his cars. When cars were first produced at the turn of the century, they were impractical and expensive, but they did provide an environmental benefit. They cleaned the streets of horse manure. Today, from global warming to asthma, road rage to near-constant gridlock, the car's original benefits to society are now eroding our quality of life.

The automobile's impact is so significant precisely because of its success. Although 80% of Canadians live in cities, Canada has one of the highest ratios of car ownership in the world, nearly one for every two people. More than 16 million cars now traverse Canada's roads. Each car travels, on average, around 16,000 km per year, a total of some 256 billion kilometers.

Integrated Mobility

Car sharing helps create the shift towards more sustainable transportation in two principal ways – by sharing the fixed costs of car ownership among many users and by increasing mobility options, especially when car sharing can be linked to other modes of transportation, such as public transit, railways and inter-city buses, car rentals and taxis, bicycle rentals and parking authorities.

Environmental Concerns

Technological improvements over the last 20 years have already done much to reduce the environmental impact of the individual car, but much of the ground gained through technological improvement is lost as we drive more cars greater distances. We need multiple strategies to address how we will transport goods and ourselves in the coming years — urban planning initiatives, economic strategies, education, and most importantly at the individual level, behavioural change — to lessen our dependence on the automobile.

Because it is so tightly woven into the fabric of our life, the car presents a special kind of environmental dilemma. There is the need to reduce the environmental damage associated with it, while at the same time preserving the advantages it has given us. Reconciling these objectives presents a challenge uniquely met by car sharing.

Numerous studies have, logically, linked increased driving with higher levels of car ownership. The question becomes how to disentangle ownership and use of the automobile. The success of car sharing in Europe over the past 25 to 30 years, and elsewhere in North America over the last decade proves that it provides a level of access similar to car ownership, but less burdensome and costly.

In reality, car sharing participants gradually reduce the total amount they drive quite significantly, 50% and more, without feeling deprived of the resource or any loss of personal mobility. This is achieved by the fact that using a car sharing automobile becomes a conscious, rather than a reflexive, act and over time a much lower level of car dependency is realized.

Additionally, organized car sharing present a real opportunity to introduce alternatively fueled and electric vehicles to a wider market in order to hasten the implementation these advanced technologies, further reducing emissions, and even more so where electricity can be obtained from renewable sources.

Individual and Societal Benefits of Car Sharing

• Car sharing demonstrably contributes to reduced congestion and air pollution and saves users money. The benefits of car sharing are summarized as follows:
• Low cost access to a fleet of vehicles through shared use. This benefit reduces the total cost of car travel to individual participants and results in more efficient use of expensive vehicles;
• Maintenance and insurance are pooled with costs shared among users and recovered through fees;
• Mobility options are increased through access to cars for those who did not previously own a car. Car sharing can also provide access to different types of vehicles, from economy cars to station wagons, minivans and light trucks. Where these choices are available, mobility options are increased compared with ownership.
• Car sharing can be a cost-effective alternative to ownership of more than one vehicle;
• Car owners are confronted with the full marginal costs of a personal vehicle use each time they drive a car share vehicle. Experience has shown that use of public transit, walking, cycling and other alternatives to single occupancy car use, increases among car sharers as they adjust their lifestyle to their new portfolio of transportation options.
• Since car sharing increases public transit use, transit agencies have a new source of riders and revenue as car sharing grows within urban areas.
• Studies have shown that car sharing decreases per capita annual vehicle kilometres traveled and energy consumption from personal vehicle use by approximately 50%. This can have a significant impact on the potential to reduce air pollution from cars, including emissions of greenhouse gases and ground level smog.
• Car sharing can reduce the amount of parking spaces required in cities since the average ratio is one vehicle for approximately 15 to 20 users, and since car sharing vehicles are in use for more hours per day than personally owned vehicles, there are fewer vehicles parked at any one time.
• For communities, car sharing can mean fewer cars impinging on neighbourhood space and improves social equity for those previously deprived of access to a personal vehicle.
• Where car sharing vehicles are located at subway and bus stations, car sharing becomes an option for transit riders at both ends of the transit portion of a given trip. In such situations, car sharing can contribute to reduced peak-hour road congestion.
• Car sharing can improve mobility options and the overall livability of higher density urban developments. Developers of residential, industrial and commercial properties can benefit from the reduced costs of providing parking infrastructure in areas where car sharing is coupled with public transit access and other transportation alternatives.
• Car sharing can be formally organized as either for-profit or non-profit businesses, but it can also be less formally organized on a neighbourhood, apartment building or workplace basis.

Conclusion

Car sharing is an innovation that can have a profound, long-term impact on how personal vehicles are owned and operated. Shared use of the expensive resource represented by the personal automobile can make an important contribution to reducing many of the negative societal impacts of these vehicles.

* The Victoria Transportation Policy Institute (vtpi.org)

Note: this is an abbreviated version of an article that appeared in the Journal of World Transportation Policy and Practice in July, 1999. E.R.

Turn off those laser printers

Aside from the electricity wasted by leaving printers on when they're not in use, there's also potential health and safety considerations. This study, conducted last year in Australia, outlines the concerns.

If you work near certain models of laser printers, you might be breathing the same amount of ultra-fine particle pollution as if a smoker were puffing away in the next cubicle, according to a study by Australian scientists.

