Cove Music
Cove Music plans to offer a series of musical concerts held in the beautiful village of Sandy Cove, Digby Neck. While the musical genre will vary, a portion of proceeds will support the community in a variety of endeavours.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Someone's Letter to Stirling Belliveau about the Birds
Honorable Sterling Belliveau
Minister of the Environment & Fisheries
Honorable and Dear Sir:
I suppose a man who spent his life fishing on the waters has had little time
to hear the birds sing! That's not to say there aren't lots of birds
following the fishing boats and treading water on the sea, but they are
unlikely candidates for American Idol this year.Their quest is food for
their survival, and not an audience interested in their unmelodic tunes.
It is we landlubbers, who have lived next to and in the forests all our
lives, who remember the joy of hearing the chanting whip-poor-will of the
darkened skies, while all their singing cousins in the trees rest in the
beauty of his song! And then, at the very crack of dawn, will relieve him-
so as to greet each human stirring from his sleep with a new days song.
How odd it is that in a time when governments are tripping over each
other,the elected bodies of the people who are given the honoured positions
they have sought, seem to forget from whence comes their authority.
I am a simple man but not a simple fool. I was taught, and I believe, that
all authority comes from God. Perhaps you personally do not believe in God.
(Many politicans seem to behave as such.) That's OK with me. However, our
whole democratic system emanates from that foundation at its roots, and
that's what you represent to me and to my compatriots.(We may try, but
cannot compartmentalize our lives.)
Perhaps your office gives you preeminence in the overall order of creation
but only minutely so, and that just for a time. The Creator Was-Is-and Will
Always Be! It's His Order that we need seek.Otherwise, is Chaos!
The road we are on- and I can't blame you for what it is- is a most
destructive route.The attachment here, an item from today's daily newspaper,
is symptomatic of our plight. It's too bad governments have no senses, most
notably hearing and sight! Governments are deaf and blind to God's created
world. It's a great tragedy when those we elect to government can go blind
and deaf over night.
Surely someone in your branch must know that Digby Neck and Islands have
been a migratory bird route for ages, and that someone should have told you,
and your predecessors, through the years. In just the last fifteen or so
since I returned to live here, I watched massive destruction of that which
helps to keep natures balance- and that is gradually going to spin out of
control.A good scientist would agree!
Initially, I watched it clearcut of every standing tree- some not big enough
for a long fishing pole or a lengthy tooth pick. Every creature, nesting
birds included, was driven out. Where would they go? Does your Dept. provide
a new home for them? An NDP SPCA? A good and caring man, and government,
should well be for the birds, or elsewise are unworthy of their mandate.
In the past few weeks, and with your blessing, this beautiful section of the
Digby Neck has become a Mountain of Devastation. Even a late arriving robin
from its winter habitat would be hard-pressed to find the lowly earth worm
there today.
When the earth worm, the lowliest of them all,we think, is gone, we shall
surely soon follow them into extinction. A man of the Environment assuredly
can connect the dots and make that determination. That's when God, I
suppose, will blink and say to Himself: "I should have saved the worm!"
In short, you are allowing what supports created life to die. Hundreds of
aerial photos (would you like some?) attest to that. One of our uneducated
politicians at a lower level of government told us:" I don't care about the
birds!" which is to say ,"I believe not in the connectedness of all
creatures in life", and behind closed doors, hatched this scheme of
desecration. Remember, when the last earthworm is gone,so will we be, for it
is the work of that lowly creature, and it alone, which makes our earth
arable.You nor your science cannot replace that!
The final swing of the axe you throw is to come next. That is when 400'
whizzing blades
will take the last of the migratory birds not to their nesting grounds, but
to their veritable death.We lowly people who live here know that; we also
know that by the time misguided politicians have their way with us,there
will be Wind Rigs straight up and down Digby Neck! Indeed, we are not a
community of fools!
In so much as you have, and will continue in this runaway pursuit of that
which you seem not to fully understand, in proportion you will have
destroyed not only a mountain and the life that it supports, but you will
have had a hand in destroying what is left of rural community life. As sad
as it may seem- and I never thought I'd come to this- coming to the end of
ones life as age continues to overtake ones spirit, seems not such a bad
thing at all. I know that- in the current turn of events at the hands of
those we elect, the option for quality of life is very remote and slim. What
a legacy the last historians will have to write about!
So let me wish you well. I will say a manly prayer for you that you will
make manly decisions. It will be that human senses will be restored to you
and your fellows- in -power for discernment that you may anew come to be
able to tell the forest from the trees.
