Wood they just leave us all alone, please?
QUOTE (Toronto Sun @ Jan 1 2008)
First, they banned smoking in public places. Then they went after weed killing, tree cutting, perfume wearing and idling cars. And, oh yes, fur.
So what's next for environmental activists? What can possibly be left?
I think I may have the answer: Banning woodstoves and fireplaces.
Coming soon to a neighbourhood near you -- a bylaw prohibiting "nuisance" wood fires.
Chestnuts roasting on an open fire may be about to become ancient history.
You'd think in a country like Canada, full of trees and empty of people, wood fires would be wonderfully popular even with the greenies. After all, wood is cheap, plentiful and best of all, renewable, unlike the alternatives -- gas, electricity, propane and oil.
But you'd be wrong. Here and there all over North America, opposition to your desire to light a nice, warm, crackling fire on a cold night is building.
Anti-wood action can range all the way from volunteer cutbacks during bad air days to total bans all the time. In the U.S., the city of Denver, Colorado, already has a bylaw. So has the British Columbia municipality of Central Okanagan. In Spokane County, Colorado, they even employ "field agents" -- spies -- to drive around looking for telltale smoke plumes where an illegal fireplace or woodstove is burning. The penalty: $150 for violations, more if necessary. In Albuquerque, New Mexico, they do the same.
Many bylaws apply only to bad air days but, according to Environment Canada, Golden, B.C. has a total ban on woodburning appliances.
The opposition to wood heat has been building quietly for years. As Environment Canada explains, wood smoke contains fine particulates identified as a health hazard. There's even a grandly-named Intergovernmental Working Group on Residential Wood Combustion that's been on the job since 2000. Who knew?
...
So what's next for environmental activists? What can possibly be left?
I think I may have the answer: Banning woodstoves and fireplaces.
Coming soon to a neighbourhood near you -- a bylaw prohibiting "nuisance" wood fires.
Chestnuts roasting on an open fire may be about to become ancient history.
You'd think in a country like Canada, full of trees and empty of people, wood fires would be wonderfully popular even with the greenies. After all, wood is cheap, plentiful and best of all, renewable, unlike the alternatives -- gas, electricity, propane and oil.
But you'd be wrong. Here and there all over North America, opposition to your desire to light a nice, warm, crackling fire on a cold night is building.
Anti-wood action can range all the way from volunteer cutbacks during bad air days to total bans all the time. In the U.S., the city of Denver, Colorado, already has a bylaw. So has the British Columbia municipality of Central Okanagan. In Spokane County, Colorado, they even employ "field agents" -- spies -- to drive around looking for telltale smoke plumes where an illegal fireplace or woodstove is burning. The penalty: $150 for violations, more if necessary. In Albuquerque, New Mexico, they do the same.
Many bylaws apply only to bad air days but, according to Environment Canada, Golden, B.C. has a total ban on woodburning appliances.
The opposition to wood heat has been building quietly for years. As Environment Canada explains, wood smoke contains fine particulates identified as a health hazard. There's even a grandly-named Intergovernmental Working Group on Residential Wood Combustion that's been on the job since 2000. Who knew?
...