Environmental
A few years ago, a guy I worked with asked me, "why do we now call all these swamps wetlands?". At the time I answered, "must just be the way to get people to think about them differently, you know give them some value." The word swamp conjures up images of stinky stagnant water with a greenish tinge.
However, as I've since found out, swamps are just a type of wetland. Which kind of makes sense. There are actually a number of categories of wetlands out there, check these links if you are interested in learning more…
Wetlands on Natural Resources Canada
By the way, the five types of wetland are (from the Canadian guide):
Having heard some of the friendlier ideas of how humans are going to respond to the changing world at conferences like the Future of Food in the Kootenays, I can relate to comments like this, directed at Tim Flannery in a conference in Australia…
In the din of all this brave green planning, a psychologist suddenly intervened: “You Australians are just playing around with the results of climate change”, she said, “you haven't mentioned guns or fences…” As a child raised in war wrecked East Germany, she recalled how city dwellers thronged to her rural town and stole anything portable, including vegetables, petrol, oil and bags of coal. “I admire the spirit of this lunch, she snorted, “but you are babies”. She has a point. Creating the resilient, self-sufficient off-the-grid communities we would need to survive if the oil runs out, itself remains a fantasy. Let alone dealing with the rampaging hordes. “You'd have to go a lot further out West than here”, someone said, “if you really wanted to feel safe”. The mood darkened.
The ideas of growing food in your backyard, and sharing of resources that represents the Utopian alternative opportunity for the coming energy descent and the related impacts of climate change seems to be a nice idea, but which of the options is closer to the reality that most people in your region are likely to fall towards?
In case my Rossland readers were lulled into believing that their golf course proposal was the only contentious one on the planet, here’s some news from Scotland…
Donald Trump wants to create the world's finest golf course on an unspoilt stretch of northern Scotland. Merely creating a "world class" course would not be good enough; it has to be better than the Old Course at St Andrews, he claimed yesterday.
The US billionaire was giving evidence at the opening day of a public inquiry into his plan to develop a site that includes sand dunes that are home to a rich variety of wildlife, on the Menie estate near Aberdeen. Mr Trump presented himself as an ecologically concerned entrepreneur, but when he described himself as "an environmentalist", the reaction from the public gallery was so loud that the inquiry chairman, James McCulloch, demanded silence.
Mr Trump claimed his golf course was more likely to improve the local environment than damage it. He suggested the site was not very attractive in its present condition, though he agreed that it had the potential to be one of the finest sites in the world.
I care about the environment, says Trump (and not just the greens) - Home News, UK - The Independent
Sounds like some after the fact greenwashing going on - claiming that it will "improve the environment"!However, it looks like he got pipped at the post with the proposal getting voted down. The usual claims were made that by not allowing this, it would deter investment in Scotland. I’m surprised Trump would have even been to Northern Scotland, can’t imagine it’s high on the list of places to visit for billionaires, but maybe I'm wrong.
and a bonus story…
Kelowna, BC has just announced the formation of a couple of sustainability divisions, reshuffling to the corporate structure of the City…
The City needs to be better positioned to respond to the rising issues facing our community, both on the environment and social fronts," says City Manager Ron Mattiussi. "We also have an emphasis on community wellness and working closer with residents. I believe good cities are built on strong neighbourhoods."
City services will be delivered by three divisions: Community Sustainability, Citizen Services and Corporate Sustainability.
I think we are going to see more of this as we move into an era where our consumption as cities is actually measured, not as an economic indicator, but as a threat to global sustainability.
Might Be Time to Put Away the Crystal Ball…
And in Spain developers are looking for someone to blame for climate change…
A group of real estate developers and property owners in La Manga del Mar Menor - a spit of sandy, low-lying coastal land and Murcia's premier beach resort - are threatening to take Greenpeace to court over its graphic predictions of what global warming may do to the area, which they say have caused house prices to plummet.
Source: Estate owners sue Greenpeace for prediction – Expatica
I might have to keep my mouth shut! If I predict we are going to run out of Gas can car manufacturers sue me when no one buys their cars?
I know, kind of two stories in one, but they’re
short and sweet!
The Environment Minister for British Columbia, Barry Penner announced a water conservation program driven in part by the changing climate, but also by an acknowledgement that BC uses extreme quantities of water.
Under the plan, according to the Living Water Smart website, “by 2020, water use in British Columbia will be 33 per cent more efficient, and by 2012, government will require all large water users to measure and report their water use.”
Penner said the plan has the steps needed to protect B.C. rivers, lakes and watersheds....
B.C. environment minister announces plan for more effective water use
One big shift in this plan is a move towards Ecological Watershed Governance, something that has been rumbling around in environmental and scientific think tanks for a number of years.
But the thought without the requisite details doesn't cut it among many environmentalists...
"There's no details and the timeline says many of these things may be enacted by 2012. That's quite a ways down the road", said Craig Orr, executive director of the Watershed Watch Salmon Society.
"We need more details, we have severe water problems in B.C.", Orr said.
According to the government news release, in some areas, like the Okanagan and Gulf Islands, seasonal water shortages are already challenging community water systems, and the fish and aquatic ecosystems that depend on these systems for survival.
read more »
Nature seems to be fighting back, with floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, drought, rising sea levels and everything else that is being thrown at humans.
I missed this story last November, not sure what I was up to but anyway, here's a picture of a mine collapse due to extreme flooding.
The more large scale projects humans attempt on the earth, whether it's carbon dioxide, massive mono-crop farms, coal mines, or dams, the earth will bite back. Maybe the bite will not be any worse than events that have been seen previously, however, the human race is in a state of getting caught with our underwear flapping in the breeze. With all our eggs in large scale projects, the risks of disaster are no longer spread out over many sites, but can be felt by millions when a localized event occurs.
The above mine collapse cut power to millions, busted the rail line and highway and risked pollution of the Latrobe River, which needed to be diverted to remediate the site. The cumulative risks of our activities are building up like a wobbly tower, one block on top of the other, just waiting for the final block that will topple the whole structure.
The whole world is at a precipice - which way will it fall? Some way or other we have to get back to a lower energy state - it's where nature wants to be.
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