Daniel Mills
Digby Neck
Minister of the Environment & Fisheries
Honorable and Dear Sir:
I suppose a man who spent his life fishing on the waters has had little time
to hear the birds sing! That's not to say there aren't lots of birds
following the fishing boats and treading water on the sea, but they are
unlikely candidates for American Idol this year.Their quest is food for
their survival, and not an audience interested in their unmelodic tunes.
It is we landlubbers, who have lived next to and in the forests all our
lives, who remember the joy of hearing the chanting whip-poor-will of the
darkened skies, while all their singing cousins in the trees rest in the
beauty of his song! And then, at the very crack of dawn, will relieve him-
so as to greet each human stirring from his sleep with a new days song.
How odd it is that in a time when governments are tripping over each
other,the elected bodies of the people who are given the honoured positions
they have sought, seem to forget from whence comes their authority.
I am a simple man but not a simple fool. I was taught, and I believe, that
all authority comes from God. Perhaps you personally do not believe in God.
(Many politicans seem to behave as such.) That's OK with me. However, our
whole democratic system emanates from that foundation at its roots, and
that's what you represent to me and to my compatriots.(We may try, but
cannot compartmentalize our lives.)
Perhaps your office gives you preeminence in the overall order of creation
but only minutely so, and that just for a time. The Creator Was-Is-and Will
Always Be! It's His Order that we need seek.Otherwise, is Chaos!
The road we are on- and I can't blame you for what it is- is a most
destructive route.The attachment here, an item from today's daily newspaper,
is symptomatic of our plight. It's too bad governments have no senses, most
notably hearing and sight! Governments are deaf and blind to God's created
world. It's a great tragedy when those we elect to government can go blind
and deaf over night.
Surely someone in your branch must know that Digby Neck and Islands have
been a migratory bird route for ages, and that someone should have told you,
and your predecessors, through the years. In just the last fifteen or so
since I returned to live here, I watched massive destruction of that which
helps to keep natures balance- and that is gradually going to spin out of
control.A good scientist would agree!
Initially, I watched it clearcut of every standing tree- some not big enough
for a long fishing pole or a lengthy tooth pick. Every creature, nesting
birds included, was driven out. Where would they go? Does your Dept. provide
a new home for them? An NDP SPCA? A good and caring man, and government,
should well be for the birds, or elsewise are unworthy of their mandate.
In the past few weeks, and with your blessing, this beautiful section of the
Digby Neck has become a Mountain of Devastation. Even a late arriving robin
from its winter habitat would be hard-pressed to find the lowly earth worm
there today.
When the earth worm, the lowliest of them all,we think, is gone, we shall
surely soon follow them into extinction. A man of the Environment assuredly
can connect the dots and make that determination. That's when God, I
suppose, will blink and say to Himself: "I should have saved the worm!"
In short, you are allowing what supports created life to die. Hundreds of
aerial photos (would you like some?) attest to that. One of our uneducated
politicians at a lower level of government told us:" I don't care about the
birds!" which is to say ,"I believe not in the connectedness of all
creatures in life", and behind closed doors, hatched this scheme of
desecration. Remember, when the last earthworm is gone,so will we be, for it
is the work of that lowly creature, and it alone, which makes our earth
arable.You nor your science cannot replace that!
The final swing of the axe you throw is to come next. That is when 400'
whizzing blades
will take the last of the migratory birds not to their nesting grounds, but
to their veritable death.We lowly people who live here know that; we also
know that by the time misguided politicians have their way with us,there
will be Wind Rigs straight up and down Digby Neck! Indeed, we are not a
community of fools!
In so much as you have, and will continue in this runaway pursuit of that
which you seem not to fully understand, in proportion you will have
destroyed not only a mountain and the life that it supports, but you will
have had a hand in destroying what is left of rural community life. As sad
as it may seem- and I never thought I'd come to this- coming to the end of
ones life as age continues to overtake ones spirit, seems not such a bad
thing at all. I know that- in the current turn of events at the hands of
those we elect, the option for quality of life is very remote and slim. What
a legacy the last historians will have to write about!
So let me wish you well. I will say a manly prayer for you that you will
make manly decisions. It will be that human senses will be restored to you
and your fellows- in -power for discernment that you may anew come to be
able to tell the forest from the trees.
Daniel Mills
Digby Neck
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Wind Turbine Syndrome
Blogger: Thanks to the people who sent this in to me.
Wind Turbines: Some Deeper Questions
A book commentary by David Orton and Helga Hoffmann-Orton
Wind Turbine Syndrome: A Report on a Natural Experiment
by Nina Pierpont, MD, PhD, K-Selected Books, Santa Fe, New Mexico,
2009, 292 pages, paperback, ISBN-13: 978-0-9841827-0-1.
