The Livable Blog

Doug McArthur of SFU's Policy Centre explains how the BC Liberals Premier has endorsed failed Danish Policy.

"Danish Investigate Policy Copied by Campbell" (BC Liberals)

The Vancouver Sun profiled Premier Gordon Campbell on Friday in Denmark endorsing not the Copenhagen Accord, but the Danish policy of subsidizing private wind power at the expense of taxpayers. He claimed that Denmark sets an example for us if we want to develop clean energy. And indeed it appears that his government has been in many ways following the Danish example. Unfortunately, neither he nor his advisers appears to have taken the time to discover how wrong the Danish approach has turned out to be and how costly it will be to Danish taxpayers.../snip

snip/...Meanwhile, it is perhaps worth noting that on the very week that Campbell profiled the Danish program, investigators in Denmark commenced a corruption investigation into the arrangement there. Perhaps a closer look at what is happening here in BC is warranted after all. Especially since the BC program is almost a total replica of that of Denmark.

I remember posting about this issue as the road was going in, about how the original route chosen for this section of the highway actually avoided the most environmentally sensitive area (the main wetlands which supported one of if not the largest densities of red legged frogs identified in BC). Unfortunately that route brought the highway too close to some very expensive properties in Pinecrest's backyard. But what's wiping out a few wetlands and putting local wildlife populations on the road to extirpation, as long as multi-million dollar property values aren't effected right?

Frogs the losers in Sea-to-Sky upgrade: Despite tunnels, many amphibians flattened while trying to cross highway, experts say The $600-million upgrade to the Sea-to-Sky Highway is a death trap for thousands of red-legged frogs and other animals. Two kilometres of the new highway was built through the frogs' migratory path in a wetland area near Pinecrest, 15 minutes south of Whistler. Steps taken by the highway developer, the Ministry of Transportation and the Ministry of Environment to save the amphibians, a threatened species, don't seem to have worked.
http://www.theprovince.com/technology/Frogs+losers+upgrade/2364082/story.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PK1_XF8Ac6M

For immediate release
December 18, 2009
Community banners resist government climate spin

Surrey and Delta, BC – On the final day of the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, local residents hung a series of community banners over government billboards used to promote the $1-billion South Fraser Perimeter Road (SFPR), part of the province's controversial Gateway freeway expansion program.

In recent months, the billboards have been erected throughout the region featuring contradictory claims about the supposed benefits of the project, such as “reducing congestion” and “strengthening the economy”.

Regarding congestion, Premier Gordon Campbell said in 2003 at GVRD Council of Councils, “you cannot build your way out of congestion”. Adding four lanes of pavement to our communities would add thousands of new vehicles and new trips to fill the new capacity. The Provincial and Federal governments have provided massive investments to the Port in Prince Rupert to develop its container handling abilities, yet the Prince Rupert port is being used at less than half of its capacity. This calls into question the billions being spent on port and freeway expansion in Delta, while the Province delays or cancels critical social programs such as:
-School Seismic Upgrades (jobs, safety, education) -Seniors Health Care (jobs, health, respect for the people who built this Province)
-LiveSmartBC (programs to help reduce greenhouse gases in homes and businesses)

Our Premier and Prime Minister are in Copenhagen claiming to work toward a global climate treaty, yet at home they are paving farmland (90 hectares of the best farmland in Canada), paving Burns Bog (the largest carbon sink in the Lower Mainland), and paving the banks of the Fraser River (endangering the most important salmon-bearing river in North America). Even the government's own studies say that the Gateway freeways will increase GHG emissions by over 160,000 tonnes per year, over 11 times the claimed reduction for the $2 billion Canada Line.

The community messages we have posted on the Gateway billboards are:
-Transit Not Truck Routes (King George Hwy at Patullo Bridge)
-Homes Not Highways (River Road under the Alex Fraser Bridge, near a neighbourhood of homes being demolished for the SFPR)
-Peatland Not Pavement (River Road at Huston Road, near Burns Bog)
-Farms Not Freeways (Hwy 17 at Hwy 10, near Delta farmland being bulldozed for the SFPR)

For pictures see: http://flickr.com/photos/badfreeway/
For video see: http://youtube.com/badfreeway

I’ve just joined David Suzuki Foundation supporters and millions of people all over the world who want world leaders—including Canada’s Prime Minister—to sign an ambitious, fair and binding agreement to safeguard our future at the crucial UN climate change summit in Copenhagen this December

But I also want real action on the ground to stop actions that make the climate crisis worse. That is why I have adapted the standard letter on the website to read:

Right Hon. Stephen Harper

Like many other people, I’m calling on you as Canada’s Prime Minister and on all world leaders to sign an ambitious, fair and binding agreement to safeguard our future at the crucial UN climate change summit.

Climate change is a serious threat to our prosperity and our future. But, the greatest threat is our own inaction. That is why I want you to stop funding all urban roadway expansion plans, such as the South Fraser Perimeter Road riverfront freeway planned for Metro Vancouver. And I would like you to re-allocate the billions of dollars saved each year to cost-effective public transit improvements and electrifying our national rail network.

Transportation amounts to about half of Canada's Carbon footprint, [including our share of upstream emissions from the tar sands]. We need action now, not just empty promises in Copenhagen

cc:
The Honourable Michael Ignatieff, Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada
The Honourable Gilles Duceppe, Leader of the Bloc Quebecois
The Honourable Jack Layton, Leader of the New Democratic Party

Sincerely
Eric Doherty

You can send a customized letter with your own message about freeway expansion at http://www.DavidSuzuki.org/Climate_Summit/

Feel free to cut and paste from mine, just make a significant change, including to the title, so it will get counted as a real letter rather than a form letter. It just takes a minute, do it now!

[I added the bit about the tar sands in square brackets as an afterthought, to illustrate the difference between carbon footprint and tailpipe emissions]

Johann Hari: It's the protesters who offer the best hope for our planet

They've ensured the corporate lobbyists punching holes in the deal are shamed

Wednesday, 16 December 2009

At first glance, the Copenhagen climate summit seems like a Salvador Dali dreamscape. I just saw Archbishop Desmond Tutu being followed by a swarm of Japanese students who were dressed as aliens and carrying signs saying "Take Me To Your Leader" and "Is Your Species Crazy?". Before that, a group of angry black-clad teenage protesters who were carrying spray cans started quoting statistics to me about how much carbon dioxide the atmosphere can safely absorb. (It's 350 parts per million they pointed out, before sucking their teeth.) Before that, I saw a couple in a pantomime cow costume being attacked by the police, who accused them of throwing stones with their hooves.

But the surrealism runs deeper and darker than this. Inside the Bella Centre, the rich world's leaders are defiantly ignoring their scientists and refusing to sign a deal that will prevent our climate from being dramatically destabilised. The scientific consensus shows the rich world needs to cut 40 per cent of our emissions of warming gases from 1990 levels by 2020 if we're going to have even a 50-50 chance of staying this side of the Point of No Return, when the Earth's natural processes start to break down and warming becomes unstoppable. Yet the scientists at Climate Analytics calculate our governments are offering a dismal 8-12 per cent cut – and once you factor in all the loopholes and accounting tricks, it becomes a net increase of four per cent. [snip]

Read the rest, it is worth it! http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/johann-hari-its-the-protesters-who-offer-the-best-hope-for-our-planet-1841887.html

On the weekend of December 12th, the world came together in a weekend of rallies and vigils to call for a real climate deal in Copenhagen.

Check out there amazing video to experience the magic, and use the form below to spread it around--or just send people this link: http://www.350.org/vigil-vid

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqueKMy4J3A&feature=player_embedded

Carmen Mills: With B.C. building Gateway to climate chaos, it's time for direct action

By Carmen Mills

Here in Vancouver on December 7—the first day of the Copenhagen conference—a diverse group of 50 Vancouver-area residents decided to face the climate-change profiteers head on by stopping highway expansion dead in its tracks. Together with award-winning urban planner and UBC professor Patrick Condon, faith leaders, parents, and students, we risked arrest in crisp -7 C weather. We gathered to block the expansion of B.C.’s primary source of climate-changing emissions—automobile dependency, as embodied by the Gateway Program.

The insidious Gateway highway-expansion plan would increase automobile use in our immediate region, lead to more sprawl, and ultimately increase our emissions by an estimated 30 percent. But that’s just the tip of the melting iceberg. This gateway to global warming is, in fact, a key component of an international trade plan based on expanding ports, highways, coal mines, and the internationally criticized Alberta tar sands.

Full article at http://www.straight.com/article-274890/vancouver/carmen-mills-bc-building-gateway-climate-chaos-its-time-direct-action

Think Highway 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hm0YOIfW3j8

Some very interesting news, and another great opportunity to write a letter to the editor. The Vancouver Sun says this about letters to the editor:

To submit letters to the editor for publication in The Vancouver Sun newspaper: sunletters@vancouversun.com. Text only, please; no attachments.

Letters must contain the author's name, address and a daytime telephone number. Maximum length is 200 words; shorter is better. The Vancouver Sun reserves the right to edit, condense or reject any contribution

.

See below for the letter I wrote. Someone needs to write one that mentions that the South Fraser Freeway would be completely funded by taxes.

Auditor-general rightly rejects claim Port Mann Bridge is self-supporting

Liberals should heed Doyle's distinction advice

By Vaughn Palmer, Vancouver Sun December 8, 2009

Auditor-General John Doyle got straight to the point with a legislature committee recently, when explaining his rejection of the B.C. Liberal government decision to to classify the Port Mann Bridge project as a "self-supporting crown corporation."

"There are no tolls, there is no bridge," Doyle told the public accounts committee. "Therefore it is premature to consider it to be a self-supporting entity."

The more detailed explanation took some time and amounted to much the same thing. The independent financial watchdog disagrees with the government's accounting treatment of the single most expensive public construction project in provincial history.

The Liberals, on the eve of the last election, launched the $3.3-billion plan to replace the existing Port Mann crossing with a twinned span and widen adjacent sections of Highway 1.

They vowed the funding for the entire project -- construction and interest charges over five years, maintenance and operation costs for the following three decades--would be recovered by a hefty vehicle toll.

On that expectation, they parked the project on the books of the Transportation Investment Corporation, a government-owned entity that was especially legislated into being in the spring of 2008.

But initially, the Liberals had intended that the corporation would be the government player in a public private partnership.

The private partners and their bankers would bankroll construction, assume much of the risk, and recover their investment through a 35-year operating agreement that gave them access to the estimated $100 million a year (for starters) tolling revenues.

Then came the near collapse of credit markets in the fall of 2008. The Liberals soon found themselves short of private sector suitors on their preferred time frame -- i.e. getting the project underway in time for the spring 2009 election campaign.

So they decided the government would become the banker, using its taxpayer-backed powers to borrow and spend. The first $313 million was out the door by summer. The remaining $3 billion will be doled out before the scheduled completion date in the winter of 2013.

But even though central government was now the sole underwriter of the Port Mann project, the Liberals continued to insist that it was being built by a "self-supporting crown corporation."

The distinction matters. The provincial debt is accounted for in two main categories. Borrowing to build schools, hospitals, roads, bridges -- all that is underwritten by tax revenues. Hence the term taxpayer-supported debt.

But the big commercial crown corporations like BC Hydro and the Insurance Corp. of B.C. have their own sources of revenue from ratepayers and customers. Their borrowing is considered self-supported debt.

The government's own debt-management targets put the emphasis on holding down taxpayer-supported debt. So the Liberals, by relegating the Port Mann project to a so-called "self-supporting crown corporation," were excluding its share of borrowing from the taxpayer-supported debt.

A not inconsequential bit of bookkeeping, as it turns out. Over time the taxpayer-supported share of the total provincial debt could be understated by several billion dollars.

[snip]

vpalmer@shawlink.ca
© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun
Full text at http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/Auditor+general+rightly+rejects+claim+Port+Mann+Bridge+self+supporting/2318565/story.html

My Letter - You can do much better!

Dear Editor

Auditor-General John Doyle is right to reject the provincial Liberal’s attempt to keep the debt from the Port Mann/ Highway 1 freeway expansion off the books. (Liberals should heed Doyle's distinction advice - Vaughn Palmer December 8) This $3.1 billion freeway expansion will probably never be "self-supporting” with tolls because it conflicts with our need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and because the age of cheap oil is over. Overcoming automobile dependency is now both an ecological and economic necessity; and that means reduced toll revenues and an ongoing drain on public finances to pay interest on the debt.

Borrowing billions to build infrastructure for the age of cheap oil is foolish, and given the climate crisis could even be considered criminally negligent. It is time to green the Gateway Program and spend billions on public transit and efficient ways to move goods such as electric rail and short sea shipping instead.

Also see CBC TV coverage at two minutes 50 seconds into http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/News/Local_News/BC/ID=1353063113

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, Dec. 8

Award Winning UBC Prof Blocks Freeway Construction
Gateway Work Shut Down for Four Hours

VANCOUVER, BC – On Monday December 7th UBC Professor Patrick Condon joined a group of climate activists who occupied a freeway construction site in Vancouver. Work was stopped at the site for four hours. The protest coincided with the first day of climate change talks in Copenhagen, where Canada received yet another Fossil of the Day Award. The notorious award goes to the country doing the most to obstruct progress at UN climate negotiations.

This action was directed at the controversial Gateway Program, a massive freeway-expansion project that would increase greenhouse gases (GHGs) in a sector that is already the largest source of emissions in our region. The province's own assessment estimates the increase at over 160,000 tonnes per year. If the billions being spent on Gateway were re-directed to an emissions reduction program including cost-effective public transit, emissions could be reduced by millions of tonnes per year.

The Gateway Program is linked to a larger Pacific Gateway strategy that includes pipelines to the Alberta Tar Sands, Canada's largest point source of greenhouse gas emissions. Cars and trucks in BC already burn fuel made from tar sands bitumen, and the proportion of this dirty tar sands fuel in our gas tanks is increasing.

“As a citizen it enrages me to see Canada drag its feet on climate change through support of the world’s dirtiest fuel: tar sands,” said Patrick Condon. “As a resident it breaks my heart to see the Vancouver region abandon livability and sustainability through the construction of more freeways. And as a parent, I can’t look my kids and grandkids in the face if I don't do whatever I can to stop this madness.”

Approximately fifty people were involved in the protest. At one point construction workers moved a piece of equipment on to the site. Police physically removed protesters blocking the equipment but there were no arrests. After parking the equipment workers left and did not resume work until after the protesters were gone from the site.

Patrick Condon is a senior researcher at the UBC Design Centre for Sustainability and has held the position of the James Taylor Chair in Landscape and Liveable Environments.
______________________________________________________________________________
For more info on this event and the Gateway Project see http://www.gatewaysucks.org
Follow all the breaking news via http://twitter.com/gatewaysucks
____________________
Hi-resolution photos are available upon request.
For more information please contact:
Carmen Mills 604.253.2127
Rob Baxter 778.869.8333

About 50 people came out in the cold last night to say yes to better public transit, and no to the Gateway freeway expansion. We shut down construction for the day, leaving at midnight, and got our message out loud and clear.

“As a citizen it breaks my heart to see Canada drag its feet on climate change, through support of the worlds dirtiest fuel: tar sands,” said Patrick Condon. “As a resident it breaks my heart to see the Vancouver region abandon livability and sustainability through the construction of more freeways. As a parent I can’t look in the face of my kids and grandkids if I don't do what I can to stop the madness.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyEg_y8POgo

PRESS RELEASE
Award Winning Academic to Risk Arrest by Blocking Freeway Construction
UBC Professor says “stop the madness”

VANCOUVER, BC – On Monday December 7th at 8 pm, UBC Professor Patrick Condon will risk arrest by occupying a freeway construction site in Vancouver. The protest coincides with the first day of climate change talks in Copenhagen, where today Canada received yet another Fossil of the Day Award. The notorious award goes to the country doing the most to obstruct progress at UN climate negotiations.

This protest is directed at the controversial Gateway Program, a massive freeway-expansion project that would increase greenhouse gases (GHGs) in a sector that is already the largest source of emissions in our region. The province's own assessment estimates the increase at over 160,000 tonnes per year. If the billions being spent on Gateway were re-directed to an emissions reduction program including cost-effective public transit,
emissions could be reduced by millions of tonnes per year.

The Gateway Program is linked to a larger Pacific Gateway strategy that includes pipelines to the Alberta Tar Sands, Canada's largest point source of greenhouse gas emissions. Cars and trucks in BC already burn fuel made from tar sands bitumen, and the proportion of this dirty tar sands fuel in our gas tanks is increasing.

“As a citizen it breaks my heart to see Canada drag its feet on climate change, through support of the worlds dirtiest fuel: tar sands,” said Patrick Condon. “As a resident it breaks my heart to see the Vancouver region abandon livability and sustainability through the construction of more freeways. As a parent I can’t look in the face of my kids and
grandkids if I don't do what I can to stop the madness.”

Patrick Condon is a senior researcher at the UBC Design Centre for Sustainability and has held the position of the James Taylor Chair in Landscape and Livable Environments.

He is joining a diverse group including small business owners, graduate students, farmers, church environment committees and the son of renowned urbanist Jane Jacobs.

For more info on this event and the Gateway Project see
http://www.gatewaysucks.org
Follow all the breaking news via http://twitter.com/gatewaysucks

Another good reason to show up tonight - see www.gatewaysucks.org

A first day fossil for Canada

Canada wins for an unwillingness to negotiate at negotiations

For Immediate Release

December 7th 2009

(Copenhagen, Denmark) Canada has been awarded a Fossil of the Day on the first day of negotiations at the UN climate summit in Copenhagen. This “prize”, given to countries who are blocking progress at the United Nations climate summit, is awarded daily by a coalition of 400 leading international NGOs.

Canada garnered today’s award for its unwavering commitment to stand firm in its inaction throughout these negotiations. At a speech in Montreal on Friday, Environment Minister Jim Prentice said that he “wont be swayed by the Copenhagen hype.”

But if there’s one country on the face of this planet that desperately needs to be swayed, it’s Canada. Since announcing its emissions target in 2007 of reducing GHG emissions by 20% below the 2006 emission level (equivalent to 3 % below the 1990 level), the Harper government has consistently refused to adopt any regulatory framework to start reducing emissions, namely form the rapidly growing sector of tar sands. “So not only do they have the worst records of all industrialised countries, they’re now saying they are going to stick to it,” said Steven Guilbeault from Equiterre. “Someone needs to remind the Canadian government that at negotiations, it is indeed necessary to negotiate.”

“This is a day that I would not have seen coming, the day that South Africa has a more ambitious target than the province of Alberta, whose emissions continue to rise thanks to dirty oil,” says Richard Worthington from WWF South Africa. South Africa just adopted a target of reducing its emissions intensity by 34% below business-as-usual levels in 2020; Alberta’s target for 2020 is equivalent to a cut of about 15-20% below business-as-usual.

Canada has swept these awards, winning Fossil of the Year both in 2007 and 2008. Let’s hope that Canada has had enough of winning Fossil prizes and is ready to negotiate.

-30-

Fossil of the Day will be presented daily in Copenhagen from a network of over 400 leading international non-governmental organizations following a vote to determine which country had done the most over the course of the day to delay, stall, and otherwise disrupt this crucial negotiating sessions in Copenhagen in December.

www.fossiloftheday.com

Worth reading the whole post, and the Science article cited, since the freeway lobby will be using this to say that we can go on burning more and more dirty tar sands fuel on wider and wider freeways.

There is also an action against the Gateway to Global Warming planned on Monday - see http://gatewaysucks.org for more info.

12.05.09 | Fight back against the hacked email hatchet job

On the eve of the most important climate summit ever hacked emails from a research center in England are being promoted as a “game changer” by people who don’t want to see climate action. These people say that the emails prove that global warming is a hoax - a conspiracy that is either socialist or corporatist or, most terrifying of all, Al Gorist.

Why?

Out of the thousands of emails there is no evidence of a massive worldwide conspiracy of thousands of scientists to impose socialism or corporatism or Al Gorism.