What can you do?
1) If you have a desktop printer, turn it on only when needed and then turn it off.
2) If you're at OPSEU head office, send your print jobs to the print shop if you need multiple copies. The copiers there use different technology than laser printers.
3) Turn off all shared printers at the end of each work day.

Tip of the hat to Emily Visser for this article.

Save 10% on your electric bill...

Did you know that all sorts of cool prizes can be won if you reduce your household energy usage by 10 per cent or more in July and August compared to last year -- plus you automatically get a 10 per cent reduction in your electricity rate?

Check out the Ontario Power Authority's Every Kilowatt Counts Summer Sweepstakes today.

cContest rules here.

Prizes include appliance packages, bicycles, solar garden lights and solar battery chargers for your i-pod or cellphone.

Bush to veto climate bill

Surprise, surprise. George W. Bush has indicated that he will veto a Senate bill to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Once a shill for big energy, always a shill. It was only very recently that Bush even acknowledged that climate change and global warming might be an issue. For most of his years in the presidency, Bush denied the problem by suppressing and editing government studies that ran counter to the oil & coal industries' goals of retrieving and burning every last drop of fossil fuel on the planet.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Even before debate began on Monday on the first comprehensive climate change bill to reach the Senate floor, the White House said President George W. Bush would veto it in its current form.

Since a lot of mercury and other pollution drifts into Canada from the United States, Bush's recalcitrance is important issue for Canada. But don't Stephen Harper to say or do anything about it because he's another big energy shill.

Carbon trading or carbon taxes?

The debate rages on. Here's how Cameron Smith at the Toronto Star describes the carbon tax (Dion plan) versus carbon trading (Layton plan) debate in yesterday's news:

Imagine a large fire in a downtown building. Two fire trucks arrive, each from a different station, and they pull up in front of the only fire hydrant near the building. Firefighters from each truck roll out their hoses – and then for the next half-hour, while the building burns out of control, they argue over who has the best hose for the job.

This National Post story - Mr. Dion prepares to peddle a difficult tax - is interesting in that it identifies all the contradictory positions and strange bedfellows.

So there you have it: those forces most dedicated to defending the environment by battling emissions can’t even begin to agree which remedy is most suitable. Not only can they not agree with one another, Dion can’t even agree with himself, since he now fervently supports a carbon tax, which he fervently opposed when he was running for the party leadership.

The NDP opposes Dion's carbon tax plan and supports a cap and trade system to protect low income earners:

“The cap and trade system ensures that big polluters pay their fair share, and it makes it possible for more people to afford green solutions,” explained Layton.

However, to temper criticism from environmental groups over the NDP position, Layton offered an olive branch.

NDP Leader Jack Layton launched his party's latest climate-change plan yesterday with an olive branch to the Liberals and Greens, saying he welcomes debate with his political rivals over carbon taxes.

The CLC position:
http://canadianlabour.ca/updir/climatechangeEn.pdf (page 7)

In line with the polluter pay principle, the CLC will support a national Cap and Auction Carbon-Pricing System. In such a system as proposed by the CLC, the government would fix a maximum emission level, in line with the overall national targets, literally setting a cap for different industries based on the industrial sector’s ability to reduce their carbon emissions in a realistic time frame.

Suzuki Foundation report: They support a well-designed tax or trading system. Last week, Suzuki was critical of Layton's position opposing Dion's plan.

At the end of the day there is marginal difference between a well-designed carbon trading system or a carbon tax policy. Both can be made to meet very similar ends. A trading system sets an absolute limit on greenhouse gas emissions. Similarly, a carbon tax will also inevitably “cap” emissions, as the price is adjusted until the desired outcome is achieved.

Both policy options involve passing the cost of carbon on down through the supply chain and on to industry and eventually consumers. This is the raison d’etre of a carbon price – to let consumers know, through a price signal, that carbon emissions are costing the Earth.

Meanwhile, last week the BC NDP voted against Gordon Campbell's carbon tax plan. Carol James is accused by the Sierra Club of pandering.

VICTORIA -- New Democratic Party MLAs voted against B.C.'s new carbon tax last night, taking a calculated risk that the support they can reap in rural British Columbia will outweigh the enmity of influential environmentalists.

The ground-breaking tax, which takes effect on July 1, has won the support of a coalition of 16 environmental organizations. It has also angered northern communities, suburban commuters and businesses, small and large.

While it is clear that Harper wants to stall and the when the Liberals were in power that they stalled, one can't but help but wonder if the NDP is playing politics, pandering and praying that some day they may have the leverage to force the implementation of their cap and trade system. The only thing we know for sure is that absolute reductions in carbon emissions remain as elusive today as they were yesterday.

Edited to add - Carbon cap and share. Also a good read here - The Architecture of Carbon Trading - Who Owns the Sky?

Public supports public delivery of services

Well this shouldn't be such a big surprise. Among other things, it tells us we've been on the right track letting the public know about the threats to public services and should continue to do so (along with the rest of the union movement). It would great to see those numbers rise. This latest poll was conducted by CUPE.

A majority of Canadians said they trust their municipal government more for all nine public services: sewage treatment (75.8%), drinking water treatment and delivery (75.5%), community and social services (75.1%), maintenance and upkeep of parks (69.4%), public transit (68.6%), road maintenance (64.7%), garbage and recycling services (64.6%), recreation facilities such as rinks and swimming pools (64.5%), and electricity generation and distribution (60.6%).

