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The Rural Voice, 2002-10, Page 14PACKERS: WE BUILD RUBBER TIRE PACKER SPECIALISTS Also large fold -up steel drum packers. lawn & estate rollers, custom manufactured HAROLD JONES ENTERPRISES RR a2. Arthur. Ont(519) 848-2799 Tractor & Combine Parts New, Used and Remanufactured Phone 1-800-372-7149 fax 1-800-372-7150 . Standard & Reground Crankshafts Remanufactured Cylinder Heads . Engine Overhaul Kits . Used Engines - Huge Inventory wvoit.fawcett.cc e-mail sales@lawcett.cc FAWCETT Tractor Supply Ltd. St. Marys Ontario BARN RENOVATIONS • Renovations to farm buildings • Concrete Work • Manure Tanks • Using a Bobcat Skid Steer w/hydraulic hammer, bucket, six -way blade & backhoe BEUERMANN CONSTRUCTION R R. #5 BRUSSELS 519-887-9598 or 519-887-8447 10 THE RURAL VOICE Jeffrey Carter Kyoto Accord makes good sense Jeffrey Carter is Zi freelance journalist based in Dresden, Ontario. 1 used to remember the rains coming a lot more often when I was a kid. Back then, a two-week dry spell seemed a rare event. No more. Records show that over the past decade, there's been more dry years than wet. It's also been hotter. An article in the September issue of National Geographic suggests that six of the hottest years on record in the Great Lakes region have come over the past 10 years. They can add 2002 to that total. I wonder how many more 30 -plus degree days there'll before September's end. Farmers feel the impact, more than most. Dennis Jack of the Ontario Corn Producers Association is predicting a disastrous harvest for many of Ontario's farmers this fall, according to an article in The Chatham Daily News. Jack is beating the subsidy drum. It's his job to convince government that growers, especially corn growers, need support. Still, there's reason for complaint. Corn yields are likely to be in the 100 -bushel range. That's not a paying proposition, even with the higher prices. People other than farmers are affected by the weather trend. Lower lake levels have made shipping more difficult and less profitable. The latter is related to the need to lessen loads so that the vessels ride higher in the water. There's also a smog issue. My wife and I go for evening.walks. She doesn't have to go far before her chest Igins to hurt. That wasn't a factor this summer when we hiked the trails in Algonquin where smog is less of an issue. There is a bit of good news in all this. The majority of countries in the world have agreed to reduce the probable cause of the warming trend — global warming — by reducing greenhouse gas emissions by six per cent below 1990 levels by 2012. There's plenty of opportunity to poke holes in this effort - the Kyoto environmental accords. Many environmental lobbyists say it doesn't go far enough. People on the other aside of the argument. like those attached to big oil, say it goes too far. The environmentalists do have a point. Can we really argue against a move toward cleaner air and fewer negative environmental impacts? At the same time, though. the tree -hugging people may wish to consider putting halt to their whining about the failure of Kyoto to go far enough and start offering a little praise to leaders. Prime Minister Jean Chretien included, who hope to move things in the right direction. As for those folks dead set against Kyoto, let's consider their main ergument. They suggest the Kyoto effort will hurt the economy. Jayson Myers, chief economist with the Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters estimates Kyoto will cost Canadian $40 billion and kill 450,000 jobs. Myers is doing an admirable job in representing his organization. His conclusions, however, may be suspect. History shows that when one particular economic driver fades, another brightens. In North America, for instance, the fur trade used to be one of the biggest economic drivers. We can also move on from our gluttonous consumption of fossil fuels. Let people set the standards. The economy will look after itself. It will just be different - and we'll all be able to breathe a little easier.0 The Rural Voice welcomes your opinions for our Feedback letters to the editor column. Mail to: The Rural Voice, PO Box 429, Blyth, ON NOM I HO