Instead, there is evidence of scientists reacting badly to the enormous pressure they are under from a small, motivated and well funded group of people and institutions who have made it their mission to confuse the public about climate science, and have the backing of big dollars from big oil. This is the Manufactured Doubt Industry. It started decades ago to protect tobacco company profits by confusing the public about cancer research, it consists of a network of researchers with dubious credentials and right-wing think tanks designed to grab media attention, and its very happy with itself right now.

The scientists whose emails were hacked adopted a “bunker mentality” about their data because they are under constant attack from the Manufactured Doubt Industry who question their motives, their competence and will distort the scientists’ data and analysis to further an ideological agenda (government is bad!) and protect fossil fuel company profits (oil money is good).

full text at http://go-beyond.ca/blog/2009/12/05/fight-back-against-the-hacked-email-hatchet-job/

A nice little production reminiscent of National Film Board flicks and I can attest to the incredible flavour of locally caught spot prawns and cheese from the Little Qualicum cheese company!

Local foods mini-movie debuts
on new activist website

The 100-Mile Diet Society of Vancouver is launching a short animated film, Home Is Where the Food Is, November 3rd on its brand-new website. "My film will make you feel hungry," says animator Jody Kramer. "It follows each ingredient of a delicious meal to its local source." It will be shown in community screenings, in schools, and on social networking websites.

The new Society website, www.foodshed.100milediet.org, is based on the cutting-edge folksiness of the Vancouver Foodshed Map, which is hand illustrated by landscape artist Shaun Finnigan and designed by former Adbusters staff known as The Goggles.
This is a must-have poster for anyone living or knowing anyone from within 100 miles of Vancouver. The radius includes Victoria, Nanaimo, Whistler, and Bellingham, Washington.

"The poster reveals the secrets and pleasures of local foods in our region," says Alisa Smith, the Vancouver-based author of The 100-Mile Diet. Buy it online to support the organization and UBC Farm's low-carbon experimental farming project.
This project aims to take the fossil fuels out of agriculture, making local foods an environmental revolution three times a day.

The Foodshed Project is a partnership between Vancouver's 100-Mile Diet Society and UBC Farm. Funding is provided by Environment Canada's EcoAction Community Funding Program, Vancity and Metro Vancouver.

Website design by Freshfront.

For more information contact:
shirlene@100milediet.org

FYI, whatever you may think of this process here's a chance for your two bits. pamela

INFORMATION BULLETIN
2009EMPR0022-000694
November 30, 2009
Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources

GREEN ENERGY ADVISORY TASK FORCE SEEKS INPUT

VICTORIA – B.C.’s Green Energy Advisory Task Force has launched a website that invites British Columbians to submit their ideas and input on the future of clean and renewable energy in B.C.

Following its first meetings, on Nov.27 and 28, the advisory task force has launched the website, www.greenenergyadvisorytaskforce.ca. The website asks British Columbians to submit their ideas and input on the following subjects: clean energy procurement and regulatory reform; carbon pricing, trading and clean energy export market development; community engagement and First Nations partnerships; and clean energy resource development.

Submissions can be made via an email form until Dec. 31, 2009. The ideas and input submitted through the website will help inform the recommendations the task force makes to government in January 2010.

The Green Energy Advisory Task Force is dedicated to ensuring B.C. remains a leader in clean and renewable energy. The advisory task force is composed of four advisory task force groups, reporting directly to the Cabinet Committee on Climate Action and Clean Energy.

-30-

Contact:

Jake Jacobs
Media Relations
Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources
250 952-0628
250 213-6934 (cell)

Frozen salmon over fresh? Why, it's better for the planet that way By Abby Haight: Frozen salmon is better for the planet than fresh, because it takes so much less energy to make it safely to your dinner plate. http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2009/11/frozen_salmon_over_fresh_why_i.html

Photo CC http://www.flickr.com/photos/mattclare/

Interesting item, seems like Kiewit is pressuring truckers to accept sub-standard rates for Gateway work. And they may take job action.

Sub standard trucking rates are often linked to sub-standard maintenance, increasing the safety hazard to the public. The race to the bottom continues:

VANCOUVER — British Columbia’s gravel truck drivers could stage a work stoppage if low rates paid for work on the Port Mann Bridge aren’t raised, the Teamsters Union said Friday.

The going rate per hour for a gravel truck and trailer has been about $124, said Don McGill, president of the B.C. Teamsters Union, which represents about 1,000 independent truck owners.

But Peter Kiewit Sons Co. — which along with Flatiron Constructors Canada has a fixed-price contract of $2.46 billion to build the bridge and do related work — is only paying $85 an hour, McGill said.

That’s not enough to cover the maintenance of the trucks involved and that means some trucks could be unsafe, he said.

Trucks in B.C. are already notoriously unsafe. In a blitz earlier this year, the Delta police department’s commercial vehicle enforcement unit found that 41 per cent of 535 vehicles inspected were unsafe.

A similar surprise inspection in West Vancouver ordered 25 of 74 commercial vehicles off the road.

Those failure rates of 41 per cent and 34 per cent, respectively, are much higher than the national average of 18.2 per cent.

McGill fears that statistic will only get worse if drivers are forced to accept lower rates.

[snip]

Full text at http://www.vancouversun.com/business/gravel+truck+drivers+threaten+stop+work/2220998/story.html

Ten years ago, tens of thousands of people converged on Seattle to stand up against corporate globalization, and for environmental justice. The People's Summit was the biggest of many counter-conferences before the World Trade Organization summit.

I went, and it was a life-changing experience. There were delegates from around the globe, all united in a sense of urgency to stop the destruction of our communities and planet by corporations such as Exxon and General Motors. The sense of urgency on the environment was fed by Hurricane Mitch, which killed over 10,000 mostly poor people in Central America.

At that time the link between global heating and more powerful and dangerous storms was just emerging, but it was obvious that the corporate controlled IMF had impoverished people in the region and made them much more vulnerable to the unprecedented size and power of Hurricane Mitch.

Now, well the need for action is even more urgent. And the reasons for hope are different, now that WTO-type growth-at-all-cost policies have been discredited by a global economic crisis that is still raging (Japan just went into deflation). And it is worth remembering that the World Bank and International Monitary Fund still has a strong pro-freeway, anti-railway bias despite the climate crisis and the end of cheap oil.

The US call-out for action on November 30 is at http://www.actforclimatejustice.org/actions/n30-actions-seattle/

Details on the People's Summit +10 is below and at http://seattleplus10.org

The People’s Summit: Global Justice Forward! The Climate is Changing, it’s Time for Solutions!

The People’s Summit will be a three day Teach-in and Strategy Session at multiple venues in Seattle: Nov 27, 28, 29, 2009!
SCHEDULE – See list of Workshops Here

Friday Nov 27th:

* The Yes Men’s new documentary, The Yes Men Fix the World, premieres at NW Film Forum, Screenings at 7 and 9pm, Yes Men in attendance!
* Amy Goodman speaks at Town Hall!

Saturday Nov 28th: All Day-time events at Seattle University

* 9 – 5pm: Morning plenary followed by multiple educational, movement building & skills-building workshops

* 6pm: Dinner & Evening plenary at New Hope Baptist Church, 116 21st Ave, Seattle

Sunday Nov 29th: All Day-time events at Seattle University

* 10 – 11:30 Workshops
* 12:30 – 1:30 Plenary: Cross-Sector Organizing
* 1:30 – 5pm Cross-Sector Organizing Strategy Session
* 1:30 – 3:00 Workshops (simultaneous with optional Strategy Session)

* 7pm: Evening Plenary at Town Hall, 1119 8th Ave, Seattle

Confirmed speakers:

Leo Gerard, United Steel-Workers

Amy Goodman, Democracy Now!

Walter Hayden, Marketing and sales director of Clean Greens

Dena Hoff, National Family Farm Coalition & Via Campesina

Eric Holt-Gimenez & Annie Shattuck, Food First

Rev. Robert Jeffrey, Black Dollar Days Task Force

David Korten (When Corporations Rule the World, Agenda For a New Economy)

Thea Lee, AFL-CIO

Sylvia Orduño, Michigan Welfare Rights Organization and National Planning Committee, U.S. Social Forum

The Yes Men, The Yes Men Fix the World

SOUTH FRASER ACTION GROUP

Invites you to participate in:

a bus tour followed by a Fraser River boat tour to witness firsthand the impact of the South Fraser Perimeter Road. This will be:

WHEN: Friday, November 20, 2009*

WHERE: Ladner Bus Exchange at 9:45 AM. This is on Harvest drive south of Ladner Trunk Road (48th Ave.) and before 44th Avenue. There is a Park and Ride just south of the Exchange.

WHAT: two hour bus tour of the SFPR route through agricultural lands & established neighborhoods
&
Three hour boat cruise from New Westminster Quay along the
Fraser River escarpment to the Golden Ears Bridge & back to New Westminster

Bus back to Ladner Exchange

WHY: to experience firsthand the beauty of the open fields and of the river escarpment with its salmon bearing streams &

To learn about the impact which the SFPR will have on agriculture,
on wildlife and fish habitat, on Burns Bog, and on the residents who are being displaced by this massive project

COST: $70 per person without lunch.plus $15 for a catered lunch on-board (OR bring a bag lunch with you.)

As we need to pay for the cruise up-front, we need to receive your payment either in cash OR by cheque, by Friday, November 13th. We will also need to know by the 13th Nov. if you want to have the catered lunch on board. Cheques should be endorsed to Inger Kam and may be given to Inger, Anita den Dikken or Wilma Haig. Your receipt will entitle you to participate in this tour. Should you need a tax receipt, then your cheque needs to be made out to Burns Bog Society, with a notation of the November 20th event.
BUT, give it to one of us.

*International Fisheries Day is November 22nd.

CONTACTS: Inger Kam – 604-948-4884
Anita den Dikken 604-948-0139
Wilma Haig – 604-418-3522

Wow! Does this seem like a good time to trash prime salmon habitat on the Fraser for a waterfront freeway?

Maybe it would be a good time to write a letter to Gordon Campbell suggesting that it is time to shift the Gateway billions to electric public transit: Gordon.Campbell.MLA@leg.bc.ca

Looming oil shortage worse than IEA says: whistleblower
International Energy Agency accused of responding to U.S. pressure
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
CBC News

A whistleblower at the International Energy Agency has accused the group of deliberately underplaying the seriousness of a looming oil shortage.

The whistleblower, identified by the Guardian newspaper in the U.K. only as a senior IEA employee, told the paper the world is much closer to running out of oil than official estimates admit but that the IEA has toned down its warning to avoid triggering panic buying.

A senior official with the International Energy Agency is accusing the group of downplaying a looming shortage of oil. (CBC)The official claimed the agency is responding to U.S. pressure to downplay how fast existing oilfields are running out of oil while overplaying the chances of finding new reserves.

Both the unnamed current employee and a former staff member quoted by the Guardian raise concerns about the ability of the world to increase oil output. The IEA predicted in its report that demand will increase to 105 million barrels a day by 2030 and that the world's energy resources are "adequate to meet the projected demand increase through to 2030 and well beyond."

The two dissenters question whether production can be raised from its current level of 83 million barrels a day. Even in the oil industry, there are those who say world production has already reached its peak.

The report came as the IEA released on Tuesday its annual World Energy Outlook, warning that the worldwide financial crisis has led to a dangerous drop in energy investment, which could stifle any hope of economic recovery.

The agency is a policy adviser to 28 mostly industrialized, oil-consuming nations. It estimates investment in finding new oil and gas investment has dropped by $90 billion US this year, a drop of 19 per cent from 2008. As a result, the IEA said, future supplies of oil and electricity could be constrained and "undermine the sustainability of the economic recovery."

The IEA's prediction about natural gas, which represents two thirds of the activity in Canada's energy industry, also has potentially serious consequences. The agency expects new supplies of natural gas from previously untapped shale formations will create a glut that will extend until 2015.

The warning comes a month ahead of the UN Copenhagen conference, where world leaders will meet to discuss measures to reduce carbon emissions. Among the agenda items is an initiative for developing countries to switch from fossil fuels to renewable types of energy such as wind and solar.

The IEA report said investment in renewable energy sources has been hard hit, falling by a fifth this year compared with 2008.

With files from The Associated Press

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2009/11/10/iea-whistleblower-accuses-agency-of-downplaying-oil-shortage.html

SPEC, the Society Promoting Environmental Conservation is celebrating its 40th birthday this year. In honour of this, SPEC has produced this excellent video on its history. Unfortunately, I can't seem to embed the link in this post, so you'll have to just follow this link to watch it on vimeo.

Some fun facts about SPEC:

• SPEC is the second oldest environmental organization in Canada.
• SPEC has birthed well over 100 other non-profit organizations in its time, including Greenpeace.
• SPEC established the first recycling depots in BC.
• And, of course, SPEC plays a key role in helping to preserve our liveable region.

There's much more in the video. We're lucky to have such a venerable organization run by dedicated people that has achieved so much to preserve our environment both in BC and in the world.

In case you were wondering why house prices are going up in Vancouver . . . you and I are now apparently the largest sub-prime lenders in the world. Now isn't that a nice reassuring thought!

Canada's sub-prime mortgage time bomb
By Murray Dobbin
October 22, 2009

What do the mid-recession housing boom and the Harper Conservatives’ rise in the polls have in common? Answer: the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s massive sub-prime mortgage scheme that is keeping up the appearance of an economic recovery.

Reading the newspapers these days you have to wonder whether Canada was on another planet when the global credit crisis hit. House prices have actually increased in some provinces and now there is a shortage of houses for sale in southern Ontario. Credit is flowing everywhere.

Ottawa: The biggest sub-prime lender in the world

But what few Canadians realize is that the housing market has avoided collapse (prices are down 32 per cent in the U.S.) because the Harper Conservatives directed the CMHC to change the mortgage rules to effectively make the Canadian government the biggest sub-prime lender in the world. What’s almost as alarming as this reckless policy is that no one in the financial media is talking about it, even though everyone knows the facts. I was alerted to the scandal by David Lepoidevin, a financial advisor with National Bank Financial, in a warning letter to his clients. (Blogger Jonathon Tonge has all the CMHC charts and graphs on his blog.)

The facts are that over 90 per cent of existing mortgages in Canada are “securitized” -- that’s the practice of pooling mortgages (or other assets) and then issuing new securities backed by the pool -- MBSs, or Mortgage Backed Securities. That’s what happened with the sub-prime mortgages in the U.S. which (because the whole pool was so diversified) received triple A ratings by the rating agencies. Losses around the world amounted to hundred of billions of dollars.

[snip]

If that sounds like sub-prime mortgages, it should. Sub prime is any loan below prime. If a bank refuses you a loan, and CMHC gives you one, the loan is sub-prime. As Lepoidevin says in his warning letter, “Every single U.S. lender specializing in sub-prime has gone bankrupt. The largest sub-prime lender in the world is now the Canadian government.”

[snip]

Full text at http://rabble.ca/news/2009/10/canadas-sub-prime-mortgage-time-bomb

When movements build, they often build quicker than even the most connected activist can keep track of. I have mostly recovered from the amazing Oct 24 day of action, but now people all over the place are ramping up for the December 12 day of action and other events.

But first, take a few moments to celebrate what people like you did on Saturday October 24th 2009, the day the world woke up.

People in more than 180 countries came together for the most widespread day of environmental action in the planet's history. At over 5000 events around the world, people gathered to call for strong action and bold leadership on the climate crisis. In Vancouver over 5000 marched to stop the causes of global warming including the Gateway freeway expansions and the tarsands. If I remember correctly, this is the largest environmental demonstration in the history of BC! See photos here.

The Greepeace training below is just one of the many things people are doing to prepare for the Nov / Dec 09 season of action. Note that you don't have to do civil disobedience to take effective action. This is just one form of action, it is not for everyone, and every good civil disobedience training includes a lot of emphasis on the other forms of effective action that people can take.

Organized by Greenpeace, Climate Action Camps are weekend-long, training camps in peaceful civil disobedience for those who are concerned about climate change and have lost confidence in their political leaders.

We want to inspire Canadians to take part in activities that will pressure the federal governments to stop global warming.

Register for a Greenpeace Climate Action Camp and learn how peaceful civil disobedience can turn Canada into a climate leader.

Vancouver, British Columbia: November 6-8

More at http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/en/campaigns/climate-and-energy/climate-action-camp

Will you stay at home on Saturday October 24. Or go to your yoga class. Or go for a nice walk in the woods? Or clean up your bathroom?

Across the planet millions of people will be doing something else. They will be out on the streets demanding that our governments stop cooking our only planet. They will not be dissuaded by a bit of rain, many will march despite the threat of being attacked by the police or military.

In Vancouver the march starts at 12 noon at the center of the Cambie Bridge, only a couple of blocks from the new 2nd Ave subway station. Will you and your friends be there, or do you have something more important to do?

At 7 pm, head over to Christ Church Cathedral for inspirational speakers.

More info on the Vancouver event, and links to events across Canada http://wildernesscommittee.org/take_action/climate_change_day_action

More reasons to get out on October 24th at 350.org

For the Danes, city planning is all about the bike

GARY MASON
From Wednesday's Globe and Mail

Copenhagen — From his second-floor office overlooking a Baltic-fed canal, Andreas Rohl ponders a daily question: How can he make life hell for the car drivers of this Scandinavian capital? Mr. Rohl, you see, is the bicycle program manager for the city government of Copenhagen..../snip

“We have reached the point where riding a bike is a far better mode of transportation than a car. You can get almost anywhere faster on a bike than in a car. We focus a lot on increasing bike speeds from point A to point B, and one way you can do that is slowing car speed over that same distance.”..../snip

Where cities in North America focus on easing car congestion, in Copenhagen it's bike jams people like Mr. Rohl are trying to solve. In some cases, that has meant taking space away from cars and handing it to cyclists. It's meant building bridges for bikes and pedestrians over busy thoroughfares..../snip

In the winter months, bike ridership drops off 20 per cent. Still, an armada of plows is ready to clear bike lanes when snow flies. They get priority over routes for cars..../snip

Surprisingly, few cyclists in Copenhagen wear a helmet, a matter that local politicians often debate. But there has been a general reluctance to make them mandatory because it might discourage people from riding. The benefits of cycling, both environmentally and healthwise, outweigh the risks of riding without a helmet, Mr. Rohl said...../snip

By the way, if you think the Danes are doing this to save the planet, you're wrong. Only 1 per cent of those recently surveyed by the city said they were riding a bike to help the environment.

The incinerator debate is heating up in our region. The Wilderness Committee just issued the news release below, responding to further evidence that Metro is not playing straight.

The MV Waste Management Committee meets tomorrow and will be asked to rubber stamp "projects and priorities" that move us inexorably towards spending huge sums on incinerators that will lock us into commitments that we won't be able to get out of. The politicians are being bamboozled and exploited by the top management of what is rapidly becoming a Rogue Utility.

The Zero Waste BC organizers are meeting tomorrow (Wednesday) at the Wilderness Committee office (341 Water Street, 4th Floor) at 4:00 pm to talk strategy. If you are interested in this issue, we can use your energy and ideas at a critical time to stop this thing.

Helen.

For immediate release – Tuesday, Oct. 13th 2009
Metro Vancouver Misleading the Public About Incinerator Decision

Vancouver, BC "The chairperson of our region’s Waste Management Committee is saying one thing here in Vancouver and something else to people in Ontario when it comes to their position on proposed waste incineration facilities," said Ben West, Healthy Communities Campaigner with the Wilderness Committee.

Marvin Hunt, chair of Metro Vancouver's Waste Management Committee, will be speaking at a conference organized by incineration industry insiders in Yorkville, Ontario later this month. The pamphlet distributed to promote the event says Mr. Hunt will be speaking about how Metro Vancouver decided to build 6 new incinerators and how they dealt with public opinion.

When asked about Metro Vancouver's position on these proposals, Hunt told Vancouver area media, “Our purpose here is not to advocate, but to give out the information we were ordered to find…we’re not here to promote anything.”

Meanwhile, in the pamphlet promoting a speaking engagement in Ontario, under Marvin Hunt’s presentation it clearly says "Metro Vancouver is planning to build six new waste-to-energy plants to deal with the problem of excess garbage and not enough landfill space. (Dowload the Flyer here)
• How did Metro Vancouver incorporate public input on the proposed facilities?
• What factors did Vancouver deem critical before planning these waste-to-energy facilities?
• How did it deal with negative public perception around waste-to-energy facilities?
• What steps did Metro Vancouver take with respect to the approval process of EFW facilities
• What are the challenges Metro continues to encounter with respect to EFW facilities?”

