From Live Earth
Hello ,
Thousands of Events Call for Action and Leadership on the Climate Crisis Last Saturday, people in 181 countries came together for the most widespread day of environmental action in the planet's history. At over 5,200 events around the world, people gathered to call for strong action and bold leadership on the climate crisis.
The international day of climate action, spearheaded by 350.org, made headlines around the world this weekend and news clips and video clips continue streaming in.
The next global day of action is coming soon - start thinking about how you will participate!
Click here and here for more pictures and info.
Pump Aid's Solutions Provide Clean, Safe Water for Millions in Rural Africa
Pump Aid is part of the growing network of NGOs that will use funds raised by the Dow Live Earth Run for Water to support sustainable and scalable water programs around the world. To donate directly to the NGO selected for your country, visit http://liveearth.org/give
Pump Aid is an international Water and Sanitation charity that tackles poverty by working with local communities in southern Africa. Pump Aid does this by establishing sustainable supplies of clean water and safer sanitation solutions. The long-term effects of their work will ensure improved health and increased agricultural production by improving the availability and quality of water for domestic consumption; promoting the productive use of water in agriculture, tree-planting; and providing sanitation with health education.
Click here for more info.
Save Water and Lives
Check out our Save Water and Save Lives section! Save Water is filled with great tips on how you and your family can work to conserve water at your home and office. And Save Lives is filled with some of the important projects around the world that are working tirelessly to save lives by providing access to clean drinking water.
Check it out here - http://liveearth.org/save
You can help solve the water crisis by participating in the April 18, 2010 Dow Live Earth Run for Water. Run/walk registration is now officially open! Sign up now at http://liveearth.org/run.
Thanks and be sure to visit us soon at LiveEarth.org!
Monday, November 2, 2009
Mink Farms
From the Chronicle Herald
by Daniel Mills
30 lashes for vanity!
Sun. Nov 1 - 4:45 AM
Last Sunday’s "Mink ranchers feed craze" has dazed me into a new admiration for the lowly mink and its capacity to restore new blinking eyelashes to yesterday’s women: Lo, Mo and O (J-Lo, Madonna and Oprah). I can see their beady little eyes now (the mink, I mean), rolled towards the heavens in awe of a new and purposeful role — no longer furs to warm the "bods" of the rich and affluent and bonnets for their hair (for that, they have to lay down their lives), but under the gentle hand of their keepers, a mere brushing to extract fur to improve "winkability" of the rich and famous whose own lashes, for reasons of age I suspect, have fallen out. God forbid that they would look their age, let alone act it!
Lee Keating wonders aloud why the Department of Agriculture "is so hot on mink ranching." The article indicates a mink ranch is planned for Carleton, Yarmouth County; although an Oct. 28 update says it cannot proceed unless the building’s size is reduced. Also mentioned in Sunday’s article is that Ashmore in Digby County has been graced by our benevolent politicos with a mink farm. It may be because concerned Digby Neck people have been so vocal about so many issues the past few years that mention of a mink operation on Digby Neck on the Cross Road seems to have escaped the writer’s pen. Why, even our own MLA knew nothing about it until one of us mentioned it to him not so long ago!
The owner of a Florida salon, Robin Chadwick, "swears by them" and said she got raves for wearing them! She sells "tons" of the mink eyelashes for between $100 and $250 a set. They are bought up in bulk!
Mink farming will grow by leaps and bounds. Young mink, usually skinned when they’re of age to produce the maximum amount of fur, will live longer. PETA and I can be grateful for that. But the poor little buggers will be rubbed with fur-growing concoctions regularly to expedite the manufacture of eyelashes, probably accompanied by daily brushing of their fur.
It’s hard to believe, but that’s how vain is the world which most of us read about or see on TV.
Daniel Mills, Digby
by Daniel Mills
30 lashes for vanity!
Sun. Nov 1 - 4:45 AM
Last Sunday’s "Mink ranchers feed craze" has dazed me into a new admiration for the lowly mink and its capacity to restore new blinking eyelashes to yesterday’s women: Lo, Mo and O (J-Lo, Madonna and Oprah). I can see their beady little eyes now (the mink, I mean), rolled towards the heavens in awe of a new and purposeful role — no longer furs to warm the "bods" of the rich and affluent and bonnets for their hair (for that, they have to lay down their lives), but under the gentle hand of their keepers, a mere brushing to extract fur to improve "winkability" of the rich and famous whose own lashes, for reasons of age I suspect, have fallen out. God forbid that they would look their age, let alone act it!
Lee Keating wonders aloud why the Department of Agriculture "is so hot on mink ranching." The article indicates a mink ranch is planned for Carleton, Yarmouth County; although an Oct. 28 update says it cannot proceed unless the building’s size is reduced. Also mentioned in Sunday’s article is that Ashmore in Digby County has been graced by our benevolent politicos with a mink farm. It may be because concerned Digby Neck people have been so vocal about so many issues the past few years that mention of a mink operation on Digby Neck on the Cross Road seems to have escaped the writer’s pen. Why, even our own MLA knew nothing about it until one of us mentioned it to him not so long ago!
