Category — Environment and Sustainability

Translink’s skyrocketing ridership, now five percent higher than the 2010 Olympics surge, is pushing up fare revenue even as fuel tax revenue declines.

But it’s a two cents a litre lift in fuel tax which is the key to funding transit expansion, including construction of the Evergreen Line. Will fuel tax deliver the cash, or will drivers shift to cheaper and greener alternatives — like moving downtown — that don’t produce tax revenues to build transit?

Victoria transit analyst Todd Littman argues that assumptions about fuel tax, tolls and the like  need to be challenged. As incomes stagnate and demographics shift, small increases in fuel tax can produce larger shifts in consumption.

So a new tax may be very effective in reducing congestion, he argues, but not produce sufficient income to fund new roads . . . or transit.

The “ideas” contest to brainstorm new options for Vancouver’s viaducts and the East False Creek flats was the most successful in the city’s history: more than 100 entries, 4,000 voters in the “people’s choice” online voting, 15,000 ballots cast, hundreds of online comments from the public.

But when the panel of eminent judges released its decisions last night to a packed auditorium at SFU Woodwards, there was only one point of agreement. This proposal received both an honorable mention and a win in the “people’s choice” category.

When the proponents’ names were unveiled — neither judges nor online voters knew who developed the proposals — the team included a remarkable group including Norm Hotson, Larry Beasley, Jim Green, Margot Long and many more.

Here’s the city’s summary of the entire contest:

[Read more →]

A long-buried draft fisheries department report on the discovery of a deadly salmon virus in BC waters has set the stage for a dramatic end to the Cohen commission’s long investigation of the decline of the Pacific salmon.

Uncovered by salmon campaigner Don Staniford, the report discloses the discovery of infectious salmon anemia, a disease never before found in BC that is associated with salmon farming, with many samples taken as far back as 2002. The new information will no doubt dominate a special two-day final hearing scheduled by Cohen later this month.

How serious is it? John Werring, of the David Suzuki Foundation, says someone should go to jail for the cover-up.

With all-candidates’ meetings over and five days of door-knocking remaining before Saturday’s election decision, I realize there were three questions I expected but seldom encountered at all candidates’ meetings. I participated in about six meetings, I think — it’s all a blur — from small community centre affairs to the large transportation forum chaired by Gordon Price last week.

But I heard little about:

1. The crisis for renters

Although half the city rents, few meetings had the intensity we experienced in 2008 with “renovictions” soaring and vacancy rates near zero. The situation for renters has not improved, but the very significant launch of  a new rental housing coalition got little coverage last week. Only Vision Vancouver is making specific commitments to help renters and has generated significant new rental housing construction since the last election.

2. The crisis in the global economy

Although Greece’s economy imploded since nominations closed and Italy has gone to the brink, the economy almost never arose. Meetings generally stayed close to local issues like zoning and housing prices. (Many discussions centred on the impact, if any, of mysterious “foreign” investors.)

But Vision’s platform does lay out specific proposals to support job creation and innovation in Vancouver. I spoke hopefully, in an early-campaign news release, of “economic recovery,” a prospect that seems to be fading in light of the latest news.

3. Climate change and global warming

Perhaps because support and engagement around the Greenest City Action Plan is so broad, there were few arguments about the need to work harder to make Vancouver green.  But the decision to delay approval of the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline means that the push to export bitumen from Metro Port Vancouver will intensify. Vision is the only party with a comprehensive environmental program and convened a special council meeting last year to shine a light on growing oil exports from our port.

Without a strong Vision team at all three levels — council, school and parks — Mayor Gregor Robertson will be hard-pressed to deliver on these commitments, despite their obvious importance.