With the exceptions of social services, all of these other services have major environmental components. So one could extrapolate to say that most of the public doesn't trust the private sector to protect our environment (good call!)

Hat tip to Wendy Elliot for this story.

Some easy energy saving tips

Hat tip to Francis Rustia at OPSEU head office for these Energy Conservation Week (and beyond) suggestions:

At Home :

1. Use clothes lines outside (weather permitting) or in the basement to dry most clothes, beddings, towels instead of dryers. Reduce your electric bills as well.
2. Reduce your house heat temperature by 1 or 2 degrees especially during sleep time.
3. Use clothes washer and dish washers to maximum capacity only or hand wash the dishes.
4. Turn off lights / appliances not being used. Use only energy efficient appliances and light bulbs.

In the Office :

1. Last person to leave a department should turn off all lights.
2. Minimize use of lights when building is being cleaned at night.
   

Other :

1. When you are doing your grocery shopping – bring your own green bags – avoid using the grocery plastic bags.

War in the Amazon?

A fascinating story and pics from Survival International. At a time when the world is grappling with sustainability issues, the continuing pattern of encroachment, theft and cultural genocide continues to feed unsustainable practices such as deforestation which have already messed up the planet.

Members of one of the world’s last uncontacted tribes have been spotted and photographed from the air near the Brazil-Peru border. The photos were taken during several flights over one of the remotest parts of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil’s Acre state...

Meirelles says that the group’s numbers are increasing. But other uncontacted groups in the region, whose homes have been photographed from the air, are in severe danger from illegal logging in Peru. Logging is driving uncontacted tribes over the border and could lead to conflict with the estimated five hundred uncontacted Indians already living on the Brazilian side.

‘What is happening in this region [of Peru] is a monumental crime against the natural world, the tribes, the fauna and is further testimony to the complete irrationality with which we, the ‘civilised’ ones, treat the world,’ said Meirelles.

Why is it that war seems to always go hand in hand with human rights abuses, economic expansion and environmental destruction? Colonizers have always used the strategy of encouraging indigenous peoples to make war on each other.


"F*** off"


"P*** off"


"Go away"

Stories of "uncontacted peoples" always piqued my interest as a young boy. In 1979 I was fortunate enough to travel by river through Guatemala & Mexico and honoured to spend a few days as a guest of a group of Lacandons in far southern Mexico.

Keynes on local production

"I sympathize, therefore, with those who would minimize, rather than with those who would maximize, economic entanglement among nations. Ideas, knowledge, science, hospitality, travel--these are the things which should of their nature be international. But let goods be homespun whenever it is reasonably and conveniently possible, and, above all, let finance be primarily national. Yet, at the same time, those who seek to disembarrass a country of its entanglements should be very slow and wary. It should not be a matter of tearing up roots but of slowly training a plant to grow in a different direction."
John Maynard Keynes, 1933

Tip of the hat to Randy Robinson for this quote and his own - "This from a guy who had never heard of environmentalism"

Count Every Kilowatt Day

Today is Count Every Kilowatt Day - an important part of Energy Conservation Week. The ECW website has lots of helpful tips for reducing electricity usage. The Ontario Power Authority will be monitoring usage looking for significant drops in usage today.

I won't reprint the entire list but here's a very important one you can do year round.

Ghost bust those phantom loads
Sometimes referred to as standby power, phantom load is electricity consumed by electronic devices even when turned off, such as a TVs, phone chargers, DVDs, VCRs, even coffeemakers with clocks and timers. Use a power bar with an integrated timer to shut off all your devices at the end of the day, or unplug your electronics when you're away from home for an extended period of time.

Apparently phantom loads in Ontario use more electricity each year than all refrigeration usage combined.

Energy Conservation Week at Lesmill

More than 50 staff attended the first annual Energy Conservation Week event at 100 Lesmill on Tuesday. The meeting was chaired by Greening OPSEU MDT (and blog editor) - yours truly - Gary Shaul.


Staff were brought up to date on OPSEU's Energy Conservation
Week activities and announcements including building
improvements and the phase-out of bottled water at OPSEU
functions and facilities.


Gary & Randy - Randy Robinson discusses OPSEU's energy &
greenhouse gas reduction targets policy. On the table
beside the large water bottle is a bin full of 100 watt
stairwell lightbulbs which were replaced with compact
fluorescents.



Emily Visser and Gary plug the June 3 organizing meeting for the
proposed green patio and native plants sanctuary at 100 Lesmill.

There was strong support for a proposal from Marnie Niemi to invite an Al Gore-certified speaker to a "lunch and learn" to hear the Canadian version of "An Inconvenient Truth". There was also some support for a bike to work day in June proposed by Randy R & Heino Nielson.

No papers distributed at the event. Everyone brought their mugs down for fair trade coffee & tea and healthy snacks were provided. There was no travel footprint for this meeting.

CLC Climate Change Policy Document

The Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) is meeting this week in Toronto.

Here's their policy statement "Climate Change and Green Jobs: Labour’s Challenges and Opportunities".

I'll have a few comments after I've read it in detail. For now, the only thing I would say is that if the labour movement is going to play a leadership role, there should be something in the policy about unions reducing their own carbon footprints. It may not be a big part of the overall problem in Canada, but you can only lead by example - not just by telling others what they should be doing.

