Activism Elsewhere

From newmatilda.com

tasmanian politics
4 Nov 2009

Drumming Out A Failed Government
By Amy Tyler


Tags:tasmanian politics tasmania pulp mill gunns direct action democracy civil disobedience amy tyler Democracy has not been looking good in Tasmania, but a recent protest showed that the fight against the Gunns pulp mill might actually revitalise the state, writes Amy Tyler

People call Tasmania inward-looking. But having recently returned here to live I find the "clean, green island" is a microcosm of the political turmoil shaking our nation and world. As our federal MPs debate the pros and cons of an emissions trading scheme and world leaders meet to address climate change, the people — that is, us — continue to grapple with the everyday effects created when societies' deepening environmental values find increasing expression in the political sphere.

These values are transforming political, legal and social institutions in places all around the world. In Chile — not known for its high environmental standards — pulp mill executives can now be prosecuted and convicted for environmental crime, and in the UK, climate change activists have argued in the courts that their actions have been necessary to prevent a greater crime, thereby avoiding or reducing their punishment.

Tasmania often feels far away from these changes, yet on Sunday 4 October, I attended a rally in the small gold mining town of Beaconsfield where such values were very much in evidence. The protest was against the extraordinary support the ALP state Government is still providing for the Gunns Limited proposal to operate a bleached kraft pulp mill in northern Tasmania.

It was one of the more creative rallies on this issue. The protest had primarily been organised by a group known as TAP (Tap into a Better Future), who are described by member Sandra Murray as a group of grey-haired retirees supportive of sustainable development. For many of them, the personal involvement in environmental politics dates back to their participation in the Tasmanian Franklin Dam protests.

The way they had chosen to express their frustration at being continually ignored by their elected representatives was to "drum them out", bringing pots and pans from their homes to bang loudly, in a form of expression that has helped bring down failed governments in Argentina, Ecuador, Spain and Iceland. The protest had been organised to coincide with what is known as a "travelling Cabinet". This involves the Cabinet visiting different parts of the state, holding interviews with constituents. Ostensibly a form of community participation, the cabinet members are supposed to be in town to listen to concerns of constituents. Pointedly, however, the majority of the Cabinet members arrived through the back door and meetings were by appointment only. Those residents with appointments sedately wove their way between the protestors wielding pots and pans to meet their Premier.

There were some 500 people lining the street banging drums, whistling and chanting. Protestors had been told by TAP spokesperson Bob McMahon to "bring their rage".

For many of these residents, the struggle to participate effectively in the pulp mill assessment process has been going on since 24 February 2005, when Gunns Ltd announced that Long Reach, on the Tamar River (near George Town) was its preferred site for a pulp mill.

Over this time, Tasmanians have learned that the output of the mill would be in the range of 500,000 to 1,300,000 air-dried tonnes of pulp per annum. The external factors include, among others: 64,000 tonnes of effluent pumped into the Bass Straight and into the pathway of endangered migrating humpback whales, annual consumption of 4.5 million tonnes of native and plantation wood, 26 to 40 billion litres of fresh water annually, 287,244 extra log trucks on Tasmanian roads and a drifting rotten egg smell with the subsequent compounded health problems.

The considerable size and investment of the proposed mill took the proposal outside regular planning processes and required that the Resource Planning and Development Commission (RPDC) undertake an independent assessment of the project.

To many observers, at that stage it looked like the process was working. The RPDC has a statutory obligation to encourage public involvement. The former ALP Premier Paul Lennon said the independent assessment would provide the Tasmanian community "unfettered public and parliamentary scrutiny".

However in 2007, after many accusations of political interference, Gunns Ltd decided to pull out from the RPDC process. Their withdrawal came before the public release of the report written by the head of RPDC Simon Cooper who had written to the then premier advising that the pulp mill was "critically non-compliant".

Rather than demanding Gunns Ltd comply with due process, the Tasmanian state government passed the Pulp Mill Assessment Bill 2007 — one day after Gunns announced its withdrawal.

This is the part that has many Tasmanians really angry. With Gunns Ltd's withdrawal from formal RPDC process, its fast-tracking support through Parliament and the profound silence from the federal government, opposition to the mill might have been expected to collapse. But the behaviour of the government led to cries that democracy had failed and the voices of the Launceston community got louder.

In the time since, it has become clear to me that the failures of Tasmania's government have actually forced its democracy to gain strength.