The owner of a Florida salon, Robin Chadwick, "swears by them" and said she got raves for wearing them! She sells "tons" of the mink eyelashes for between $100 and $250 a set. They are bought up in bulk!
Mink farming will grow by leaps and bounds. Young mink, usually skinned when they’re of age to produce the maximum amount of fur, will live longer. PETA and I can be grateful for that. But the poor little buggers will be rubbed with fur-growing concoctions regularly to expedite the manufacture of eyelashes, probably accompanied by daily brushing of their fur.
It’s hard to believe, but that’s how vain is the world which most of us read about or see on TV.
Daniel Mills, Digby
Labels:
Mink Farms Digby Neck
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Fundy Ocean Research Centre
From CNW
Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy - FORCE announces Environmental and Community Advisory Teams
EDITOR'S NOTE: For interviews with committee chairs or FORCE, please
contact: Dr. Anna Redden, 902-585-1732; Lois Smith: 902-254-2280.; and
John Woods, 902-497-7346. Names of committee members are at the bottom of
this release.
HALIFAX, Oct. 26 /CNW/ - Nova Scotia's in-stream tidal power project -- the Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy (FORCE) -- announced membership in two key advisory committees today.
The two advisory committees - environmental effects monitoring and community liaison - will provide independent advice to the project from individuals with a range of backgrounds.
"FORCE has an important public purpose and everyone can benefit from the advice of scientists, fishers, residents and First Nations people," said John Woods, chair of FORCE. "The work of the committees will help us direct the project and serve as an important link to the communities that surround the Bay of Fundy."
The Environmental Monitoring Advisory Committee will provide independent expert scientific and traditional ecological knowledge advice on environmental effects monitoring programs at the Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy (FORCE).
Dr. Anna Redden, Director of the Acadia Centre for Estuarine Research at Acadia University and Dr. Donald Gordon, Emeritus Scientist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada will co-chair the committee."The role of the Committee will be to review the environmental effects monitoring programs and available data and make recommendations for monitoring the environmental effects of tidal power technologies in Minas Passage," said Dr Redden.
The Community Liaison Committee will act as a liaison between local organizations, community, and FORCE participants, providing a forum to discuss any issues related to the tidal project and to share timely information as the project proceeds. Lois Smith, Municipal Councilor in Parrsboro, is the co-chair, along with Joe Kozak, representing FORCE.
"This is about keeping everyone in the conversation," said Ms. Smith. "FORCE has international significance, but it's also a local project, and this committee will serve to keep the community actively involved."
Both committees will have representation from fishers, Mi'kmaq, government, technology developers, and FORCE. The environmental monitoring advisory committee will also include members of the academic community. The community liaison committee will also include members of the general public.
Energy Minister Bill Estabrooks welcomed the appointments.
"Tidal technology can play a role in protecting our environment and sustaining our communities," said Mr. Estabrooks. "These committees will help ensure that role is open and transparent, right from the start."
Initial appointments to both committees were made by FORCE, a partnership between developers and the province.
Names of Community Liaison Committee Members, followed by names and biographies of Environmental Monitoring Advisory Committee members:
Community Liaison Committee Members:
Mark Canton, Public; Terri McCulloch, Public; Gerard Cormier, Public; Shawna Eason, CREDA; Frank Hartman, Public; Joe Kozak - Interim Co-chair on behalf of FORCE; Ken Meade, NSPI; NS Mi'kmaq representative, to be named; Ross Robinson, Public; Lois Smith - Parrsboro Town Councilor, co-chair; Cindy Tupper, Parrsboro Harbour Commission; Croyden Woods Sr., Parrsboro Harbour Commission; Croyden Woods Jr., Lobster Fisher; Robert Yorke , Public.
Biographies of EMAC Members
Michael Brylinsky is a Senior Research Associate of the Acadia Centre for Estuarine Research at Acadia University and an Adjunct Professor in the Biology Department at Acadia University. Over the past 30 years, Dr. Brylinsky has worked extensively on various aspects of the biology of the Bay of Fundy ecosystems and communities and numerous other coastal systems in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.
Graham Daborn is an Emeritus Professor at Acadia University and the former Director of the Acadia Centre for Estuarine Research. Dr. Daborn co-chaired the Fundy Environmental Studies Committee (1976-1984) during the early proposals for tidal power development in the Bay of Fundy and led multi-disciplinary research related to tidal power for more than 30 years.
Donald Gordon is an Emeritus Scientist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and he previously worked with DFO for over 35 years. Dr. Gordon's research interests include the effects of benthic organisms on marine sediments, environmental impact assessment, ecosystem modelling, benthic habitat mapping, and environmental effects monitoring. Dr. Gordon co-chaired the Fundy Environmental Studies Committee related to the potential impacts of tidal power developments from 1976 to 1984.