"Mr. Hunt is disrespecting our intelligence with this blatant manipulation. To the people of Vancouver, he contends that he has no pro-incineration bias, and that the process will consider all public opinion on whether to allow the burning of garbage in Metro Vancouver. On the other hand, he is going to Ontario, to advise other jurisdictions how to handle the negative PR that surrounds these types of facilities as if Vancouver was a done deal," said West.

Last week, media announced that Metro Vancouver's so-called ‘independent expert consultants’ were actually industry insiders, and that one, Jim Bridges, has been a tobacco lobbyist who once testified before the U.S. Congress that second hand smoke is not harmful.

Residents of the Fraser Valley have been amongst the most outspoken in regards to their health and air quality concerns related to waste incineration. "This is just the latest in a series of disappointments and frustrations with their consultation processs," said Patricia Ross Chairperson of the Fraser Valley Regional District. " When people point out some apparent bias, we've always been told they haven't yet made the decision which option to choose and that their participation in public meetings could make a difference. Yet clearly, it doesn't appear to be the case. The negative impact will be significant if this goes forward. The residents of our regions deserve better" said Ross.

Metro Vancouver has declared this week to be Waste Management Week to continue the discussion of waste issues.

For more information please contact: The Wilderness Committee
- Ben West, Healthy Communities Campaigner -Wilderness Committee 604-710-5340
- Patricia Ross, Chairperson - Fraser Valley Regional District 604 916-9026

As our climate slowly changes and extreme weather events become more common, cities will have to change the ways in which they manage stormwater. It’s not common yet, but cities will have to begin specifying larger storm sewers, making greater use of stormwater management ponds, promote greater use of green roofs and rain gardens, and use pervious pavements to allow more stormwater to seep into the ground.

http://dcnonl.com/article/id35678

The buzz is growing! Where will you be on October 24, 2009? How many friends will you be bringing with you?

Are you involved yet?

Building a bridge to a greener future
West Ender
Posted By: Jackie Wong
10/08/2009

For all its Pacific vistas and North Shore mountain beauty, Vancouver, in its relative youth, is just beginning to define itself as a green city. Mayor Gregor Robertson’s speech at the Vancouver Board of Trade Meeting on September 30 introduced a new “Green Capital” economic branding strategy to the city’s business community, which focuses on growth in Vancouver’s green-technology industry.

Earlier in the week, a group of local environmental advocates unveiled their plans for Bridge to a Cool Planet, a day-long festival on October 24 to commemorate the International Day of Climate Action, and to draw attention to Canada’s role in December’s international Copenhagen Climate Conference.

“We need the same kind of movement now that we had back in the day of the peace marches,” says Kevin Washbrook, Bridge to a Cool Planet organizer and director of the group Voters Taking Action on Climate Change. “This hasn’t happened yet for climate change and global warming in Canada. The government we have in Ottawa right now... they don’t feel compelled to act, and right now there isn’t the pressure on them to do so.”

While Washbrook is supportive of the City’s recent efforts to draw attention to our potential as a green city with its Greenest City Action Team and the Green Capital branding strategy, he says citizen support will be crucial for the City to move forward on its sustainability goals. “For the City to make those kinds of fundamental changes, they’re going to need public pressure from below,” he says. “They don’t operate in a space right now to say ‘We are going to make huge changes in how you live and work’ until they know that the public’s there.”

That’s the goal of Bridge to a Cool Planet: to garner widespread public support on action for fighting climate change. The day’s festivities will close Cambie Bridge to car traffic, with activities taking place on the bridge, along Pacific Boulevard, and on the Science World grounds. “This is an opportunity to remake society in a way that’s fair for everybody,” says Washbrook. That involves making connections between social issues, citizenship, and sustainability, he adds.

Ben West, spokesperson for the Western Canada Wilderness Committee, one of the organizations involved with Bridge to a Cool Planet, says Vancouver is at a critical juncture in its approach to climate change. “We could be looking at a bridge to a cool planet, or we could be looking at a gateway to global warming,” he says. “This could be a place where we’re enabling the rest of the world to use more and more of our tar sands oil and do more and more coal exploration...or [we] could be a model for sustainability for the rest of the world.”

Part of the rationale for situating Bridge to a Cool Planet around the Cambie Bridge, West says, is to unite citizens in a place that geographically connects the east and west sides of the city, and ideologically joins citizens from diverse backgrounds. “It’s trying to look at not just ways of addressing climate change, but looking at addressing equity issues, social-justice issues,” he says. In regards to the City of Vancouver’s recent green branding efforts, West says it’s a start, but it’s not enough. “Vancouver can do a certain amount, but it really takes the province and the country and an international movement to make change.”

More information on Bridge to a Cool Planet can be found at BridgeCoolPlanet.ca

http://www.westender.com/articles/entry/building-a-bridge-to-a-greener-future/news-and-views/

Consideration of Socio-Economic Impact Irrelevant to Species at Risk Identification of Critical Habitat

9/15/2009

Janice Walton
Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP

Just two months after its first substantive ruling interpreting the Species at Risk Act (SARA), the Federal Court (the Court) has issued another, potentially more significant, decision. Unlike the previous ruling, which was grounded primarily in the facts around the designation of critical habitat for the Sage Grouse, this newer case was decided after an analysis of some key aspects of the law surrounding the definition of critical habitat, and the mandatory nature of its identification in recovery strategies. Unless the decision is successfully appealed, or SARA is amended in response, the ruling of the Court is likely to impact the recovery planning processes that are currently underway for hundreds of species, which could have far-reaching impact on resource users and landowners across Canada. In particular, businesses and landowners currently involved in the recovery planning processes are more likely to find that their concerns over the impact of the designation of critical habitat on their activities will not be considered by species recovery teams in their deliberations over what to include in recovery strategies.

rest of review: http://www.blakes.com/english/view_printer.asp?ID=3387

Here's one that should fan the flames...

Trash is a resource and burying it is wasteful. Incinerators also
produce fewer pollutants than landfills do
LOIS E. JACKSON,
SPECIAL TO THE SUN
SEPTEMBER 29, 2009

Intuitively, burning our garbage seems outdated. Some people believe
it's the wrong thing to do.

That's not what leading public health, environment and waste management
experts have told Metro Vancouver.

http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/burning+garbage+best+option/2045694/story.html

Photo - Home Demolition on Route of Proposed South Fraser Freeway

Halt perimeter road to save money: NDP

By Jeff Nagel - Surrey North Delta Leader

September 23, 2009

With the province slashing grants to charities and grappling with a multi-billion-dollar deficit, Delta North NDP MLA Guy Gentner has a solution to save big bucks.

Shelve the South Fraser Perimeter Road.

The $1.1-billion truck freeway being punched through residential areas and along the edge of Burns Bog should be a prime target for the government's budget axe, he said, noting Victoria did scrap its plan to build a costly retractable roof at BC Place.

"It's time for a re-think," Gentner said, adding all government priorities must be examined in hard times. "We would rather see money spent on libraries and health care."

He said the road is expensive and wasteful because at least $400 million of the costs are going to acquire land along the riverfront.

"It's the largest purchase of land in the history of the province for any project," Gentner said. "Beautiful properties on prime waterfront land are being wiped out for a freeway that's really going to create more congestion."

Preload work on the new 40-kilometre route has been underway in some areas for at least a year.

Construction so far has been directly financed by the province, although it still intends to build much of the route as a public-private partnership.

Procurement was delayed by the global financial crisis this year. A request for proposals went out in the spring, but a final contract isn't to be awarded until sometime in 2010.

The perimeter road and the broader Gateway Program are based on projections container port traffic through Vancouver will triple in the years ahead.

Gentner said those estimates are now suspect, particularly with port expansion in B.C. at Prince Rupert taking pressure off Metro Vancouver.

He argues more can be done to transport containers up the Fraser River from Deltaport by barge instead of road.

The provincial budget commits major spending for both the perimeter road and the Port Mann bridge/Highway 1 project over the next couple of years.

Construction on the Highway 1 project is also underway.

The province gave up on a struggling private financing partner early this year at the height of the credit crisis.

Instead, Victoria is borrowing all the money for the $3.3-billion project, which is to be recouped through bridge tolls.

Transportation minister Shirley Bond said the Gateway projects need to proceed.

"Projects like the SFPR create much-needed jobs in hard times, support future economic growth and provide service for decades to come," she said.

"It is precisely in periods like these that governments should build vital infrastructure."

The perimeter road will take truck and regional traffic off local streets in Surrey, reducing congestion and air pollution, she added.

http://www.bclocalnews.com/surrey_area/surreyleader/news/60823757.html

A thought provoking article from the Vancouver Sun. It seems like some people have noticed that the Liberals demand that their TransLink appointees choose only Cadillac rapid transit technology, but fund it on a Hyundai budget.

(Note that a Cadillac is not necessarily better than a Hyundai for getting where you want to go, just much more expensive and polluting)

Photo - Canada Line Subway used huge amounts of steel and concrete resulting in high carbon emissions and costs

Transportation impacts affordable residency

Provincial and municipal government discord costs us all

By Bob Ransford, Special to The Sun September 22, 2009

One of the keys to making housing more affordable is transportation.

The cost of housing in communities with a robust range of transportation choices, especially with well-developed public transit systems, is generally lower.

You can concentrate more people in one area if they can move about efficiently without the need for roads and parking, which consume both land and the dollars to build them. Higher density means more efficient land use and a lower cost of housing on a per-home basis.

A second cost-saving comes from being able to avoid or decrease dependency on a car.

Owning and operating a car is an expensive undertaking.

Good transportation planning and good land-use planning go hand in hand. One can't be achieved without the other.

We are seeing the results of a clear disconnect between land-use planning and transportation planning in Metro Vancouver in the form of our high costs of housing.

In my last column, I talked about the less-than-impressive track record of the provincial government in walking the walk when it comes to all of its talk about wanting to lower the cost of housing and bringing home ownership within reach of our children. The government's failure to ensure that transportation planning and land-use planning are integrated in Metro Vancouver is another example of all talk and no action on the affordable housing front.

[snip]

Urban transportation planning has fared even worse under the Campbell Liberals.

They have washed their hands of playing a coordinating role in major public transit improvement projects. TransLink is on its own to both plan and fund transportation infrastructure in Metro Vancouver.

The Liberals created the Council of Mayors; its members are scared sleepless of the political ramifications of using their severely limited taxing power to raise adequate taxpayer dollars to fund the continued development and operation of an integrated urban transportation network in Metro Vancouver. As the local mayors bob and weave, avoiding the hard decisions, an unaccountable board made up of provincial appointees scrambles to keep the existing public transit system alive.

The premier wasn't afraid to grab headlines with an announcement a couple of years ago of an ambitious plan to expand public rapid transit when he was being roundly criticized for building expensive auto-dependent transportation infrastructure such as a new Port Mann Bridge, while at the same time portraying himself as the patron saint of sustainability.

That announcement, lacking most of the funding it required, now seems long forgotten while the premier and his colleagues continue to refuse to delegate a broader taxing authority to those on whom they have downloaded the responsibility for the expensive but necessary improvements to the public transit network.

Regional transportation commissioner Martin Crilley referred to this lack of provincial-regional coordination in his recent public report when he labelled the gulf that exists between provincial and regional transportation planning and financing "a hazard."

Meanwhile, the same provincial government that is one minute washing its hands of the problem and the next meddling in the issue up to its neck, continues to dictate the kind of technology that is deployed in building the transit network, pushing up the cost per kilometre of building much-needed rapid transit expansion projects.

Compare the cost of SkyTrain versus at-grade trams systems. The estimated costs of extending the Millennium SkyTrain line with a subway along Broadway toward the University of B.C. is about $233 million per kilometre. The costs for new at-grade tram technology chosen by cities such as Portland and Washington, D.C., is around $16 million per kilometre.

The Campbell Liberals chose the more costly SkyTrain technology for the development of the on-again, off-again planned Evergreen rapid transit line to serve Metro Vancouver's northeast sector. Going with this technology is a condition of securing the yet-to-be-committed provincial contribution to fund the project.

Commissioner Crilley pointed in his recent report to his concern about the lack of freedom on the part of TransLink to select "its own optimum rapid transit configuration."

It makes you wonder whether the provincial government even thinks about connecting the dots between the cost of housing and the disconnect between land use and transportation planning.

- - -

Bob Ransford is a public affairs consultant with CounterPoint Communications Inc. He is a former real estate developer who specializes in urban land use issues.
© Copyright (c)

http://www.calgaryherald.com/Transportation+impacts+affordable+residency/2020644/story.html

Joe Trasolini has always struck me as a no nonsense type of guy. This morning on CBC Radio's "The Early Edition", he said without the Evergreen Line skytrain, his community of 32,000 could not support anymore growth without unacceptable gridlock. Which he says is due to Port Moody's geographic nature, which funnels Vancouver commuter traffic along the Barnet Hwy (Rd.), or one has to go out to HWY #1. To that end he would no longer be supporting Port Moody's Livable Regions Official Community Plan which allows for an increase in population to 44,000 residents.

When you think about it, Gordon Campbell may be achieving our desired GHG reductions by default here. No money left for transit means no more growth. All in all, not such a bad thing if it helps the climate change cause by reducing emissions.

PoMo mayor talking tough on transit fundingPoMo mayor talking tough on transit funding
By Gary McKenna - The Tri-City News

snip/...The days of high-density developments could be over in Port Moody if the Evergreen rapid transit line is not built, said the city's mayor.
Joe Trasolini told the Tri-City News Thursday he would seek support from fellow councillors calling for an official community plan that outlines zero growth in the municipality. The move would be in contravention of Metro Vancouver's Livable Region Strategic Plan.
"If they want to take us to court they can do that," Trasolini said. "If they want to enforce them and take us to court I am saying that I accept the challenge. We can't move forward without transportation.".../snip

snip/....However, not all Tri-City officials were in agreement with the mayor of Port Moody.
Coquitlam Mayor Richard Stewart said construction of the Evergreen Line is not an if, but a when, and that the region cannot move backwards in its development plans.
"Joe and I disagree on tactics," he said Thursday morning. "The Evergreen Line will be built. It has to be. We have constructed our city centre as a transit oriented development.".../snip

It’s Coming!

Staff Writer

Posted: September 21st, 2009

It’s official. It’s getting hot down here. And if we don’t stop burning oil and coal, the Big Apple will be cooked.

According to a high tech study commissioned by a concerned Mayor Bloomberg and generously funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, climate change caused by human-created greenhouse gases is threatening the health, livelihood and security of New Yorkers—especially those who take the subway to work.

City report says extreme storms, flooding, deadly heat waves coming soon if we don’t make changes fast

The New York City Panel on Climate Change, led by an elite team of NASA scientists and climate experts from Columbia, CUNY and Rutgers, has concluded that unless carbon emissions are drastically reduced all over the world, New York faces dangerous increases in temperature (up to 7.5 degrees), extreme weather (hurricanes and intense storms) and sea level rise (as much as 4.5 feet).

According to the panel’s report, if all nations don’t drastically cut their carbon emissions, then Gotham will suffer in the following ways:

• Deadly heat waves will become more frequent, more intense and longer. Because cities are a lot hotter than their surrounding areas, we’ll see more of the sorts of heat events that killed 600 people in 5 days in Chicago in 1995, or 15,000 people in France in 2003.

Full text at http://nypost-se.com/news/ny_news/its-coming/

Yesterday Prime Minister Harper met with President Obama. Green Peace Canada and the environmental movement in the US and Canada are protesting the Tar Sands now in order to pressure Harper & Obama to take action on climate change by stopping Tar Sands oil production, which represents the most environmentally destructive project on Earth.

The video and quote I have reposted below is from Green Peace Canada who are there in northern Alberta protesting the environmental crimes that are taking place.

This link is from TIFF and is a preview of Petropolis a film clearly showing how environmentally unsound the Tar Sands are.

The activists are still there, determined to make the biggest impact possible.
Action on climate change is going to require us to take action ourselves to put pressure on governments at all levels. The LRC, WCWC and other groups have done the outreach and collected over 10000 petition
signatures to stop Gateway- Gordo has just brushed us off.

Time to step it up people- get involved. Meet, collaborate, and get inspired- ACTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE IN BC IS UP TO YOU!

I plead with you to get out there and take a risk, because thecost of doing nothing is just too great.

BC's Minister for Climate Action has granted the province's public sector an extra two years to meet carbon-emission targets. It's a dramatic departure from the policy enshrined in legislation in 2007. Toronto Globe and Mail 09/10/2009
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/climate-goal-eased-for-bcs-public-sector/article1283094/

Bridge to a Cool Planet: Coming together to fight Global Warming, October 24th in Vancouver

The climate talks in Copenhagen this December are crucial -- they must lead to an international agreement to stop global warming. This fall we need to come together and, with one voice, call on government to show bold leadership at these talks. On Saturday the 24th, we invite you to come have fun with your friends and neighbors while sending a strong message to Ottawa: make us proud in Copenhagen!

What's happening in Vancouver on the 24th:
11 am gather on the Cambie Street Bridge!
Noon: parade across the bridge, along Pacific Bvd to Science World -- bring your group's banner, come dressed as your favorite endangered animal or fossil fool!
3 pm: music, food, workshops, advocacy and celebration at Science World -- send a personal message to Ottawa, learn something new, enjoy yourself!
7 pm: inspirational speakers, movies at Christ Church Cathedral

Full details at www.bridgecoolplanet.ca

We need your help! We'd love your help in making this day a huge success. First volunteer orientation is Monday September 14th at the Western Canada Wilderness Committee offices -- 341 Water Street between 5 and 7 pm. http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=129402042157&ref=mf

Can't make it Monday? Get involved here: http://www.bridgecoolplanet.ca/en/get_involved.php

We need to build a movement! If we are going to achieve the scale of changes needed to stop global warming, everyone is going to have to get involved. Please encourage your organisation, business, church, cultural group and sports team to take part in this day. Invite your friends, colleagues, neighbours and grandparents too. Spread the word! Together we can send a strong message that it is time for action. This is our future, and this is our time to make a difference.

Cheers,
Kevin Washbrook
Voters Taking Action on Climate Change
for the Bridge to a Cool Planet Team

In case you thought that freeway projects always get completed once work starts, here is another example of a BC freeway project stalled due to financial and legal problems.

Photo - Bear Mountain Employees Attack Environmental Protest in 2008

Langford Interchange payment "postponed" indefinitely

A crucial piece of information regarding the Langford interchange funding controversy came to light Friday afternoon. Langford city staff confirmed Friday, September 4th that Len Barrie's company, LGB9, has failed to repay $4.79 million, his share of the $9.8 million that the city borrowed on behalf of developers to build the Spencer Road interchange (formerly the Bear Mountain Interchange.)

In related news, Bear Mountain investors last week were questioning Barrie, the resort's majority owner, about diverting up to $25.8 million from the resort to the Tampa Bay Lightning hockey team and to his own companies. Barrie denies the allegations but may face an investigation.

A Langford staff report dated August 18, 2008, set out the terms of the interchange loan. It called for Barrie's company to hand over the $4.79 million repayment on March 2, 2009, "or such other date as may be mutually agreed to by LGB9 and the City." The city has received nothing from Barrie, and no new repayment date has been set, according to city engineer John Manson, who spoke to Zoe Blunt of the Vancouver Island Community Forest Action Network on Friday.

Coincidentally, March 2 is the day that Rob Buchan suddenly left his long-time position as Langford's clerk-administrator, for reasons that are still unclear.

Ten days later, on March 12, Langford called a special meeting of council and voted unanimously to apply for Building Canada infrastructure funds for the interchange. The mayor and council gave no explanation for the application and no public participation was allowed. The applications may include up to $32 million in federal grants to complete what Langford calls "phase two" of the Spencer Interchange and the road connecting the highway to Bear Mountain Resort.

