Brockville Climate Action Group

Brockville Climate Action Group
Newsletter 007, 18 June 2007
Prepared by Hugh Campbell

OPERATIONS COMMITTEE, CITY OF BROCKVILLE

Councillor Henry Noble has a series of motions being put forth at the
next meeting of the Operations Committee, June 20, 1:30 pm in Council
Chambers. These include:

. Stop signs: Swapping stop signs at Ormond and James East, so that
Ormond becomes through street;

. Street lighting: Testing reduced lighting and await lower-cost LEDs
before further replacements;

. City fleet purchases: All future purchases to give priority to
smallest, most fuel efficient choices;

. Vehicle idling: All city vehicles to be shut off when not in motion
or waiting traffic; and that car pooling be encouraged;

. Shopping bags: To encourage reuse and recycling; to encourage use
of cloth bags

The agenda with full details on these and other motions is available
online at:

http://city.brockville.on.ca/committees/downloads/ACF67C.pdf

This meeting is open to the public, and the BCAG encourages your
attendance in support of these motions. If you are unable to attend,
please contact the committee members (L. Journal; J. Earle; H. Noble)
by phone or email to express your support:

http://www.city.brockville.on.ca/staff.cfm?PA=Cont&PA2=Cont

PROVINCIAL SUPPORT TO MUNICIPALITIES

You are also encouraged to contact your City Councillors to ensure
that Brockville takes advantage of this new program:

April Lindgren / CanWest News Service / Thursday, June 14, 2007

[...] Premier Dalton McGuinty announced the province's 445
municipalities will be able to borrow up to $200 million at
discounted rates over the next three years to improve insulation,
replace windows and make other infrastructure improvements. The money
will also be available to cities and towns that want to replace their
current fleets of cars and trucks with cleaner operating, more
efficient vehicles.

The plan, part of a series of greenhouse-gas related announcements
the government is expected to present in the run up to the Oct. 10
provincial election, also includes a $20-million grant component that
will be spread over three years.

McGuinty defended the relatively modest amount of money involved - it
works out to an average loan of $450,000 per municipality over three
years and a per-municipality grant of $45,000 over the same period of
time.

"You're going to save money, you're going to reduce your operating
costs. This is a sound ecological investment that stands to benefit
local taxpayers," he said, describing the approach as a "win" for all
involved because it will also generate local employment.

FULL ARTICLE: http://www.canada.com/topics/news/politics/story.html?id=211de8a9-c4d2-49ce-b0fd-cdff6fdc18a7&k=77534

COGECO TV: ENVIRONMENT SERIES

Cogeco TV is trying to put together a 4-episode series on the
environment for broadcast this fall. They are presently seeking a
host for the series, as well as four members for a discussion panel.
Since "the environment" includes the impacts of CO2 emissions but is
a much broader subject than the BCAG mandate covers, I have
volunteered to participate on their panel. Anyone else interested in
participating is asked to contact the producer, Matthew Boland, at
866-709-5098 or Matthew.Boland@cogeco.com

NEXT MEETING

Mike Nickerson, author of "Life, Money & Illusion; Living on Earth as
if we Want to Stay" will speak at our next meeting on Sunday, June 24
at 2:00 pm. Nickerson will speak, answer questions, and listen to
opinions about sustainability and our changing times.
(http://www.flora.org/sustain/LMI/outline.html).