Mercer's Quality of Living and Eco-City survey of 221 cities world wide does not likely include Edmonton. Not sure but if it were to find Calgary at the top ranking Eco-city in the world something is fishy about the survey. Calgary has lots of merits but beyond the public transit system it is hardly a top ranked eco-city. It has the largest number of cars per capita in Canada and is urban sprawl writ large...and that is still the norm in Cowtown with 100% of its growth in the suburbs.
Mercer says it used the following criteria for eco-ranking. Water availability, water potability, waste removal, sewage, air pollution and traffic congestion. Water availability is a serious problem for the future of Calgary. In fact there was a restriction put on industrial use of water a few years ago. Calgary suffers from water shortages and with the growth it has endured, that will only become more critical. Only recently has Calgary metered water and that met with serious resistance I understand. Quality of water in Alberta is excellent almost everywhere with notable exceptions. Waste removal and recycling are not big items in the Calgary civic culture - at least not compared to Edmonton. Edmonton has a long standing and extensive blue box recycling system and city owned composting plant and even recycles Christmas trees. As for traffic congestion with the largest per capita car population and the Deerfoot Trail rush hour "parking lot" and narrow downtown street system, traffic congestion is a serious problem for Calgary.
This is not a knock against Calgary. It is very livable city with lots going for it. But to rank it as #1 Eco-City in the WORLD? That stretched credulity. Mercer needs to broaden and deepen its Eco-City criteria and look to other locales for comparisons - especially in Canada.
Calgary's public transit is world class. A 100% wind-powered transit system with the highest ridership per capita in North America. Calgary has also reduced water consumption per capita by 50% since the 1970's, so has been very successful in it's water conservation efforts. Many other projects have been initiated, like the district power centre which has vastly improved energy efficiencies over conventional power plants as it uses BOTH steam and heat generated. The recycling facilities are among the most advanced in the world, that have computers that sort based on imaging and jets of air. Calgary's air quality is also very high, it's rare you can go to a city of a million people, and have it smelling as good as Calgary does. What I think Calgary is lacking is that it really doesn't have the sort of built form that is based on sustainable energy sources. But again, it is working towards that future, the Calatrava bridge, and St. Patrick's Island bridge, which were awarded to a world class architect, and the other bridge, which was based on an international design completion. So, I think on many fronts, Calgary is doing an excellent job. But much work needs to be done in reducing Calgary's environmental emissions, which are very high on a per capita basis as you have highlighted. Contrary to your claim about population growth being totally suburban, Calgary has also initiated a plan called Plan It with a goal of more compact form of development. In my inner city community, over the last 5 years population growth has been upwards of 15% over this term. East Village is another example of brownfield development that will allow for less car-centric pedestrian activities to occur, and is financed entirely by incremental tax revenues due to redevelopment in the local area and land sales.
ReplyDeleteGreat comment - thanks for the information on Calgary
ReplyDeleteWind is not green energy. The capriciousness of wind means that a coal or natural gas power plant must be warmed and at pressure at all times to make up for the voltage drop whenever the wind stops blowing. To maintain pressure, coal and gas must be fed constantly and steam vented constantly.
ReplyDeleteWind energy as clean energy is a complete myth.
Yes i believe with that Landscaping Calgary is Eco city in the world....
ReplyDeleteCalgary does a lot of things right. Our local utility company, Enmax, is Alberta's most progressive utility, and maybe even Canada's; promoting renewables, cogeneration, smart meters, and a decentralized energy grid. Calgary has committed to supplying all of City operations with renewables by 2012. Woo hoo!!
ReplyDeleteBut we have a long way to go. Every day on the downtown C-train line, Moxie's Restaurant has their patio lights lit up; all day, under broad daylight. Every night including weekends, I have co-workers who leave and lock their offices with their computers, monitors, printers, and speakers turned on for hours and days while they're away.
This kind of thoughtlessness about energy is common in Calgary, but is it admirable? justifiable? does it serve man or beast or God? Hardly.
I've been arguing in favor of a carbon tax for some 15 or 30 years, depending how you count it. A carbon tax would promote mindfulness about our energy use, encouraging simple conservation, and wide implementation of energy efficiency, and increased use of renewables. I can hardly wait.
High taxes and high energy prices doom an economy's manufacturing base as business moves to low tax and low energy cost environments to remain competitive with China and India.
ReplyDeleteWe need low taxes and low energy costs not the opposite. Spain's green subsidized economy has resulted in 25% unemployment, a huge loss in manufacturing, a huge sovereign debt downgrade and an economically condemned generation.
We cannot let this happen in Alberta.
You cannot run a modern industrial economy on wind, ethanol and solar. We cannot cut down more rain forest to make up for losses to the agricultural land base committed to so called biofuels.
And after enduring 2 days of snow here in Edmonton and hauling in my plants yet again, this whole global warming hypothesis is just a myth. For 25 years doomers have told us we are heating the planet and we have yet to see it.
Stop this green insanity. Focus on real environmental health problems.
Enmax has been ripping peopleo off for years. The government has no business owning a utility. It should be SOLD once and for all.
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