“Symptoms include sleep disturbance, headache, tinnitus, ear pressure, dizziness, vertigo, nausea, visual blurring, tachycardia, irritability, problems with concentration and memory, and panic episodes associated with sensations of internal pulsation or quivering that arise while awake or asleep.” p. 26. (Health effects experienced by some people living near 1.5 to 3 MW wind turbines, built since 2004.)
“Keep wind turbines at least 2 km (1.25 miles) away on the flat, and 3.2 km (2 miles) in mountains…Second, all wind turbine ordinances should hold developers responsible for a full price (pre-turbine) buyout of any family whose lives are ruined by turbines – to prod developers to follow realistic health-based rules and prevent the extreme economic loss of home abandonment.” p. 254.
Introduction
This book commentary was written in the context of our own local situation, and to make Nina Pierpont’s Wind Turbine Syndrome: A Report on a Natural Experiment better known to others who have wind turbines sprouting up like industrial mushrooms in their backyards and regions. Pierpont, a rural physician living in upstate New York, writes about health impacts suffered by people living close to wind turbines. The book is essentially about human health, and does not discuss ecosystem health, a more encompassing topic with wider dimensions. The reference to ‘natural experiment’ in the subtitle, refers to “a circumstance wherein subjects are exposed to experimental conditions both inadvertently and ecologically (within their own homes and environments).” (p. 5)
Our situation
We live in rural Pictou County, Nova Scotia, and within visual distance from the 51 MW Dalhousie Mountain wind turbine complex – re-branded ‘wind farm’ presumably to convey an innocuous bucolic image. Its 34 industrial wind turbines are a ‘first phase’, with the developers ‘promising’ more to come, rationalized in the name of reducing greenhouse gases, not creating economic rewards for the developers. The proponents are R.M. Synergy Ltd and Stantec Consultants Ltd. Dalhousie Mountain is now a ‘forest’ of rotating wind turbines hundreds of feet tall. The 1.5 MW turbines measure approximately 120 meters in height from the ground to the tip of the rotor blade. The site is a hilly area and about 340 metres above sea level. The wind farm is a massive intrusion on the viewscape of many people, not only in our own immediate area, but also for those travelling on the Trans-Canada Highway between Truro and New Glasgow.
The environmental assessment for the Dalhousie Mountain project was approved on September 2, 2008, less than a month after it was submitted. John Livingston, perhaps Canada’s deepest eco-philosopher, as well as a life-long naturalist, told us in his 1981 book The Fallacy of Wildlife Conservation, that “EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) is a grandiloquent fraud, a hoax, and a con.” (p. 33) He also discussed what he called “resourcism”, pointing out that in our society, once anything is considered a “resource” for human use, this allows us to consider “nature as our subsidiary” and its demise is only a matter of time.
We are told in one of the submitted environmental assessment documents: “The visual impact of installing 34 turbines in an unpopulated area to provide much needed electricity can only be considered a responsible addition to the aesthetics of Pictou County.” Another revealing comment from the same document, shows its blindness to the wonders of the natural world: “Industrial fixtures become endearing features for our communities, describing the culture or the ‘way we live.’” The impact is not just visual, since as well as the turbines themselves, there are new roads, new connecting power lines, the cutting of trees, a new electrical sub-station, lights on some of the turbine blades for aircraft, and increased human traffic.
This promoter, like other industrial wind farm enthusiasts, does not seem to understand, as E.F. Schumacher instructed us in Small is Beautiful: A Study of Economics As If People Mattered, that “for every activity there is a certain appropriate scale.” (p. 54) We are not talking here about a small group of wind turbines ecologically situated, community owned and controlled, and helping to supply energy to the local bioregion, with the revenues community-generated, not privately accumulated, within an overall societal strategy of seriously reducing citizen energy lifestyles and hence greenhouse gas emissions. The operator of this wind farm now has a contract from Nova Scotia Power to produce wind-generated electricity for 25 years and wants to significantly expand the number of turbines on the mountain.
In Nova Scotia, the provincial New Democratic government aims to generate 40% of electricity from “renewable resources” by 2020. (There is, of course, no let-up on the offshore promotion of fossil fuel exploration and extraction by the Nova Scotia government.) “Renewables” include, as well as wind turbine generated electricity, biomass harvesting from forests already ravaged by industrial forestry, and placing electricity generating turbines in the tidal Bay of Fundy – newspaper reports have spoken of 200 to 300 units – with costs unknown to the marine ecosystem.