Andrew Hebda is the Curator of Zoology for Nova Scotia Museum in Halifax, and he has been in this position for the over 14 years. Mr. Hebda is a member of the COSEWIC Mollusca Specialist Subcommittee and until 2008, he was a part-time Faculty member at Saint Mary's University.
Ken Meade is the Manager of Environmental Services with Nova Scotia Power Inc. Mr. Meade's responsibilities involves environmental studies and extensive regulatory and stakeholder consultation in the development of water and fish management strategies for hydroelectric systems. He is currently Chair of the Canadian Electricity Association Species at Risk Task Group.
Robert Miller is an Emeritus Scientist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO). Dr. Miller had a 37 year career with DFO as a marine ecologist and fishery scientist and his areas of research interest included performance of baited traps, organization in hard-bottom plant and animal communities, and the distribution of lobster larvae.
Anna Redden is an Associate Professor in Biology at Acadia University, Director of the Acadia Centre for Estuarine Research, and a member of the FORCE Board. Dr. Redden is actively engaged in collaborative research on the potential impacts of tidal power developments on migratory fishes and on sediment-animal relationships in the upper Bay of Fundy.
Michael Stokesbury is currently the Director of Research for the Ocean Tracking Network at Dalhousie University, and as well as an Adjunct professor of Biology at Acadia University. Dr. Stokesbury's research interests focus on fish marine migration and behaviour, and assessment of the impact of coastal engineering projects on the local marine environment.
Mark Taylor is a commercial lobster and scallop fisherman and has fished in the Minas Channel for 30 years. Mr. Taylor is the President of the Heavy Current Fishers Association, and he is also a member of DFO Lobster Advisory Board. Mr. Taylor brings significant local knowledge and understanding of the fisheries, currents and tides in the Minas Channel to the Committee.
Keith Thompson holds a Canada Research Chair in Marine Prediction and Environmental Statistics at Dalhousie University. Dr. Thompson is jointly appointed in the Department of Oceanography and the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Dalhousie University. His research interests include shelf and deep ocean modeling, data assimilation, sea level variations and coastal flooding, and the analysis of extremes.
For further information: Ross McLaren, Department of Energy, (902) 424-4536, (902) 456-4212, mclarenr@gov.ns.ca; Beth Caldwell, Minas Basin Pulp and Power, (902) 684-1700, Cell: (902) 680-5378, bcaldwell@minas.ns.ca
Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy - FORCE announces Environmental and Community Advisory Teams
EDITOR'S NOTE: For interviews with committee chairs or FORCE, please
contact: Dr. Anna Redden, 902-585-1732; Lois Smith: 902-254-2280.; and
John Woods, 902-497-7346. Names of committee members are at the bottom of
this release.
HALIFAX, Oct. 26 /CNW/ - Nova Scotia's in-stream tidal power project -- the Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy (FORCE) -- announced membership in two key advisory committees today.
The two advisory committees - environmental effects monitoring and community liaison - will provide independent advice to the project from individuals with a range of backgrounds.
"FORCE has an important public purpose and everyone can benefit from the advice of scientists, fishers, residents and First Nations people," said John Woods, chair of FORCE. "The work of the committees will help us direct the project and serve as an important link to the communities that surround the Bay of Fundy."
The Environmental Monitoring Advisory Committee will provide independent expert scientific and traditional ecological knowledge advice on environmental effects monitoring programs at the Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy (FORCE).
Dr. Anna Redden, Director of the Acadia Centre for Estuarine Research at Acadia University and Dr. Donald Gordon, Emeritus Scientist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada will co-chair the committee."The role of the Committee will be to review the environmental effects monitoring programs and available data and make recommendations for monitoring the environmental effects of tidal power technologies in Minas Passage," said Dr Redden.
The Community Liaison Committee will act as a liaison between local organizations, community, and FORCE participants, providing a forum to discuss any issues related to the tidal project and to share timely information as the project proceeds. Lois Smith, Municipal Councilor in Parrsboro, is the co-chair, along with Joe Kozak, representing FORCE.
"This is about keeping everyone in the conversation," said Ms. Smith. "FORCE has international significance, but it's also a local project, and this committee will serve to keep the community actively involved."
Both committees will have representation from fishers, Mi'kmaq, government, technology developers, and FORCE. The environmental monitoring advisory committee will also include members of the academic community. The community liaison committee will also include members of the general public.
Energy Minister Bill Estabrooks welcomed the appointments.
"Tidal technology can play a role in protecting our environment and sustaining our communities," said Mr. Estabrooks. "These committees will help ensure that role is open and transparent, right from the start."
Initial appointments to both committees were made by FORCE, a partnership between developers and the province.