Three months after the passing of the Pulp Mill Assessment Act, 10,000 people marched down Launceston streets. Anyone who has visited Launceston knows that for a protest to happen in our streets then it must be a pretty big issue. For it to be 10 per cent of the population means it's huge.

The problem for the Government, and for Gunns, is that this insistence by the people that their representatives respect due process and pay attention to their wishes is not going away. Sunday's protest in Beaconsfield confirmed for me that what is under threat is not our democracy but a government unable to cope with the demands of an environmentally complex democratic constituency.

One of the groups represented at the protest was a recently formed organisation called "Pulp The Mill". According to their spokesperson, Tamar Valley organic walnut farmer, Lucy Landon-Lane, this group arose from the need its members saw for people to undertake civil disobedience.

Pulp the Mill member David Godfrey-Smith explained that while he is "not a protestor ... this is the only option left for us to show our depth of feeling this issue". The 21 people who chose to be arrested along with Godfrey-Smith for breaking the exclusion zone stood silently as they awaited police, dressed in white and holding signs calling for a Royal Commission into the corruption surrounding the mill proposal.

One of the group's aims is to demonstrate to a historically cowed Tasmanian community that protests are not necessarily violent and being arrested does not make you a criminal. This type of protest is critical, as the grip of Gunns Ltd on the social, cultural and political fabric of Tasmania has meant, in Richard Flanagan's words, that to "question, to comment adversely, is to invite the possibility of ostracism and unemployment ... a subtle fear has entered Tasmanian public life; it stifles dissent, avoids truth".

In the short time that I've been back, I can already understand the importance of the group's objective in opening people's minds to the legitimacy of dissent. Handing out postcards in the Launceston mall, the reactions of the community are fascinating. Those who are not against the mill will say so in loud voices, with comments like: "I would sign that love ... but I'm all for it!" Those who do sign, will usually do it in a conspiring manner, with whispered confessions that they've never been arrested before, but on this one — well, they're ready.

Harder for environmentalists like myself, are comments like those made by a lady haggard with daily worries who said I ought to be "ashamed" to be anti-pulp mill when men like her husband are "struggling to find work". It is this sort of comment that makes you realise that while the pulp mill debate is apparently about jobs it is actually about vulnerabilities: often those who see a need for the mill are some of the most economically vulnerable in the local community.

Having to protest is not ideal — being arrested even less so. However, there is more to these protests than just stopping the pulp mill. Indeed, the sidelining of the RPDC and the subsequent limitations on the formal participation of ordinary people and community groups have forced Tasmanians to become more politically active and much savvier.

TAP member, Sandra Murray explains that the protests are testimony to the strengthening of a community that "does what it needs to do. It's not anarchy but the use of might". Moreover, after Gunns withdrew from the RPDC process, TAP membership grew, and now there are "those of us who truly don't want it to be there (and) those who have come on board because they want to ensure that we are a democracy".

These are the concerns that have caused people like scallop fisherman John Hammond to reassess environmental issues in democratic rather than conservationist terms. As he said, speaking at a rally held after the RPDC abandonment, "if being a 'greenie' is wanting clean air and clean water, then count me in".

The inability of the ALP Government to democratically acknowledge deepening environmental values has contributed to its fall in support. Meanwhile, protests like Beaconsfield's prove that the Government faces a choice over the pulp mill: respect legal avenues for democratic participation, or deal with protesters who will break the law rather than be silenced.

Digby Ferry Meeting Monday!

Thanks to Jennifer Hill for this important heads up.
See you at the Monday evening meeting to save the ferry?
9th, 7:00 Digby Firehall or 10th at St. Anne's U.
Tom


Transportation study session in Digby on Monday


The federal government’s study into transportation needs of southwestern Nova Scotia—including the Digby-Saint John ferry service—will hold public consultations in the area starting Monday.


The South West Nova Scotia Transportation Study was announced as part of the package deal to extend the Bay of Fundy service operated by Bay Ferries.

CPCS, a consultants’ group under contract to the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, is directing the study.

Public sessions are meant to help identify problems and issues with the current transportation system, and possible changes to facilitate development opportunities.

The study’s website notes that with this area’s relative isolation from the rest of Canada, transportation plays a key economic role, both in terms of exporting products as well as bringing in tourists.

“The area’s ferry services are particularly important,” notes the website.

In Digby County, public consultations will be held Nov. 9 in the Digby Fire Hall and Nov. 10 at Université Sainte Anne in Church Point. Both sessions will be held from 7-9 p.m.

Other sessions will be held in Yarmouth, Middleton and Shelburne.

