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<DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow">Ok, If you want to hear about an "insane" green
energy project.... I say insane because it sounds unbelievable.... to be built
in Australia.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow">Here are some notes:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow">- It's been a while since I saw Sahara, but it
reminded me of the solar plant in that movie.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow">- tower in center is 1 km high... more than
twice as tall as the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpar, and visible from 80
kilometres away. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow">- the surrounding base of about 3.5 km diameter
doubles as a greenhouse</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow">If you have high-speed internet: <A
href="http://www.enviromission.com.au/project/video/video.htm">http://www.enviromission.com.au/project/video/video.htm</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow">Otherwise <A
href="http://www.enviromission.com.au">http://www.enviromission.com.au</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow"><A
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_chimney">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_chimney</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow">and of course google turns up lots of
articles/news pieces as well.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow"></FONT> </DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=pekieca@yahoo.com href="mailto:pekieca@yahoo.com">K</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=vegchat@ottawaveg.com
href="mailto:vegchat@ottawaveg.com">For all discussion not animal related
(health, environment,etc). Called &quot, chat&quot,because this is for
all kinds of frequent interaction.</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, January 19, 2006 12:06
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [VegChat] Vote earth</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>Many of the streetcars in Toronto are electric..so they run silent as
well.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Thanks for the taxi stats. Something to push for.
A hybrid facility in NFLD....good suggestion....how about wind turbines
too. During an interview with CBC last week, Jim Harris, leader of the
GREENS, talked about Quebec Liberal Leader Charest's plans to utilize wind
energy, yet had to go to Norway and the US for the technology as there are no
facilities in Canada. Wasted opportunity.
</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>On the negative side, many believe that windmills are a blight on the
landscape and I have read that many birds crash into them so some areas at
least have added lights to warn off birds. <BR><BR><B><I>vaalea
<v@vaalea.com></I></B> wrote:</DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow">The Ottawa website says that they are trying
to promote tele-commuting to cut down on traffic too.... but then they have
all these laws surrounding working from home... like if you hire
someone to work for you and they don't live there, you HAVE TO
provide a parking space for them, even if they never drive/don't
have a car. Perhaps it makes more sense in the suburbs and beyond, but in
Ottawa Center it's a little ridiculous both with lack of space in general,
and the fact that a good number of people in the Ottawa core rely on other
modes of transportation other than driving.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow">I personally like both working from home, and
living close to my work.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow">I had said before that I would like to see
the public transportation changed over to "greener" vehicles (since they are
running all day)...and now I read on the green party website:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow">"4 HYBRID CARS</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow">Hybrid cars — which reclaim energy from
braking — reduce gas consumption by 50 per cent over traditional autos of
the same weight and size.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow">The first group that should get these cars is
taxi drivers. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow">Taxis cover 10 times as many kilometres per
year as do average cars, so converting the 25,000 taxis in Canada to be more
fuel efficient would have a huge impact. I've done the calculations: this
would save about 500,000,000 litres of gas a year. And it's good for
business too. At current gas prices a hybrid taxi pays for itself in gas
savings in just 1.5 years.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow">On Oct. 29, 2004 the government of Canada was
investing $100 million of taxpayers' money to support the production of old
auto technology. Two weeks later, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
was over in Japan, wooing Toyota and trying to get the first North American
hybrid plant built in his<BR>state. So while the Canadian government is
investing in the past, the Californian government is investing in the