(Aside: I was an elected CLC delegate from Region 5 but due to a dispute between NUPGE & the CLC, OPSEU is not attending this year's convention which actually does reduce our carbon footprint but leaves us out of loop. )

G8 Environment Ministers Meet

This is headline - not my words! "Strong will" means next to nothing unfortunately.

G8 Ministers Pledge ‘Strong Will’ on Climate Amid Doubts
KOBE, Japan - Environment ministers from the world’s top industrial powers called Monday for more effort to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, but little headway was seen in setting more immediate goals....

But to the dismay of some the talks in Kobe did not signal a direction on the more immediate goal — coming up with commitments on slashing greenhouse gas emissions once the Kyoto Protocol’s obligations expire in 2012...

UN scientists who shared last year’s Nobel Peace Prize warned that unless human-made climate change is halted, the world risks a growing number of natural disasters and droughts, putting millions of people at risk and threatening the extinction of some animals and plants.

One might wonder where Canada stands on the critical issue of immediate targets. I checked the Environment Canada website and google news and I'm still looking. I imagine we're right where Bush wants us to be. Stalling.

Remember this guy? He was Mike Harris' poor-basher in chief. This is a bio I wrote a on my blog a couple of years ago about the man who is now Minister of the Environment - John Baird.

Reaching back into memory lane, how many people can forget this story?

When the mother of a severely disabled five-year-old child was ejected from the legislature in 1995 for protesting the Harris government's cutbacks, Baird shouted "She's an OPSEU [Ontario Public Service Employees Union] member" as many as three times. Some considered this to be a cavalier insult, and his seatmate Chris Stockwell later recalled that he told Baird to "shut the fuck up" after the last such occurrence.

Gaza's first electric car

Electric car hits the road in fuel-starved Gaza

GAZA, May 20 (Reuters) - A Palestinian-designed electric car drew admiring stares on Tuesday from Gazans forced to use cooking oil to power their cars because of a fuel shortage.

"At first people laughed, saying it would not work, now people are begging us to convert their cars," said Fayez Anan.

Working with fellow electrical engineer Wasim al-Khuzundar, Anan hooked up an engine to 32 batteries.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Insightful. No holds barred. Compelling. Interesting. Entertaining. Spiritual. These are a few of the words that could be used to describe the speech delivered by environmental lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. last night at the Memorial Centre in Peterborough. OPSEU purchased 10 tickets from our Environment Fund to support Great Lakes research and provide some soul food for some OPSEU green keeners including 1st VP Patty Rout, Region 3 EBM Claire Rowett, MNR member John Shirk, Sarah Labelle from Oshawa, some members from Trent University and yours truly.

Kennedy touched on several themes:

• his regular visits to Canada for recreation and business representing First Nations bands
  
• the Riverkeepers organization
• the need for restoration of the Fairness Doctrine for the media
• Bush's rollback of 30 years of environmental law
• warning for Canadians not to follow the same path
• how polluting the air is a form of privatization because it takes what once belonged to everyone and has spoiled it for its own interests
• coal burning power plants and the impact of the mercury emissions on children
• mining practices in West Virginia where 460 mountains have been flattened
• privatization of the public commons
  
• the link between privatization and creeping totalitarianism
  
• union bashing
  
• crony capitalism
• the deep connection between humanity and natural wilderness
• fishing
  

Kennedy is an unabashed free marketeer. He argues that private enterprise will be able to find solutions to clean up the mess left behind by, er... private enterprise. He makes the case that polluters receive a public subsidy by off-loading clean-up and health costs onto the public purse. Therefore, these companies are not true free market players and have to stop polluting and start paying. Personally, I don't expect that business will ever operate in a true free market.

But Kennedy is right on the money in being able to sharply identify the problem and call the polluters what they really are - criminals.

Energy Conservation Week - May 25 - 31

Organized by the Ontario Power Authority, the objective of Energy Conservation Week is to raise awareness and make efforts to reduce energy consumption - particularly during peak periods. OPSEU is taking part this year. Members are asked to participate in "Count every kilowatt day" on May 29th.

"A day intended to demonstrate the power of individual initiatives on the province’s overall conservation goals. Ontarians will be encouraged to “Take Part. Take Action” as we monitor Ontario’s energy consumption."

Please visit their website for their handy-dandy list of things you can do to conserve power - on May 29th or any day. While we can't let governments and corporations off the hook for doing their part in reducing energy consumption, it can't be a bad thing for people to work together to make a difference. That's the union way.

Latest news release about who's behind ECW, the objectives and municipal and corporate participation.

More to follow on OPSEU's plan.

Exxon revolt?

Exxon facing shareholder revolt over approach to climate change

A shareholder revolt at ExxonMobil led by the billionaire Rockefeller family has won the support of four significant British institutional investors who will call on Monday for a shakeup in the governance of the world's biggest oil company.

It will be interesting to see how this pans out.

Battling invasive species...

You might be interested in checking this out from the Nature Conservancy of Canada if you're in the midst of planning your gardening for this season.

Studies around the world show that in many cases where invasive alien species have not been controlled, native plants and animals are entirely eliminated from a region and the economic costs of trying to control and re-establish native populations are extremely prohibitive.

There are a lot of advantages to promoting native/indigenous plants.

Here's a list of wildflowers that are native to Ontario.

Make your own bug repellant....

Here's something for the coming summer season. Learn how to make your own bug repellant.