At the end of June, work ceased at the interchange site, which remains half-finished and empty. Manson said the city has spent over $14 million on the project in total, with funds coming from development cost charges and other sources, including the city's line of credit with TD Bank.

Several rather unconvincing explanations for the stoppage have been offered by staff, but so far, no one has mentioned Len Barrie's missed payment. Langford's mayor, Stew Young, and its councillors have been conspicuously silent on the interchange issue.

Conflict over the interchange funding dates back to December 2007, when Langford Council voted at a special meeting to authorize up to $25 million in loans that developers, including Barrie, agreed to pay back.

Local residents immediately mounted a counter-petition to bring the issue to a referendum. Even though they gathered more than 2200 signatures, the referendum was rejected on the basis that the project would be "100% funded by developers," according to Stew Young.

Shortly after, the Municipal Finance Authority declined to provide favourable terms for the loan, citing its "non-traditional" nature. The city then pursued funding from TD Bank.

Now, concerned residents are looking for ways to compel full disclosure from Langford on the financing of the interchange. Questions about the city's 2009 budget are causing unease as well. Included is $50 million – over 60% of the total budget – in grants that may not be awarded.

Contact us for more info: forestaction@gmail.com

The transit funding crisis in BC could be solved by canceling the $1.5 billion South Fraser Perimeter Road (SFPR) and investing the money in transit says the Wilderness Committee.

"TransLink is in a funding crisis, facing the prospect of canceling all rapid transit expansions including the proposed $1.4 billion Evergreen Line, and even cutting back bus service. At the same time they continue to shovel money at the Gateway Program, including the controversial $1.5 billion South Fraser Perimeter Road which endangers farmland, Burns Bog and species at risk.

Money exists to fund great public transit and keep fares down, but it is being wasted on 1950s style freeways. This is yesterdays solution to tomorrow problems"said Ben West, Healthy Communities Campaigner for the Wilderness Committee.

The BC government's September budget update for 2009 included a 20 percent increase for highway expansion.

"This government has one foot on the brakes and one on the gas. First, theyíve committed to reducing climate changing emissions 33% by 2020. Now they're sabotaging this commitment by increasing highway expansion funding while starving transit, despite the fact that automobiles are the biggest source of the carbon emissions which cause global warming in BC. Our government should redirect funds from harmful freeway contruction and save our vitally important public transit system" said West.

Doubling transit ridership has been highlighted by the BC government as one of the most important steps to reach their carbon emissions reduction targets.

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http://www.wildernesscommittee.org/press_release/redirect_freeways_funds_and_save_transit_says_wilderness_committee

Minister Shea has been caught red handed, out and out lying about the state of the Fisheries here on the Pacific Coast, claiming that the whole "Pacific salmon species" is collapsing. This shows quite clearly the problem is with her confidence that the mainstream media will not do enough to oppose her obvious manipulation of this situation to support the fish farming industry.

Here is Alexandra Morton's letter calling for Conservative Minister Shea to resign: Watch Minister Shea on her junket to Norway.

"With an entire ministry at your disposal you told the public:

“The coastwide scope of the decline that has occurred across all Pacific salmon species suggests that this decline is associated with much larger ecological events than localized salmon farming.”

This is entirely inaccurate as there has NOT been a coast-wide collapse across all Pacific salmon species, quite to the contrary. The people of British Columbia are looking at a bull’s-eye collapse pattern with good returns all around the dead center – which is our extremely valuable Fraser River sockeye.

Really interesting – even within the Fraser River, the Harrison sockeye, which scientists report migrate to sea via fish farm-free Strait of Juan de Fuca, are returning at twice the DFO forecast."

I've been on the internet way too much lately, but it has been very enlightening. A couple of weeks ago I noticed that Public Eye Online with Sean Holman & associates has changed their site for the better. Much better, including excellent video interviews & tweets. I would say that this site is now the 'go to' site for provincial gov't news. No one else even comes close.

His YouTube posting for Sunday was right on!

"HONESTY IS ALWAYS THE BEST POLICY":

And for dessert he tweeted a link to this:

What Can We Learn? Elections in BC and Afghanistan

But the elections are over.  The real question in both cases is whether the institutions of society will prove to be sufficiently robust to thwart the intentions of the formally elected governments to proceed as if the elections were legitimate.  It is hard to be optimistic in either case, even though in both cases the basic facts are clear.  Both winners pursued election practices that involved provable deceit and fraud at a level hardly seen in a modern democracy and both refuse to acknowledge what they did.  Both used the powers of official office and government to give a large advantage to themselves.  And both have systematically lied and withheld information about the true state of affairs.   And it appears that both will get away with it.

On Thursday July 23, the Vancouver Board of Trade held a forum on Metro Vancouver's garbage woes. Read about how the speakers shredded the direction Metro Vancouver is going with our garbage in Helen's post at the Zero Waste Blog.

Both speakers sharply criticized the regional waste authority's current direction to build huge new waste incinerators. Economist Jeffrey Morris challenged Metro's assumptions about future waste volumes (Metro is basing its plan on a forecast of 75% recycling, while Morris says higher rates are possible).

Morris also stressed the need for the plan to include effective economic instruments to drive waste reduction, which will yield much better outcomes in the long run than infrastructure that competes against recycling (incinerators have to be fed...). See Morris's PPT here.

But most damning was the critique by accounting firm KPMG's Paul Levelton. He focused his remarks on the new study that Metro released last June (see the full AECOM Report here or the Executive Summary here).

Levelton's presentation must have been humiliating not only for the report's authors (who include, incredibly, an appointed member of Metro's advisory panel on waste ~ talk about conflict of interest!)....snip

British Columbia needs to drive up the cost of driving to push people onto public transit in the Lower Mainland, says the first review from the provincially appointed transit commissioner.

Options in the report include road tolls, higher vehicle fees and even increases to insurance – measures that the provincial government has previously rejected.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/make-drivers-pay-up-transit-report/article1275379/

Photo - Transportation Minister Shirley Bond

Editor;

An open letter to provincial Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Shirley Bond.

You know from your daily contacts with provincial, national and international logistic providers – trucking companies, Port Metro Vancouver, railways, steamship lines – that worldwide container volumes shipped have declined by 15.7 per cent in the first half of 2009 as compared to 2008.

In North America, the decline was 19.2 per cent; Port Metro Vancouver reports container throughput declined 25 per cent. Ship owners are walking away from $20-25 million deposits on new buildings, knowing there will be no employment for these 10,000, twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) capacity vessels for the next decade.

When a VP of Port Metro Vancouver was asked by me during a public hearing a few years ago how many containers are trucked each day to/from Deltaport, and how many are transported via the Trans Canada Highway, the answer was: “We do not have the statistics but hope to have them by the end of the year.”

People in the business know the answers. They know that we, the taxpayers, subsidize large importers. Their import containers are trucked off the terminals and reloaded into larger highway trailers, thus “saving” the importer another few dollars – or cents – per unit bought in the Far East.

Despite all this knowledge, the government went ahead with the construction of the billion-dollar South Fraser Perimeter Road, which is not needed now and will not be for a decade or more to come.

My question, minister, is simple:

How can your government allow the construction of the SFPR to proceed, when other environmentally friendly low-cost alternatives are available to move containers to/from marine terminals, yet at the same time announce cuts through the health ministry to essential services, such as the White Rock-Surrey Come Share Society and, likely, dozens of others in the province ?

How do you explain taking away a mere $162,000 from seniors, and at the same time proceed with wasting taxpayers’ money for a highway which is not needed and which contradicts the premier’s policy that B.C. will be the first “green” province in Canada?

Wolfgang Schmitz, White Rock

http://www.bclocalnews.com/opinion/letters/56978227.html

Tue, 09/01/2009

Victoria, BC ~ As the BC budget is released today many British Columbians will be considering the implications of the new Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) but the Wilderness Committee wants to draw attention to the lack of consistency between the BC government’s green rhetoric and the negative implications for the environment in the September 2009 BC budget.

“The BC government needs to harmonize its environmental rhetoric with the reality of what is in this budget,” said Gwen Barlee, Policy Coordinator for the Wilderness Committee. “Once again we are seeing further cuts to the Ministry of the Environment. There is a tremendous amount of inconsistency between what the government says in public statements and what this budget shows."

The September budget update for 2009 contains substantial cuts to the Ministry of Environment with further reductions projected over the next 3 years. Meanwhile support has ballooned for dirty industries such as oil and gas and mining including a 20 percent increase for highway expansion. Also the funding for conservation initiatives such as Live Smart BC have been eliminated. There was no new funding for conservation initiatives which had been highlighted by the BC government as one of the most important measures to address climate change.

“Automobiles are the number one source of climate changing emissions in the province, and the BC government’s decision to prioritize highway expansion flies in the face of meaningful action on climate change and will ultimately increase automobile dependency,” said Ben West, Healthy Communities Campaigner for the Wilderness Committee. “The HST itself will exclude gasoline which is clearly inconsistent with this government’s interest in using market forces to change individuals use of fossil fuels.”

The Wilderness Committee hopes the BC government will reconsider their decision to cut into already undefended environmental programs such as conservation initiatives, parks, environmental protection and compliance.

“This is a budget that left the environment behind,” said Barlee. “The BC government forgot the fact that a healthy environment is critical to a healthy economy. If we are going to continue to be the best place on earth we need to make investments in public transit, endangered species protection, energy conservation programs and real action on climate change.”

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More evidence that perseverance and grassroots organizing pays off. Congratulations to the Council of Canadians and particularly Paul Manly from Nanaimo who contributed so much to the campaign!

The SPP was about facilitating trade at the expense of the environment and human rights, goals rather like the federal Gateway strategy.

The SPP is dead, so where's the champagne?

By Stuart Trew | August 19, 2009

"The Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP) is no longer an active initiative and as such this website will act as an archive for SPP documents. There will not be any updates to this site." - Disclaimer from the U.S. government's SPP website.

In October 2007, Globe and Mail reporter John Ibbitson predicted that a then two-year-old effort to deepen and expand NAFTA called the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) would die unless North American leaders put some backbone into it.

Too much of the discussion was happening behind closed doors, wrote Ibbitson, himself a big supporter of the SPP and one of the only journalists to ever write about it in the Canadian media. "If you're going to negotiate freer trade," he said, "sing it from the rooftops.

Keep the media informed. Make it a Big Deal."

Well governments didn't sing (or not loudly enough), barely informed the media, and it fell to alter-globalization and social justice movements in Canada, Mexico and the United States, including the Council of Canadians, to highlight its many flaws. As a result, the NAFTA-plus agenda died in Guadalajara, Mexico last week. We killed it. And we should be singing it from the rooftops.

[snip]

It's time to regroup and rethink, for sure. But please let's do it with a bottle of champagne -- even if it's one from the cheap shelf.

The SPP is dead and we killed it.

Let's recognize what we have achieved and then get back to work.

Stuart Trew is trade campaigner for the Council of Canadians.

Full text at http://www.rabble.ca/news/2009/08/spp-dead-so-wheres-champagne

So much for the BC government's commitment to getting people out of their cars and reducing GHG emissions:

Last Updated: Wednesday, August 19, 2009 | 8:30 AM PT Comments68Recommend38
CBC News
Greyhound bus service is being cut back to some B.C. towns. Greyhound bus service is being cut back to some B.C. towns. (Nam Y. Huh/Associated Press)

Some B.C. towns will soon be off the map — at least as far as Greyhound bus service is concerned — following a recent decision by the company to cut routes with low ridership.

After Aug. 30, Greyhound buses will no longer stop in the communities of Winfield and Peachland in the southern Interior. Other changes will include less frequent service between Penticton and Vancouver, Cache Creek and Vancouver, Prince George and Dawson Creek, and Prince George and the Alberta Border.

Peachland's mayor Keith Fielding says he's disappointed because he believes the company should be trying to increase ridership, not cut routes.

"We made the point that we want to expand services, not to restrict them, and the fact that ridership may be low, as I think was part of their case, means that we need to beef up publicity. We need to encourage transit use and see how it can be made more attractive, not simply to cut it out," Fielding said.
Not a public service

But a spokesperson for the Passenger Transportation Board, which regulates bus services in B.C. and approved the cuts, says that people have to remember Greyhound is not a public bus service,

The private company does not receive public subsidies, and the areas affected will still be serviced by adequate public and private transit, said the transportation board spokesperson.

Greyhound spokeswoman Abby Wambaugh also defended the cuts, saying empty buses are bad for the environment and for business.

"Greyhound itself is inherently green. Each bus has the opportunity to take up to 55 cars off the road," Wambaugh said.

"At the same time we are a business, and on a lot of these routes there was consistently significantly less than half a bus full, and that is also not environmentally friendly because you're having a large bus that's only transporting a small amount of passengers," she said.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2009/08/19/bc-greyhound-bus-cuts.html?ref=rss

By Anne Murray

Alert drivers along Highway 99 and Highway 17 through Delta will notice the massive destruction of farmland underway as excavations begin for the new South Fraser Perimeter Road. Just south of the George Massey Tunnel, a huge swath of arable ground adjacent to the landfill has been dug up, and bulldozers are steadily making their way toward cranberry farms and woodland along the western perimeter of Burns Bog.
http://straight.com/article-247577/anne-murray-paving-paradise-put-south-fraser-perimeter-road

The NY Times has a very interesting article and video on the project that saw the main downtown freeway in Seoul ripped up to restore a small stream. The mayor who spearheaded the project was the former head of Hyundai's construction division. Hyundai is one of the largest car makers in the world, and apparently builds many of the roads they drive on in Korea.

So he is now president of Korea, largely because of ripping up freeways his former company helped build:

"The project has yielded political dividends for Lee Myung-bak, a former leader of construction companies at the giant Hyundai Corporation. He was elected Seoul’s mayor in 2002 largely around his push to remove old roads — some of which he had helped build — and to revive the stream. Today he is South Korea’s president."

Part of the project was to improve public transit, and traffic now flows more smoothly than it did when there was a freeway.

But here in BC our provincial government thinks that the best use for the banks of the Fraser River is a freeway. The tide has turned, trashing waterways for freeways is now political suicide in most of the world. It is time to make the same true here in a way politicians will never forget.

Peeling Back Pavement to Expose Watery Havens
Jean Chung for The New York Times

Since its opening in 2005, hundreds of thousands of people have visited the Cheonggyecheon stream in Seoul, South Korea, with friends and family.

By ANDREW C. REVKIN
Published: July 16, 2009

SEOUL, South Korea — For half a century, a dark tunnel of crumbling concrete encased more than three miles of a placid stream bisecting this bustling city.

After its opening in 2005, hundreds of thousands of people have visited the new stream with friends and family.

The waterway had been a centerpiece of Seoul since a king of the Choson Dynasty selected the new capital 600 years ago, enticed by the graceful meandering of the stream and its 23 tributaries. But in the industrial era after the Korean War, the stream, by then a rank open sewer, was entombed by pavement and forgotten beneath a lacework of elevated expressways as the city’s population swelled toward 10 million.

Today, after a $384 million recovery project, the stream, called Cheonggyecheon, is liberated from its dank sheath and burbles between reedy banks. Picnickers cool their bare feet in its filtered water, and carp swim in its tranquil pools.

The restoration of the Cheonggyecheon is part of an expanding environmental effort in cities around the world to “daylight” rivers and streams by peeling back pavement that was built to bolster commerce and serve automobile traffic decades ago.

In New York State, a long-stalled revival effort for Yonkers’s ailing downtown core that could break ground this fall includes a plan to re-expose 1,900 feet of the Saw Mill River, which currently runs through a giant flume that was laid beneath city streets in the 1920s.

Cities from Singapore to San Antonio have been resuscitating rivers and turning storm drains into streams. In Los Angeles, residents’ groups and some elected officials are looking anew at buried or concrete-lined creeks as assets instead of inconveniences, inspired partly by Seoul’s example.

Check out the video and full text of article at
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/17/world/asia/17daylight.html?pagewanted=1&_r=4

While creating the 100-Mile Diet, James MacKinnon realized local foods have amazing pasts.
http://thetyee.ca/Life/2009/08/06/EatYourHistory/?utm_source=mondayheadlines&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=100809

Well, here it is. The G8's energy experts say we are going to hit the oil squeeze wall in 2010. So much for the depression is over, so much for people going out and stimulating the economy by buying big sports utility vehicles.

Of course, some governments and car dealers still think we should build more freeways.

Warning: Oil supplies are running out fast

Catastrophic shortfalls threaten economic recovery, says world's top energy economist

By Steve Connor, Science Editor - www.independent.co.uk

Monday, 3 August 2009

The world is heading for a catastrophic energy crunch that could cripple a global economic recovery because most of the major oil fields in the world have passed their peak production, a leading energy economist has warned.

Higher oil prices brought on by a rapid increase in demand and a stagnation, or even decline, in supply could blow any recovery off course, said Dr Fatih Birol, the chief economist at the respected International Energy Agency (IEA) in Paris, which is charged with the task of assessing future energy supplies by OECD countries.

Photo - George Monbiot interviews Birol

In an interview with The Independent, Dr Birol said that the public and many governments appeared to be oblivious to the fact that the oil on which modern civilisation depends is running out far faster than previously predicted and that global production is likely to peak in about 10 years – at least a decade earlier than most governments had estimated.

But the first detailed assessment of more than 800 oil fields in the world, covering three quarters of global reserves, has found that most of the biggest fields have already peaked and that the rate of decline in oil production is now running at nearly twice the pace as calculated just two years ago. On top of this, there is a problem of chronic under-investment by oil-producing countries, a feature that is set to result in an "oil crunch" within the next five years which will jeopardise any hope of a recovery from the present global economic recession, he said.

In a stark warning to Britain and the other Western powers, Dr Birol said that the market power of the very few oil-producing countries that hold substantial reserves of oil – mostly in the Middle East – would increase rapidly as the oil crisis begins to grip after 2010.

"One day we will run out of oil, it is not today or tomorrow, but one day we will run out of oil and we have to leave oil before oil leaves us, and we have to prepare ourselves for that day," Dr Birol said. "The earlier we start, the better, because all of our economic and social system is based on oil, so to change from that will take a lot of time and a lot of money and we should take this issue very seriously," he said.

"The market power of the very few oil-producing countries, mainly in the Middle East, will increase very quickly. They already have about 40 per cent share of the oil market and this will increase much more strongly in the future," he said.

There is now a real risk of a crunch in the oil supply after next year when demand picks up because not enough is being done to build up new supplies of oil to compensate for the rapid decline in existing fields.

The IEA estimates that the decline in oil production in existing fields is now running at 6.7 per cent a year compared to the 3.7 per cent decline it had estimated in 2007, which it now acknowledges to be wrong.

"If we see a tightness of the markets, people in the street will see it in terms of higher prices, much higher than we see now. It will have an impact on the economy, definitely, especially if we see this tightness in the markets in the next few years," Dr Birol said.

"It will be especially important because the global economy will still be very fragile, very vulnerable. Many people think there will be a recovery in a few years' time but it will be a slow recovery and a fragile recovery and we will have the risk that the recovery will be strangled with higher oil prices," he told The Independent.

In its first-ever assessment of the world's major oil fields, the IEA concluded that the global energy system was at a crossroads and that consumption of oil was "patently unsustainable", with expected demand far outstripping supply.

Oil production has already peaked in non-Opec countries and the era of cheap oil has come to an end, it warned.

In most fields, oil production has now peaked, which means that other sources of supply have to be found to meet existing demand.

Even if demand remained steady, the world would have to find the equivalent of four Saudi Arabias to maintain production, and six Saudi Arabias if it is to keep up with the expected increase in demand between now and 2030, Dr Birol said.

"It's a big challenge in terms of the geology, in terms of the investment and in terms of the geopolitics. So this is a big risk and it's mainly because of the rates of the declining oil fields," he said.

"Many governments now are more and more aware that at least the day of cheap and easy oil is over... [however] I'm not very optimistic about governments being aware of the difficulties we may face in the oil supply," he said.

Environmentalists fear that as supplies of conventional oil run out, governments will be forced to exploit even dirtier alternatives, such as the massive reserves of tar sands in Alberta, Canada, which would be immensely damaging to the environment because of the amount of energy needed to recover a barrel of tar-sand oil compared to the energy needed to collect the same amount of crude oil.