The provincial government, along with its federal counterpart, is also in financial partnership with a South Korean company planning to manufacture wind turbines in Trenton, a town in Pictou County. (According to newspaper reports, the government money amounts to 70 million dollars.) So the wind turbine push is on. Support for industrial wind turbines crosses party lines. Elizabeth May, in the name of the federal Green Party, on August 19, 2008 stated about the Dalhousie Mountain project, “The Green Party is pleased to support a local entrepreneur in the undertaking of this project. Its over-all environmental impact is unquestionably positive.”
Faced with this new industrial reality in our area, we belatedly started to look into the industrial wind turbine issue, from the perspective of deep ecology. We are trying to read as widely as possible, and are still doing more research on the topic. While exploring the subject, we came across references to “Wind Turbine Syndrome” and the name Nina Pierpont. We got her book to see what she had to say – hence this commentary.
...
Continued at http://home.ca.inter.net/~greenweb/Wind_turbine_questions.pdf
Wind Turbines: Some Deeper Questions
A book commentary by David Orton and Helga Hoffmann-Orton
Wind Turbine Syndrome: A Report on a Natural Experiment
by Nina Pierpont, MD, PhD, K-Selected Books, Santa Fe, New Mexico,
2009, 292 pages, paperback, ISBN-13: 978-0-9841827-0-1.
“Symptoms include sleep disturbance, headache, tinnitus, ear pressure, dizziness, vertigo, nausea, visual blurring, tachycardia, irritability, problems with concentration and memory, and panic episodes associated with sensations of internal pulsation or quivering that arise while awake or asleep.” p. 26. (Health effects experienced by some people living near 1.5 to 3 MW wind turbines, built since 2004.)
“Keep wind turbines at least 2 km (1.25 miles) away on the flat, and 3.2 km (2 miles) in mountains…Second, all wind turbine ordinances should hold developers responsible for a full price (pre-turbine) buyout of any family whose lives are ruined by turbines – to prod developers to follow realistic health-based rules and prevent the extreme economic loss of home abandonment.” p. 254.
Introduction
This book commentary was written in the context of our own local situation, and to make Nina Pierpont’s Wind Turbine Syndrome: A Report on a Natural Experiment better known to others who have wind turbines sprouting up like industrial mushrooms in their backyards and regions. Pierpont, a rural physician living in upstate New York, writes about health impacts suffered by people living close to wind turbines. The book is essentially about human health, and does not discuss ecosystem health, a more encompassing topic with wider dimensions. The reference to ‘natural experiment’ in the subtitle, refers to “a circumstance wherein subjects are exposed to experimental conditions both inadvertently and ecologically (within their own homes and environments).” (p. 5)
Our situation
We live in rural Pictou County, Nova Scotia, and within visual distance from the 51 MW Dalhousie Mountain wind turbine complex – re-branded ‘wind farm’ presumably to convey an innocuous bucolic image. Its 34 industrial wind turbines are a ‘first phase’, with the developers ‘promising’ more to come, rationalized in the name of reducing greenhouse gases, not creating economic rewards for the developers. The proponents are R.M. Synergy Ltd and Stantec Consultants Ltd. Dalhousie Mountain is now a ‘forest’ of rotating wind turbines hundreds of feet tall. The 1.5 MW turbines measure approximately 120 meters in height from the ground to the tip of the rotor blade. The site is a hilly area and about 340 metres above sea level. The wind farm is a massive intrusion on the viewscape of many people, not only in our own immediate area, but also for those travelling on the Trans-Canada Highway between Truro and New Glasgow.
The environmental assessment for the Dalhousie Mountain project was approved on September 2, 2008, less than a month after it was submitted. John Livingston, perhaps Canada’s deepest eco-philosopher, as well as a life-long naturalist, told us in his 1981 book The Fallacy of Wildlife Conservation, that “EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) is a grandiloquent fraud, a hoax, and a con.” (p. 33) He also discussed what he called “resourcism”, pointing out that in our society, once anything is considered a “resource” for human use, this allows us to consider “nature as our subsidiary” and its demise is only a matter of time.
We are told in one of the submitted environmental assessment documents: “The visual impact of installing 34 turbines in an unpopulated area to provide much needed electricity can only be considered a responsible addition to the aesthetics of Pictou County.” Another revealing comment from the same document, shows its blindness to the wonders of the natural world: “Industrial fixtures become endearing features for our communities, describing the culture or the ‘way we live.’” The impact is not just visual, since as well as the turbines themselves, there are new roads, new connecting power lines, the cutting of trees, a new electrical sub-station, lights on some of the turbine blades for aircraft, and increased human traffic.