Several plant-based essential oils are effective in keeping insects away, including tea tree, citronella, juniper, lemon, lavender, pine, rose geranium, and rosemary. Most of the essential oils listed have a distinct aroma, crisp and refreshing. Lemon and citronella essential oils have a citrus smell to them. Rose geranium has a sweeter flowery scent.

Texas windfarm project

$2 Billion Wind Turbine Order Is Largest Ever
Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens has placed an the largest ever order for wind turbines: he ordered 667 wind turbines from GE, each costing $3 million dollars, making the total order $2 billion. Picken plans to develop the world’s largest wind farm in the panhandle of Texas. Read more...

OPSEU sets greenhouse gas reduction targets

In what may be a first for an Ontario union, on May 15th, OPSEU's Executive Board adopted a greenhouse gas reduction target policy for OPSEU. The policy was brought forward by 1st VP/Treasurer Patty Rout, Environment Committee (Gino Franche, Sandra Snider, Jennifer Giroux) and staff (Randy Robinson). The policy sets annual union-wide targets of between 2% and 3% until 2040 for a cumulative, absolute reduction of 80% from 2006 emissions.

-------------------

OPSEU's Reduction of greenhouse gases emission policy - Adopted May 15, 2008

Enabling motion

WHEREAS Convention 2006 committed our union to “Greening OPSEU,” a plan to improve our union’s environmental performance in a wide range of areas;
AND WHEREAS global warming is the most pressing environmental issue facing life on Earth today;
AND WHEREAS global warming is driven by combustion of fossil fuels for electricity generation, heating, and travel;
AND WHEREAS energy use consumes a significant part of the OPSEU budget and is wholly responsible for our greenhouse gas emissions;
AND WHEREAS there are many benefits to reducing energy use, including environmental, economic, and public relations benefits;
AND WHEREAS adopting GHG emission-reduction targets can open up new avenues of communication and co-operation with other organizations and with government at all levels;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that OPSEU commit itself to reducing emissions of greenhouse gases from the union’s operations based on the following targets:
• A 12 per cent reduction from 2006 levels by 2014 (2 per cent per year 2008-2014);
• A 30 per cent reduction from 2006 levels by 2020 (3.0 per cent per year 2014-2020);
• A 55 per cent reduction from 2006 levels by 2030; (2.5 per cent per year 2020-2030); and
• An 80 per cent reduction from 2006 levels by 2040 (2.5 per cent per year 2030-2040).

AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, henceforth, all operational decisions of the union be made with due consideration for these targets.
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the First Vice-President/Treasurer provide a report to Convention each year on progress towards these targets.

Backgrounder
In 2006, OPSEU Convention passed “Greening OPSEU,” an ambitious plan to help the union do more to protect our natural environment. Of the plan’s many goals, none is more important than tackling the most pressing environmental issue of the day: global warming. Doing our part to reduce the effects of global warming begins with setting targets.

The Union of Concerned Scientists estimates that to avoid the worst effects of global warming we must keep average global temperatures at 2 degrees Celsius or less above pre-industrial levels. To do so, the UCS says, industrialized nations must cut their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 80 per cent by 2050.

In Ontario, the McGuinty government’s targets, if achieved, will reduce greenhouse gases as follows:
• six per cent below 1990 levels by 2014;
• 15 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020;
• 80 per cent below 1990 levels by 2050.

These targets put Ontario near the head of the pack among North American jurisdictions over the long term. Manitoba, the Canadian leader, aims to be 18 per cent below 1990 levels by 2010.
Federally, the response to climate change from the Harper government has been weaker. The Harper plan would reduce emissions by 20 per cent below 2006 levels by 2020 and by 60-70 per cent below 2006 levels by 2050 (see endnote).

OPSEU faces a number of issues when setting a GHG reduction target:

1. Deciding on a base year. While the Kyoto Protocol set 1990 as the base year for emission reduction targets, we do not have accurate data about our energy consumption in 1990. A better choice might be 2006. That is a year for which data are readily available, and it is the year Convention launched Greening OPSEU.

2. Measurement. Keeping track of all our consumption of electricity, natural gas, water (which is treated and pumped by electricity), gasoline (gas cards and kilometre charges), plus estimating fuel consumption related to flights, train trips, and bus trips, is no small job. It will require a commitment to building and maintaining a solid database.

3. Growth of the union. OPSEU is still growing. One possible response to this would be to set our GHG targets based on member numbers. This would be a version of what are called “intensity” targets. By reaching these targets, we would be reducing our energy use per capita even if our overall energy consumption might be rising in terms. The problem with this is that the negative effects of global warming relate to total carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, not amounts relative to the number of people using energy.

4. Technological change. It is likely that new technology will play a significant role in reducing GHG emissions for society as a whole. Indeed, 20 per cent of the McGuinty government’s plan is based on “research and innovation,” i.e., ideas that haven’t been thought of or developed yet. Other technologies that exist now, such as web conferencing, are likely to become better and more affordable as time passes.

5. External factors beyond our control.
• Coal-fired electricity generation produces about one-eighth of Ontario’s greenhouse gas emissions. The McGuinty government plans to phase out these plants means that the electricity we use will create fewer GHG emissions even if our electricity consumption remains at the same level.
• Changes to energy prices, government subsidies, taxes, and laws governing emissions may also influence OPSEU’s ability to meet targets. Of course, any change that occurs is likely to make conservation cheaper, not more expensive. That increases our financial incentive to conserve.
• Changes to public transit. Improved public transit would reduce greenhouse gas emissions for the whole province, including OPSEU.