"Just because oil is running out faster than we have collectively assumed, does not mean the pressure is off on climate change," said Jeremy Leggett, a former oil-industry consultant and now a green entrepreneur with Solar Century.

"Shell and others want to turn to tar, and extract oil from coal. But these are very carbon-intensive processes, and will deepen the climate problem," Dr Leggett said.

"What we need to do is accelerate the mobilisation of renewables, energy efficiency and alternative transport.

"We have to do this for global warming reasons anyway, but the imminent energy crisis redoubles the imperative," he said.

Oil: An unclear future

*Why is oil so important as an energy source?

Crude oil has been critical for economic development and the smooth functioning of almost every aspect of society. Agriculture and food production is heavily dependent on oil for fuel and fertilisers. In the US, for instance, it takes the direct and indirect use of about six barrels of oil to raise one beef steer. It is the basis of most transport systems. Oil is also crucial to the drugs and chemicals industries and is a strategic asset for the military.

*How are oil reserves estimated?

The amount of oil recoverable is always going to be an assessment subject to the vagaries of economics – which determines the price of the oil and whether it is worth the costs of pumping it out –and technology, which determines how easy it is to discover and recover. Probable reserves have a better than 50 per cent chance of getting oil out. Possible reserves have less than 50 per cent chance.

*Why is there such disagreement over oil reserves?

All numbers tend to be informed estimates. Different experts make different assumptions so it is under- standable that they can come to different conclusions. Some countries see the size of their oilfields as a national security issue and do not want to provide accurate information. Another problem concerns how fast oil production is declining in fields that are past their peak production. The rate of decline can vary from field to field and this affects calculations on the size of the reserves. A further factor is the expected size of future demand for oil.

*What is "peak oil" and when will it be reached?

This is the point when the maximum rate at which oil is extracted reaches a peak because of technical and geological constraints, with global production going into decline from then on. The UK Government, along with many other governments, has believed that peak oil will not occur until well into the 21st Century, at least not until after 2030. The International Energy Agency believes peak oil will come perhaps by 2020. But it also believes that we are heading for an even earlier "oil crunch" because demand after 2010 is likely to exceed dwindling supplies.

*With global warming, why should we be worried about peak oil?

There are large reserves of non-conventional oil, such as the tar sands of Canada. But this oil is dirty and will produce vast amounts of carbon dioxide which will make a nonsense of any climate change agreement. Another problem concerns how fast oil production is declining in fields that are past their peak production. The rate of decline can vary from field to field and this affects calculations on the size of the reserves. If we are not adequately prepared for peak oil, global warming could become far worse than expected.

Steve Connor, Science Editor

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/warning-oil-supplies-are-running-out-fast-1766585.html

Professor calls Port Mann Bridge a "white elephant"
By Charlie Smith

The director of SFU’s urban studies program, Anthony Perl, has claimed that a new Port Mann Bridge will become the “Mirabel Airport” of Metro Vancouver. In a phone interview with the Straight, Perl said the B.C. government is building the bridge for a future that won’t exist, just as Mirabel was built in the 1970s for supersonic transport and space planes, which never materialized.

Anthony Perl

“You’re not going to be able to turn the Port Mann Bridge in for a refund,” Perl said. “There is no refund option on these white elephants.”

Mirabel, a $500-million project located 40 kilometres northwest of Montreal, opened in 1975. Promoted as an airport of the future, it was a monumental financial bust and closed to passenger traffic in 2004. Two years later, Montreal’s airport authority announced that it had struck a deal with two French companies to convert the site into an amusement park.

In February, the B.C. government estimated that it would cost $3.3 billion to build, operate, and finance the Port Mann–Highway 1 Project, which is part of the Gateway Program. The new tolled bridge will have 10 lanes and is expected to be completed in 2013.

Perl, coauthor of Transport Revolutions: Moving People and Freight Without Oil (Earthscan, 2008), said the Gateway Program is being built on the assumption that global trade will continue to grow and that trucks will move goods to their destinations on an expanded road system. Perl predicted, however, that rising energy costs—triggered by a peak in global oil production—will likely decimate demand for imports and exports. He has previously argued that huge capital investments should be made in electric rail, which will remain affordable even if oil prices escalate sharply.

“China is having a huge railway-building boom,” Perl said. “That’s what they’re using their [economic] stimulus for. It’s about a trillion dollars—the majority is going to rail. They’re not building a centimetre of new rail that isn’t electric because they understand that they need that energy alternative.”

http://www.straight.com/article-245525/prof-calls-bridge-white-elephant

If you think this is a story that more people should hear about, click on the link above and recommend this article.

Transport Revolutions: Moving People and Freight Without Oil will soon be available in an affordable paperback. see www.transportrevolutions.info

Join us Saturday, August 8, 2009 from 10:30 AM to 3 PM for a hike through Surrey Bend Park which is threatened by the proposed South Fraser Perimeter Road (SFPR) highway. Surrey Bend Regional Park, located on the Fraser River upstream of the Port Mann Bridge is composed of a biologically-rich area of floodplain, bog and forest just a little smaller than Stanley Park.

Now the BC government wants to build a truck freeway through sensitive wetlands along the edge of this magnificent park as part of the Gateway project. For more information visit www.wildernesscommittee.org/gateway. The Wilderness Committee has been working to protect Surrey Bend for over a decade. For more information on Surrey Bend see www.wildernesscommittee.org/bend

Difficulty: Moderate. There are no developed trails in Surrey Bend Park so some scrambling is involved. Proper closed-toe footwear is a must.

Cost: Free (Bring your own lunch and water.)

Transit accessible: Bus C74 to 168 Street at 104 Ave. in Surrey
Book ahead, we can only take a limited number of people on this hike.

Due to safety concerns, this hike is not recommended for children

RSVP for meeting location and more info!

(604) 683-8220 or eric@wildernesscommittee.org

Eric Doherty | Campaign Assistant

Bizarre, as it too often is here in BC. The BC Liberals are fighting (or pretending to fight) with their own appointees:

"TransLink has always been a bit of an unloved child for the B.C. Liberals. They opposed its creation, and even though they essentially took it over two years ago by creating an appointed board, still don't see the agency as truly theirs."

Photo - Shirley Bond has inherited Kevin Falcon's fake transit fight

Lets face it, the Liberals (read representatives of their largest funder - the New Car Dealers) mainly don't want transit to succeed. They want to force people to buy and drive cars. So they pretend that they are in a political spat, but are just pretending to fight with themselves.

Would people in Montreal or Toronto put up with this kind of crap? I hope not!

Are we so thick that we can't understand that there is no external fight here? Just a premier who wants to please the people who fund his party, and want to keep us distracted watching a pretend fight as he trashes our public transit system. There may be some disagreement within party ranks, but I think this is mainly a show fight to keep us distracted from what is really going on.

TransLink mired in political standoff

Ten years on, and TransLink remains stuck on the road to nowhere
Frances Bula

Vancouver — Friday, Jul. 24, 2009
“Premier Gordon Campbell and Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon unveiled a $14-billion public transit plan to be completed by 2020 today. It is a key measure in the province's greenhouse gas reduction plan, touching every region of the province.”

Those were the opening lines in a government news release distributed to reporters on Jan. 14, 2008, while the Premier stood amid charts and displays demonstrating the utopian future of transit in Metro Vancouver. With maps covered in a web of coloured transit lines, the plan included the Evergreen Line in the northeast sector, a 12-kilometre extension of the Millennium Line to the University of British Columbia, a six-kilometre extension of the Expo Line in Surrey, and herds of new clean-energy buses and SkyTrain cars.

That was then. Eighteen months later, the plan is mired in what has become a familiar standoff in British Columbia: the perpetual tussle between the province and a regional transportation agency.
[snip]

But that leads to a second political dynamic at work – the fact that TransLink has always been a bit of an unloved child for the B.C. Liberals. They opposed its creation, and even though they essentially took it over two years ago by creating an appointed board, still don't see the agency as truly theirs.
[snip]

Read the full article here:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/translink-mired-in-political-standoff/article1229333/

By Dan Ferguson - Surrey North Delta Leader

July 24, 2009

A small group of protesters managed to delay the start of work on a North Delta leg of the four-lane South Fraser Perimeter Road Thursday morning.

They interrupted the demolition of some houses to make way for the planned truck route that is part of the Gateway project that will speed the movement of containers to and from the Deltaport deep water terminal in Ladner.

The protesters said the highway will pave over 75 homes in North Delta's Sunbury neighbourhood alone.

Surrey resident Tom Jaugelis climbed up a backhoe to drape a sign that read "NO GATEWAY TO GLOBAL WARMING DON'T PAVE US."

He came down after Delta Police arrived.

Jaugelis said he was initially threatened with arrest, but the officers later told him there would be no further demolition work that day.

"So far, so good," Jaugelis said.

- with files from Evan Seal

dferguson@surreyleader.com

See Video at:
http://www.bclocalnews.com/surrey_area/surreyleader/news/51583097.html

Gateway foes far and wide, please join us today as we block the destruction in Delta! The location is easily accessible with the 640 bus. Details below.

*PLEASE FORWARD**

*Media advisory
Thursday July 23
*
*Community Activists to Block House Demolitions in Delta*

*Delta - Concerned citizens will gather on River Road in the Sunbury neighbourhood this morning, to obstruct demolition of homes that stand in the way of preparatory work for the South Fraser Perimeter Road.* The planned four-lane truck highway is part of the provincial government's controversial Gateway project.

Transportation is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in BC, and a report by the Livable Region Coalition found that the Gateway project would increase provincial emissions by 30%.

"The BC government's freeway expansion schemes are completely at odds with their own provincial greenhouse gas reduction targets," says Surrey resident Tom Jaugelis. "Our planet is facing a climate crisis and the wasteful Gateway project will only make it worse."

The SFPR is estimated to cost over $1 billion, and pave over 75 homes in Delta's Sunbury neighbourhood alone. Several acts of non-violent civil disobedience have taken place against the project in recent months, including a week-long blockade in March to stop house demolitions in Surrey's Bridgeview neighbourhood.

"The bulldozing of our region must be stopped," says Delta resident Inger Kam, a founder of the Farmland Defense League of BC. "The Gateway project stands to pave over not only these homes, but First Nations sites, Burns Bog, and some of the best farmland in the province. What kind of world will we be leaving to our children if we allow destructive projects like this to proceed?"

What: Concerned residents to obstruct demolition of homes on River Road.
Dramatic visuals and banners.

Where: 10253 River Road, Delta.

When: 6:30 AM. Activists plan to remain and block the site for the duration of the work day.

Contacts:
Tom Jaugelis 604-588-4203
Inger Kam 604-948-4884

Google maps link [
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=10253+River+Road,+Delta,+BC&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=37.956457,79.013672&ie=UTF8&ll=49.158601,-122.938551&spn=0.001915,0.004823&t=h&z=18&iwloc=A
]

Farmer is cut off from his crop
Warren Nottingham will see new highway cut through his Ladner farm, leaving blueberries on the other side
Jessica Kerr, The Delta Optimist
Published: Wednesday, July 22, 2009

http://www2.canada.com/deltaoptimist/news/story.html?id=1c741486-f198-41b5-886b-0022074a2307

One local farmer, whose land will be intersected by the South Fraser Perimeter Road, is fuming over how he was treated during negotiations with the province and says he's not giving up without a fight.

Warren Nottingham said he started discussing plans for the new highway with Gateway representatives more than two years ago. While the precise route for the road has changed several times over the years, it's always involved some portion of Nottingham's farm, which has been in the family since the 1940s.

The 249-acre farm was primarily a dairy operation until about 20 years ago. Now Nottingham produces mostly field crops, primarily blueberries, beans and peas.

The property on the eastern side of Ladner abuts Burns Bog and includes a portion of what has become known as Sherwood Forest, an area that's so ecologically important it stalled the progress of the road for more than a year, Nottingham said.

The life-long Ladner resident grew up on the land and knows it, and its inhabitants, like the back of his hand.

Driving around the property and its different fields, he easily points out where the bears used to roam and the location of several First Nations middens.

The east end of the property is intersected by a right of way as brightly coloured flags tied to wooden stakes in the ground mark its place.

The province is claiming the 200-foot wide right of way and another 64 acres of Nottingham's land for the SFPR. He received an expropriation notice July 10 and as of late last week, the land belonged to the province.

That's not the end of the story, however.

The expropriation of more than 80 acres of Nottingham's farmland essentially cuts him off from the remainder of his property and his blueberry fields. He said he has been told that once the expropriation is final, he will no longer be able to legally drive directly through his property to the 10 acres of blueberry fields, but will have to go around and enter on what he has described as a "road that doesn't exist."

The roadway, which separates his property from Burns Bog, is covered in sawdust and bark mulch. It's rotting and uneven in places, and covered in large holes. It's also barricaded at either end by a locked gate.

Nottingham said there is no way he will be able to access that part of the farm using that road with his equipment. At the same time, his blueberries will be ready to harvest next month.

"I will continue using it [his current access route] till they kick me off," he said. "August is harvest period and nothing will keep me off the land."

Nottingham said the Agricultural Land Commission has an underpass proposed that would give him access to that part of his property. However, he said he has been told by Gateway the province does not have to construct a new access point for him.

The last two years have been filled with many meetings. At each one, Nottingham said, he was looking for timelines and commitments.

"They weren't very committal at all," Nottingham said. "Our consultation with them has been a bad experience. We found that this consultation process was a scam."

While not commenting on any specific case, Gateway executive director Geoff Freer said the government has been working with many landowners for two to three years. He said Victoria strives to come to an agreement with every property owner and to avoid expropriation.

"We do everything we possibly can to go to a consensual agreement," Freer said.

He said Gateway has already come to an agreement with 50 per cent of those who own land required for the SFPR, and so far has only had to pursue expropriation in one case.

© The Delta Optimist 2009

Vancouver’s vision for its Olympic village looks dazzling from afar, like the city itself. Up close the details get hairier.The city of Vancouver, British Columbia, has a lot to brag about. It’s got an enviable location, wedged between the Strait of Georgia and the snow-capped Coast Mountains. It’s a perennial winner of “most livable cities” rankings, thanks in part to its parks, arts, and the Canadian social safety net. Its youthful mayor, Gregor Robertson, talks up the city as the greenest in North America and has laid out a plan to make it the most sustainable city in the world.
http://www.grist.org/article/2009-07-15-green-vancouver-olympic-village-problems

How Canada fell from leader to laggard in high-speed rail, and why that needs to change
by Monte Paulsen, Walrus Magazine
http://www.walrusmagazine.com/articles/2009.06--off-the-rails/

How transit mechanics united to demand cleaner air. Third in a reader-funded series.
I am climbing into a truck so big I have to use the handrail to pull myself into the diesel monster. Inside, smoking a cigarette with hands that look like they could heft a bus, is the equally daunting Mike Smith -- the health and safety officer for CAW Local 2200 -- who is here to talk to me about the battle he waged with the Coast Mountain Bus System to change to a cleaner fuel.
http://thetyee.ca/News/2009/07/17/PollutionFight/

Wilderness Committee Trail Club International Bog Days Hike
Sunday July 26, 2009 11 - 3

Photo - Pacific Water Shrew

Join us for a hike through the unprotected edge of Burns Bog threatened by the proposed South Fraser Freeway, home to endangered wildlife such as the Pacific water shrew. Then we will join a Burns Bog Conservation Society interpretive tour through the Delta Nature Reserve, the only section of the bog with developed trails.

The Wilderness Committee has been working to protect Burns Bog for over a decade, see our 1999 report www.wildernesscommittee.org/publication/edu_report/buy_back_burns_bog_now

Difficulty Moderate, the hike will be fairly short but is on rough ground without developed trails. You might get your feet wet.

Cost Free

Book ahead We will be taking a maximum of 12 people on this hike.

RSVP and more Info Eric Doherty 604 683 8220 eric@wildernesscommittee.org

www.wildernesscommittee.org

Subscribe for free weekly E-lerts: www.wildernesscommittee.org/act/wcalerts

Richmond councillor says Port Metro Vancouver expansion threatens farmland

By Dawn Paley

[Harold] "Steves vowed to fight any destruction of farmland by Port Metro Vancouver until his “dying breath.”
“In 1973, when we brought the ALR in, we were concerned that we were only producing 86 percent of our vegetables and small fruit,” Steves said. “Now, during WWII and after the war, we were producing 100 percent, so a drop down from 100 percent to 86 percent was significant. Today, we’re producing 43 percent. And that’s the problem.”"

Prince Charles Richard Dimbleby Lecture

Forget Shorter Showers: Why Personal Change Does Not Equal Political Change
By Derrick Jensen

Would any sane person think dumpster diving would have stopped Hitler, or that composting would have ended slavery or brought about the eight-hour workday, or that chopping wood and carrying water would have gotten people out of Tsarist prisons, or that dancing naked around a fire would have helped put in place the Voting Rights Act of 1957 or the Civil Rights Act of 1964? Then why now, with all the world at stake, do so many people retreat into these entirely personal “solutions”?

Part of the problem is that we’ve been victims of a campaign of systematic misdirection. Consumer culture and the capitalist mindset have taught us to substitute acts of personal consumption (or enlightenment) for organized political resistance.

Farewell to the Lawn
By Leonard Stern

NaiKun offshore wind farm presents environmental dilemma
By Anne Murray

It's not about the bike

By Dave R.

Greenpeace Activists Occupy Mount Rushmore
By Derek Markham

As Devon Page, the head of Ecojustice Canada said, this is a precedent setting ruling. It may even help slow down the South Fraser Perimeter Road (SFPR) if the local endangered "shrew's" critical habitat is threatened. Which it is.

Legal victory for Canada's endangered species
By Colleen Kimmett July 14, 2009 - THE TYEE -
A recent court ruling on protection for Alberta's sage-grouse could have major implications for endangered species here in British Columbia. The bird known for its elaborate mating dance is at the heart of a precedent-setting decision in federal court.

Last week a federal judge ruled that the federal government broke the law by neglecting to identify critical habitat in a recovery plan for the endangered greater sage-grouse.

"It's definitely going to be a precedent," said Devon Page, executive director of Ecojustice Canada. "It's a legal ruling that interprets the law in the way that we've been seeking for some time. This is only one in a series of endangered species cases we've had to bring to force the government to do its duty."

In 2005, Ecojustice launched a lawsuit against Environment Canada, claiming that it had stripped away habitat protection in a plan to recover B.C.'s endangered spotted owl. The group launched similar cases with the release of the federal government's orca recovery plan and nooksack dace recovery plan.

"It's a pattern where you can only get critical habitat identified if you threaten legal action," said Page.

9 Jul 2009 The Vancouver Sun
LARRY PYNN

The paving of the shrew 2

Discovery of endangered species prompts call for new highway alignment

The habitat of one of Canada’s rarest creatures, the Pacific water shrew, will be paved over for construction of the provincial government’s South Fraser Perimeter Road.

The mouse-like shrew — an endangered species found in Canada only in the Fraser Valley — was discovered as part of preloading work for the new truck route in Delta alongside Burns Bog.

The highway is part of the province’s Gateway Program.

Pam Ryan, director of planning and community relations for the Gateway Program, said in an interview Tuesday that contractors hired to look for species at risk before construction have live-trapped two of the shrews near 80th Street and Progress Way, and relocated them to suitable habitat not far away.

The province estimates there are about 20 hectares of potential shrew habitat associated with the road project in Surrey and Delta.

Red-legged frogs and pointed broom sedge, amphibian and plant species of concern, have also been moved. There are plans to mitigate the damage through a habitat enhancement program monitored by the environment ministry, Ryan said, but specifics have not been worked out.

“The potential discovery of the shrews was anticipated and won’t delay or deter the province from forging ahead with its construction plans. “It’s part of the construction schedule ... so the project can proceed,” Ryan said.

For conservationists, the discovery confirms their worst fears about the $1-billion project to build a four-lane truck route connecting Highway 99 to Highway 1 east of the Port Mann Bridge. The target opening date is 2012.

Eliza Olson, president of the Burns Bog Conservation Society, called on the province to come up with a new highway alignment that avoids the habitat of all species at risk, including not only the shrew but also the southern red-backed vole.