Names of Community Liaison Committee Members, followed by names and biographies of Environmental Monitoring Advisory Committee members:
Community Liaison Committee Members:
Mark Canton, Public; Terri McCulloch, Public; Gerard Cormier, Public; Shawna Eason, CREDA; Frank Hartman, Public; Joe Kozak - Interim Co-chair on behalf of FORCE; Ken Meade, NSPI; NS Mi'kmaq representative, to be named; Ross Robinson, Public; Lois Smith - Parrsboro Town Councilor, co-chair; Cindy Tupper, Parrsboro Harbour Commission; Croyden Woods Sr., Parrsboro Harbour Commission; Croyden Woods Jr., Lobster Fisher; Robert Yorke , Public.
Biographies of EMAC Members
Michael Brylinsky is a Senior Research Associate of the Acadia Centre for Estuarine Research at Acadia University and an Adjunct Professor in the Biology Department at Acadia University. Over the past 30 years, Dr. Brylinsky has worked extensively on various aspects of the biology of the Bay of Fundy ecosystems and communities and numerous other coastal systems in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.
Graham Daborn is an Emeritus Professor at Acadia University and the former Director of the Acadia Centre for Estuarine Research. Dr. Daborn co-chaired the Fundy Environmental Studies Committee (1976-1984) during the early proposals for tidal power development in the Bay of Fundy and led multi-disciplinary research related to tidal power for more than 30 years.
Donald Gordon is an Emeritus Scientist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and he previously worked with DFO for over 35 years. Dr. Gordon's research interests include the effects of benthic organisms on marine sediments, environmental impact assessment, ecosystem modelling, benthic habitat mapping, and environmental effects monitoring. Dr. Gordon co-chaired the Fundy Environmental Studies Committee related to the potential impacts of tidal power developments from 1976 to 1984.
Andrew Hebda is the Curator of Zoology for Nova Scotia Museum in Halifax, and he has been in this position for the over 14 years. Mr. Hebda is a member of the COSEWIC Mollusca Specialist Subcommittee and until 2008, he was a part-time Faculty member at Saint Mary's University.
Ken Meade is the Manager of Environmental Services with Nova Scotia Power Inc. Mr. Meade's responsibilities involves environmental studies and extensive regulatory and stakeholder consultation in the development of water and fish management strategies for hydroelectric systems. He is currently Chair of the Canadian Electricity Association Species at Risk Task Group.
Robert Miller is an Emeritus Scientist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO). Dr. Miller had a 37 year career with DFO as a marine ecologist and fishery scientist and his areas of research interest included performance of baited traps, organization in hard-bottom plant and animal communities, and the distribution of lobster larvae.
Anna Redden is an Associate Professor in Biology at Acadia University, Director of the Acadia Centre for Estuarine Research, and a member of the FORCE Board. Dr. Redden is actively engaged in collaborative research on the potential impacts of tidal power developments on migratory fishes and on sediment-animal relationships in the upper Bay of Fundy.
Michael Stokesbury is currently the Director of Research for the Ocean Tracking Network at Dalhousie University, and as well as an Adjunct professor of Biology at Acadia University. Dr. Stokesbury's research interests focus on fish marine migration and behaviour, and assessment of the impact of coastal engineering projects on the local marine environment.
Mark Taylor is a commercial lobster and scallop fisherman and has fished in the Minas Channel for 30 years. Mr. Taylor is the President of the Heavy Current Fishers Association, and he is also a member of DFO Lobster Advisory Board. Mr. Taylor brings significant local knowledge and understanding of the fisheries, currents and tides in the Minas Channel to the Committee.
Keith Thompson holds a Canada Research Chair in Marine Prediction and Environmental Statistics at Dalhousie University. Dr. Thompson is jointly appointed in the Department of Oceanography and the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Dalhousie University. His research interests include shelf and deep ocean modeling, data assimilation, sea level variations and coastal flooding, and the analysis of extremes.
For further information: Ross McLaren, Department of Energy, (902) 424-4536, (902) 456-4212, mclarenr@gov.ns.ca; Beth Caldwell, Minas Basin Pulp and Power, (902) 684-1700, Cell: (902) 680-5378, bcaldwell@minas.ns.ca
Friday, October 23, 2009
Community Stands up for Nurse Practioner
From Nova News Now and Digby Courier
Community stands up for nurse practitioner
by Leanne Delong/Digby Courier
View all articles from Leanne Delong/Digby Courier
Article online since October 20th 2009, 13:36
Island Consolidated School gymnasium was packed last night by residents concerned by loss of the island’s only full time nurse practitioner. Leanne Delong photo View all pictures Community stands up for nurse practitioner
People crowded the doorway of the Islands Consolidated School gymnasium on Monday to sign a petition against the loss earlier this month of nurse practitioner Karen Snider at Islands Health Clinic in Freeport.
Approximately 230 signatures were added to the petition by the end of last night’s public meeting in Freeport.
Islands resident Andy Moir charged that Snider had been disciplined for speaking out against reduced hours for support staff at the clinic, for telling her collaborating physician about it, and for discussing it with fellow nurse practitioners.