6. What’s needed. The Union of Concerned Scientists’ estimate that industrialized nations need to reduce GHG emissions by 80 per cent by 2050 (from 1990 levels) is in the ballpark of figures used by progressive organizations concerned about global warming. It is also important to note that what happens to the planet depends on total, not annual, emissions. This means that the faster reductions happen, the better.

7. What’s realistic. OPSEU would not be able to cut 80 per cent of greenhouse gas production in one year without shutting down operations altogether. There’s no point setting a target that we have no hope of achieving.

Endnote:
Since emission levels were much lower in 1990 than in 2006, using 1990 as the base year is much tougher than using 2006. Canada’s emissions rose by more than 25 per cent from 1990 to 2005. This brought Canada’s emissions to 32.7 per cent above the Kyoto Protocol target (1990 minus 6 per cent).

The future of food

The future of food and farming: UN debate concludes in Johannesburg

Johannesburg, South Africa - On April 12, 2008, 57 world governments agreed on a final report of the UN’s International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD)...

The IAASTD report concludes that small-scale, agro-ecological farming will be more effective at meeting today’s challenges than the old energy- and chemical-intensive paradigm of industrial agricultural production....

The report notes that the most widespread forms of industrial agriculture have degraded the natural resource base on which human survival depends, and contribute daily to worsening water and climate crises.

According to this report, Canada joined the US and Australia in voting against the final report which was produced by over 400 scientists from around the world over a 3-year period. The report is an indictment of the food industry's failure to deliver on its own promises to solve world hunger with gmos and chemicals.

It acknowledges that GM crops are highly controversial. IAASTD director, Robert Watson, chief scientist at the UK food and farming department DEFRA, said much more research was needed to prove whether GM crops offer any benefits and do not harm human health and the environment.

Biotech companies Monsanto, Syngenta, and BASF withdrew from IAASTD because it did not back GMOs as a solution to reduce poverty and hunger.

Maybe they took the Canadians, Americans & Australians out to eat.

Airfares soar - Conferencing on the horizon

From Financial Week
As airlines skyjack-up prices, biz rethinks budgets, policies

Average fare soars 12.2% in 12 months, while fees run wild. High time to teleconference?...

Colleen Cunningham, former president and CEO of Financial Executives International, said she expects companies to make investments in videoconferencing and other communications technology to help offset the effects of higher food and oil prices on travel expenses.

“I am on a board that has moved two of its four board meetings to teleconferences to manage meeting and travel expenses,” she said.

Interesting that the high cost of travel is the main disincentive for business to look at alternatives like videoconferencing. You won't even find the word "environment" in the story.

On the other hand, NUPGE is investing in a new videoconferencing system and OPSEU will be receiving a unit. OPSEU is currently investigating conferencing technology. While dollar costs are important, travel has a cost to the environment. This is what motivated NUPGE to invest in this technology and for OPSEU to look at ways of conducting business and growing without growing our greenhouse footprint.

Conferencing is part of my responsibilities during my MDT stint here at OPSEU. Here's the three part plan I'm working with:
a) conduct a needs assessment of meetings in OPSEU
b) review conferencing technology in the context of OPSEU's current infrastructure
c) report to 1st Vice-President with recommendations

I'm currently wrapping up part "a" and dabbling in part "b".

Guest Editorial - Janice Hagan - Why me? Why us?

"It’s not that I’m against the environment. I recycle. I clean with baking soda. I even take public transit. But I have enough to do already: organizing, mobilizing, defending, supporting, meeting. Why can’t the environmentalists fight for the environment? My members didn’t elect me for that. They want OPSEU to fight in the workplace and at the bargaining table. These social issues take time and money away from union work."

Decades ago, critics used the same reasoning against sisters and brothers who wanted our union to fight sexism, racism and other social injustices.

Defending human rights is now a core duty for unions. A more tolerant and equitable workplace is essential for (1) quality of life, (2) health and safety, (3) fair compensation and (4) employment stability. The fight for human rights has resulted in huge gains in all of these areas for all workers.

In addition, in the fight for human rights, (reason #5) union activists contribute powerful tools that have made social change happen in our workplaces, communities and beyond. Through grievances, legal challenges, negotiations, equity seeking caucuses, public debate, and a conscious, steady commitment to increased expectations of tolerance and respect in the workplace, unions and union activists have lead the way like no other individual or social organization could.

And now, while we continue that fight, we must also use the lessons we have learned and fight for the same steady, long term improvement of our environment, with the same passion and for all the same reasons.

(1) Quality of Life

OPSEU cannot sit on a fence in this hazardous environment. We are either part of the problem or part of the solution. Our green stewards must lead the way to reducing the ecological footprint of our union and our work. This will be achieved in our usual manner: by organizing, educating and fighting the power of the greedy, self-interests that stand in our way. We must seek out ways to remove unsustainable practices at work and in the union with the same relentless vigilance we use to remove Health & Safety hazards and barriers to equity and human rights.

(2) Health & Safety.

Last year, more Canadians died from work than in decades, due to the growing incidences of environmental diseases. New laws in the European Union, based on the precautionary principle, have resulted in the banning of 60,000 chemicals. In Michigan, if substitutions to workplace hazardous chemicals, materials or processes are available, workers can demand they be used, by law. In Ontario, we rely on manufacturers to tell us if their products are safe. It’s time to go beyond MSDS and start insisting the precautionary principle be applied at work. We need to educate our occupational health & safety reps about the science of pollution. We need to share and compare what we have learned.