This promoter, like other industrial wind farm enthusiasts, does not seem to understand, as E.F. Schumacher instructed us in Small is Beautiful: A Study of Economics As If People Mattered, that “for every activity there is a certain appropriate scale.” (p. 54) We are not talking here about a small group of wind turbines ecologically situated, community owned and controlled, and helping to supply energy to the local bioregion, with the revenues community-generated, not privately accumulated, within an overall societal strategy of seriously reducing citizen energy lifestyles and hence greenhouse gas emissions. The operator of this wind farm now has a contract from Nova Scotia Power to produce wind-generated electricity for 25 years and wants to significantly expand the number of turbines on the mountain.
In Nova Scotia, the provincial New Democratic government aims to generate 40% of electricity from “renewable resources” by 2020. (There is, of course, no let-up on the offshore promotion of fossil fuel exploration and extraction by the Nova Scotia government.) “Renewables” include, as well as wind turbine generated electricity, biomass harvesting from forests already ravaged by industrial forestry, and placing electricity generating turbines in the tidal Bay of Fundy – newspaper reports have spoken of 200 to 300 units – with costs unknown to the marine ecosystem.
The provincial government, along with its federal counterpart, is also in financial partnership with a South Korean company planning to manufacture wind turbines in Trenton, a town in Pictou County. (According to newspaper reports, the government money amounts to 70 million dollars.) So the wind turbine push is on. Support for industrial wind turbines crosses party lines. Elizabeth May, in the name of the federal Green Party, on August 19, 2008 stated about the Dalhousie Mountain project, “The Green Party is pleased to support a local entrepreneur in the undertaking of this project. Its over-all environmental impact is unquestionably positive.”
Faced with this new industrial reality in our area, we belatedly started to look into the industrial wind turbine issue, from the perspective of deep ecology. We are trying to read as widely as possible, and are still doing more research on the topic. While exploring the subject, we came across references to “Wind Turbine Syndrome” and the name Nina Pierpont. We got her book to see what she had to say – hence this commentary.
...
Continued at http://home.ca.inter.net/~greenweb/Wind_turbine_questions.pdf
Labels:
wind turbine health effects
Clearcutting/Urban Sprawl Decimating Songbirds
Clearcutting, urban sprawl decimating songbirds
By KEVIN BISSETT The Canadian Press
Sat. May 15 - 4:54 AM
Eastern kingbird
FREDERICTON — A rapid decline in the number of songbirds across North America should serve as a wake-up call about what is being done to the environment, a Canadian biologist warned Friday.
Bridget Stutchbury, a professor at Toronto’s York University, said a growing number of bird species will be at risk unless immediate action is taken to protect large natural areas that serve as breeding grounds.
"The facts can be shocking, and so shocking they are almost hard to believe," Stutchbury said in Fredericton.
"When you talk about biodiversity loss, very realistic forecasts are that in the next 100 years we are going to lose 10 to 15 per cent of the world’s birds in terms of species.
"Just to give you a feel for the numbers, the wood thrush, which should be a common forest bird, has declined by 40 per cent since the 1960s," she added.
Other species in decline include the evening grosbeak and Eastern kingbird.
Stutchbury said the decline is the result of a loss of habitat due to clearcutting and urban sprawl, not climate change.
She said Canada’s boreal forest serves as a bird nursery for the continent and must be protected to, in turn, protect birds.
"Unless something radical is done in terms of setting aside protected areas for wildlife and plants, it’s all going to unravel because there are dozens of species on a straight-line trajectory to zero," she said.
David Coon, policy director of the New Brunswick Conservation Council, said the same is occurring in New Brunswick with the decline of the Acadian forest because of clear-cutting.
"Restoration is essential if we’re going to rebuild a sizable area of Acadian forest," he said.
"We are literally cutting our biological life-support base out from under us."
This is the United Nations’ international year of biodiversity. Countries around the world agreed to achieve a significant cut in the loss of ecosystems and species under a treaty signed in 1992.
"No country met the targets," Coon said.
"They are now negotiating new targets."
Stutchbury said coffee presents one of the biggest problems for migratory birds because tropical forests that serve as bird refuges each winter are being cleared to make way for coffee plantations.
She said coffee drinkers can help by insisting their coffee is grown in the forests.
She also encourages reduced pesticide use.
Stutchbury said it’s important to protect birds because they also help forests by controlling the number of insects and by spreading seeds.
