Chasing Clean Air

Canada Day & Day One Carbon Tax

Fireworks!

July 1 is big in Canada.

It's the day Canada officially became a nation, independent from Great Britain.

And this Canada Day--141 years old--will burn a bigger hole in pockets, as the first North American carbon tax gets underway in British Columbia.

Gas prices.

Up, my dear!

And music will play because it's Canada Day, and will speak to our hearts, and speak to our heads, and climate change.

Of course.

Courtenay's "Cavalcade of Country Stars" at Simm's Park showcased local talent this evening to kick off Canada Day tomorrow.

And the big news that never happens in L.A. -- There were no problems finding parking at a concert though my friend got concerned when we parked three blocks away, which in L.A. can be three miles, or more common, park and take a shuttle and walk a mile.

Country singer Sue Medley sang medleys from her heart and spoke of moving back home to Vancouver Island, Chester Knight and the Wind, an award-winning aboriginal band of father and two sons blended innovative and traditional sounds, and comedian, guitarist Todd Butler sang "prairie surfing" about global warming and what will be when the glaciers melt in the prairies that now pump oil.... prairie surfing.

Speaking of global warming...

Gas prices are higher here already than when I left L.A. when a gallon was creeping up to $5.00. And now, British Columbians will pay 2.4 cents more per litre in a carbon tax.

Today in Comox Valley, gas was around $1.40 per litre.

There are 3.79 litres to an American gallon so indeed there will be a lot more pain at the pump tomorrow when British Columbians pay well over the equivalent of $5.00 a gallon.

A deterrent for sure from driving too much.

On the CBC national news tonight, a cowboy from Williams Lake rode his horse to town, protesting the carbon tax, saying it's going to punish rural folks when it's the city folks idling their engines in stop-and-go traffic.

Was his protest a success?

He only got one finger.

So, yes, it was a success.

Yes, that was on the national CBC news.

When I first tauted a carbon tax, I thought it would fall on the shoulders of oil companies that pollute. I hadn't thought about the consumer, who indeed needs to stop buying so much fossil fuels but paying more at the pump?

What about getting our goods from truckers, who can barely pay for gas now?

I'm ready to trade my car up for a bike. And you?

Let me know how you’re making a difference on Canada Day & Carbon Tax Day by leaving a comment below. Just click on the “Comment” link.

Welcome to Hornby Island! Jewel of the Gulf

Hornby Island is known as the"Jewel of the Gulf".

Two short B.C. ferry rides east of Vancouver Island, it's paradise with old growth forests, warm water, white sand beaches, and a vibrant arts center.

It offers Wow! with a mellow ambiance.

A convenient getaway for Vancouver and Vancouver Island residents, I met many enjoying their holiday... including these U.S. transplants.

Bluffs tower above the Strait of Georgia in Helliwell Provincial Park.

Vivid green Douglas firs, oaks, and pines rise against cerulean blue skies, with  puffy clouds, making their entrance and exit.

And a symphony of bird song and crickets serenade those lucky to pass-by.

Translucent warm waters go from light green hugging the shore to deep azure, reminding me of the Aegean in Greece. 

The scenic views are some of the most breath-taking anywhere. 

With 1000 ft elevation, Mt. Geoffrey rises on Hornby Island, offering spectacular views from the Bench Trail.

The hike took about four hours round-trip, stopping for lunch and scenic shots along the way. At the top we met bicyclists from Victoria--and together were rewarded with this Shingle Spit & clean air view.

When I rose from my bench, well, I don't love bugs especially this one despite looking--ew!--interesting? Unbeknownst to me, it sat next to me while I ate lunch. Agh!

More on Hornby later...

Black dot in a few photos courtesy of a dirty sensor on my Nikon D40 SLR, my first such experience, hopefully, my last.

"The Island In The Wind" - The New Yorker & Climate Change Solutions

How refreshing to find two innovative solutions to climate change and fossil fuel reductions, as portrayed in "The Island In The Wind" by Elizabeth Kolbert for The New Yorker.

Kolbert found Danish island Samsø that won its countries "contest" for implementing creative solutions to reduce carbon emissions, and build a renewable-energy model community.

The locals formed energy cooperatives, installed wind-turbines, replaced furnaces with heat pumps, and built hot-water plants that run on biomass.

“By 2001, fossil-fuel use on Samsø had been cut in half. By 2003, instead of importing electricity, the island was exporting it, and by 2005 it was producing from renewable sources more energy than it was using.” Yet, Kolbert writes, the farmers on Samsø insist that they are “normal people,” using simple solutions to the energy-consumption problem.

Meanwhile...

"It's a creative approach to the future," says Roland Stulz one of several scientists at the Swiss Federal Institure of Technology who posed the question:

What level of energy use is needed to sustain not only an island or small European nation but the world?

The answer:

2000 watts a year, which is the equivalent of 20 hundred watt light bulbs.

The average U.S. and Canadian citizen uses 12,000 watts. The average developing country citizen less than 2,000 watts.

The 2,000-Watt Society “gives industrialized countries a target for cutting energy use at the same time that it sets a limit for growth in developing nations.”

Robert Uetz, a Swiss engineer who is attempting to live a two-thousand-watt life, heats his home with a geothermal heat pump, generates electricity with photovoltaic panels on his roof, and takes public transportation instead of driving. He and his family “don’t experience it as a restriction,” he tells Kolbert. “On the contrary. I don’t feel like we’re giving up anything.” 

To read more, click here.