(3) Fair Compensation and (4) Employment Stability

The rapidly increasing price of oil and food will soon have a catastrophic impact on our wages and pension sustainability. Eventually, it will lead to large scale, employment instability, such as we’ve never seen. We are running out of oil as fast as we are running out of fertile land for food. Who will suffer from this gross lack of governance? Those made rich off the exploitation of the land? Or their workers and the unemployed? I once heard an environmentalist measure the success of the British, anti-coal campaign by the number of lost jobs. These unionized workers were replaced by non-unionized wage-slaves in a more competitive and fragmented market.

What will happen to our jobs due to global warming or as a result of the changes we must make to the way we live in our environment? It is critical that unions organize, educate and demand a JUST TRANSITION from problem to solution, which is fair to the working class. If we plan and strategize now, we have can protect our younger brothers and sisters from irreparable harm. Otherwise, everything we have gained will be lost.

(5) Unions Possess the Tools for Social Change

Finally, unions must involve themselves actively in this fight because we may be the only organizations capable of creating the social change we need. We have rights under the Occupational Health & Safety Act, and the ability to organize, mobilize, negotiate, educate and withhold our labour. Our commitment to social justice is also key, because along with everything else, it will take global, social justice to save the human species. That is because the developing world will soon be emitting more greenhouse gasses and using more resources than their rich cousins to the North.

If unions are not part of this historical fight for change, then who will represent workers and the most vulnerable in our communities as critical decisions are made? If not me, if not my union, then who?

Janice Hagan is Green Steward, Healthy & Safety Rep., and Chief Steward, Local 561 at Seneca College. She has a Masters Degree in Environmental Studies from York University, specialized in Labour, Work and the Ecological Crisis.

Janice has committed to providing regular articles for this blog!

Labour's response at UN Conference

A Trade Union Review on Agriculture, Rural Development, Desertification, Drought, Land & Africa
16th Commission on Sustainable Development CSD‐16
New York, 5‐16 May 2008

This is labour's position at United Nation's CSD-16. It's an interesting read that gives a sense of the scope of the problems and challenges that lie ahead. Both CUPE and UFCW are participating from Canada.

Hat tip to Barb Thomas for the link.

Organizing a meeting? Green it up!

There are at least a thousand meetings organized every year under OPSEU's name. From local general meetings to staff meetings to our convention to picket lines and demos to meetings with employers. One of the ways OPSEU can meet its greenhouse reduction targets (2% for 2008) is by conducting greener meetings. Here are just a few things that are already considered for most meetings.

1. Avoid - bottled water, styrofoam, cans and other small bottles
   
2. Reduce - paper, travel, meat, single driver trips
   
3. Reuse - coffee mugs, dish & cutlery set, badges
   
4. Recycle - binders, cans, bottles, paper, purchase recycled products where possible
   
5. Compost - biodegradable plates, cups, cutlery, food scraps
6. Innovate - buy local food, carpool
7. Communicate - acknowledge the steps taken at the outset of every meeting

A slight change in how we do things can add up to significant results. For example, if everyone were expected to bring their own drinking vessel to every OPSEU meeting they went to, that would permanently eliminate the need for a lot of paper, plastic & styrofoam cups and glasses.

Those were just a few examples. OPSEU is laying the ground to enable greener meetings. That work is underway on water and biodegradable products. OPSEU can use its purchasing power to ensure the availability and affordability of alternative meeting supplies.

There will still be barriers as each municipality has its own recycling program. Are there biodegradable, green bin programs available for offices around the province? I don't know?

While we don't yet have an OPSEU green meeting guide (add to the to do list), check out Environment Canada's Green Meeting guide for helpful tips on reducing the environmental impact of your meetings.

Organizations of all types are increasingly aware of the need to consider the environmental consequences of their actions. Whether the issue is saving energy and money, reducing waste and pollution produced by an event or protecting human health, we have numerous suggestions on how to act sustainably.

There are a number of useful checklists in the guide.

If anyone would like to take a shot at drafting an OPSEU version, please drop me a line - gshaul@opseu.org

Greenpeace report - False Hope

False Hope - Why carbon capture and storage won't save the climate

CCS cannot deliver in time to avoid dangerous climate change. The earliest possibility for deployment of CCS at utility scale is not expected before 2030. To avoid the worst impacts of climate change, global greenhouse gas emissions have to start falling after 2015, just seven years away.

PSAC Vancouver bottled water statement

This is a very succinct statement from the Vancouver Regional Office of the Public Service Alliance of Canada on the issue of bottled water and their reasons for discontinuing its use in favour of tap water.

Water is the most important public service in the world. It is also a fundamental human right and according to the United Nations, “the human right to drinking water is fundamental to life and health.”
more

For a list of other organizations that have taken action on bottled water, click here.

Welcome to GreenUnion

The blog edition.

I'm Gary Shaul, GreenUnion blog editor, reporting from OPSEU Head Office where I am on a leave from my government job supporting the greening OPSEU program. This is the 5th blog I've created and managed - I see a pattern emerging. I'll let you be judge of how useful and entertaining this blog is. If you like what you see, please plug GreenUnion with your networks.

And while I may be the editor, this blog is not about me. Its purpose is to support OPSEU's environmental policies and programs by involving you. How so?