“It should be moved,” she said, arguing that mitigation is not possible giving the quickly shrinking habitat for these species. “Stop the silliness now and don’t create any more damage.”

July 6, 2009

Craig Ollenberger: Grandview-Woodland enjoys car-free streets

By Craig Ollenberger

Not unlike many Vancouver neighbourhoods, Grandview-Woodland is challenged by traffic. The neighbourhood has faced many traffic issues over the years, from the threat of being cut in half by a downtown freeway project in the 1960s to our current provincial government’s highway-building megaproject, which threatens to dump commuter congestion into our residential areas.

For many decades, the Grandview-Woodland Area Council has worked to resolve these challenges and protect the vibrant character of the neighbourhood surrounding Commercial Drive. GWAC acts as a neighbourhood-level quasi-government, and its directors are elected by a membership open to anyone who lives or works in the area. The council holds regular meetings to hear neighbourhood concerns and facilitate action by local citizens. Much of the council’s time is spent liaising with various levels of government, business, and citizens groups to manage local development.

It has become apparent to many in our neighbourhood that it is difficult and often impossible to stop an ideologically driven government hellbent on chasing votes south of the Fraser River by ploughing traffic through vibrant urban communities. The response of our council has been to develop local initiatives to strengthen our community from within, against the forces that would break it apart.

To prevent rat running—that is, commuter traffic trying to escape congested main roads by detouring through adjacent residential streets, often carelessly and at great speed—the council has worked with the city and affected residents to design and implement a traffic-calming plan which makes rat running more trouble than it’s worth, protecting healthy residential areas where many children still play in the streets.

Understanding that our neighbourhoods become stronger by uniting, council members and neighbours have been working with the city to create a greenway extending the Commercial Drive’s character west along Venables Street into Strathcona. By bridging our neighbourhoods with vibrant walkable corridors, we can create a new larger community with a shared interest in livability.

An ongoing effort to protect the culture and character of Grandview-Woodland can be found in Car-Free Vancouver Day. This event began as the Commercial Drive Festival, a project of then GWAC director Matt Hern. Hern, with the help of Carmen Mills and many other friends and neighbours, created the festival in response to the Gateway Program.

Gateway is a sad and backward-looking proposal from the provincial government to replace the Port Mann Bridge with a new span, and widen Highway 1 from Langley through Burnaby and into East Vancouver. The program threatens to dump increasing amounts of single-occupant commuter traffic into East Vancouver. Busy commuter corridors like Hastings Street, and 1st and 12th avenues dissect our neighbourhood, weakening its connectivity.

The Commercial Drive Festival is a lot of things to a lot of people, but at the heart of it is the belief that a community becomes stronger through interaction. With the ever-increasing privatization of space, neighbourhoods have less and less public areas in which to interact. The festival offers a new view of our roadways as usable public space, available for many things beyond cars.

Over the past few years, as the Commercial Drive Festival has grown into Car-Free Vancouver Day and spread to Main Street, the West End, and Kitsilano, our neighbourhood has been able to bring the idea of strength through community interaction to many other vibrant areas of the city. Grandview-Woodland can only find protection by helping to unite other isolated but vibrant areas into a stronger and more cohesive urban landscape.

Further strength can no doubt be found in moving forward with a shared purpose and vision for our community. Thankfully, our neighbourhood is next on the city’s list to receive a comprehensive local area plan. Our first holistic planning exercise in decades, the local area plan will guide the development of our neighbourhood for decades to come. It represents an invaluable opportunity for this community to decide what our neighbourhood should be far into the future.

With the help of many groups and individuals representing our diverse community interests, city planners will facilitate the development of community objectives related to traffic planning, land use, retail and residential character, social and other services, and amenities. This is our chance to enhance the vibrant, welcoming character of our neighbourhood.

Grandview-Woodland will continue to face many challenges to its character and unity, but wherever possible, the council will work hard to chart a course for the neighbourhood on behalf of our community.

Craig Ollenberger is the president of the Grandview-Woodland Area Council.
http://www.straight.com/article-238312/craig-ollenberger-grandviewwoodland-enjoys-carfree-streets

Port Metro Vancouver steams ahead - Planned expansion is renewing interest in industrial lands, and developers are fretting over future availability. Peter Mitham
Vancouver — From Tuesday's Globe and Mail Last updated on Wednesday, Jul. 08, 2009 10:06AM EDT
Container shipments from Asia are sagging as North America's consumers retrench, but in the Vancouver suburb of Delta plans are afoot for a $4.25-billion expansion of port capacity that will ensure the region's status as one of the West Coast's premier Pacific gateways.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/real-estate/port-metro-vancouver-steams-ahead/article1208272/

There was a time when politicians claimed Canada would become a world leader in clean, green technologies -- that our educated workforce, abundant resources and entrepreneurial spirit, coupled with inspired government policy, would revitalize our economy and help save the planet. No one talks that way anymore.
http://www2.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/comment/story.html?id=1275df39-cf36-4069-802c-e91874597c54&k=21122

Another sign that there may be intelligent life in the universe. Thanks to everyone who worked to make this happen!

Border agency gives green light to extra Amtrak train
By Garrett Zehr July 3, 2009

VANCOUVER - A second daily Amtrak train is set to roll between Vancouver to Seattle as a pilot project beginning next month.

The Canada Border Services Agency announced today the necessary clearance for the train to run through the 2010 Olympics next February.

“We are showing our commitment to the free flow of legitimate goods and people across the shared border with the United States, by providing the flexibility necessary for the Canada Border Services Agency and Amtrak to process increased demand for their services,” said Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan in a press release.

Amtrak has been lobbying for a second train from Vancouver for years.

In March 2007, the B.C. government agreed to pitch in for the necessary minimum track upgrade to build a new rail siding in Delta.

The project was completed last year and a second train was expected to be running in August 2008.

But CBSA then demanded Amtrak reimburse the $1500 daily cost it said would be required for extra custom services. Plans for the second train sat idle when Amtrak said they wouldn’t pay.

Today the border agency announced the fee will be waived for the duration of the pilot project.

Agency officials will evaluate the service after the Olympics to determine if the traffic volume justifies the increased custom services.

Government officials emphasized the economic benefits as a major part of their decision to waive the fee for the second train.

“This announcement clearly demonstrates this government’s commitment to tourism, and the economic prosperity of Canada,” said Van Loan.

Garrett Zehr reports for The Tyee.
http://thetyee.ca/Blogs/TheHook/Transportation/2009/07/03/ExtraAmtrakTrain/

It always seem that the poorest people do the most for the environment:

Johann Hari: A fight for the Amazon that should inspire the world

The uprising In the Amazon is more urgent than Iran's - it will determine the future of the planet

Wednesday, 24 June 2009

While the world nervously watches the uprising in Iran, an even more important uprising has been passing unnoticed – yet its outcome will shape your fate, and mine.

In the depths of the Amazon rainforest, the poorest people in the world have taken on the richest people in the world to defend a part of the ecosystem none of us can live without. They had nothing but wooden spears and moral force to defeat the oil companies – and, for today, they have won.

Here's the story of how it happened – and how we all need to pick up this fight. Earlier this year, Peru's right-wing President, Alan Garcia, sold the rights to explore, log and drill 70 per cent of his country's swathe of the Amazon to a slew of international oil companies. Garcia seems to see rainforest as a waste of good resources, saying of the Amazon's trees: "There are millions of hectares of timber there lying idle."

There was only one pesky flaw in Garcia's plan: the indigenous people who live in the Amazon. They are the first people of the Americas, subject to wave after wave of genocide since the arrival of the Conquistadors. They are weak. They have no guns. They barely have electricity. The government didn't bother to consult them: what are a bunch of Indians going to do anyway?

full text at:
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/johann-hari-a-fight-for-the-amazon-that-should-inspire-the-world-1715927.html

Heads of state agree historic climate-saving deal

BY MICHAEL COUNTRY
December 19, 2009

COPENHAGEN – World leaders gathered at the Copenhagen Climate Summit took an historic step to halt climate change and global warming today. The deal will force ambitious cuts in global carbon emissions, end deforestation and help fund climate protection measures in the developing world.

The intense negotiations spilled into the early morning hours with U.N. negotiators eventually emerging clutching a 170-page document that will set the world on a new industrial and economic path. The agreement heralds a revolution in the way energy is produced and how tropical rainforests are protected. It also provides large sums of money to enable developing nations to leapfrog carbon-heavy, industrial development to create a cleaner future.

The executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Yvo de Boer, emerged bleary-eyed but smiling to declare: “The deal has been sealed. A deal that will place the world on the path to avert runaway climate change. A deal we can all be proud of.”

full text at http://iht.greenpeace.org/

Check out this new video from 350.org, it is time to hit the streets.

What are you going to do on October 24?

Welcome to the world premier of the new video from 350.org. It sums up the basics of the 350 movement--the science, the creativity, and most importantly, the International Day of Climate Action on 24 October, 2009. Enjoy--and pass it on to your friends.

Take two minutes to watch the new 350.org video now: http://www.350.org/video

The bottom line is that before world leaders gather in Copenhagen this December, we need to build a people-powered movement to set the global climate agenda.

Even the head of the UN climate change branch, Yvo de Boer, is getting a little desperate. Speaking to NGOs last week he said, "If you could get your members out on the street before Copenhagen that would be incredibly valuable."

Which is exactly what we're doing. Our momentum so far is nothing short of thrilling -- we have over 1000 actions registered for October already. With your help, we'll multiply this movement in every corner of the planet--but we can't do it without you. So, when you're done watching, please forward the link to the video to everyone you know:

Great to see people along the Enbridge Gateway pipeline getting organized to stop it:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 8, 2009

Event Galvanizes Opposition to Enbridge Tar Sands Pipeline

(Moricetown, BC) – Community opposition to the proposed Enbridge pipeline is growing. Over 200 people from communities along the pipeline route gathered Saturday in Moricetown, BC to discuss the impacts of the proposed mega-project.

The 1170-kilometre Enbridge pipeline would carry oil from the Alberta tar sands to a tanker port at Kitimat.

“This Energy Summit was a reminder that the tar sands affects us all – from Fort Chipewan to Haida Gwaii and beyond. We can only protect our lands and waters if we stand together,” said Wet’suwet’en hereditary chief Alphonse Gagnon.

Nations present included Mikisew Cree (AB), Kelly Lake Cree (BC), West Moberly (BC), Nadleh Whut'en (BC), Wet’suwet’en (BC), Kitkatla (BC), Gitga’at (BC), Haida (BC), Nisga’a (BC), Lake Babine (BC), Alexander (AB) and others. A letter of support from the Gitxsan was read at the event.

George Poitras traveled to the event from Fort Chipewan, an Alberta community downstream from the tar sands, to share the devastating impacts the development has had on his community. These include a high incidence of rare cancers.

“The situation downstream from the tar sands is so toxic that one of our elders told his son not to have children because everything is so polluted and our people can no longer drink the water or eat the fish,” said Poitras.

Representatives of coastal First Nations reiterated their strong opposition to oil tanker traffic in coastal waters. “The tycoons expect to further spread the tar sands poison, putting their lavish desires before our lifestyles and our culture,” said Guujaaw, President of the Council of the Haida Nation. “We depend on these lands and waters and we will not put the safety and well being of our territories in their hands.”

MLAs Doug Donaldson (Stikine), Gary Coons (North Coast) and Robin Austin (Skeena) also attended the event. Member of Parliament Nathan Cullen (Skeena-Bulkley Valley) noted the event in the House of Commons on Friday.

Over 500 residents have endorsed a resolution calling for a moratorium on the transport of tar sands oil and a full public inquiry into the proposed pipeline. “We stand together in supporting a moratorium on the transport of tar sands oil through our territories and communities,” reads the resolution.

-30-

Good news! Falcon has been pushed out of transportation and into the (often) dead-end position of health minister. This may be bad news for health care in BC, but almost anyone would be better in transportation. see http://www.livableregion.ca/blog/blogs/index.php/2009/06/04/wilderness_committee_says_new_minister_o

Anyone know anything about Shirley Bond, the new minister of transportation?

Colin Hansen named finance minister, Kevin Falcon health minister
By Jonathan Fowlie, Vancouver SunJune 10, 2009 2:38 PMBe the first to post a comment

B.C. cabinet

Photograph by: ..., Vancouver Sun photo illustration
At 2:20 p.m. today, Premier Gordon Campbell began announcing his new cabinet in Victoria.

Among the appointments are:

George Abbott - Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation. Abbott had been health minister.

Mary Polak - Minister of Children and Family Development. Polak had been minister of healthy living and sport.

Bill Bennett - Minister of Community and Rural Development. Bennett had been minister of tourism, culture and the arts.

Blair Lekstrom - Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources

Randy Hawes - Minister of State for Mining

Ben Stewart - Minister of Citizen's Services. Stewart is a new MLA.

Margaret MacDiarmid - Minister of Education. MacDiarmid is a new MLA.

Moira Stilwell - Minister of Advanced Education and Labour Market Development. Stilwell is a new MLA.

Steve Thomson - Minister of Agriculture and Lands. Thomson is a new MLA.

Barry Penner - Minister of Environment, the same post he held last term.

John Yap - Minister of State for Climate Action

Colin Hansen - Minister of Finance and Deputy Premier, the same post he held last term.

Pat Bell - Minister of Forests and Range

Kevin Falcon - Minister of Health Services. He had been transportation minister.

Ida Chong - Minister of Healthy Living and Sport

Mary McNeil -Minister of State for the Olympics and ActNow BC

Rich Coleman - Minister of Housing and Social Development, the same post he held last term.

Murray Coell - Minister of Labour Iain Black - Minister of Small Business, Technology and Economic Development

Kevin Krueger - Minister of Tourism, Culture and the Arts

Shirley Bond - Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure. She had been education minister.

Naomi Yamamoto - Minister of State for Intergovernmental Relations. She is a new MLA.

Mike de Jong - Attorney General and Government House Leader, a post he takes over from Wally Oppal who was not re-elected.
© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

http://www.ottawa.ca/residents/onthemove/driving/traffic/transit_priority/freeway_en.html

Back in April 2008 I wrote this:

With gas prices soaring and the economy in deep trouble, people in the US are looking to cost-effective transit solutions.

The concept is to use the shoulders as queue jumper lanes between each intersection or interchange, not quite a continuous bus lane. The shoulder lanes are not used at high speeds, they allow transit buses to pass cars at a reasonable speed when traffic slows or grinds to a halt. When traffic is moving at high speeds, the lanes revert to shoulders for emergency stopping.

If bus rides in Maryland "cheer when you pass 70 to 80 cars waiting for a stoplight," imagine how people would cheer passing the line of cars on Highway 1 to merge onto the Port Mann Bridge.

It works, it is cheap and quick to implement, why not here too?

http://www.livableregion.ca/blog/blogs/index.php/2008/04/22/transit_riders_cheer_shoulder_bus_lanes_

In December, I didn't notice this media release that seems to have gathered almost no media attention. But on Saturday I saw the signs and the almost completed construction. Note that a Surrey company got the job, it was too small for multinationals such as Kewit.

This is what should be done on Highway 1, instead of the insane bridge replacement and freeway widening. The good thing is that it has been done in BC now, no more excuses to not apply this in other places.

NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
2008TRAN0097-001880
Dec. 11, 2008

Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure

BUS LANE WILL SPEED TRANSIT COMMUTE ALONG HIGHWAY 99

RICHMOND – Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Kevin Falcon, along with Richmond East MLA Linda Reid, officially broke ground today on the shoulder bus lane project along Highway 99 in Richmond, which will eventually carry transit commuters from White Rock to the Canada Line.

“This dedicated bus lane will move transit riders past rush-hour congestion on one of the busiest stretches of Highway 99 northbound,” said Falcon. “When we provide transit options like this that are quicker and more convenient than the single-occupant vehicle, we’ll get people out of their cars and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”

“Transportation infrastructure projects like this bus-only lane will give commuters more reasons to take transit,” said Reid. “With this new bus lane, and the Canada Line’s estimated 100,000 riders daily, improved transit connections to and through Richmond will provide tremendous benefits to our local economy.”

The shoulder of Highway 99 northbound from Westminster Highway to Bridgeport Road, a distance of 2.8 km, will be widened to create a bus-only lane. Warning signals at on-ramps along the route will be automatically activated to provide priority for bus transit. The lane will be used by current northbound transit service, and will also be used by RapidBus BC service, once in operation, to carry commuters to the Canada Line’s Bridgeport Station.

“The new bus lane will offer superior travel time reliability for south of Fraser commuters connecting to the Canada Line and we appreciate the province's initiative to move quickly on this project,” said Tom Prendergast, CEO of TransLink. “There's no doubt that motorists will notice how well the bus-only lanes help our highway coaches avoid the heavy traffic line-ups and we expect this is going to entice quite a few more Vancouver-bound commuters onto transit."

RapidBus BC is a key pillar of the Provincial Transit Plan. Commuters riding RapidBus BC will get high quality, point-to-point service with minimal stops along a number of high-profile corridors in the Lower Mainland, including Highway 99 in both directions between White Rock and Richmond.

Jacob Bros. Construction Ltd. of Surrey was awarded a $4.7-million contract to build the four-metre-wide shoulder bus lane, which will be complete in summer 2009

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Media contact:

Jeff Knight, Public Affairs Bureau
Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure
250 356-7707

Communities across Canada will benefit from better energy efficiency and improved environmental impact, thanks to a new initiative launched today by the Government of Canada. The new $4.2 million, EQuilibrium™ Communities Initiative will seek to improve community planning and develop healthy sustainable communities that are energy-efficient, economically viable and vibrant places to live.
http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/corp/nero/nere/2009/2009-06-01-1200.cfm

Vancouver, BC The Wilderness Committee is calling on BC’s Premier Gordon Campbell to replace Kevin Falcon as Minister of Transportation when the new MLAs are sworn in and cabinet members are selected...

For immediate release June 4, 2009

Wilderness Committee says New Minister of Transportation is needed to Fight Climate Change

Vancouver, BC The Wilderness Committee is calling on BC’s Premier Gordon Campbell to replace Kevin Falcon as Minister of Transportation when the new MLAs are sworn in and cabinet members are selected.

"Since 2004, the Minister of Transportation has been Kevin Falcon who has probably been the biggest bottleneck preventing meaningful action on climate change in BC. Not only has Falcon been the driving force behind massive highway expansion around the province including the controversial Gateway project, but he has actively misled the public in regards to the impact of transportation policy on the climate crisis," said Wilderness Committee Healthy Communities Campaigner Ben West.

Currently 35% of BCs climate changing emissions come from automobiles, the largest single source in the province. Falcon has repeatedly suggested that highway construction would reduce congestion and therefore reduce emissions from idling cars. This opinion was characterized as "misleading" by Health Canada during the environmental certification process for the Port Mann Bridge expansion component of the Gateway project.

"Minister Falcon has been unable to provide a single instance anywhere in the world where building a highway has reduced congestion. In fact, highways induce even more traffic and congestion in a short amount of time. Falcons assertions to the contrary are, at best, disingenuous," said West.

The Wilderness Committee has also raised concerns about Falcons under-funding of public transit. Public transit investment is the critical piece of climate friendly transportation policy.

"People south of the Fraser have a quarter of the service per capita that people have in Vancouver. For the BC government’s carbon tax to be effective people need convenient and affordable options to get out of their cars and right now Translink is running an operating deficit and about 400 millions more is needed to meet existing demand," said West.

"Making a change from Kevin Falcon and his outdated approach to his 1950s-style transportation management would send a clear signal that the provincial government is taking their climate change goals seriously," said West.

