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Huron Expositor, 2007-04-18, Page 6Page 6 `April 18, 2007 • The Huron Expositor Opinion We have opportunity to strengthen communities by responding to 'An Inconvenient Truth' To the Editor, I attended the "Inconvenient Truth"- presenta- tion organized by the Lake Huron Learning Collaborative in Goderich this Sunday. While the news of global climate change is deeply disturbing I was very encouraged to see the crowd and the interest and concern that is developing. I believe that climate change, environmental degradation and peak oil are converging in a way that will be a great challenge to our society but also a great opportunity if we take it. The solution to all three challenges is the same. Reduce our energy and resource con- sumption substantially and do it sooner than later. The good news is that we really can. I have been interested in sustainability and renewable energy for nearly 40 years and we have made many changes to reduce our farm and family energy use. They haven't all worked as well as we would have liked, but our bank accounts have been richer and our lives fuller for the choices we've made to conserve energy and reduce our burden on our environment and planetary home. At the individual level we can put in compact florescent bulbs, insulate and weather strip, turn the thermostat up or down depending on the season and we can plant a garden and buy local food. We can drive smaller cars, we can car pool, we can share tools and time with neighbours and friends and we can redesign our lives and com- mitments so we can walk, bike and ski to more of the important places in our lives. At the community level we can support renewable energy projects. We can reduce our municipal water and energy use for the services we supply. We can develop community projects to retrofit our buildings and coordinate transportation to facilitate car pooling. We can develop local co- generation and district heating systems using local biomass resources. At the provincial and national levels we can stop subsidizing pollution and the fossil fuel industry. 0 We can get serious about encouraging the energy efficiency, conservation and renewable energy sectors. We can set standards for car mileage, carbon emissions, reuseability of packaging and full cost and lifecycle accounting so that we don't encourage externalizing costs to our environ- ment, general public and our descendants. We can work with other countries both by sharing technologies and ideas and by achiev- ing international agreements for reducing pol- lution and energy use. We have an incredible opportunity to strengthen our local communities and build a better world in the face of what is not simply an "Inconvenient Truth" but also an unavoidable one. Let's not blow it. Tony McQuail RR # 1, Lucknow, ON 1+1 /agriculture and Agriculture et Agri -Food Canada Agroalimentaire Canada 2007 Cover Crop Protection Program Production Insurance Requirement Starting in 2007, agricultural producers, who are unable to seed commercial crops due to excess moisture and/or spring flooding, may be eligible for financial assistance through the Cover Crop Protection Program (CCPP). To be eligible for CCPP, producers must be enrolled in production insurance. Information on production insurance, provincial application deadlines and how to enroll can be obtained by calling your provincial crop insurance agency. The recently enhanced production insurance programs offer additional assistance to producers who are affected by excess moisture and/or spring flooding. Details of the 2007 CCPP are being finalized and will be announced shortly. For more information on CCPP and other management practices to reduce soil erosion call 1 800 667-8567 or visit www.agr.gc.ca/ccpp Canada News Police investigating report of car approaching girl, 8, in Kippen Police are seeking information about a four -door gold - coloured car after an eight-year-old Kippen girl report- ed being approached by an older man with a beard dri- ving the car. The girl was riding her bike along the sidewalk on Saturday, April 14 at approximately 3 p.m. in the vil- lage of Kippen when the car pulled up from behind her and opened the driver's side door. The girl did not recognize the car or the driver. and told her mother that a vehicle had pulled up beside her and opened the driver's side door. She did not recog- nize the vehicle or the driver, who did not say anything or leave the car. The girl immediately ran towards her friend's house as the car continued westbound, approached the rail- road tracks and turned around. She then ran home and told her mother about the incident and the mother called the Huron OPP. The car then headed eastbound towards London Road. The car is described as having scratches on the driver side door and between the driver side and rear passen- ger door. Anyone with related information is asked to call the Huron OPP or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477. (1- 800 -222 -TIPS).