Advocacy & Safety - First smog-alert of the season of many more.

You know it's Toronto when...

Environment Canada issues its' first smog alert. And the worst part is, credible authorities are warning this might be the worst year for smog due to what is expected to be a hot, dry summer and the liklihood of many fires in Northern Ontario and Quebec. Right now, there is a big fire in Quebec and the smog is reaching all the way down to New York City.

Doesn't have to be just Toronto. All SW Ontario under the advisory. Damn cars and coal generation plants.

I'm really glad I'm spending this summer touring down the pacific coast. Nothing but sea breezes until I get into LA. Then all bets are off!

A physician's group here in Utah has gotten together and is issuing some very stern warnings about building any more coal-fired electrical facilities in this state. They are looking for a complete moratorium on that type of construction (although it is a long shot).

Some of their facts are quite arresting.

One example: a typical child growing up under the current air quality in the Salt Lake valley has zero chance of becoming an Olympic athlete. The amount of pollution in the air would mean that said child would never develop the pulmonary efficiency to compete at a world class level.

As the doctors say: if there were a virus in this locality causing this kind of damage, Utahns would be demanding some sort of medical solution ... right now.

But, since the state legislature has presented it as a choice between dirty air and lighting candles after sundown, most people feel like they don't have a choice.

What I have heard is that about 8 nuke plants are in the works for Ontario. If that happens, kiss the coal plants good bye. (good bye!).

As well, for those living in Ontario, the provincial government has announced incentives to home owners to hook up solar and wind power. A couple of solar panels, combined with good power management, will reduce that particular house's reliance on the grid in a way that will actually make an impact (and it does not cost the earth like it used to...). There is now the legal infrastructure to have reverse flow metering as well so that surplus flows into the grid and credits your power bill that billing period.

Our plans are to one day (as in a few years from now) to build a passive solar house (big windows facing south, big overhang and trees to block high angle sun in the summer and keep it cooler inside while low angle sun in the winter will filter through and help heat it, heavy duty insulation, ground heating vs gas, etc) with active solar panels on the roof. If we do it right, the savings in power - both gas and electricity - should pay for the extra parts before too long, and even it they don't in the short run, at least the house will be more friendly to our planet. Wish us luck! (I am lucky in that my wife is a bit of a nut about this kind of thing, and has researched it far more than me :) )

Toronto has to plant trees much more mature than it planned because very young trees die in the toxic atmosphere of core areas.

I myself prefer nuke power over most other forms. Coal plants must go. China is building coal plants at a rate of 1 every 2 weeks.

How do you educate developing nations on the hazrds of smog and pollutants when they see the lifestyle we live from doing just the opposite.

The loss of the Amazon is nothing compared to the deforestation that has occured in NA.