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TOP TEN GATEWAY MYTHS can be downloaded at wildernesscommittee.org/myths

For more information please contact:
Ben West, Healthy Communities Campaigner - (604) 710 5340

from the REDD-Monitor: Analysis, opinions, news and views about Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation http://www.redd-monitor.org/

REDD side events at Bonn

By Chris Lang, 31st May 2009

"I’m in Bonn for the UN climate negotiations http://unfccc.int/meetings/items/2654.php , or, to give the official title, the thirtieth sessions of the UNFCCC Convention subsidiary bodies - SBSTA and SBI, sixth session of the AWG-LCA and eighth session of the AWG-KP. REDD will feature in several parts of the negotiations. The thought of two weeks of government delegates avoiding the issues, arguing about trivialities and failing to come up with meaningful ways of addressing climate change doesn’t exactly fill me with joy. But I’m looking forward to reporting on what happens in Bonn relating to REDD and I’m hoping for an improvement over the Poznan meeting http://www.redd-monitor.org/tag/poznan/ last year." http://www.redd-monitor.org/2009/05/31/redd-side-events-at-bonn/

Given the recession, the cost of buying a home, the baby boom's refusal to leave the work force, and the jammed commutes to the suburbs, young Vancouver urbanites are seeking rural living. Georgia Straight 05/28/2009
http://www.straight.com/article-223383/urbanites-flee-city-better-life-sticks

What is interesting is that this report makes some very strong connections between biodiversity, climate change and ecosystem services which have not really gotten much air time in previous legacy documents from this national process. It will be very interesting to see if the recommendations get acted upon.

Pamela

In preparation for this summer's National Stewardship and Conservation Conference http://www.stewardship2009.ca/admin/contentx/default.cfm?PageId=10722 , a report has been prepared entitled The State of Stewardship in Canada. Received comments will inform the plenary discussions at the conference, and will guide the direction of the resulting strategic Stewardship Road Map.

This report can be found at the conference website: http://www.stewardship2009.ca/admin/contentx/default.cfm?PageId=10722

Below is the Livable Region Coalition comment on Metro Vancouver's draft Regional Growth Strategy. Thanks to everyone who contributed!

The draft we commented on is available at http://public.metrovancouver.org/planning/development/LRSPreview/LRSPDocs/DraftRGSFeb2009.pdf

Livable Region Coalition comments on Metro Vancouver 2040
May 22, 2009

Is Metro Vancouver planning to break climate law?
Vehicle travel targets are needed to meet emissions requirements

In 2007, the provincial government enacted the BC Greenhouse Gas Reductions Targets Act. To meet the targets under this Act, local governments will need to step up and play a key role in reducing greenhouse gases.

Metro Vancouver’s draft Regional Growth Strategy is a recipe for violating the GHG Reductions Act. The new land use and transportation document misses the mark on climate change by varying only marginally from the path of automobile dependant development, rather than making the bold change of direction needed to meet the legislated targets. The Regional Growth Strategy will affect emissions throughout Metro Vancouver, where about half the population of the province lives.

The Act requires that the Province reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by at least 33 per cent below 2007 levels by 2020, and by at least 80% by 2050.

Transportation is the single largest source of personal GHG emissions at about 58 per cent of average household emissions. Metro Vancouver’s draft growth strategy is largely about the land use and transportation decisions that determine emissions for about half the people in BC, and falls well short of the decisive actions needed to meet the legislated targets.

There are motherhood statements in Metro Vancouver’s draft report about reducing emissions, but the strong targets and enforcement measures needed to comply with provincial legislation are missing. In particular, the urgent necessity to significantly reduce vehicle kilometers traveled is barely addressed. Emissions from transportation can be greatly reduced by measures such as re-directing spending from roadway expansion to transit and reducing parking requirements. Moreover increasing the people carrying capacity of the existing road network by converting general purpose lanes to transit, cycling and walking must be an essential element. Across the region the amount of space devoted to parking and moving cars must be reduced steadily as transit and other modes are increased.

Reducing GHG emissions means reducing automobile dependency and vehicle kilometers traveled. Washington State, with a similar emissions profile to BC, has concluded that their emissions targets cannot be met without substantially reducing driving. In order to meet their targets, Washington Bill 2815 requires an 18 per cent reduction in distance traveled per capita by 2020 and a 50 per cent reduction by 2050.

Metro Vancouver must go beyond Washington State’s modest targets and commit to reducing Vehicle Kilometers Traveled (VKT) 25% by 2020. Hard targets for reducing parking supply are also needed to meet GHG reduction commitments. The strategy must clearly oppose the Gateway freeway expansions, pushed by former Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon, which will generate induce more and longer trips and thus increase vehicle kilometres travelled. Even if average vehicle emissions decline due to better technology and tougher standards, this induced travel will more than offset any prospective gains in vehicle fuel efficiency.

The Metro Vancouver board must either demonstrate how this plan will meet the targets set in legislation, or come clean about their intention to deliberately violate the law.

Given the twin crisis of global warming and the impending peak of conventional oil production, a strong plan to change the unsustainable path of development in our region is needed.

The Livable Region Coalition also recommends the following specific improvements to Metro Vancouver’s draft Regional Growth Strategy:

- Point 5.2.3 “develop a Regional Roads Concept generally consistent with Map 7” implies support for the Highway 1/ Port Mann freeway expansion and other Gateway freeway expansions. The GVRD Board opposed this freeway expansion and Gateway is a direct attack on the Livable Region Strategic Plan. It also contradicts the goal of point 5.2.3 (d) which is “reducing motor vehicle emissions and vehicle kilometres travelled.” The strategy must clearly oppose roadway expansions, which drive up vehicle kilometres travelled and emissions.

- The elimination of the Growth Concentration Area concept from the Livable Region Strategic Plan is a big step backwards, and undermines the stated goals of this document (including reducing vehicle kilometres traveled, ensuring efficient transit operations, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, protecting residents from natural hazards, and adapting to sea level rise due to global warming). The LRSP Growth Concentration Area should be retained as a key concept in the new plan and adjusted for the projected increase in sea-level rise due to climate change.

- We strongly support the ides of developing a frequent transit network in higher density areas. However, the Frequent Transit Network concept shown on maps 2 and 6 should specify a frequent transit line within walking distance of all built up areas in north Surrey, and all other areas with higher existing densities.

- We support point 1.1.3(b) to “direct growth to established areas prior to the development of newly developing areas.” However, much more emphasis must be placed on ensuring that development occurs within already built up areas and on existing transit routes. New residential development should not be permitted in any area not served by transit. Moreover, municipalities will have to embrace the concept of transit oriented development both in new developing areas and as part of the redevelopment of existing areas. This includes increasing residential densities along transit routes as well as the development of multiple use nodes at transit stations and exchanges.

- We support the concept of reducing parking requirement in urban centers as per point 1.2.3 (b). However, parking requirements must also be reduced or eliminated, at least in all areas with good transit access. This is essential not only for meeting goals such as increasing transit ridership and meeting GHG reduction targets, but also for providing affordable housing.

It is essential that land use and transportation planning proceed together in an integrated fashion. If transit (and other alternatives to the car) are not available and attractive then new developments will continue to generate excessive car traffic. Reducing parking requirements will only be attractive to occupants and developers if adequate transit service is available before people start moving in. This is obvious, but is in stark contrast to present practice. A Livable Region can only be achieved with adequate operational funding for public transit.

The Livable Region Coalition (LRC) is a group of Lower Mainland citizens and sustainable transportation advocates. www.livableregion.ca

When oil prices reached their all time peak last August, fertilizer prices peaked as well. Most nitrogen fertilizer comes from natural gaz, of which there is currently an over supply situation holding the price down. However phosphorus supplies have reached such a peak in pricing that old ways of fertilizing food crops are coming back into vogue. Sewage is being used to extract phosphorus from here in Vancouver as reported in this article in The Globe & Mail.

In reality, the only odour emanating from Vancouver-based Ostara's high-grade fertilizer is the smell of money. Phosphorous is a key component in fertilizer and, as such, a pillar that props up global agricultural output. However, as my colleague Mark Hume described earlier this week, traditional mined phosphorous production is headed toward a cliff: Output may peak as early as 2035, and would plummet after that. Already, China (one of just three producers) has put enormous export tariffs on its phosphate production in order to make sure its supplies stay in the country.

Some further links on Peak Phosphorus and Sewage recycling:

http://www.uts.edu.au/new/speaks/2009/February/resources/1802-slides-3.pdf"

http://www.energybulletin.net/node/33164

http://www.energybulletin.net/node/48898

http://www.ceep-phosphates.org/Newsletter/shwNewsList.asp?NID=3&HID=4

I view this recycling development as good news for Vancouver. Now if only we could do the same with our garbage and not start burning it.

And finally for you purist do-it-yourselfers, there's The Humanure Handbook"

From today's Wilderness Committee E-lert:

Friday Deadline for Regional Growth Strategy Feedback
*****************************************************************

Metro Vancouver has released a Regional Growth Strategy which is an update to the Livable Region Strategic Plan. This plan will have broad implications for the future of the region and beyond.

The principles and goals of the plan are laudable but there are a few reasons to be concerned. Although Metro Vancouver has opposed the Gateway Project highway development plan, the Regional Growth Strategy assumes this project will be built as proposed. The
highway expansion included in the plan, and the lack of clear credible and measurable emission reduction targets makes it difficult to see how the Regional Growth Strategy can reach its legally mandated commitments under the provincial Climate Action
Plan.

By law, BC is required to reduce emissions 33% by 2020 and at least 80% by 2050. Taking into consideration projected population growth in the region that means a 90% reduction by 2050.

However, currently 35% of carbon emissions in BC come from automobiles therefore meeting our targets means reducing automobile dependence.

Highway expansion for increased truck traffic would induced even more traffic congestion and more car dependent development.

By comparison, to meet their emission reduction goals, Washington State has decided to set hard targets for reducing automobile use. Washington's Bill 2815 requires an 18 per cent reduction in distance traveled per capita by 2020 and a 50 per cent reduction by 2050.

If you would like to join with the Wilderness Committee in calling for Metro Vancouver to adopt targets at least as good as Washington State's you can visit http://www.metrovancouver.org/region/PublicConsultations/Pages/RGSFeedbackSurvey.aspx

You could also consider writing to your local municipal government about this issue or you could write a letter to the editor.

You can read the full strategy document or the summary here http://public.metrovancouver.org/planning/development/strategy/Pages/default.aspx
For information on the campaign to stop the Gateway project visit www.gatewaytowhat.org

Thanks,
Ben West
Healthy Communities Campaigner
Wilderness Committee

You can subscribe to WC Elerts at http://www.wildernesscommittee.org/act/wcalerts/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KESBhr

The University of Greenwich Business School has published a startling report on the crisis in Private Public Partnerships (P3s), which in the UK are more accurately described as Private Finance Initiatives (PFIs).

The long and short of it is that in the present economic situation PFIs just don't make any economic sense because governments can now borrow money much cheaper than private corporations. In addition, many previous PFI toll freeway schemes are unraveling.

This has major implications for the province's freeways expansion schemes (the Port Mann has already reverted to public finance and ownership), but much more for the private power industry. It no longer makes any economic sense at all to go to the PFI/IPP(Independant Power Producer) model. It always cost more to use private financing, but not it costs WAY more.

But crooked politicians never let the business case stand in the way of their friends dipping into the public purse.

(Thanks to Susan Jones for pointing this report out!)

Crisis and public services note 2. January 2009.

A crisis for public-private partnerships (PPPs)?

January 2009

David Hall

Andy Rose, the executive director of the UK’s PFI unit, said in November 2008 that PFI projects can no longer rely on their previous method of raising bond finance, and are now dependent on bank loans which are only available at much worse terms:
“the bond market, which has been the financial structure of choice for large PFI projects over the past 10 years, is now effectively closed to new transactions. This has increased reliance on the banking market…and increased the strain on the project finance banking model…….funding availability is limited and credit margins have moved up… many banks are indicating that the tenor of loans might be shorter.”

John Tizard, the director of the new Centre for Public Service Partnerships at Birmingham University, says that this has already halted finance for PFI schemes and may make them unattractive for the foreseeable future:
“At the time of writing, there is no – or next to no – capital available to finance any PFI deal that has not already been closed.”

[snip]

Tizard suggests that the obvious response is to revert to traditional government borrowing, which is in any case cheaper:
“If the cost of capital and/or debt increases or becomes more difficult to secure, the value for money equations, which are undertaken on PFI deals, may tip over against the use of PFI. …In these circumstances, all other things been equal, it might be appropriate to consider financing through models such as the Credit Guarantee Scheme and other forms of funding through government bonds and public finance. Government can borrow more cheaply than the private sector.”

[snip]

Australia has made considerable use of PPPs, especially for road schemes, but a number of projects have not delivered results and the credit squeeze threatens the future. In January 2009 an article in The Australian summarised the position:
“The brutal reality is that most private sector toll operators are a shambles. Most have overinflated their traffic forecasts, financed them with a slice of equity from the public markets, then geared up, and paid investors back their own capital in distributions (which enticed them into the float in the first place). As the debt markets worsen and most listed infrastructure funds have fallen apart, a new model is needed to help finance the estimated $800 billion the country needs to spend on infrastructure in the next decade….. The Infrastructure Partnerships Australia chairman Mark Birrell said that: "Otherwise, we could find that projects simply won't attract a suitable level of interest in the much-changed global economy," he said.”

Construction companies themselves are pointing out the advantages of the traditional model, whereby the government borrows money itself and then invites tenders for simple construction contracts, rather than attempting to construct PPPs in the context of the credit crisis. Mark Binns, the chief executive of a major Australian contractor, Fletcher Construction , told an enquiry in New Zealand:
“If the aim was to bring projects to fruition quickly, making them PPPs would be a retrograde step, as so much time is involved in setting up the legal framework between participants in the project, he said. He also questioned whether private sector funding would be viable in the current credit environment without Government guarantees, which nullified the transfer of risk to the private sector…..Sometimes the benefits of transferring the risk of PPP projects to the private sector were illusory, it said, citing the British Government's bailout of Metronet, the private operator of the London Underground…. if the transfer of risk was not complete, the true benefits of PPPs came down to an analysis of the funding costs, and there was a strong argument that the Government would be better off just raising debt, potentially through infrastructure bonds, to do the project using other traditional methods of contracting.”

The simple alternative is the traditional method of financing public infrastructure - through government borrowing to raise finance, issuing construction contracts, and then operating the facility, whether through direct labour or contractors.

This remains perfectly feasible. Governments are still able to borrow the necessary money: their credit is not affected in the same way as private companies. Traditional procurement is also simpler and quicker than PPPs: attempts to maintain PPPs as a core method of funding risk delaying infrastructure projects. The desired level of infrastructure investment can thus be achieved without any use of PPPs at all.

A recent PSIRU paper contains a detailed discussion of the choice between traditional procurement and PPPs.

Read the full report at http://www.psiru.org/reports/2009-01-crisis-2.doc

High-speed rail between Seattle and Vancouver could be a catalyst for regional development, and identity. http://crosscut.com/2009/05/12/mossback/18983/

"the most important vote tomorrow may be the one seeking a choice between the current "first-past-the-post" electoral system and the Single Transferrable Vote, which would bring better representation, people power and balance to the legislature."

More brains, less blacktop, needed in Victoria

Abysmal record should see change but likely won't

By Brian Lewis, The ProvinceMay 11, 2009


Province Fraser Valley columnist Brian Lewis

Province Fraser Valley columnist Brian Lewis
Photograph by: File photo, The Province

Judging by its performance, the B.C. Liberal government can't tell one end of a cow from the other, or perhaps it believes cabbages grow in grocery stores.

How else can its inexplicable failure to protect agricultural land be explained, especially the fertile soils in the 22 provincial ridings south of the Fraser River between Delta and Hope?

The ability of Fraser Valley farmland to feed the burgeoning Lower Mainland and its future generations has been seriously constrained by a government that, frankly, has blacktop on the brain.

It seems a collective myopia settles over the table when Gordon Campbell's cabinet contemplates B.C.'s bigger picture. The cabinet focus is on global trade and trucks. All but "the economy" is a blur.

Had the corrective lenses of reason been applied, the view would have had an improved focus, a greater depth-of-field and balanced, people-focused government would have been restored.

Farmland advocate Harold Steves, the veteran Richmond councillor who helped establish the Agricultural Land Commission years ago, estimates that at least 800 hectares of productive B.C. farmland have been lost in the past year alone. A significant portion of those losses occurred within the Lower Mainland and, in particular, south of the Fraser.

And the glaring example of how the Campbell Liberals have used trade and trucks to trump agriculture is the $1-billion South Fraser Perimeter Road.

They ignored viable alternative routes that would also have served an expanding Deltaport without destroying roughly 200 hectares of valuable Delta farmland, and without seriously threatening nearby Burns Bog -- despite warnings from many well-qualified scientists.

Thanks in part to the B.C. government's intransigence, Deltaport's expansion also means that an increase is about to begin in the numbers of lengthy container and coal trains that roll through Langley.

In related issues such as Langley's Mufford Overpass controversy, where farmland is also being lost to port expansion, we've seen first-hand how Campbell's government writes bullying letters to a local council.

Additional farmland has been unilaterally removed from the Agricultural Land Reserve through settlement of the Tsawwassen First Nations treaty, and you can expect similar moves by Victoria in coming Lower Mainland treaty settlements.

But it's not only farmland that is being sacrificed. So is the quality of life for many homeowners and businesses in the region, who are being either expropriated or otherwise negatively impacted by the Campbell government. And, at best, the public consultation has been little more than tokenism.

Finally, an equally compelling call-to-account could be made on other major south-of-Fraser issues such as public transit or health care. A government that looks after the economy -- and the people -- as a priority is required here.

But it's likely the governing Liberals will prevail over an under-achieving Opposition. The Liberals, for example, have incumbents running in 13 south-of-Fraser ridings, while the NDP has just six, and not much change is expected.

This is why the most important vote tomorrow may be the one seeking a choice between the current "first-past-the-post" electoral system and the Single Transferrable Vote, which would bring better representation, people power and balance to the legislature.

Many, I think, would welcome less blacktop and more brains in Victoria.

blewis@theprovince.com

http://organizingforchange.org/transportation-petition

Shift to sensible and progressive transportation solutions throughout BC

This is a petition that will be delivered to the next Premier of British Columbia. It underscores the transportation-related climate solutions British Columbians expect regardless of which party forms the next government.

Sign on to Our Petition!

We, the undersigned, call on the leader of BC’s next government to make BC a world leader on climate solutions. Regardless of who forms the next government, we want our elected officials to deliver transportation-related climate solutions that:

• Stop highway expansions and invest in transportation solutions that reduce traffic congestion and carbon emissions
• Meet the commitments of the BC transit plan by increasing the funding for public transit by $400 million annually
• Support Smart Growth initiatives that protect the Agricultural Land Reserve, ensure food security, reduce pollution and improve quality of life
• Plan for convenient and affordable transportation alternatives that help people reduce their automobile dependence, and
• Provide economic stimulus through transit infrastructure investments that create jobs and further BC’s green goals

Wow. The arrogance of Falcon's overpaid flunkies is just astounding:

http://www.straight.com/article-219860/translink-schedules-annual-general-meeting-election-day?

May 9, 2009

TransLink schedules annual general meeting on election day

By Charlie Smith

I thought it was sneaky of the Vision Vancouver-controlled city council to bring forward a late-distribution report on social housing on provincial budget day. It ensured minimal coverage.

I also thought it was sneaky of the Vision Vancouver-controlled city council to deal with cycling lanes on the Burrard Bridge during the last week of a provincial election. The timing of the May 7 vote reduced the amount of media attention.

But these two instances of political weasel-like behaviour are nothing compared with TransLink's plan to hold its annual general meeting on the morning of election day next Tuesday (May 12).

On election day, the media will be working late shifts. The entire province will be riveted on the results, and not on a TransLink annual general meeting.

And well-meaning citizens who attend the annual general meeting will be overlooked by most media outlets--which is probably precisely what the directors of TransLink intended by choosing May 12 for their annual general meeting.

The meeting will take place from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Firefighters Hall (6515 Bonsor Avenue) in Burnaby.

I've scheduled all of our reporters to work election night, which means we won't have staff there that morning. Anyone who plans to make speeches to the board is welcome to e-mail copies of them in advance to contact@straight.com. If they're of interest to a wider audience, I will try to ensure they are posted on this site.

We have a comment space below. [at the website] I would love to read some explanations by the directors of Translink why they think it's a good idea to hold an annual general meeting on the morning of a provincial election day.

It's not as if nobody knew about this. B.C.'s fixed election date has been in place for years.

