Blogs - Sustainable Salmon Arm

Centre needs a name change

From the Salmon Arm Observer, November 17, 2009 The usual myths are being trotted out to try to sucker Salmon Arm residents into accepting a strip mall at the west end of town. In particular, we are told that this “development” will create local jobs. Sure, some temporary construction jobs will be created, and certainly some longer term low-paying part-time jobs will be created. But looking at the larger picture shows that the net result is not favourable. Let’s look at the results in other n… Continue

Added by Rick Shea on November 19, 2009 at 3:57pm — No Comments

Past the Peak?

An article in the Guardian claims that the International Energy Agency - the most authoritative source regarding global energy supplies - has been overestimating global oil production capacity and underestimating oilfield depletion rates for years, and is for the first time acknowledging the reality of the peak of global oil production. New calculations indicate that we may already be past the peak, and any upturn in global economic activity will bring this reality home. Why would this informat… Continue

Added by Rick Shea on November 15, 2009 at 7:30pm — No Comments

Is Salmon Arm going insane?

Wal-Mart has, in the recent past, enlisted bloggers in an attempt to improve their public image. Information is fed to these bloggers, who have frequently quoted verbatim what they are told by Wal-Mart employees without citing the source -- a big no-no in terms of intellectual honesty. I wonder if any of that is happening here too.… Continue

Added by Rick Shea on November 8, 2009 at 10:00am — No Comments

Denial can be a cold comfort

From the Salmon Arm Observer Published: October 27, 2009 6:00 PM Denial allows people to think that more growth is somehow “smart” or sustainable as long as we stack people on top of each other. All the while, we can ignore the failures of this practice everywhere it has been tried. Denial allows us to believe that we can create “compact, walkable cities,” when in reality rental and real estate prices in these cities invariably become so expensive that those who do the work cannot afford to li… Continue

Added by Rick Shea on October 29, 2009 at 10:00am — No Comments

The Drone in the Classroom

“At its best, schooling can be about how to make a life, which is quite different from how to make a living.” (Neil Postman)¹ I suppose that my first teaching position should have been the wake up call. After all, there I was, a brand new shiny teacher, still wet behind the daybook, replacing a somewhat older teacher who was on a five month stress leave. But I didn’t see the signs, likely because Chase Secondary School at that time was a very well run community school, the students… Continue

Added by Rick Shea on October 15, 2009 at 7:00pm — No Comments

Is there something fishy in Salmon Arm council?

The Salmon River has responded well to the considerable efforts of local citizens and groups. Bank stabilization work and efforts to improve spawning areas have resulted in several thousand salmon making their way up the river to spawn annually. Herons, osprey, kingfishers, and numerous other species rely on the river as well. Consequently, the idea that Salmon Arm council, or any other politician and any level, would allow any change to the current habitat, and especially any change which would… Continue

Added by Rick Shea on July 27, 2009 at 11:33am — No Comments

How to Reduce Population

There are several ways to reduce human population. The first one is to let Mother Nature take her course, as she typically does with any population which has overshot its limits. The resulting Malthusian collapse would be absolutely devastating, and, of course, not a very desirable situation. Unfortunately, that is where I believe we are headed, and people like James Lovelock seem to agree. The second one is to begin consciously reducing our population through a variety of means, specified bel… Continue

Added by Rick Shea on May 28, 2009 at 8:30am — No Comments

Smart Growth: The Worst Kind of Sprawl

One of the fundamental principles of “Smart Growth” is to increase residential density by infill in existing areas, and by redeveloping existing residential areas more densely. The claim is that this will somehow create livable cities, reduce energy requirements and emissions, save farmland, and protect green space. Or, as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency puts it, “density is (an) integral component to the creation of neighborhoods that offer convenience, value and a high quality of life… Continue

Added by Rick Shea on November 19, 2008 at 10:00pm — No Comments

ACCUSATIONS OF RACISM DON’T CHANGE THE FACTS

It is not racist or misanthropic to try to protect the environment and our children’s natural heritage. Yet that is typically the knee-jerk response to those who point out environmental reasons for halting human population growth. Those reasons cited include the current human-caused “Sixth Great Extinction,” collapse of ocean fish stocks and other sea life, emissions and pollution affecting our oceans and our weather, soil exhaustion and continued loss of arable land to concrete and asphalt, and… Continue

Added by Rick Shea on November 11, 2008 at 12:03pm — No Comments

Defeat of the "smart" centre proposal

Sent to Salmon Arm council Good morning. I would like to thank you all for your work in thoroughly examining the "Smart" centre proposal, and in bringing the issues to the public. It certainly was no easy task, as there clearly were many opinions on all sides of the issue. The tied vote on council was, I believe, an fairly accurate reflection of the feelings of the community, and a reflection of the emergent worldwide dialogue on sustainability. Other communities which have also defea… Continue

Added by Rick Shea on November 11, 2008 at 10:00am — No Comments

Peaking inside the box.

