August 25, 2006

Internet Resources

Korky Koroluk

Climate change is getting worse

These are interesting times to be running a construction company. The economy bubbles along, despite glitches here and there, so there is a fair bit of work to share around.

Here in Ottawa, we’re about to get started on a light rail transit system, both universities are building, the vacancy rate for Class A office space in the downtown core stands at under four per cent, and the high-tech industry is rebounding, which means cranes are everywhere.

Life is sweet — or is it?

I had the good fortune to attend several sessions of the recent annual conference of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario. One of the speakers was Gord Miller, Ontario’s environment commissioner, and he talked mostly about peak oil and the problems a declining oil supply will produce. He sees an “environmental perfect storm” coming, and he thinks there are two reasons for it: unrestrained consumerism and climate change.

And yes, climate change is real. Miller believes that the time to debate that is long past. There is simply too much evidence — even in an era when some people, for whatever reason, choose to deny science. Climate change is real. It is here. Now. And it’s going to get worse.

Miller suggested that, provided municipalities do their planning, and funding is available, we will see more big pipe — simply because we’ll need more and bigger pipe to carry away the water resulting from more severe storms. We’ll see more water-quality problems, which likely means more sophisticated treatment plants.

And as I sat listening to him, I thought of more flood-control dams in conservation areas, more shoreline stabilization programs, more changes to harbour facilities — and all of that is construction work.

Later, I logged onto my favourite blog. It’s called World Changing, and you’ll find it at www.worldchanging.com

It’s written by experts in various fields, and that rare breed of journalists — those who are looking for more than a simple answer and a snappy quote. And contributors always include Web links for those who want more information.

That’s how I discovered a website run by Green Corridor, a project of just two kilometres leading to the International Bridge linking Windsor and Detroit. The project includes such things as a landscaped pedestrian overpass and green roofs with a hill and trees, not just grasses and shrubs. It also includes run-of-river electrical generation in the Detroit River. You’ll find lots more information at www.greencorridor.ca

The World Changing site has a number of excellent articles on sustainable transportation, and many on the more general topic of reducing reliance on fossil fuels. And many point out that we don’t have to wait for new technologies to make a difference.

“One of the frustrating things about our dependence on oil is the persistent notion that real solutions will require some future technological breakthrough,” one contributor wrote. “I think we have a lot of the answers. We just haven’t made consumers and public officials aware of them.”

World Changing will release a new book in a couple of months. Titled World Changing: A User’s Guide for the 21st Century, it will cover such things as green building and landscaping, clean energy, sustainable water systems, sustainable communities, transportation, greening infrastructure, and on and on. For those who are so inclined, it will also have a chapter dealing with human rights, non-violent revolution and peacemaking.

In all, it will deal with a lot of construction-related subjects, and should make for a good read, as well as a source of business ideas for construction companies who are looking far enough ahead to want to take part in the opportunities that climate change and the coming oil shortages will present.

As I said: An interesting time to be running a construction company.

Korky Koroluk is an Ottawa-based freelance writer. Send comments to editor@dailycommercialnews.com

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