Our city is facing an environmental crisis. We’re arguably the wealthiest city in Canada, yet we fall behind most others in terms of environmental policy. The upcoming civic election lends an opportunity to address this crisis.
Calgary Scores an ‘F’ on these Green Issues
• Cosmetic Use of Pesticides — Calgary is the only major municipality in Canada without a bylaw that phases out or bans the cosmetic use of pesticides, despite the fact that 83 per cent of Calgarians support such a bylaw, according to a survey conducted by Ontario polling firm, Oracle (with funding from the Calgary Foundation). The city’s compulsion to attain flawless turf is polluting the Bow River and putting our health in danger.
Spray no more. Check www.healthycalgary.ca to see which candidates want to stop the spraying. Brian Pincott, candidate for Ward 11, gets a ladybug sticker and some dandelion tea for his commitment to the issue. He and his wife, Barb Kinnie, brought it to light in 1999 with the Pesticide Free Yards campaign to have a pesticide bylaw passed.
• Urban Sprawl — Our sprawling city suffers expansion at a rate that outstrips most others in Canada. With a footprint the size of New York City and less than one-tenth the population, Calgary is in desperate need of responsible planning policy. The Better Calgary Campaign found that, not surprisingly, more than 90 per cent of donations received by city council candidates are from the development industry. This unhealthy growth is killing our inner-city neighbourhoods, sending our tax dollars to the burbs and making us car-dependent.
Give Bullwinkle his home back. Ask your candidate where their campaign funding comes from and where they stand on urban sprawl. Jennifer Banks, Ward 1 candidate, deserves a locally brewed cuppa coffee for her concern for sustainable communities. Her experience as an environmental educator has helped direct her platform’s solid ideas for addressing urban sprawl. Pincott gets an organic cotton tea cozy for his full website disclosure of campaign contribution details.
• Waste Management — Shamefully, Calgary is without an effective waste management plan, and thanks to folks like outspoken Ald. Ric McIver, who fought curbside pickup, our curbside recycling program planned for 2009 is still less than ideal. It won’t take care of big offenders like plastics or yard and kitchen waste. Our garbage is using up valuable land and making our landfills the city’s biggest greenhouse gas emitter.
Clean up our act. Ask your candidate if they support a comprehensive citywide curbside waste management program. Lindsay Luhnau, Ward 8 candidate, gets a reusable shopping bag for her work at Clean Calgary, where she assists companies in diverting industrial, commercial and construction waste from becoming landfill.
• Transportation — Car-oriented infrastructure takes priority in Calgary. Building roads was the focus of Mayor Dave Bronconnier’s platform during the last election. Since then, according to his campaign website, he has directed the following road projects: nine new interchanges, Highway 22X bridge, upgrades to Beddington, Barlow and Bow Trails, upgrades to 16th Avenue and — the largest road project in Calgary’s history — the Glenmore Trail Corridor. He plans to continue with new interchanges, upgrades to Glenmore and Ogden Road, 52nd Street, Sarcee Trail and a Fourth Street underpass connecting Olympic Way to East Village. In 2005, Bronconnier unveiled the city’s $750,000 Traffic Management System, complete with traffic cameras and a website for drivers to check the status of their commuting routes. The problem with this obsession with car-oriented infrastructure is it only makes congestion worse. Engineers have a way of illustrating this in comparing traffic to gas — it expands and contracts to fill the space provided. A study conducted by the University of California at Berkeley covering 30 California counties between 1973 and 1990 found that, for every 10 per cent increase in roadway capacity, traffic increased nine per cent within four years’ time. Clearly, the focus needs to be directed towards public transportation and supporting self-propelled commuting methods.
Work for a car-free Calgary. Find out if your candidate walks the talk. For those blustery days, somebody send some legwarmers to Ald. Druh Farrell of Ward 7, who walks to work every day; Luhnau, who bikes or walks to work; and Pincott, who rides his bike to the office.
Can We Get There from Here?
Sure, our environmental record is appalling; perhaps we just need some motivation from others who are going strong and green. The following are the Top 5 green cities in the world (according to a 2007 article in Grist Magazine)
• Reykjavik, Iceland — With hydrogen buses, geothermal and hydropower sources of heat and electricity, and a goal to become fossil-fuel-free by 2050, this frosty city ranks extreme green. The mayor has even pledged to make Reykjavik the cleanest city in Europe.
• Portland, Oregon, U.S.A. — Portland has an effective light rail and bus system along with extensive bike lanes that together keep cars off the roads. Boasting 36,800 hectares of green space and more than 120 kilometres of hiking, running and biking trails, the hippies of Portland are so passionate about the environment, they’ve enacted a strategy to reduce C02 emissions and support green building initiatives.
• Curitiba, Brazil — Approximately 75 per cent of Curitibians use public transit (one of the best systems in the world). The city also allots more than 52 square metres of green space per citizen.
• Malmö, Sweden — This Swedish city is a model of sustainable urban development with extensive parks and green space, and an overall goal to make Malmö an "ekostaden" (eco-city).
• Vancouver, Canada — Home to tree-huggers like Dr. David Suzuki and birthplace of Greenpeace, Vancouver is turning to wind, solar, wave and tidal energy to significantly reduce fossil-fuel use. The Greater Vancouver Area is home to 200 parks, over 29 kilometres of waterfront and has developed a 100-year plan for sustainability.
While these cities have strong environmental vision, it’s not because they share some kind of political secret beyond democratic will: Reykjavik, Malmo and Curitiba have proportional representation; Curitibians over the age of 18 are required to vote; author Robert Putnam has argued that Portland is the only major American city to buck the trend of declining civic engagement; and Vancouverites elect not just city councillors, a mayor and school trustees, like Calgarians do, they also elect parks and recreation representatives. Sure, these are some cool features, but overall, the voting systems of these green cities are similar to our own. The difference is the voters. Their citizens demand green policies. Are we going to? Cast your ballot October 15.
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