Sent to the local print media today: Dear Sir: If the proportion of speakers at the recent public hearing who were in favor of the so-called “Smart” centre development is any indication, those who continue to claim that they speak for some sort of “silent majority” in favor of box stores are clearly out of touch with reality. Yet they continue to harp that Salmon Arm needs “progress” – presumably the same sort of progress as Kelowna and other strip mall cities. Progress can mean many th… Continue

Added by Rick Shea on October 31, 2008 at 3:27pm — No Comments

Live long and prosper?

One of the rationalizations for continuing our current economic system is that we appear to live in an era of unprecedented prosperity and health. We can buy all the toys imaginable, we live longer, and so on. That of course is an extremely short-sighted snapshot taken now, or perhaps in a recent utopian past in the imagination of someone from a developed country. Homo sapiens is currently causing the sixth great extinction of species on this planet. Homo sapiens is currently about half way th… Continue

Added by Rick Shea on October 17, 2008 at 11:58am — No Comments

Just say "no" to thugs

Sent to the local media, and to Salmon Arm council: Dear Sir: So, Glen Bury claims that there is considerable “misinformation in the public realm” in Salmon Arm surrounding the proposed big box destruction of some of our invaluable wetlands. Never forget that, at the bottom line, Bury and company are only interested in one thing: profits. Local communities, local businesses, the environment, and even the truth are typically just obstacles to overcome in order to make these profits. The… Continue

Added by Rick Shea on September 23, 2008 at 7:11am — No Comments

Smart cancer in Salmon Arm

Dear Sirs: I welcomed the announcement of the multi-evening public meeting regarding the proposed development at the mouth of the Salmon River. I work every Monday evening, and thus looked forward to attending the Tuesday evening session. The recent clarification that the Tuesday and Wednesday sessions may not be held prompts me to submit my comments in writing, given that I may not have any other opportunity to do so. The so-called “Smart” Centre development violates every principle of sustai… Continue

Added by Rick Shea on September 16, 2008 at 8:54am — No Comments

Where's the responsibility?

Sent to the local print media and to Salmon Arm council today: Dear Sirs: I almost feel sorry for Salmon Arm Councillor Kevin Flynn. Almost. Every time he comments on growth and development, he demonstrates again and again how shallow and irresponsible is his understanding of environmental issues. His latest and greatest is the amazing comment that the large number of waterfowl and other life around Shuswap Lake is evidence that more development can occur. Flynn clearly does not unde… Continue

Added by Rick Shea on August 12, 2008 at 3:32pm — No Comments

Response to Salmon Arm councillor Flynn

Salmon Arm councillor Flynn has called for removal of CASSSA from the group studying the "information gaps" surrounding the "Dumb Centre" proposal. Dear Councillor Flynn: Good for you. CASSSA has a lot of gall to host a rally in opposition to the Smart Centres proposal. Similar citizens’ groups in hundreds of cities across North America show precisely how dangerous the situation can be. Such groups have misled councils to reject these valuable meccas of consumerism, and instead have or… Continue

Added by Rick Shea on July 22, 2008 at 7:16am — No Comments

Just more political hot air about emissions

Sent to (B.C. Premier) Gordon Campbell and assorted others, July 4 2008 Dear Premier Campbell: The advertising promoting our shiny new carbon tax claims that, by 2020, the reduction in GHG emissions will be roughly equivalent to removing 800,000 cars from the road (787,000 according to the British Columbia government website). According to Statistics Canada, British Columbia is growing more rapidly than most other provinces. At the current annual growth rate of 1.4%, British Columbia’s popula… Continue

Added by Rick Shea on July 5, 2008 at 12:30pm — No Comments

How politicians and developers outfox ordinary citizens.

Sent to Salmon Arm council, the Observer, and the Lakeshore News May 27, 2008 Is democracy really so completely and utterly dead in Salmon Arm? The Community Charter states that councils are “established and CONTINUED by the will of the residents of their communities” (emphasis mine). In short, councillors are not just subject to a satisfaction survey every three years at election time, they also must rely on the will of the residents on an ongoing basis. So what does Salmon Arm council do wh… Continue

Added by Rick Shea on May 29, 2008 at 7:34am — No Comments

Consider time before oil runs out

From the Salmon Arm Observer, May 21, 2008 What will you do when the oil runs out? Some say that that is not really the right question. Just as U.S. oil production peaked and began declining in the early 1970s, global oil production is predicted to peak and begin declining before 2010. Even oil industry executives and scientists are beginning to support this claim, despite the fact it means the eventual end of business for many of them. But there will still be some oil available, if we’re will… Continue

Added by Rick Shea on May 29, 2008 at 7:23am — No Comments

A real reason to live in Salmon Arm

From the Lakeshore News, April 25, 2008 Mary Halliday’s letter in your April 18th (“City economy endangered”) is an almost perfect example of why the planet is facing so many problems today. Ms. Halliday comments that many people “do not have the time or energy” to think about our problems and their solutions. Ms. Halliday’s “Chicken Little” scare tactics about interfering with growth and so-called “progress” are pretty typical of the lack of thought about the consequences of what we are doing… Continue

Added by Rick Shea on May 29, 2008 at 7:00am — No Comments

< Previous Post

All Blog Posts (28)