future. Why leave the jobs that will be expanding in the long term to
California?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow">We should work to locate a hybrid production
facility right here, right now in Canada."</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow"><A
href="http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:qeXqpyuDQP4J:www.greenparty.ca/page56.html+%22green+party%22+taxi+hybrid&hl=en">http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:qeXqpyuDQP4J:www.greenparty.ca/page56.html+%22green+party%22+taxi+hybrid&hl=en</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow">...they could put the production facility in
the Maritimes and offer jobs to the fishermen instead of letting them club
seals... =0P (yeah, I know the green party is also against the seal
hunt)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow"></FONT> </DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=edandrea@magma.ca href="mailto:edandrea@magma.ca">Edelweiss
D'Andrea</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=vegchat@ottawaveg.com
href="mailto:vegchat@ottawaveg.com">For all discussion not animal related
(health, environment,etc). Called&quot; chat&quot; because this is
for all kinds of frequent interaction.</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, January 18, 2006
10:02 PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> RE: [VegChat] Vote
earth</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=289214902-19012006><FONT face=Arial size=2>Thanks for
your feedback, K. </FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=289214902-19012006><FONT face=Arial
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=289214902-19012006><FONT face=Arial size=2>I agree with
most, but would like to mention that while subsidizing public transit
sounds good, it's a not cost effective.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=289214902-19012006><FONT face=Arial
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=289214902-19012006><FONT face=Arial size=2>The
Conservatives would shift $2 billion from the Liberals' five-year, $10
billion climate-change plan to pay for the 16 per cent tax break on bus
and subway passes. That's 20% of the climate change budget.</FONT>
<DIV></DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Dion estimates that would save, at
most, 800,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions each year by getting
commuters out of cars and onto public transit. That's a tiny fraction of
the 270 million tonnes Canada must cut each year to meet its Kyoto
target.</FONT> </SPAN></DIV>
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<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Tahoma
size=2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B>
vegchat-bounces@ottawaveg.com
[mailto:vegchat-bounces@ottawaveg.com]<B>On Behalf Of
</B>K<BR><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, January 18, 2006 12:53 PM<BR><B>To:</B>
For all discussion not animal related (health, environment,etc). Called
&quot, chat&quot,because this is for all kinds of frequent
interaction.<BR><B>Subject:</B> Re: [VegChat] Vote
earth<BR><BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3>The GREEN Party is the only party against the seal
hunt.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3>Both The Citizen and Jim Harris, leader of the GREENS,
have stated that the GREENS stand a decent chance of getting elected
here in Ottawa Centre, as well as in BC Gulf Islands.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3>Interestingly, I noted an article which speaks of
Harper's intention to give public transit users a tax credit, since they
are using public transit as opposed to driving. I don't know
how one could track this use to determine who is eligible, but it
is the way to go. Reward those who walk, bike, take the bus,
subway, etc. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3>As you mention and has been widely stated during the
election, emissions have increased during the Liberals reign. The
NDP has always relied on support from large industries (unions), which
are pollution causing, such as the automotive industry, although now
Buzz Hargrove apparently is campaigning with Martin.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3>K<BR></FONT><BR><B><I>Edelweiss D'Andrea
<edandrea@magma.ca></I></B> wrote:</DIV>
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<DIV><FONT size=2>Vote EARTH this (and every) election.<BR><BR>The
following letter I wrote to the editor was published in<SPAN
class=961180714-18012006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff> <FONT
face="Times New Roman" color=#000000>the January 17
</FONT></FONT></SPAN>Ottawa Citizen:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2><STRONG>Leading parties bad news for
planet</STRONG></FONT></DIV><STRONG><FONT size=2></FONT></STRONG><FONT
size=2>
<DIV><BR>The election of a Conservative government in Canada could
jeopardize progress on urgently needed international cuts to
greenhouse gas emissions.<BR><BR>Stephen Harper re-iterated his
party's intention to renege on Canada's obligations to the Kyoto