Members of the public are encouraged to participate in the sessions, and are asked to confirm attendance by emailing SWNovaStudy@cpcstrans.com , by contacting the Annapolis Digby Regional Development Agency or James Frost of CPCS at (902) 429-3121.

More information is available on the study website www.swnstransportationstudy.ca

Will Wind Turbines Reduce Power Bills? FYI

Wind farm plan criticized
Critics say ratepayers will be on hook for cost overruns at Colchester County site
By JUDY MYRDEN Business Reporter
Thu. Nov 5 - 4:46 AM


Consumer advocate John Merrick





Government regulators should reject Nova Scotia Power’s proposal to construct a $120-million wind farm in Colchester County, according to evidence filed with the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board.

Electricity customers could face higher power bills if the project runs into cost overruns or the 22 wind turbines at Nuttby Mountain don’t produce enough power, warns Nova Scotia’s consumer advocate on electricity in a brief filed Tuesday with the board.

"The risk of the investment is on the shoulders of the ratepayers," John Merrick states. "If it turns out that the Nuttby project is inefficient or expensive to maintain, it is the ratepayers who will pay through rates.

"The board cannot depend on NSPI to make decisions beneficial to ratepayers in this matter," he says in the brief.

In September, NSP asked its regulator to approve by Dec. 1 the utility’s application to construct and develop the Nuttby Mountain wind farm.

Located about 20 kilometres north of Truro, the project would include purchasing and erecting the turbines and constructing a new substation and transmission lines.

Before the board makes a decision on the wind farm application, it requested written questions, comments and evidence from interested parties. The deadline for evidence was Tuesday.

Mr. Merrick said before the board makes a decision it must be satisfied this is a "prudent" investment for NSP’s residential customers.

"It is not the role of the board to micromanage or second-guess management of NSP, but ratepayers need to have assurance that they are required to pay for those expenses and investments that do meet a prudence standard."

A group of Nova Scotia businesses say there are "too many unknowns" at this stage for the board to give the green light to this project.

"NSPI is seeking the board’s sanction for it to speculate presumably on behalf of and at the risk of its customers by investing in wind generation," wrote the group’s lawyer, Nancy Rubin.

Ms. Rubin says the Avon Group is concerned about the financial risks to customers if Nuttby Mountain does not produce as much electricity as proposed.

A renewable energy company is recommending the board reject NSP’s application.

Cape Breton Explorations Ltd. president Luciano Lisi argues if NSP is certain about its forecasts, then it should ask its shareholders to take the risk of developing the wind project.

"The numbers NSPI uses in their estimates are simply not acceptable as they are unreliably optimistic, and shift all risks onto the ratepayers. If NSPI is certain of their numbers, then they can have the project built by their mother company Emera Inc. at complete risk to their shareholders," wrote Mr. Lisi.

Mr. Lisi is also president of Strait Bio-Gen, which tried unsuccessfully to convince government regulators three months ago to approve a request by NSP to buy $60-million worth of biomass generated electricity from a partnership between NewPage Port Hawkesbury and Strait Bio-Gen.

NSP says it needs to go ahead with the wind project to meet tough new environmental regulations to reduce pollution. Last April, NSP bought the Nuttby Mountain wind farm from its struggling developer, EarthFirst Canada Inc., in an attempt to move the project forward.

And the Nova Scotia government is urging the board to grant NSP’s request for the wind project. Energy Department lawyer Stephen McGrath wrote in a brief that "all feasible projects should be permitted to proceed as quickly as possible."

Selective Democracy- Dan Mills

From: Dan Mills
To: editor digby courier
Cc: dan mills
Sent: Wednesday, November 04, 2009 8:05 PM
Subject: Selective DEMOCRACY


Dear Editor:

Karla Kelly in her online item in the Courier of Nov. 3rd. writes that
Democracy is hale and hearty in Weymouth where Warden Thurber and
Councillors Amero and Gregory had a hands on view of it when the 71 voted
59-12 in favour of the purchase of a new "fire pumper." I hope they really
comprehended that process and were not there as "window dressing"- and that
with the characteristic smile.( Are there more than 71 in that area who need
fire protection?)

When it comes to issues transforming of a people and a culture, they seem
not to acknowledge that process at all. The fire brewing in the community
where I live will take a lot more than an "M2-106 four door pumper" to put
out.