She had the audacity to speak up on an issue that affects the area’s health care, said Moir, who co-chaired the meeting.
“If every health professional who complained about the cutbacks that have been made in health over the last 10 or 15 years was released from their job, there would be darn few left,” said registered nurse and Islands resident Joanne Whitenect. “I’m just shocked and appalled they would do this to Karen, I think she is excellent.”
South West Health has said its decision not to renew Snyder’s contract was not because of a clinical issue, but that further explanation would breach personnel confidentiality policies.
Snider moved to the Islands from British Columbia about a year ago to work at the clinic and was still within a probationary period.
“It appears to us it is an injustice to not only the nurse practitioner but to the members of this community because we have in Karen, a nurse practitioner who’s committed to be here until she retires and she’s something that we certainly haven’t seen in a long while,” said Municipality of Digby warden Jim Thurber.
Thurber mentioned how hard it is to keep health care professionals in the municipality.
“Twenty years ago, we had full-time doctors here on the Islands, the Digby hospital had doctors, we had an emergency room open all the time, you could even have babies in Digby,” said Thurber.
When it became difficult to recruit health care professionals, the community worked with the Department of Health and supported the nurse practitioner and paramedic program, he said.
The program has grown over the years and Thurber feels over the past six months to a year, the program has operated at full potential.
MLA Harold Theriault apologized for not being able to attend the meeting through a video message.
“We’re watching this step by step and I guarantee you, that we’ll be getting this vital service for Digby Neck and Islands back in service pretty soon,” he said.
“As far as the district health authority is concerned, Karen is toast,” said island resident Andy Moir.
The warden agreed, and read a letter from South West Health that proposed a meeting with the Islands health liaison committee to discuss health care services at the clinic and recruitment of a full-time nurse practitioner.
One person in the crowd stood up and said Snyder was the best they ever had for health care.
“That nurse has been God’s gift to my family,” said Tiverton resident Wonda Johnston. “I will stand up for her and I will support her because I know the good she has done.”
Tiverton resident John Ivens asked, “This health authority is supposed to have our best interest at heart. So, how are they helping us by getting rid of a resource here that can help everybody on the Island?”
“How does the freedom of information act apply to this situation?” wondered Freeport resident Robert Thurber. “The only other place I know of that you can just get rid of somebody and give no cause to the public is Russia.”
Moir responded by saying it’s a privacy issue and even if Snyder said they could throw her record open, the health authority would still “hide behind the Privacy Act, which says they cannot tell us why they make the decisions they make.”
“I am very upset over what has happened to her,” added Johnston.
ldelong@digbycourier.ca
Send this text to a friend Print this article
Community stands up for nurse practitioner
by Leanne Delong/Digby Courier
View all articles from Leanne Delong/Digby Courier
Article online since October 20th 2009, 13:36
Island Consolidated School gymnasium was packed last night by residents concerned by loss of the island’s only full time nurse practitioner. Leanne Delong photo View all pictures Community stands up for nurse practitioner
People crowded the doorway of the Islands Consolidated School gymnasium on Monday to sign a petition against the loss earlier this month of nurse practitioner Karen Snider at Islands Health Clinic in Freeport.
Approximately 230 signatures were added to the petition by the end of last night’s public meeting in Freeport.
Islands resident Andy Moir charged that Snider had been disciplined for speaking out against reduced hours for support staff at the clinic, for telling her collaborating physician about it, and for discussing it with fellow nurse practitioners.
She had the audacity to speak up on an issue that affects the area’s health care, said Moir, who co-chaired the meeting.
“If every health professional who complained about the cutbacks that have been made in health over the last 10 or 15 years was released from their job, there would be darn few left,” said registered nurse and Islands resident Joanne Whitenect. “I’m just shocked and appalled they would do this to Karen, I think she is excellent.”
South West Health has said its decision not to renew Snyder’s contract was not because of a clinical issue, but that further explanation would breach personnel confidentiality policies.
Snider moved to the Islands from British Columbia about a year ago to work at the clinic and was still within a probationary period.
“It appears to us it is an injustice to not only the nurse practitioner but to the members of this community because we have in Karen, a nurse practitioner who’s committed to be here until she retires and she’s something that we certainly haven’t seen in a long while,” said Municipality of Digby warden Jim Thurber.
Thurber mentioned how hard it is to keep health care professionals in the municipality.
“Twenty years ago, we had full-time doctors here on the Islands, the Digby hospital had doctors, we had an emergency room open all the time, you could even have babies in Digby,” said Thurber.
When it became difficult to recruit health care professionals, the community worked with the Department of Health and supported the nurse practitioner and paramedic program, he said.
The program has grown over the years and Thurber feels over the past six months to a year, the program has operated at full potential.
MLA Harold Theriault apologized for not being able to attend the meeting through a video message.
“We’re watching this step by step and I guarantee you, that we’ll be getting this vital service for Digby Neck and Islands back in service pretty soon,” he said.