Perhaps one of the speakers at the annual general meeting might decide to mention that the Croatian city of Zagreb is providing free bus service in the downtown core. You can read the announcement here.

By scheduling the annual general meeting on election day, TransLink directors have reduced the likelihood of this type of information being conveyed to people who live in Metro Vancouver. Shame on them.

Sounds like an opening for a letter or three to the editor, particularly from Green Party supporters. This may run in several Black press papers.

B.C. Views: Benefits of P3s hard to see
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By Tom Fletcher - Cowichan News Leader and Pictorial

Published: May 04, 2009 11:00 AM
Updated: May 04, 2009 8:29 PM

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The Port Mann bridge expansion project has emerged as a test of credibility for both the B.C. Liberal and NDP leaders in the May 12 election.

NDP leader Carole James was on record as opposing the Port Mann project, part of a larger Pacific Gateway effort that includes a new truck route to port facilities in South Delta.

But in a radio leaders’ debate April 23, James endorsed the expansion, which has now evolved into a 10-lane total replacement with a price tag of $2.46 billion.

For Premier Gordon Campbell, the problem is that the project grew in size and cost from the original plan for a twin structure with $3 tolls. Then the public-private partnership or “P3” agreement to finance it collapsed, and Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon announced Feb. 27 that the government will finance it directly.

Tolls will still be “approximately $3 for cars on opening day,” Falcon said, adding that the B.C. Liberal government’s expensive new bureaucracy, Partnerships BC, recommended not to proceed with the P3.

James caused a stir with some of her own MLAs when she came out against the Port Mann project at the 2007 Union of B.C. Municipalities convention.

“It’s the wrong plan, it’s the wrong direction, it’s the wrong bridge,” James told municipal leaders in Vancouver on Sept. 27, 2007.

James said then that buses and rail transit should be higher priorities, calling transit fare increases “dumb” and tolls on a new Port Mann “dumber.”

“The NDP just have no credibility,” Falcon said in an interview last week, noting that two other NDP MLAs have also spoken against the project. He cited a comment in the legislature by NDP transportation critic Maurine Karagianis, calling it “a colossal waste of money.”

In fact that exchange in question period March 2 was about the cost escalation from $1.5 billion to what Karagianis claimed was twice that, and the failed effort to secure private financing.

In the radio debate with James, Campbell pounced on her sudden support, and scoffed at her claim that the NDP had pressured the government to include a transit option that had been a key component from the start.

James retorted that the B.C. Liberals’ entire P3 program was in question, not just from the failures to finance the Port Mann and Vancouver convention centre expansions, but from auditor generals’ reports and a recent analysis done by forensic accountant Ron Parks.

Parks concluded that P3s tend to cost more, because private companies can’t borrow at the same low interest rates that governments can.

“It was this government’s ideological drive for P3s that delayed that project from going ahead, and hugely increased the cost to taxpayers,” James said.

Campbell said the Sea-to-Sky Highway P3 saved taxpayers $120 million, and even asserted the failed attempt to secure private financing for the Port Mann was money well spent.

There were “real benefits” from going through the design and the public-private partnership process, Campbell said.

What those benefits were, I have no idea
http://www.bclocalnews.com/opinion/44309922.html

Following on the heels of much of the research presented at the State of the Salmon conference, and posing some important issues about salmon, water and people. Pamela

The Pacific Northwest has spent two decades retooling dams, rebuilding damaged watersheds and restoring stream flows to keep salmon from disappearing. The United States has invested billions in the effort - $350 million in 2004 alone - by far the most money spent on any endangered species. But a new threat is more devastating than the gill nets that sent dozens of salmon runs into extinction. It is more deadly than the hydroelectric turbines that still kill millions of migrating smolts. In fact, it raises doubts about whether salmon will survive in the Northern Pacific at all. http://www.idahostatesman.com/newsupdates/story/755882.html#none

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yhTswVy09Q

Liberals promise $17.5-million soccer centre in Delta


By Ian Austin, Canwest News ServiceMay 2, 2009 5:56 PMComments (7)

Photograph by: Arlen Redekop, Canwest News Service

DELTA — Attorney-General Wally Oppal’s fight for his political life got a $17.5-million bailout Saturday.

Oppal, locked in a do-or-die battle with Independent Vicki Huntington, smiled as Premier Gordon Campbell promised, if elected, to build a state-of-the-art National Soccer Development Centre in Delta.

Oppal took one for the Liberal team when he gave up his safe Vancouver-Fraserview seat for a run in Delta South, where Huntington has galvanized community opposition to controversial projects such as new overhead transmission lines.

At the entrance to Saturday’s announcement, 15 protesters and 11 striking paramedics were evidence that all is not well in Delta for Campbell’s Liberal machine.

“Wally Oppal doesn’t have a hope-ful in this riding,” rhymed protester Cliff Hoffman, 58, who just lost his job as a shipbuilder. “They promised us no power lines in 2005. Then they turned around and gave them to us.”

Transportation planner Eric Doherty was quite a sight in a dinosaur outfit wearing a sign, "Gateway to Extinction," a reference to the South Fraser Perimeter Road, another Liberal project that’s raised hackles locally.

“I’m here because the Gateway highway expansion is greatly increasing greenhouse gases,” said Doherty. “It’s taking us on the road to extinction.”

[snip]

http://www.vancouversun.com/Liberals+promise+million+soccer+centre+Delta/1558230/story.html

Bylaws permitting the giant Kensington Island Properties development at Union Bay have been struck down by a Supreme Court Judge. The dramatic ruling throws a huge spanner in the works of the 845-acre development that has been in the planning stages for many years and on which some land-shaping work has already begun. http://www.canada.com/Judge+kills+Kensington+bylaws/1551457/story.html
for details of the ruling go the the CVRD website: http://www.comoxvalleyrd.ca/notices.asp?id=2773

The City of Vancouver has decided to try to become the greenest city. We have a long long way to go, but there is no way to get there with half measures. Email the mayor and council today and support the two-lane reallocation.

Well, finally, after 16 years the decision is near. See below for more information on speaking to council at the meeting on May 5.

It is critical that you e-mail mayor and council or speak at the meeting on May 5 in support of the two lane trial which is by far the best solution for almost 6,000 people per day that walk, cycle and run over Burrard Bridge.

There are three options being considered:
- A two lane trial with bike lanes separated from traffic by barriers
- A one lane trial with a bike lane separated from traffic by barriers on the west side of the bridge with cyclists and pedestrians sharing the sidewalk on the east side
- A one lane trial with a bike lane separated from traffic by barriers on the west side of the bridge with cyclists only on the east sidewalk. Pedestrians would be banned from the east sidewalk

Two Lane Trial
The two lane trial will enables people of all ages to safely walk, cycle and run over the bridge. Faster cyclists will have room to safely pass slower cyclists. The traffic noise and pollution will be further away from the sidewalk, making the bridge much more pleasant to walk over. People will be able to enjoy walking over the bridge without worrying about cyclists whizzing by.

By creating a great walking and cycling experience in both directions, the two lane trial will provide many people with a real options to driving over the bridge. This will maximize the number of people walking and cycling while decreasing traffic on the bridge thus ensuring the success of the trial. Granville Bridge is only a short drive away for motorists and will even be quicker for many trips and with the Canada Line opening this fall, traffic downtown will decrease.

Mayor Robertson unveiled this week, the Greenest City Action Team's Quick Start Recommendations which included the Burrard Bridge Trial. The two lane trial is the type of bold measure that will be required if Vancouver is to become the Greenest City in the world. Other cities such as Portland, New York, Paris, London and Copenhagen are already reallocating lanes of traffic on major roads and bridges for cyclists and pedestrians. In these cities there is the predicable reaction from some motorists who think there will be traffic chaos. In spite of the dire predictions, people are resourceful enough to adapt to these changes and the any traffic issues are minor.

One Lane Trials
Regarding the one lane options. First of all, pedestrians are the city's transportation priority. It is no acceptable to ban pedestrians from the east sidewalk nor would it likely be effective unless the city posts guards on the bridge. At both ends of the bridge, the connections to the other side of the bridge are not very convenient, requiring people to wait for several signals.

Neither of the one lane option provides a barrier to prevent cyclists from falling off the sidewalk into the traffic. Assuming the trial is successful, more people will be walking and cyclist over the sidewalk increasing the chance of conflicts and cyclists getting knocked off the sidewalk by either pedestrians or other cyclists. It just does not make sense to provide a safe bicycle route in only one direction over the bridge.

Speaking to Mayor and Council
Tuesday, May 5th, 9:30 AM
Council Chamber, Third Floor, City Hall
To address council, please call Denise Salmon at 604.873.7269, by 1:00 p.m. on Monday, May 4, 2009. Please limit comments five minutes.

Contact Mayor and Council
Please e-mail mayor and council:
gregor.robertson@vancouver.ca, clranton@vancouver.ca, clrcadman@vancouver.ca, clrchow@vancouver.ca, clrdeal@vancouver.ca, clrjang@vancouver.ca, clrlouie@vancouver.ca, clrmeggs@vancouver.ca, clrreimer@vancouver.ca, clrstevenson@vancouver.ca, clrwoodsworth@vancouver.ca

It can be a brief message or your experiences and close calls on the bridge might help increase the sense of urgency.

If you wish to call them, their numbers can be found here:
http://vancouver.ca/ctyclerk/mayorcouncil/mayorrobertson.htm
http://vancouver.ca/ctyclerk/mayorcouncil/councillors.htm

More Information
The staff report, which has a lot of good information in it, can be found at:
http://www.geoffmeggs.ca/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/tt1.pdf
Two Lane Trial FAQ: http://burrardbridgetwolanetrial.blogspot.com/2009/01/burrard-bridge-two-lane-trial-faq.html

Burrard Bridge Blog:
http://burrardbridgetwolanetrial.blogspot.com

Greenest City Quick Start Recommendations:
http://vancouver.ca/greenestcity/PDF/greenestcity-quickstart.pdf

Councillor Megges has a good summary of the history of the Burrard Bridge proccess:
http://www.geoffmeggs.ca/the-burrard-bridge-archive/

For those of you on Facebook, please join the group:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=44613493519
And invite your friends. Lets get over a 1000 members to show that there is a lot of support for the trial. http://www.facebook.com/groups/edit.php?members&gid=44613493519

Finally, here is a flyer you can print and handout to cyclists and pedestrians encouraging them to contact Mayor and Council.
http://www.everyoneforever.org/burrard/Bridge_Flyer.pdf
Thanks Richard

Saturday - Tree Planting to Stop the Highway
*****************************************************
With no contractors in place to build the South Fraser Perimeter Road (SFPR) highway as proposed in the Gateway plan but the Ministry of Transportation have begun early stages of bull dozing and laying sand along portions of the proposed route of the controversial South Fraser Perimeter Road (SFPR) highway.

Brad Major, a local fire fighter, and professional arborist has started a small business growing Christmas trees on his families beautiful 1 acre property. Brad lives in the a lush valley close to burns bog which is in the trajectory of the proposed SFPR highway route in North Delta on the banks of the Fraser River.

Brad is one of the residents who have been told that his property will be expropriated by the provincial government to make way for the proposed SFPR highway which would connect Delta Port to Highway 1 as part of the Gateway Project. He was contacted a week before Christmas last year by the Ministry of Transportation by phone and told they would remove him out of his home within a year.

This Saturday Brad will be planting some of his Christmas tree seedlings in the path of the highway as part of a reforestation project on his property. Brad plans to sell Christmas trees to families and then the tees would be planted on his property after the holidays if the highway has not gone ahead. Brads business would help provide a carbon friendly Christmas for families and a healthier habitat for species in the Fraser River, Burns Bog ecosystem.

Drop by this Saturday at 1pm at 11059 River Road for a BBQ and a family friendly tour of Brads property and tree farm. Come see first hand a piece of what is threatened by the Gateway Project highways. Plant a tree and check out where our Christmas trees could go if the valley is saved and the highways are stopped.

Check out this video for more on Brad and his home at risk.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HC5JYg9rBXQ

Contact Ben West, Healthy Communities campaigner for more details 604 683 8220

Polar Bears deliver 10,000 Anti-Gateway Petitions to Premiers office
by WCWC Media • Friday April 24, 2009 at 10:57 AM

Vancouver, BC – Activists dressed in polar bear suits delivered petitions collected by the Society Promoting Environmental Conservation (SPEC) and the Wilderness Committee to Premier Gordon Campbells office at 12:30 today. Over 10,000 signatures have been collected from citizens...

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Polar Bears deliver 10,000 Anti-Gateway Petitions to Premiers office
Petitions Demand Funds Redirected to Transit

Vancouver, BC – Activists dressed in polar bear suits delivered petitions collected by the Society Promoting Environmental Conservation (SPEC) and the Wilderness Committee to Premier Gordon Campbells office at 12:30 today. Over 10,000 signatures have been collected from citizens demanding investment in public transit and an end to the Port Mann megabridge project.

"Translink is currently exhausting its capital reserves just to keep existing service going," said Karen Wristen, Executive Director of SPEC. "At this rate, they will be broke in two years. We simply cant afford both freeway expansion and transit development: we have to solve the transit crisis first."

The polar bears will highlight concerns about what activists are calling the "Gateway to global warming". "It will be virtually impossible to reach BCs commitments to reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs) if Gateway is allowed to proceed. Gateway is not just an irresponsible plan, its immoral," said Ben West, the Wilderness Committees Healthy Communities Campaigner.

Environment Canada has stated that the Gateway Program will contribute to a "deterioration of air quality and an increase in GHG emissions".

"If we want to create jobs to turn our economy around then the good news is that investing in transit creates 3 times as many jobs as the same sized investment in highway expenditure," said Wristen. A recent report from UBC Professor Patrick Condon shows that the entire south Fraser region could be covered in convenient light rail transit for the same cost as the new Port Mann Bridge.

"Even if Gateway goes ahead, the Port Mann will be packed as a parking lot again within a few years due to the increased sprawl it will promote. The new mega-bridge will only make congestion worse, and citizens will be left holding the bill and paying the tolls for years to come. This is all preventable since there are very sensible solutions available," said West.

The delivery of 10,000 signatures opposing Gateway in favour of better transit follows the Easter weekend Day of Action which saw activists take to Highway 1 overpasses from West Vancouver to Chilliwack demanding "Rail for the Valley" and "Better Transit, Not Freeways". One banner from the day of action summed up the feelings of residents saying "Light Rail – Cleaner, Safer, Cheaper".

-30-
http://media.wildernesscommittee.org/news/2009/04/12588.php

Also see 24 Hours coverage at http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/PDF/2007/10/10/van04242009.pdf

The leaders of BC's three main political parties squared off in a relatively subdued radio debate Thursday that brought few surprises and was dominated by questions about the environment and economy. Vancouver Sun 04/23/2009
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Environment+economy+lead+issues+first+leaders+debate/1526612/story.html

Interesting development from the NDP, a Candidate from Surrey who is not so sure Surrey voters want a super freeway through their neighborhoods (or to be stuck paying tolls on it). But Carole James is absolutely sure that Guildford and Birdland need a 10 to 16 lane super freeway and all the traffic and pollution it would bring.

Hmm, maybe Zanon has actually been talking to people in Birdland, Guildford and other communities in her riding.

SURREY-TYNEHEAD: Economy high on voters’ worry list

Candidates for Surrey-Tynehead are (from left) Liberal Dave Hayer, New Democrat Pat Zanon and Green Gerald Singh.
Leader file photos

By Jeff Nagel - Surrey North Delta Leader

Published: April 23, 2009 12:00 PM
Updated: April 23, 2009 3:03 PM

Parked in the city’s northeast corner, the riding of Surrey-Tynehead is bisected by Highway 1.

It’s been held for the past eight years by Liberal MLA Dave Hayer, who’s now gunning for a third term.

In 2005, Hayer won with a decisive 51 per cent of the vote, beating the NDP’s Barry Bell by a 2,600-vote margin.

This time the 51-year-old Liberal incumbent’s chief competition will come from New Democrat challenger Pat Zanon, a former hospital administrator

[snip]

Zanon agrees congestion is a serious problem.

But she’s not sure the government’s new plan to demolish the existing Port Mann Bridge in favour of an all-new 10-lane “super bridge” makes sense.

She favours a “time out” to re-examine the Port Mann crossing, adding Birdland-area residents are very concerned about construction impacts on them.

Voters are furious with the government’s plan to toll the new Port Mann Bridge, she said, particularly after TransLink decided a Pattullo Bridge rebuild will also have to be tolled.

With the new Golden Ears Bridge tolled as well, North Surrey residents could be staring out at three shining new spans across the river but facing a drive as far as the Alex Fraser if they don’t want to pay.

“It’s going to be a huge economic impact on a lot of people,” Zanon said. “They feel it’s very unfair that we face the possibility of every one of our crossings of the Fraser River being tolled.”

Meanwhile, she said, the Liberals built the Sea-to-Sky Highway and the new bridge in Kelowna without imposing tolls.

[snip]

• The deadline for nominations of candidates for the May 12 provincial election is Friday, April 24. These were the nominees for Surrey-Fleetwood as of The Leader’s press deadline for Friday, April 24.

jnagel@surreyleader.com
http://www.bclocalnews.com/surrey_area/surreyleader/news/election/43567997.html

Burns Bog, the "Lungs of the Lower Mainland," is now internationally listed as an endangered habitat because of the proposed South Fraser Perimeter Freeway (SFPR).

Metro Vancouver churches, synagogues and other spiritual groups will band together this Sunday to make a "pilgrimage" to Burns Bog to rescue it from the SFPR. This will be an enjoyable and uplifting experience of connection to nature, as well as a powerful demonstration of our combined will to stop the SFPR and preserve this precious ecosystem that is both sacred and vital to our species.

Leadership for the pilgrimage to the Burns Bog in north Delta is coming from Metro Vancouver Unitarian Church members as well as Catholics, Jews, Anglicans and United Church members. Burns Bog, sometimes called "the lungs" of the city, reduces global warming, cleans the city's water supply and provides habitat for many species.

JOIN US ON THE PILGRIMAGE!
The total distance of the walk is 6km.
Bring sunscreen, water, a hat, a snack, and binoculars. Wear comfortable walking shoes. Be kind, share with others.

12:45 rides (free buses or vans) leaving from Waterfront SkyTrain
1:15: rides (free buses or vans) leaving Unitarian Church, 49th and Oak
2pm: Pilgrimage walk across Alex Fraser Bridge begins, at Annacis Island
(If driving: From Richmond or New Westminster take the Annicis Island exit. Turn left on Cliveden and turn right at Chester. Go one block to Quizno's on your right: 640 Chetser Rd. Use toilets at MacDonald's, Quizno's or Subway. Park on the street or in the visitor's parking of businesses closed on Sundays.)
3:15: meet those who cannot cross the bridge in the parking lot of the Great Pacific Forum, 10388 Nordel Court (To get there by car, cross the bridge and go right for River Road, then turn right at the Esso Station, the second right onto the largest loop through the bog and on to the forest where we will have singing and closing ceremony.
Pilgrimage will conclude by 5pm and rides will return to Waterfont SkyTrain and the Unitarian Church

For info email Karl Perrin at perrink@shaw.ca or Cecilia Hudek at hudec@telus.net

The title of this reads "Scientist calls us green 'laggards'" These scientists are being too nice. Canada is a country led by climate criminals, flaunting the most important international law ever passed. And on a percentage basis, Canada's leaders are the worst climate criminals in the G8.

And the crimes keep on being repeated and going unpunished. More freeways, more tar sands expansions, more pipelines to bring tar sands oil to fill our cars tanks, more subsidies for new coal mines and petroleum gas projects.

The report is available from http://www.ec.gc.ca/pdb/GHG/inventory_report/2007/som-sum_eng.cfm#s1

Note that transportation emissions are up 37.5% since 1990, and that is just tail pipe emissions. Lifecycle emissions are have likely increased even more due to the increased proportion of tar sand oil in our tanks. http://www.ec.gc.ca/pdb/GHG/inventory_report/2007/tab_eng.cfm

Scientist calls us green 'laggards'

Greenhouse gases continue to increase, inventory sent to United Nations says

By Margaret Munro, Canwest News ServiceApril 21, 2009

Canada's greenhouse emis