Protocol in 2006. The Conservative party plans on "initiating a
made-in-Canada plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions," which would
replace commitments to the Kyoto Protocol.<BR><BR>The Liberals, in
power for 12 years, have allowed greenhouse gas emission levels to
increase steadily. Canada's emissions are 24 per cent higher than they
were in 1990.<BR><BR>Submissions for the Kyoto Protocol negotiation
process begin this spring. If Canada, as chair to the conference of
the parties, doesn't continue to endorse the Kyoto Protocol and start
the negotiation process as planned, the process could
stall.<BR><BR>This is unbelievably bad news for the
planet.<BR><BR>According to World Wildlife Fund, David Suzuki
Foundation, and Pembina Institute, a temperature increase of two
degrees C above levels in the pre-industrial age will change the
planet's climate dramatically, after which the temperature will spiral
irreversibly upwards. The industrial world needs to reduce its
greenhouse gas emissions so that levels stabilize and don't exceed 400
parts per million. Industrialized countries need to make the cuts well
before 2050.<BR><BR>A recent report published by Pembina Institute and
David Suzuki Foundation says that industrialized countries must reduce
emissions by 25 to 30 per cent by 2020 and by 85 to 90 per cent by
2050 (relative to 1990 levels).<BR><BR>The report says, as an
industrialized nation, Canada needs to reduce emissions to 25 per cent
by 2020 relative to 1990 levels. This means that Canada has to reduce
its emissions by 49 per cent over the next 16 years.<BR><BR>In Canada,
climate change is expected to result in water shortages, flooding of
coastal areas, stress-related disorders caused by environmental
migration, and extinction of the polar bear and other northern
species. <BR><BR>Edelweiss D'Andrea, BA, BSc<BR><A
href="mailto:edandrea@magma.ca">edandrea@magma.ca</A><BR></DIV>
<DIV>-------------------<BR><BR>Greenpeace sent out a questionnaire to
the 5 major federal parties asking them a series of questions about
the environment and posted them here:<BR><A
href="http://www.greenpeace.ca/e/feature/elections2006"
target=_blank>http://www.greenpeace.ca/e/feature/elections2006</A><BR><BR><BR>Sierra
Club of Canada also compiled answers to an environmental
questionnaire: <A
href="http://www.sierraclub.ca/national/vote-canada/2006/index.html"
target=_blank>http://www.sierraclub.ca/national/vote-canada/2006/index.html</A><BR><BR><BR>-------------------<BR><BR><BR>Canadian
Climate Coalition denounces Conservative Party for ducking the
issues<BR><BR>January 17, 2006<BR>(Ottawa, Victoria, Winnipeg,
Edmonton, Woodbridge, and Montreal)<BR><BR>The Canadian Climate
Coalition, a nation-wide network of groups working on climate action,
sent a questionnaire to all five major parties to verify positions on
the Kyoto Protocol. Only the Conservative Party refused to
respond.<BR><BR>"The purpose of the survey was to determine future
actions to reduce greenhouse gases in Canada. Only the NDP and
the Green Party were prepared to state specific targets for future
action. The Liberals have committed in general terms to long
term targets after launching the process to negotiate post-2012
emission reductions last month in Montreal," noted Brent R. Kopperson,
Executive Director of the Windfall Ecology Centre.<BR><BR>There is a
growing consensus among scientists that global emissions must be
reduced by 30% below 1990 levels by 2020 to avoid hitting a "tipping
point" in the atmosphere of 400 parts per million carbon
dioxide. <BR><BR>"According to Mr. Harper's public statements, a
Conservative Party government would ignore the first stage Kyoto
commitment to reduce greenhouse gases by 6% below 1990 levels by
2012. Given the urgency of the need to reduce far more by 2020,
the Conservative Party position represents a significant threat to
progress in confronting climate change," said Gaile Whelan Enns of
Manitoba Wildlands.<BR><BR>"It appears that a Canadian government
under Stephen Harper would move Canada more into the same camp as U.S.
President George W. Bush," noted Kathryn Malloy, Executive Director of
the British Columbia Chapter of Sierra Club of Canada.<BR><BR>The main
plank of the Conservative Party platform on climate, the tax deduction
for transit passes is, according to the Canadian Climate Coalition, a
gross abuse of funds and an unproductive boondoggle.<BR><BR>"Harper's
plan will cost 200 to 800 times more for each tonne of emissions than
Canada's current Project Green, which was, in fact, 'made in Canada',"
according to Guy Dauncey of the BC Sustainable Energy Association. "If
this is the way that Harper's 'made in Canada' plan to reduce
emissions begins, then he's certainly not a fiscal
conservative!"<BR><BR>See attached Response Grid to the Questions
Posed to the five main parties by the Canadian Climate Coalition and
the Backgrounder on the Conservative Party position on Climate Change.
Please consult with the Coalition's website:
www3.sympatico.ca/lothcol/Election2006ClimateCoalition/</FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
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