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The Rural Voice, 1999-06, Page 12WELLESLEY SHEEP FEEDERS AND SHERK'S HORSE FEEDER SHEEP FEEDERS 6'x6' t.1Ille .... !t Vi low 1110111111iii'lliNt 411011111111111111110 I'. %�• Keeps chaff out of sheep's hair • made of 1" x 1" tubing 112" rounds .27/8" apart • can be shoved closer as bale gets smaller i..,AFSMi-. • -------. l i, iiffiff -, aqe tiii_ilitithuititi"miA _______ , _ __ .. , .:, _ • Ruggedly built yet convenient feeder • Manufactured with 1" x 1" tubing and 14 gauge sheet metal • 32" wide trough with 318" rod V-type manger Rods are 2112" apart for less hay waste • Grains and other fine particle feeds can be fed. Sizes available: 4', 6' and 8' long. Other sizes available upon request. SHERK'S HORSE FEEDER f Plt!t r .511:' :. i <; -- '7-77,—.^.;--s-,., • Trough made of 14 gauge sheet metal • 6" deep trough 32" from ground • V-type manger made of 3/8 rods, 3" apart Sizes available: 4' or 6' or 8' all 6' high Can be used for grains 4P' and other feeds CANADIAN MADE TILMAN SHERK R.R. 3, Wellesley, Ontario 519-656-3338 519-656-3429 evenings 8 THE RURAL VOICE Robert Mercer Economy overwhelms natural systems Once again it is time to revisit climate change as time is running out on our ability to halt or reverse the steady rise in global temperatures. This temperature in 1998 was at the highest ever on record, and in that year we achieved the single largest annual increase in global temperature in any year. Records since 1866 show that the 14 warmest years have occurred since 1980. One cannot ignore that result as a statistical aberration. We have a problem. For those who feel that the potential for climate change is insignificant or irrelevant, let it be said that "Global climate is an essential foundation for natural eco- systems and the entire human economy". Even in this high-tech information age, human society cannot prosper while the natural world is progressively degraded and that is what we are doing worldwide. There are many contributing factors to climate change and the human activities that accelerate that change. One factor that is given great significance is the build-up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. It is now estimated that the concentration of one of these gases, carbon dioxide, was 280ppm at the beginning of the industrial revolution. In 1998, CO2 measured 383ppm. The fossil -fuel economy which drives our economic, growth - oriented model and contributes to CO2 emissions, has overwhelmed the earth's natural systems to fix carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Up until now it appears as if mankind has acquired the capacity to We can't ignore climate change alter earth's natural systems, but we have refused to fully accept the responsibility for doing so. In a corporate switch of astounding frankness, Sir John Browne, Chief Executive of BP Amoco, the world's second largest oil company, has declared his support for the aims of the Convention on Climate Change held in Kyoto, Japan in 1997. He has in fact broken ranks with the other oil companies and started to turn his giant oil company in to a reformed "Green" dragon for change. In a move that reflects this attitude, BP recently purchased Solarex. This move now makes BP the world's largest solar -energy company. Browne has also spoke in terms of these being the "last days of the oil age." He is in fact seen as preparing his company for "life after oil." Fuel cells, solar energy, and wind energy are some of the fastest growing elements of our economy. Oil on the other hand is finite. Proven oil reserves will likely limit global oil production to peak in the year 2010. From then on production volumes will decline sharply if alternative energy sources are not found and utilized. The world, at current rates of oil use, will be out of supply by the year 2100. In other words our total exploitable reserves of oil on this planet are now half gone. With perception 100 per cent of reality in the marketplace, Sir John Browne has realized that his company cannot survive if it remains out of tune with consumers and the attitudes of the next generation. The legacy we all leave behind by doing nothing about our attitudes to over -consumption and exploitation of the world's natural resources, is that of a world deteriorating ecologically, declining economically and disintegrating socially. It is in fact a world now emerging that no one wants. For farmers, climate change is