Earth Day occurred last Saturday. Folks in Fort Frances and the district were probably more concerned about digging out from the huge late April Snowstorm than taking steps to make our world a greener and more sustainable place to live. I was in Calgary on Earth Day and enjoyed a wonderful sunny outing with my two granddaughters. Neither had a worry in the world about the future of our planet.
But driving some 1700 km each way, I was struck as the landscape has changed from empty plains to plains filled with windmills and giant solar farms. It is worth noting that the province of Alberta that gets a constant black eye for producing oil for the country is also Canada’s largest green energy producer and the volume of energy being produced continues to grow each quarter.
When I filled my car with gas as I crossed the prairies, the stations were filled with up to a dozen pumps for both gas and diesel. I didn’t see many stations to recharge batteries. There seemed to be a vehicle at every pump. With the federal incentives to purchase “Electrical Vehicles” (EV’s) one might expect to see more charging stations. To meet the targets set by the Trudeau government to have most vehicles sold in Canada be EV’s, more locations will be needed to recharge vehicles.
Fort Frances can take some pride in banning the use of single use plastics. It is but a single step.
The federal government has promised to be at a net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. It will be a huge task. In Fort Frances and across the district most homeowners now heat their homes with natural gas and propane. They are major emitters of greenhouse gasses. In Ontario, the Ford government is building two gas fired generating stations instead of using alternative energy systems. It seems at cross purposes to the federal government.
In many communities across Canada, tree planting in neighborhoods and boulevards is being encouraged and often subsidized. Fort Frances made a commitment to replace the trees that were removed when Second Street was replaced. Most of those replaced trees in the Phair Avenue Park have died. Council must again review their commitment to encourage replacement and caring of trees and encouraging homeowners to plant more in their yards.
With all the subsidies by the federal government for the development of green technology, there may be an opportunity with Seven Generations Educational Institute to develop a technology hub that will find a new way to develop energy out of our forests. Would the technology be able to trap and use the methane being released into the atmosphere from Fort Frances’ landfill?
What other green energy opportunities can Fort Frances and the district embrace?