By KEVIN BISSETT The Canadian Press
Sat. May 15 - 4:54 AM
Eastern kingbird
FREDERICTON — A rapid decline in the number of songbirds across North America should serve as a wake-up call about what is being done to the environment, a Canadian biologist warned Friday.
Bridget Stutchbury, a professor at Toronto’s York University, said a growing number of bird species will be at risk unless immediate action is taken to protect large natural areas that serve as breeding grounds.
"The facts can be shocking, and so shocking they are almost hard to believe," Stutchbury said in Fredericton.
"When you talk about biodiversity loss, very realistic forecasts are that in the next 100 years we are going to lose 10 to 15 per cent of the world’s birds in terms of species.
"Just to give you a feel for the numbers, the wood thrush, which should be a common forest bird, has declined by 40 per cent since the 1960s," she added.
Other species in decline include the evening grosbeak and Eastern kingbird.
Stutchbury said the decline is the result of a loss of habitat due to clearcutting and urban sprawl, not climate change.
She said Canada’s boreal forest serves as a bird nursery for the continent and must be protected to, in turn, protect birds.
"Unless something radical is done in terms of setting aside protected areas for wildlife and plants, it’s all going to unravel because there are dozens of species on a straight-line trajectory to zero," she said.
David Coon, policy director of the New Brunswick Conservation Council, said the same is occurring in New Brunswick with the decline of the Acadian forest because of clear-cutting.
"Restoration is essential if we’re going to rebuild a sizable area of Acadian forest," he said.
"We are literally cutting our biological life-support base out from under us."
This is the United Nations’ international year of biodiversity. Countries around the world agreed to achieve a significant cut in the loss of ecosystems and species under a treaty signed in 1992.
"No country met the targets," Coon said.
"They are now negotiating new targets."
Stutchbury said coffee presents one of the biggest problems for migratory birds because tropical forests that serve as bird refuges each winter are being cleared to make way for coffee plantations.
She said coffee drinkers can help by insisting their coffee is grown in the forests.
She also encourages reduced pesticide use.
Stutchbury said it’s important to protect birds because they also help forests by controlling the number of insects and by spreading seeds.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Posting to This Blog
Your comments etc are welcome. Guidelines are: posts must be accompanied by name and location. Posts must be relatively short. I cannot post items that are not in text format (don't send scanned articles as they are "pictures" of documents, unless you put them into text format.) Posts need to be sent to kathleen1954@auracom.com, unless I've told you otherwise. Posts may be edited for language, length, content.
Labels:
posting to blog
Short Georges Moratorium Up for Study and Study
NS: Georges Bank drilling debate just beginning
By Paul McLeod, Metro Halifax
Source: Metro Halifax, May 14, 2010
[HALIFAX, NS] — Oil and gas drilling is banned on Georges Bank for another three years, but the debate is far from over.
Premier Darrell Dexter announced on Thursday his government is extending the moratorium in the waters south of Nova Scotia from 2012 to 2015.
Premier Darrell Dexter speaks with reporters at One Government Place. — Ryan Taplin/Metro Halifax photo
The decision takes place against the backdrop of a catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, with both fishermen and opposition parties urging the government to block development of the wildlife-rich area.
But the extension is much shorter than last time, when the government in 1999 decided to extend the ban until 2012. Dexter said that’s because they’re still waiting on more scientific information to come back.
Two reports are underway but Dexter said more study is needed before a final decision is made.
“Some are completed, some are not. What I’m saying is what we have seen so far points out the need for additional scientific inquiry,” said Dexter.
Another factor is that part of the area falls under American jurisdiction. The current American moratorium runs until 2017. Dexter said Nova Scotia won’t necessarily pursue drilling if the Americans do.
He also said Thursday’s decision was not due to the Gulf of Mexico BP spill.
“The event there had little effect on this decision at all. It’s something that raised awareness but we were on a track to make this decision,” he said.
Mark Butler of the Ecology Action Centre was happy to see the moratorium extended but said ideally it should be permanent.
“At some point we have to get out of this, end the cycle of studies and public consultations every five years or every 10 years,” said Butler. “In the end — yes, the science is important, yes, changes in the industry and the technology are important, but the value of Georges Bank doesn’t change, both its ecosystem and to the fishery.”
By Paul McLeod, Metro Halifax
Source: Metro Halifax, May 14, 2010
[HALIFAX, NS] — Oil and gas drilling is banned on Georges Bank for another three years, but the debate is far from over.
Premier Darrell Dexter announced on Thursday his government is extending the moratorium in the waters south of Nova Scotia from 2012 to 2015.