“As far as the district health authority is concerned, Karen is toast,” said island resident Andy Moir.
The warden agreed, and read a letter from South West Health that proposed a meeting with the Islands health liaison committee to discuss health care services at the clinic and recruitment of a full-time nurse practitioner.
One person in the crowd stood up and said Snyder was the best they ever had for health care.
“That nurse has been God’s gift to my family,” said Tiverton resident Wonda Johnston. “I will stand up for her and I will support her because I know the good she has done.”
Tiverton resident John Ivens asked, “This health authority is supposed to have our best interest at heart. So, how are they helping us by getting rid of a resource here that can help everybody on the Island?”
“How does the freedom of information act apply to this situation?” wondered Freeport resident Robert Thurber. “The only other place I know of that you can just get rid of somebody and give no cause to the public is Russia.”
Moir responded by saying it’s a privacy issue and even if Snyder said they could throw her record open, the health authority would still “hide behind the Privacy Act, which says they cannot tell us why they make the decisions they make.”
“I am very upset over what has happened to her,” added Johnston.
ldelong@digbycourier.ca
Send this text to a friend Print this article
Stand Up for Mental Health Comedy Showcase
Digby Clare Mental Health Volunteers presents:
Stand Up For Mental Health
Comedy Showcase
A new attitude on
mental illnesses
Stand Up For Mental Health was featured in the
VOICE Award winning documentary “Cracking Up”
November 3, 7:00 pm
Marc Lescarbot Theatre,
Université Sainte-Anne
November 4, 7:00 pm
Digby Regional High School Theatre
Admission Free, donations accepted
Stand Up For Mental Health
Comedy Showcase
A new attitude on
mental illnesses
Stand Up For Mental Health was featured in the
VOICE Award winning documentary “Cracking Up”
November 3, 7:00 pm
Marc Lescarbot Theatre,
Université Sainte-Anne
November 4, 7:00 pm
Digby Regional High School Theatre
Admission Free, donations accepted
International Day of Climate Change
PLEASE COME take a Chalk around the Common
Who: YOU and other Friends of Halifax Common
What: EVENT promoting 350.org, International Day of Climate Action
When: Friday October 23, 12 noon- 2 p.m.
Less than 1/3 of the Halifax Common's original 235 acres is public
open space.
The disappearance of our Halifax Common is a metaphor for the
degradation of our global Common- MOST URGENTLY our atmosphere &
climate.
We need you to help us draw a chalk line around the sidewalk
perimeter of the entire original Halifax Common to illustrate its
original size.
You can be imaginative and draw sheep & cows or cabbage & corn or
words to encourage governments to act on climate change!
Meeting points for getting chalk and directions are:
1. Robie & Cunard
2. Robie & Jubilee
3. Robie & University
4. South Park & South
5. South Park & Spring Garden
6. Bell Road by Bengal Lancers
7. North Park & Cogswell
For information on the Friends of the Halifax Common and a map see:
http://halifaxcommon.ca/
For information & events on October 24th International Day of Climate
Action see: www.350.org
Sign the Kyotoplus petition: http://kyotoplus.ca to push the
government on climate policy in Canada
Who: YOU and other Friends of Halifax Common
What: EVENT promoting 350.org, International Day of Climate Action
When: Friday October 23, 12 noon- 2 p.m.
Less than 1/3 of the Halifax Common's original 235 acres is public
open space.
The disappearance of our Halifax Common is a metaphor for the
degradation of our global Common- MOST URGENTLY our atmosphere &
climate.
We need you to help us draw a chalk line around the sidewalk
perimeter of the entire original Halifax Common to illustrate its
original size.
You can be imaginative and draw sheep & cows or cabbage & corn or
words to encourage governments to act on climate change!
Meeting points for getting chalk and directions are:
1. Robie & Cunard
2. Robie & Jubilee
3. Robie & University
4. South Park & South
5. South Park & Spring Garden
6. Bell Road by Bengal Lancers
7. North Park & Cogswell
For information on the Friends of the Halifax Common and a map see:
http://halifaxcommon.ca/
For information & events on October 24th International Day of Climate
Action see: www.350.org
Sign the Kyotoplus petition: http://kyotoplus.ca to push the
government on climate policy in Canada
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Salt Power
From wildsingaporenews.blogspot.com
Two pilot projects are testing the potential of "salt power", a renewable energy that relies on the differing salinities at river mouths to make watts
Adam Hadhazy, Scientific American 19 Oct 09;
In the hunt for alternatives to polluting and climate-warming fossil fuels, attention has turned to where rivers meet the sea. Here, freshwater and saltwater naturally settle their salinity difference, a phenomenon that two pioneering projects in Europe will try to harness to generate clean energy.
This concept of "salt power"—also known as osmotic, or salinity-gradient, power—has been kicked around for decades, and now, proponents hope, technology has advanced enough to make it economically competitive.
