Wintry Blast Cuts Global Warming Fervour
BROOKES MERRITT, SUN MEDIA
21 Apr 2008
http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Edmonton/2008/04/21/5343616-sun.html
So much for global warming. Earth Day festivities went ahead despite the
blast of frigid weather yesterday.
Vendors and presenters from various eco-friendly groups, including
Bullfrog Power, CO2 Reduction Edmonton and the local solar energy
society, crammed into a lone tent in Hawrelak Park after a blizzard
forced them to abandon their original locations.
Organizers crammed over 40 groups in a space that would normally be
occupied by half that number. Presenters' booths were initially planned
to have been spread out between at least five tents, with far larger
displays.
"We're normally here with a lineup of cyclists for our free bike repair
service. No bikers came today. Big surprise," said Chris Field of
Mountain Equipment Co-Op.
A handful of visitors still took the time to inquire about several
solar-powered products on display at the M.E.C. booth and browsed
several others before running off toward the lone heater in the tent to
warm up.
A lemonade vendor towards the front might as well not have been there.
"Obviously we'll have fewer people than we would have liked, but to
cancel an Earth Day event because of weather would kind of be the
antithesis of what this is all about," said organizer Janice Boudreau.
"This isn't about celebrating just the parts of the Earth that we like,
it's about celebrating all of it."
Eco-Air representative Eric Gormley couldn't convince local kids
lobbying city council for an anti-idling bylaw to brave the cold
yesterday, but happily stepped up on their behalf, offering stickers and
information about greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles.
"We're here to raise awareness of the problem, even though on a day like
today you don't necessarily think of global warming," he said.
"We especially want to encourage young people in school to join us. It's
the youth that have the power to make real change."
--
Warmest Regards
Bonzo
"Attributing global climate change to human CO2 production is akin to
trying to diagnose an automotive problem by ignoring the engine
(analogous to the Sun in the climate system) and the transmission (water
vapour) and instead focusing entirely, not on one nut on a rear wheel,
which would be analogous to total CO2, but on one thread on that nut,
which represents the human contribution." Dr. Timothy Ball, Chairman of
the Natural Resources Steward****p Project (NRSP.com), Former Professor
Of Climatology, University of Winnipeg
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