Premier Darrell Dexter speaks with reporters at One Government Place. — Ryan Taplin/Metro Halifax photo
The decision takes place against the backdrop of a catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, with both fishermen and opposition parties urging the government to block development of the wildlife-rich area.
But the extension is much shorter than last time, when the government in 1999 decided to extend the ban until 2012. Dexter said that’s because they’re still waiting on more scientific information to come back.
Two reports are underway but Dexter said more study is needed before a final decision is made.
“Some are completed, some are not. What I’m saying is what we have seen so far points out the need for additional scientific inquiry,” said Dexter.
Another factor is that part of the area falls under American jurisdiction. The current American moratorium runs until 2017. Dexter said Nova Scotia won’t necessarily pursue drilling if the Americans do.
He also said Thursday’s decision was not due to the Gulf of Mexico BP spill.
“The event there had little effect on this decision at all. It’s something that raised awareness but we were on a track to make this decision,” he said.
Mark Butler of the Ecology Action Centre was happy to see the moratorium extended but said ideally it should be permanent.
“At some point we have to get out of this, end the cycle of studies and public consultations every five years or every 10 years,” said Butler. “In the end — yes, the science is important, yes, changes in the industry and the technology are important, but the value of Georges Bank doesn’t change, both its ecosystem and to the fishery.”
Digby/Digby Neck Make Saltscapes Magazine
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Digby
Written by Sandra Phinney. Photography: Sandra Phinney. This article was published in the May/June 2010 Travel Guide.
World-famous scallops, world-class whale watching and 23,000 motorcycles.
One day, many moons ago, I wheeled up to the ferry terminal to take the Princess of Acadia from Digby to Saint John. Alas, I was 10 minutes late and missed the boat. Knowing the response I'd get from my sister on the other side of the Bay of Fundy, I panicked. Then I remembered seeing a small sign that said "Airport" on the outskirts of town on my way to the ferry.
Eventually I found the airport, which consisted of a small club house and runway in a big field. No planes in sight. But I did get directions to someone's home-and yes, he would fly me over. As we winged over the Bay of Fundy, the pilot confided that he had cancelled his insurance but he would discount his fee when we landed. He saved the day; my sister was ecstatic and I've had a soft place in my heart for Digby ever since.
People in this little town are friendly and accommodating. Don't be afraid to ask where to find a decent cup of coffee and who gives the best whale-watching tours on "the neck." (Digby Neck is the longish peninsula that extends from Digby down to Brier Island. This region has some of the best whale-watching anywhere.)
Of course, Digby is world-famous for its scallops and has a very active fishery. If you roam around the waterfront you'll find piles of scallop shells. Further along Water Street you'll find the Boardwalk Café, which serves the best sautéed scallops on the planet (and a great iced espresso coffee.
Feeling flush? Arrange to have dinner at the Digby Pines Golf Resort & Spa. Your meal will be memorable. You can also take a gorgeous hike on the property, whether you are a guest or not. Go past the main building and cottages and you'll find the entrance to the trail. There are benches along the way where you can take photos of the imposing Bay of Fundy or simply sit and catch your breath before looping through the woods back to the parking lot.
Poking around the main drag you'll also find gems like Crooked Timber Books in a 19th century house. Owner Bill Schrank loves to talk about used books. He has loads. Someone recently discovered a first edition of Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and was one happy dude. But Crooked Timber is more than a second hand bookstore. Things like sequined dresses, funky stuffed animals and vinyl records lend a whole new dimension to book browsing.
And for a real show stopper, plan to be in Digby for the annual Wharf Rat Rally, commonly referred to as the WRR. The event started off five years ago with 750 motorcycles and drew 5,000 people. Since then it's "just growed" like Topsy, and last year, there were 23,000 bikes and 85,000 people. It's six days of people struttin' their stuff (oooh the chrome and the power!) and exchanging road stories.
A lot of time and thought goes into entertainment and both the calibre and variety is as good as it gets. I've often wondered how this little place (population 2,311) manages to pull off such a "wow" event. Part of it is due to the fact that everyone supports the rally, from locals to town council and shopkeepers. There's also a small army of volunteers who pitch in to make it work. "There are some secret ingredients that we keep to ourselves," says Peter Robertson, one of the co-founders of the event, adding, "Digby is in the middle of nowhere but connected to everywhere-and bikers like to ride to get here."
Jamie Rogers started attending when he was 13. He's crazy about the Kawasaki bikes and he loves talking with bike owners. Last year, he turned 16 just before the rally and was able to participate-riding his own bike. Now he takes to the road every chance he gets (he highly recommends a spin around Bear River as it's full of hills and curves and it's close to Digby.)
