There was civilized clamour in the St. John’s city council chambers Monday night and councillors were clearly listening.
The capital city has made it official, declaring a climate emergency in the face of growing concerns about global warming.
Many of the environmental activists lining the public gallery were teens and young adults — a group with glowing clout: witness the recent comments by Roger Grimes, chairman of the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board, who warned if the industry didn’t up its game, its message wouldn’t be heard above the passionate voices of people like 16-year-old Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg.
Among the activists at Monday’s council meeting were Alice Ferguson-O’Brien, 15, and Hannah Baker, 18, both with the group Fridays for Future, who say they’ll be holding councillors’ feet to the ever-warming planet now that the city has committed to consider the environment in every decision it makes.
That councillors voted unanimously in favour of the motion is heartening, with many speaking in support of Coun. Ian Froude, who talked about the city’s need for a sustainability plan.
It’s a good first step, but the proof, as they say, is in the environmentally friendly pudding.
It will be interesting to see how councillors vote if they should be confronted with a development proposal that promises jobs and new tax revenue but which clashes with its pledge to reduce urban sprawl, for example.
Or if they have to weigh the influx of cash spent by cruise ship tourists against the detrimental environmental effects of the massive vessels, including the discharge of sewage and oily bilge water, and exhaust fumes.
It’s a good first step, but the proof, as they say, is in the environmentally friendly pudding.
And whether it will continue to approve drive-thrus, despite the fact that idling vehicles contribute to the steady emission of carbon dioxide into the air.
In Nova Scotia, the Halifax Regional Municipality is studying the issue and considering limiting the number of drive-thrus — a move one councillor says amounts to heel-dragging, given the scientific facts that are already out there.
Coun. Richard Zurawski told the Chronicle Herald in May, “We start discussing things ad infinitum and delay any action on it. It’s not going to solve the problem. Scientists have been saying if we don’t act, we’re going to be looking at catastrophic events.”
The Chronicle Herald observed 151 vehicles go through one single Tim Hortons drive-thru on a weekday from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m., with at least four vehicles in line at all times. It noted that an average vehicle with a three-litre engine idling for 10 minutes burns 300 millilitres of fuel and produces 690 grams of carbon dioxide, according to Natural Resources Canada.
In St. John’s, Froude says the issue is complex and is still being studied.
That’s just one issue, of course, in a sea of ramifications that the city will now have to consider, now that it’s acknowledged a climate emergency.
We’ll be watching, too.