Clean Air Vancouver Island & Fire-Ravaged California

I'm taking off for clean air island Hornby soon, (photo) and may not post til Monday.

Lots of Californians have been writing with stories about over 800 fires burning out of control, and causing breathing problems.

Here's a photo from Doug of state capitol building in Sacramento shrouded in smoke.

I don't miss California right now.

If you live there, I suggest staying in, running air purifiers, and don't exercise outdoors.

Welcome to Courtenay!

Courtenay is located in the Comax Valley and is the rough-around-the-edges-sibling-of-Comox-with remnants of its logging and fishing industry past intact.

Like big trucks.

I saw trucks big enough to lug a Tyrannosaurus Rex, but which lugged one man, and occasionally, one woman and child around the block.

In other words, downtown.

And the loudest motorcycles outside of a Hell's Angels Convention.

Courtenay is now known for year-round sports, including an ability for visitors to ski, fish, and golf in the same day.

Shops close very early on main street.

I couldn't find anything open after 5:30 p.m.

I did find a few recovering AA and NA addicts, who helped me find a grocery store to buy dinner.

They explained they were in Courtenay thanks to the provincial government, which sponsors 25 and 43 day rehabilitation programs--the best in British Columbia, attracting addicts keen on reform from up-island, down-island, and beyond.

I would have gone to their Laughing Oyster Bookstore, which I heard is great but it was closed.

I met this couple from  Victoria, the only couple I saw on main street, who bought a retirement home in Campbell River, which is a salmon capital and where people go to get to Quadra Island.

For clean air breathers, Campbell River has a paper mill and coal mine nearby. Good for jobs and tax revenue, but bad for lungs.

The coal mine reportedly makes 1.2 million metric tonnes of high volatile coal per year for domestic and foreign use. They want to provide coal to California and Alaska now. We get almost half our electricity from Utah coal and I hope we'll find the way to go renewable instead.

As a recovering Angeleno, I'd pass on Campbell River as a possible home but as a temporary tourist, I'm there.

Quadra Island is about 30 miles up-island and photos of the island look amazing, with blue water hugging lush green land. I plan to go when I return from Hornby.

This couple told me handguns aren't allowed in Canada, which makes me feel good since I'm here alone typing right now at a friend's office.

Female alone in L.A.--you'll need twenty bolts, a doorman, and bug-killer spray in order to feel safe.

Anyway, this is how my evening began:

It's 6:00 p.m. and man-friend is taking me to Courtenay to drop me off for my big review of town for Chasing Clean Air.

I'm reading a book in this chair, but ready to go when he arrives, for I don't want to waste one moment getting into rush hour and making him late for next appointment.

I'm from L.A. I understand timing.

Rush hour = 15 miles. 2 hours. Books on tape. Cell phone and email use. And for the really adventurous, putting on make-up, filing nails, eating dinner, and having babies when stuck in traffic. (Maybe making babies, too)

I know Comox to Courtenay, isn't going to be rush hour like an American city but I didn't expect 6:05 p.m. to look like this.

They don't have a vocabulary for rush hour.

Though man-friend said, they acknowledge rush-minute, which I can tell you passes in a Porsche second.

You'd never see a Porsche, BMW, Mercedes, or Lexus in Comox Valley, which is a refreshing change.

What you see are a lot of BIG trucks.

Everywhere.

And they smell bad, making me wonder if they have old catalytic converters or use different fuel than Californians. All diesel? I know Texas uses dirtier fuel than we do.

California has some of the cleanest fuels because we have, by way of example, 11 million cars and 17 million people in the South Coast Basin--L.A. and surrounding counties--which if memory serves me is about 10,000 square miles.

Before I sign off, you should know one of the big happen'in and happy events in Courtenay is coming soon.

Vancouver Island Musicfest, July 11-13, 2008  It sounds fun, and the line-up includes The Wailers, Taj Mahal, Earl Scruggs, Sparrow Quartet, Jerry Douglas Band, and Todd Butler (Oh! I just met Todd's talented brother who writes songs with him) to name a few highlights of the 75 concerts to take place on 6 stages.

Kids are welcome but if you suffer from claustrophobia, like many city folks do from too many years jammed up against one another, who knows... but then again, look at Comox Valley traffic. I'll bet this concert will be a perfect summer treat. And then you can walk along the marina in nearby charming Comox.

 

California's Climate Change Draft Scoping Plan/AB 32

How California implements a clean-air and global warming reduction plan is being discussed now.

Until today there were no concrete steps on the table as to how California would implement AB 32, the measure to reduce global warming gases in California by 2020.

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) created a Climate Change Draft Scoping Plan, which you can read here.

A final version of the plan will recommend a 28 percent cut in the 596 million tons of greenhouses gases the state emits by 2020.

You can listen and watch the California Air Resources Board hearing right now--where Environmental NGOs and utilities are reacting to CARB's climate change scoping plan and testifying about climate change solutions and how California can lead--by clicking here.

A lot of talk about carbon tax, cap and trade, and carbon auctions, and how best to acheive carbon reductions.

I'm against cap and trade, and for a carbon tax, but I'm signing off now to listen to hearing. This is the sort of hearing, when available, I'd testify.

Mary Nichols just recommended the Jared Diamond book, Collapse, which I reviewed here.

Collapse chronicles civilizations that have collapsed under the weight of natural resource abuse/overuse, and shares a few inspirational stories of those that saved their environment and civilization, as a result of individuals fighting for change.

She said the hearing is breaking to resume later today at 1:30 PST.

The Climate Change plan is expected to be finalized later this fall.

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