Geraldine Hedberg, another Digby native, looks forward to the town's influx of bikers every year. Although Geraldine does not drive a bike, her husband was a die-hard Harley man so she has an appreciation for the passion that people have for biking. At age 80, she'd prefer to keep her feet on the ground, but she takes part in all the activities. "I don't even notice the noise," she says.
As you can see, there's more to Digby than you'd think at first glance. But don't just take my word for it. Go ahead and make your own discoveries. By the way-Digby still has that little airport. You might find a pilot who will take you for a spin around the bay. Just be sure he's insured.
Digby
Written by Sandra Phinney. Photography: Sandra Phinney. This article was published in the May/June 2010 Travel Guide.
World-famous scallops, world-class whale watching and 23,000 motorcycles.
One day, many moons ago, I wheeled up to the ferry terminal to take the Princess of Acadia from Digby to Saint John. Alas, I was 10 minutes late and missed the boat. Knowing the response I'd get from my sister on the other side of the Bay of Fundy, I panicked. Then I remembered seeing a small sign that said "Airport" on the outskirts of town on my way to the ferry.
Eventually I found the airport, which consisted of a small club house and runway in a big field. No planes in sight. But I did get directions to someone's home-and yes, he would fly me over. As we winged over the Bay of Fundy, the pilot confided that he had cancelled his insurance but he would discount his fee when we landed. He saved the day; my sister was ecstatic and I've had a soft place in my heart for Digby ever since.
People in this little town are friendly and accommodating. Don't be afraid to ask where to find a decent cup of coffee and who gives the best whale-watching tours on "the neck." (Digby Neck is the longish peninsula that extends from Digby down to Brier Island. This region has some of the best whale-watching anywhere.)
Of course, Digby is world-famous for its scallops and has a very active fishery. If you roam around the waterfront you'll find piles of scallop shells. Further along Water Street you'll find the Boardwalk Café, which serves the best sautéed scallops on the planet (and a great iced espresso coffee.
Feeling flush? Arrange to have dinner at the Digby Pines Golf Resort & Spa. Your meal will be memorable. You can also take a gorgeous hike on the property, whether you are a guest or not. Go past the main building and cottages and you'll find the entrance to the trail. There are benches along the way where you can take photos of the imposing Bay of Fundy or simply sit and catch your breath before looping through the woods back to the parking lot.
Poking around the main drag you'll also find gems like Crooked Timber Books in a 19th century house. Owner Bill Schrank loves to talk about used books. He has loads. Someone recently discovered a first edition of Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and was one happy dude. But Crooked Timber is more than a second hand bookstore. Things like sequined dresses, funky stuffed animals and vinyl records lend a whole new dimension to book browsing.
And for a real show stopper, plan to be in Digby for the annual Wharf Rat Rally, commonly referred to as the WRR. The event started off five years ago with 750 motorcycles and drew 5,000 people. Since then it's "just growed" like Topsy, and last year, there were 23,000 bikes and 85,000 people. It's six days of people struttin' their stuff (oooh the chrome and the power!) and exchanging road stories.
A lot of time and thought goes into entertainment and both the calibre and variety is as good as it gets. I've often wondered how this little place (population 2,311) manages to pull off such a "wow" event. Part of it is due to the fact that everyone supports the rally, from locals to town council and shopkeepers. There's also a small army of volunteers who pitch in to make it work. "There are some secret ingredients that we keep to ourselves," says Peter Robertson, one of the co-founders of the event, adding, "Digby is in the middle of nowhere but connected to everywhere-and bikers like to ride to get here."
Jamie Rogers started attending when he was 13. He's crazy about the Kawasaki bikes and he loves talking with bike owners. Last year, he turned 16 just before the rally and was able to participate-riding his own bike. Now he takes to the road every chance he gets (he highly recommends a spin around Bear River as it's full of hills and curves and it's close to Digby.)
Geraldine Hedberg, another Digby native, looks forward to the town's influx of bikers every year. Although Geraldine does not drive a bike, her husband was a die-hard Harley man so she has an appreciation for the passion that people have for biking. At age 80, she'd prefer to keep her feet on the ground, but she takes part in all the activities. "I don't even notice the noise," she says.
As you can see, there's more to Digby than you'd think at first glance. But don't just take my word for it. Go ahead and make your own discoveries. By the way-Digby still has that little airport. You might find a pilot who will take you for a spin around the bay. Just be sure he's insured.
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