Just came back from a busy week in Helsinki, Stockholm (sort of), Tampere etc. There’s so much to read/write about the political/economic issues right now (as in what the hell are they doing with $700bn!?!) and yet I feel like I haven’t done enough reading to process it… so, I go back to the interesting “fun” reads on the environment:)
William McDonough aims to create buildings that produce oxygen, sequester carbon, and produce more power than they use.
There’s a visionary in action. McDonough touches on a lot of great ideas and innovations where business meets environment. I’ve touched on some of these before, but things like green roofs, microgeneration (producing own energy on the building), sustainable product design, limiting chemical input in textiles and reverse supply chain (i.e. take-back systems for products so that the “used” product goes back into the manufactuing cycle).
In June I wrote about my experience at the Net Impact conference in Geneva and how Simon Zadek’s words really grabbed me: “the world you’re about to inherent is nothing like the world we live and work in now”. Seems true no? Our financial system is being redeveloped (or hopefully!), the balance of powers (as in political and economic) is shifting and our environment is surely changing… Where will we be in all of this? Our generation is inheriting a complex and dynamic system of international players that we will have to reform again….
And hopefully, we’ll make some smart choices along the way. Listening to gurus like McDonough will be a good starting point.
NCC takes part in plan to provide alternative to cars
OTTAWA-The National Capital Commission and the cities of Ottawa and Gatineau are considering a public shared bicycle network similar to systems used in Paris and other cities to encourage commuters to leave their cars at home.
I think Ottawa would be a fine candidate for something like this. Let’s try and make public transit, whether buses, light rail or bikes, useful for people. Oftentimes people don’t want to ride a bike somewhere because they then have to think about where to store it while they go do something. This solves that issue and it also just makes the non-bikers like me more open to at least trying it out. I won’t spend $9/hour to go biking and I won’t spend a couple hundred on a bike when I might not stay here.
Not to pat myself on the back too much (let’s see if they actually do it), but this is just one of those moments of joy
Interested to see what they do with them in the winter if this plan goes through too.
There’s another one today in the Review, and although some advertising models seem to be interesting (play game on facebook, points get translated into credit for shoes), it’s a good reminder that we’re still in a fairly new game (one which we don’t quite know how to play yet) – let’s just say, there’s room for development:)
As promised, here goes my views on the Environmental policy for Conservatives vs. Liberals.
Aside from my belief that the Conservatives are dumb for calling this election, as someone that cares a lot about business and the environment, they’re doing a pretty weak (and internationally embarrassing) job at keeping Canada on the sustainability track.
They’ve dropped Kyoto from the radar (along with serious discussions about climate change) and they’ve essentially made Canadians look like the “bad guys” on the international environmental scene (Our Env. Minister going missing at the UN Climate Change conference in Indonesia is a case in point). The party’s strive for “realistic and achievable” goals is laughable when Canada is ranked 28th our of the 29 OECD countries (thanks to the USA for not being dead last…)
Canada
Okay, poor quality – sorry, but take a look at those numbers and read the full report if you want (it’s a humbling experience…) We like to think that Canadians are pretty good towards the environment but we’re most definitely not.
Granted, this is not solely due to the Conservatives. Of course the Liberals (and every politician and even citizen) is to blame for our current state. But, my point is – we’re falling behind the world and Harper (our current PM) is not a leader in this regard, period.
Judging by their website, which btw, shows me what they have done (excluding points of course of what they haven’t done), but not what they will do… In any event, I don’t see them taking on any huge challenge in their policy- it’s more about keeping the status quo, which is just not good enough.
So, yes, I helped them get their first minority government (we needed a change), and I’m most definitely not giving them my support this time round.
I used to hate the Liberals. (Getting a better of idea of the political pessimist side of me yet? hehe) But, I think that they’re on to something… Waiting for the comment bashing – your thoughts are welcome:)
Why? The Green Shift. Call it what you may, but Dion’s plan is a PLAN – one that entails a huge change in the way that we think and act – and one that is 100% needed.
It’s not just a “green-wash”, “tax-everything” grab. The plan is, fundamentally, about economics. If you learned anything from Freakonomics – economics is all about how people respond to incentives. And, although Harper thinks it’s crazy, it’s quite simple.
BAD HABITS (pollution, waste etc.) = TAXES
GOOD HABITS (conservation, savings) = REWARDS
Dion is not coming out of left field here. This is exactly what business and environment leaders (researchers as well as successful practitioners) have been calling us to do for a long time. I remember reading a CSR book written by the major CEOs (i.e. Shell & Dupont) and the subject of eco-taxes was a recurrent theme.
Eco-taxes are nothing new either. If you want to know who is on the top of those lists pointed above, they’re the countries who have these taxes in place! (Germany, Sweden, Norway, Finland…) THESE TAXES CAN WORK.
Now, of course, turning our fiscal system on its head won’t be easy and it’ll have its ups and downs. But it is needed and frankly, about time that someone with a real idea stepped up. Is it flawed? Of course! What plan isn’t? So, although the Conservatives bash the plan, they’re one to talk since they have no real plan behind them!
Realistically, it won’t be implemented anyways as the Liberals will never get the Majority to put this into place. But, they may just get my vote for keeping the idea on the table, working out the kinks and implementing (hopefully) later.
To get your head around the Liberal “Green Shift” plan, take a look at some of the videos on it and read up on it to judge for yourself.
So will I vote Liberal? I don’t know yet. I’m leaving out two very important parties. NDP & the Green Party. My view on their environment issues in another post.
(Apologies for the long silence… jumping between lives takes time… back into life #3- Finland and quite enjoying it – aside from the near freezing temperatures!)
We Canadians like to do things fast – like, spring an election in a month. Yes, whereas our neighbours to the south spend years campaigning (not to mention billions of dollars and wasted international media coverage…I could go on about the ridiculousness about this, but not now), ours was called last week and it’ll be scheduled for October 14.
Now, first things first, there are politicos out there reading this and the politically clueless. I’d say I’m somewhere in between. I try to stay up to date somewhat, but frankly, I tend to hate politics. It’s just too, well, political. It’s embarrassing to hear the childish bickering on the House floor and it’s hard to trust any of them when they care more about winning seats than about the issues at hand. Sigh…
Nevertheless, I’m a citizen of Canada and as such, I have an obligation to partake in this sacred, albeit likely useless* election.
Note for int’l readers: we have an unsatisfied minority Conservative gov’t and it will likely be the same after this election…
Who will I vote for?
I don’t know yet. That’s my nightly homework right now – looking at the issues, the candidates etc. (Not to mention, I usually watch/read international news, not just Canadian news, so now have to shift my focus a bit.)
I’m not a partisan voter. I vote on issues, not parties. Just as I tend to hate politics, I tend to dislike (hate’s such a strong word!) all of the parties, and I’ve shown my swinging power by voting for almost all of them at some point or another.
I’ll be using this blog to express my thoughts as I do my homework. So stay in tune…
Up Next:
Environmental policy : Conservatives vs. the Liberals