On November 24, the world's first large-scale prototype facility for developing a form of salt power called pressure-retarded osmosis is expected to begin fully operating in Norway. "The big reason to build this thing is to answer important questions [about osmotic power], and while we've done a lot of theoretical studies, we need live experience," says Stein Erik Skilhagen, vice president of osmotic power at Statkraft, Norway's state-owned power utility that built the plant. The prototype will have no customers, although the very small amount of electricity it generates will technically be directed into the power grid.
Statkraft's approximately $5-million prototype plant is a converted paper mill in the seaside village of Tofte, about 60 kilometers south of Oslo. The plant's pressure-retarded osmosis setup will place freshwater and brine on either side of a semipermeable membrane that prevents the passage of salt particles but allows water through. Water from the fresh side naturally flows into the salty side, generating pressure equivalent to a column of water 120 meters high. This pressurized water can be used to turn a turbine to make electricity. Statkraft's goal is to yield five watts per square meter of membrane, although current capacity is about three watts. If successful, the utility hopes to build a commercial salt power plant for paying customers around 2015 with a targeted cost ranging from seven to 14 cents per kilowatt-hour (pdf) (at current euro–dollar conversion rates), which at the low end would be competitive with coal and natural gas prices.
To the south in the Netherlands, a Dutch research firm called Wetsus has fired up its own salt power experiment to evaluate what is essentially a saltwater–freshwater battery.
Wetsus, with the collaboration of a spin-off company called Redstack, is pursuing a version of salt power dubbed "blue energy". A pilot-scale installation that is about two times the size of a big American refrigerator is up and running in Harlingen, by the Wadden Sea, says Gert Jan Euverink, Wetsus's deputy scientific director. The technology relies on reverse electrodialysis, wherein a series of fresh and saltwater streams are diverted via underground pipes to opposite sides of two kinds of membranes. These let sodium or chlorine ions—the constituent elements of salt—dissolved in the water to pass into separated freshwater streams. This builds an electrical potential across the membranes, like a battery, and this charge reacts with iron to form an electric current. Joost Veerman, a researcher at Wetsus, says the company aims to get five watts per square meter of membrane, the same result as Statkraft's process.
Neither Statkraft nor Wetsus expects to crank out more than just a few kilowatts—enough to boil water—with their initial experiments. Instead, they plan to demonstrate what could be scalable, commercially viable energy production as well as determine if salt power endangers the health of source-water estuaries. Statkraft estimates salt power's worldwide electricity-generating potential at up to 1,700 terawatt-hours, or about 10 percent of global demand.
Salt power is attractive for several reasons: For one, unlike renewable energy technologies for harvesting solar or wind power, salt systems are not dependent on the weather and could provide baseload (constant, predictable) electricity like that supplied by coal, natural gas and nuclear energy. "The river water is flowing into the sea 24/7, so you have a constantly available source of energy," Skilhagen says. He also points out there are no emissions besides brackish water, which swirls in the river's mouth anyway.
Unlike conventional hydropower, a saline power plant does not require damming off a waterway, and it may require less infrastructure than, say, riverbed-mounted turbines or floating fleets of generators for equivalent tidal and wave power. A salt power plant, including its membrane stacks, turbines, cleaning facilities and offices, could actually be located in a riverside industrial complex's basement, for example, or constructed underground within a riverbank with pipes extending into the waterway, Statkraft's Skilhagen says—a big advantage for incorporating such facilities into already-developed, populated coastal areas.
Membrane design and performance remain the biggest hurdles for both Statkraft's and Wetsus's approaches. The membranes must be made more efficient, durable and resistant to microbial buildup, or so-called biofouling. Pretreating the pumped-in water by filtering out organic matter and river-borne debris helps, but this critical step consumes energy and is expected to be expensive, Skilhagen says, adding that it is too early to know just how expensive.
Accordingly, experts remain cautious about salt power's prospects. "Both these methods are promising and certainly worth researching," says Ari Seppala, a mechanical engineer and thermodynamicist at the Helsinki University of Technology in Finland, "but both may still need a breakthrough innovation before commercialization." Seppala sees no physical or chemical showstoppers standing in the way of producing much-improved membranes, although he also points out that a better, membrane-free method could yet be found for exploiting salinity differences to yield electricity.
Another key uncertainty: a salt-power plant's effect on the local aquatic environment. "This is a completely new process that has not been tested on this scale," says Menachem Elimelech, a professor of chemical and environmental engineering at Yale University. "I doubt there will be no [environmental] impact at all." If the ecological footprint is minimal and the membrane technology advances, however, he adds that salt power could be a "significant renewable energy option."
Two pilot projects are testing the potential of "salt power", a renewable energy that relies on the differing salinities at river mouths to make watts
Adam Hadhazy, Scientific American 19 Oct 09;
In the hunt for alternatives to polluting and climate-warming fossil fuels, attention has turned to where rivers meet the sea. Here, freshwater and saltwater naturally settle their salinity difference, a phenomenon that two pioneering projects in Europe will try to harness to generate clean energy.