These same three, and their political cohorts, could have dared to stand up
to to the Municipal Government Act and said:"Let the people vote." They
didn't but , as it appears- some of them cowered behind closed doors and
sold out democracy to the god of greed called Mammon, and we may inherit
towering machines inflicting "who knows what because they didn't ask?"

Our political leaders question why people do not vote. I say: "why would
they if their vote counts for naught except for more of the same?

I vote for the Weymouth Fire Department "with my humble cheque" because in
days to come, your new truck may well save me and my neighbors lives.I can
count on you to come to our aid on Digby Neck unlike our Council who would
not even answer the phone.....

Daniel Mills.

Mr. Digby

From a website called "internatioal business and finance" ??!


Mr. Digby is an Old English Sheepdog who was born in New Zealand and lives in Hawaii. He is the head of the household so not much gets done unless the Digger Boo is taking part. He is now four years old and has learned numerous skills of his own training.

First chore of the day is to surrender the newspaper to Dad in the bed. The mommy usually drives him to the bottom of their Road to get the newspaper, then, when they come back and out of the auto, Digs takes the rolled up newspaper in his mouth and rushes up the stairs. Getting there depends upon if he gets distracted along the way. A pair of sport shoes is usually good as an distraction. He doesn’t however chew or shred the paper being a buff of the written word. Well he must be as he has ne’er so much as chewed on a book or magazine. If it does not make it to the bedside, it will be someplace on the stairway waiting to be retrieved by whoever.

And so off to the kitchen to assist with taking out the garbage. He downs the waste bin and worries at the liner until it comes loose. This done, he then continues to drag it to the garage for transportation to the transfer station. The chance here is if he does catch the top of the plastic bag where in most of the refuse stays in the bag until it gets to the garage. The not so lucky help is if he gets the plastic liner anyplace else as this leads in a trail of refuse from the kitchen through three rooms to the garage. This is completely done at neck breaking speed as the tasks he accomplishes each day are many.

After a quick lap of water from his bowl, he is then off to the bedroom to help make the bed. This entails his version of fluffing the pillows by tossing them high in the air. Where they land is not important as he can leap all over them to make sure not one dust particle remains, sometimes feathers too. Then it is off to the laundry with Dad’s underwear and socks. Sometimes they make it and sometimes not. There has to be a private stash somewhere in the house and to be honest we have found one under a sofa in the TV room and then another in his toy basket, but there is still a lot missing. Folding sheets is a particular skill as first a nest must be made by grabbing any section of sheet and racing in small circles until a nice tight wad has been achieved.

Whew, he is so busy. But wait, the Mom and Dad are having breakfast so it’s off at a run for some scrambled egg, maybe. Just look cute with your head on one side and that’s a winner. Oh well, time for a quick nap before he helps with a gardening project, but that’s for next time.

If you are a dog buff, and really, who wouldn’t be, you’ll also have tales of your special pet possibly just like this. But this tales are about Mr. Digby and I hope you’ll enjoy them. Mr. Digby was born in Tawa, a small town just out of Wellington in the North Island of New Zealand. enter Mr Digby Mr. Digby was born in New Zealand. He is a charming character.

Save Our Nurse

Go to the blog saveournurse.wordpress.com (I think I've got that right). They'd like you to write your support on that site to try to get the nurse back. Kathleen

Two Turbines Self-Destruct in One Week

From the Copenhagen Post

Tuesday, 03 November 2009 15:02 RC
Wind turbine blades rip loose near Esbjerg and southwestern Sweden, one landing on a hiking path

A malfunction on a Vestas wind turbine in the town of Falkenberg on Sweden’s southwest coast could have resulted in tragedy, as one of the structure’s large blades flew off and landed on a track used by hikers.

Yesterday’s incident follows a similar one this weekend near Esbjerg, where a defective axel caused all of the blades on a 40m high turbine to rip loose, one of them hitting a power transformer.

Both wind turbines were produced in Denmark.

And, although no one was injured in either incident, the accidents have brought the problem of faulty wind turbines into focus. The wind turbine industry in Sweden has now proposed setting up a commission to investigate the many incidents.

Rune Birk Nielsen, head of communications for the Danish Wind Industry Association, told The Copenhagen Post the organisation was behind getting the recent law passed requiring inspections to take place at least once a year. But he said it was up to the Energy Agency to ensure any widescale investigations.

Since 2000, there have been 27 incidents in Denmark of turbine blades coming loose.

The Esbjerg wind turbine was 11 years old and manufactured at Wincon’s plant in the Jutland town of Bjerringbro. The company’s technicians are looking into what caused the axel to snap.

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