1. By letting you know what OPSEU is doing on the environmental front - from our offices to our members around the province.
   
2. By giving you the chance to pass this information along to your fellow members.
   
3. By providing a union publication where active members can provide comments, share experiences and write guest articles on what you, your local and your region may be doing or anything else you might find interesting on the environmental front.
4. By bringing you interesting commentary and articles about the environmental issues of our times.
   

The GreenUnion blog is meant to complement OPSEU's official website where you'll find more information and documents in the Greening OPSEU aisle where, for example, you'll find OPSEU's draft 3-year green plan.

The "comments" section here will be fully enabled to allow you to comment immediately about a specific post. Your emails are also welcome.

Green Roofs

This is pretty cool. A collection of photos of green roofs from around the world.

Here's an example

Welcome to the Greenbelt

My Green Belt

Neighbourhood Farmers’ Markets | Restaurants, stores offering local fare | VQA Wine Taste Testing Tours | Family Farm Adventures | Fabulous Rural Festivals & agricultural Fairs | Weekend Getaways | and more!

Bon apetit!

p.s. - Save a tree. Please don't print the entire guide unless you need to.

Understanding plastics

If you've ever wondered what the numbers and symbols on plastic means, check out this website:

Container Recycling Institute

Since it's an "industry" website, the information is all very "positive".

Eden Mills - North America's 1st carbon neutral village?

Eden Mills is in the Georgetown area, (OPSEU Region 2).

We are aiming to become the first village in North America to achieve carbon neutrality. We will share freely with cities, towns and neighbourhoods around the world our knowledge, resources and experience to assist others in their pursuit of carbon neutrality.

What is ‘carbon neutral’?
Put simply, it means that the carbon we emit must be equaled by the carbon we absorb to become carbon neutral.

Running the Numbers

A photographic look at statistics

Chris Jordan Photographic Arts - Click on the "Running the Numbers" photo to see this series.

This series looks at contemporary American culture through the austere lens of statistics. Each image portrays a specific quantity of something: fifteen million sheets of office paper (five minutes of paper use); 106,000 aluminum cans (thirty seconds of can consumption) and so on.... Statistics can feel abstract and anesthetizing, making it difficult to connect with and make meaning of 3.6 million SUV sales in one year, for example, or 2.3 million Americans in prison, or 410,000 paper cups used every fifteen minutes.

Here's a couple samples of Chris' work.

Plastic cups


Partial zoom:


Full zoom


450,000 cell phones are "retired" daily in U.S.


Full zoom

Perri-Air - Canned Oxygen Could be the Next Bottled Water

I've been saying (to myself) for years that as soon as big business can figure out a way to charge for the air that we breathe, they will do so. Here we go:

Ever since you were born, you’ve been breathing oxygen for free, Right? Well the masters of mundane marketing agree that it is time for you to adjust your thinking. Yes, you can breathe air for free; but how lame is that? Naturally occuring oxygen is just so 10,000 years ago. It’s time for you to begin breathing more pure, more refreshing oxygen.

Why clean up the air when you can buy fresh air?

Green jobs listing

Some interesting opportunities for some summer jobs for students or work for someone unemployed but interested in the environment.

Good Work Canada

Environmentalists divided about burying CO2

OSLO (Reuters) - Greenpeace and more than 100 other environmental groups denounced projects for burying industrial greenhouse gases on Monday, exposing splits in the green movement about whether such schemes can slow global warming.

An interesting article about the debate within the environmental movement about capturing carbon from coal fired plants.

You can download Greenpeace's report here.

This is a debate that the union movement ought to be having soon. I'm doing my best to put it on OPSEU's agenda.

OPSEU Convention '08

Convention '08 (April 17 - 19) provided a great opportunity to bring OPSEU members up to date on the union's activities over the past year and to highlight priorities for 2008.

Green stewards meeting
A lunchtime meeting was held on April 18th for green stewards. To our delight, more than 40 people attended. Members heard from the Green Committee (Gino Franche, Sandra Snider and Jennifer Giroux) as well as from 1st Vice-President Patty Rout and myself, Gary Shaul. Highlights of the draft 2008-2010 green plan were presented. There was also an opportunity to get feedback on the plan and to hear about some local activities from members. Everyone attending the meeting received a copy of "Cool Comforts: Bargaining for our Survival", a booklet written by Peter Corbyn and produced by our sister union in New Brunswick.

Environmental displays table
OPSEU was joined by a number of organizations who set up displays at this year's convention. These included Friends of the Earth, Planet in Focus and the Native Plant Society as well as OPSEU's own display which included a symbolic clothesline with reused Barbie clothes*. Many members stopped by the displays to chat and pick up information and new ideas.

* During Convention, the McGuinty government got around to vetoing the ability of municipalities and housing associations to ban clotheslines.



Friendlier drinking cups
OPSEU negotiated with the Sheraton Centre to provide bio-degradable drinking cups made from corn plastic on the convention floor. It was noted that while this was a great step, that members should also re-use the cups and not take a fresh cup for every glass of water. As well, members are encouraged to bring their own drinking vessels to OPSEU events. While friendlier than regular plastic, corn plastic cups still need to be hauled off for composting and that there is still an energy footprint. (You're strongly encouraged to provide corn plastic cups and other products at your meetings but it's important that the waste end up in a composting program, not in the garbage - more on this in a future article.)