This concept of "salt power"—also known as osmotic, or salinity-gradient, power—has been kicked around for decades, and now, proponents hope, technology has advanced enough to make it economically competitive.
On November 24, the world's first large-scale prototype facility for developing a form of salt power called pressure-retarded osmosis is expected to begin fully operating in Norway. "The big reason to build this thing is to answer important questions [about osmotic power], and while we've done a lot of theoretical studies, we need live experience," says Stein Erik Skilhagen, vice president of osmotic power at Statkraft, Norway's state-owned power utility that built the plant. The prototype will have no customers, although the very small amount of electricity it generates will technically be directed into the power grid.
Statkraft's approximately $5-million prototype plant is a converted paper mill in the seaside village of Tofte, about 60 kilometers south of Oslo. The plant's pressure-retarded osmosis setup will place freshwater and brine on either side of a semipermeable membrane that prevents the passage of salt particles but allows water through. Water from the fresh side naturally flows into the salty side, generating pressure equivalent to a column of water 120 meters high. This pressurized water can be used to turn a turbine to make electricity. Statkraft's goal is to yield five watts per square meter of membrane, although current capacity is about three watts. If successful, the utility hopes to build a commercial salt power plant for paying customers around 2015 with a targeted cost ranging from seven to 14 cents per kilowatt-hour (pdf) (at current euro–dollar conversion rates), which at the low end would be competitive with coal and natural gas prices.
To the south in the Netherlands, a Dutch research firm called Wetsus has fired up its own salt power experiment to evaluate what is essentially a saltwater–freshwater battery.
Wetsus, with the collaboration of a spin-off company called Redstack, is pursuing a version of salt power dubbed "blue energy". A pilot-scale installation that is about two times the size of a big American refrigerator is up and running in Harlingen, by the Wadden Sea, says Gert Jan Euverink, Wetsus's deputy scientific director. The technology relies on reverse electrodialysis, wherein a series of fresh and saltwater streams are diverted via underground pipes to opposite sides of two kinds of membranes. These let sodium or chlorine ions—the constituent elements of salt—dissolved in the water to pass into separated freshwater streams. This builds an electrical potential across the membranes, like a battery, and this charge reacts with iron to form an electric current. Joost Veerman, a researcher at Wetsus, says the company aims to get five watts per square meter of membrane, the same result as Statkraft's process.
Neither Statkraft nor Wetsus expects to crank out more than just a few kilowatts—enough to boil water—with their initial experiments. Instead, they plan to demonstrate what could be scalable, commercially viable energy production as well as determine if salt power endangers the health of source-water estuaries. Statkraft estimates salt power's worldwide electricity-generating potential at up to 1,700 terawatt-hours, or about 10 percent of global demand.
Salt power is attractive for several reasons: For one, unlike renewable energy technologies for harvesting solar or wind power, salt systems are not dependent on the weather and could provide baseload (constant, predictable) electricity like that supplied by coal, natural gas and nuclear energy. "The river water is flowing into the sea 24/7, so you have a constantly available source of energy," Skilhagen says. He also points out there are no emissions besides brackish water, which swirls in the river's mouth anyway.
Unlike conventional hydropower, a saline power plant does not require damming off a waterway, and it may require less infrastructure than, say, riverbed-mounted turbines or floating fleets of generators for equivalent tidal and wave power. A salt power plant, including its membrane stacks, turbines, cleaning facilities and offices, could actually be located in a riverside industrial complex's basement, for example, or constructed underground within a riverbank with pipes extending into the waterway, Statkraft's Skilhagen says—a big advantage for incorporating such facilities into already-developed, populated coastal areas.
Membrane design and performance remain the biggest hurdles for both Statkraft's and Wetsus's approaches. The membranes must be made more efficient, durable and resistant to microbial buildup, or so-called biofouling. Pretreating the pumped-in water by filtering out organic matter and river-borne debris helps, but this critical step consumes energy and is expected to be expensive, Skilhagen says, adding that it is too early to know just how expensive.
Accordingly, experts remain cautious about salt power's prospects. "Both these methods are promising and certainly worth researching," says Ari Seppala, a mechanical engineer and thermodynamicist at the Helsinki University of Technology in Finland, "but both may still need a breakthrough innovation before commercialization." Seppala sees no physical or chemical showstoppers standing in the way of producing much-improved membranes, although he also points out that a better, membrane-free method could yet be found for exploiting salinity differences to yield electricity.
Another key uncertainty: a salt-power plant's effect on the local aquatic environment. "This is a completely new process that has not been tested on this scale," says Menachem Elimelech, a professor of chemical and environmental engineering at Yale University. "I doubt there will be no [environmental] impact at all." If the ecological footprint is minimal and the membrane technology advances, however, he adds that salt power could be a "significant renewable energy option."
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