Cleaner Greener Healthier: A Prescription for Stronger Canadian Environmental Laws and Policies

Published in 2015, this book is still current and is a good blueprint for future and current Canadian policy-makers and laypeople alike. If readers had illusions about Canadian health as I did, this book offered a number of myth-busting facts early on that are potentially shocking. For instance, early in the book I learned that our chemical burden is similar to our American counterparts. The author also teaches us that Canadians are bearing transgenerational vulnerability to certain diseases, while hot spots such as air pollution in Alberta's heartland is in fact similar to big cities.

Fortunately, the book is dense with references to every available study, citing WHO frequently as well as creating perspective, such as the fact that more than 1 in 4 Canadian has a family member who had sought treatment for environmental illness such as asthma or cancer. This mirrors some of the statistics on Health Canada's 2017 trend analysis "How Healthy are Canadians" but that study somewhat rolls smoking related cancers, cardiovascular diseases, and respiratory diseases together. I already thought Canadians had a high number of smoking-related deaths, but the book helped make it clear this is not about smoking.

The book also drew attention to the studies of the Conference Board of Canada, which found Canada ranks 10 out of 17 wealthy industrialized nations in regards to health performance, leaving Canada lagging well behind Sweden, Norway and France among others.
There is a massive lack of an environmental health strategy in Canada, one that causes Canada to even lag behind the United States in terms of health strategy, by as much as 20 years. How did we come to have such an alarming strategy gap regarding public health?

There have been a few attempted policy strides since the book first came out, but Health Canada's own website is not a terrific research source at the moment on this topic. The Environmental Impact Initiative page @ https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/corporate/about-health-canada/activities-responsibilities/strategies-initiatives/environmental-impact-initiative.html is literally archived, as is the Canadian Diabetes strategy page, "We have archived this page and will not be updating it" while a small "news item" announces it is radon awareness and lung cancer month.
This does not mean our government is not moving on these issues, but these are bad optics that do not contribute to a feeling of confidence around Canada's need for a comprehensive health strategy.

This book is readable and detailed. It outlines various contaminants in lay terms, and goes so far as to explore issues around antibiotics, the GMO debate, pesticides, and other exposure questions with detailed scientific evidence. The good news is that the Canadian Medical Association found 90 % of Canadians rank air pollution a high or moderate health risk, while 75% concerned about pesticides and herbicides and 82% are deeply concerned by climate change specifically as having potential to spread diseases. The book acknowledging the positive progress Canada has made in the past such as banning lead from gasoline, the reduction of dioxins by 99% in pulp and paper mills effluent, our advances in wastewater treatment, sulphuric levels from industry and in gasoline and the remediation of contaminated sites. These advances are encouraging given our immediate challenges.

Following quite a few interesting statistics, Boyd tackles a discussion of environmental injustice and structural inequalities in our society with considerable eloquence. The author uses the story of places where the burden of diseases are higher then average rates, and discusses environmental justice movement in these places. Useful histories include the story of Sarnia's Chemical Valley and the nearby Aamjiwnaang First Nation. The book also breaks down the adverse economic cost of environmental pollution which are massive with costs that run into the billions. Remarks this, despite great strides, at least according to Boyd's 2015 scan of circumstances, "there is no mention of environmental justice, environmental injustice, environmental equity, or environmental racism in any Canadian law, regulation, or policy at the federal, provincial, or territorial level." There are several statements like this that are quite the challenge to Canada and our policy-makers, and it's a tone that gives the book its vigor.
On pg 110, Boyd expresses some hope through the channel of children's environmental rights. A national strategic framework on children's environmental health was "finally released" in 2010. However, remarks, Boyd, Canada's environmental laws are strikingly substandard, and "the hour is late."
Notes are extensive, making this a helpful resource for anyone interested in understanding more about the solutions to our current environmental quandary. Recommended.

Boyd, D. R. (2016). Cleaner, greener, healthier: A prescription for stronger Canadian environmental laws and policies. UBC Press.

From Corporate Globalization to Global Co-operation: We Owe It to Our Grandchildren

This friendly orange book has back cover praise from, among others, Maude Barlow and Manfred Max-Neef. The author states the intention of the book is not "political or social or economic" but “where they all meet." It is a well-written and useful exploration of the potential of co-operatives to repair our economic woes, with a very spiritual sort of preface. Webb remarks, “co-operation is more important and healthier than the competition...and that love produces a better world.” The preface also quotes several spiritual references regarding gain, from Islam, Buddhism, Judaism, Taoism, and Sikhism and Confucianism, “One word sums up the basis of all good conduct...loving kindness. Do not do onto others what you do not want done to yourself.” Confucious, Analects, 15:23.
This book is divided into seven sections. The first section, titled, "A World of Ominous Uncertainty," takes on every grim topic imaginable, beginning with interrelated global issues, ecological overshoot, environmental destruction and extinction.
The next sections of the book go on to describe trends that are the greatest threats, with charts displaying oil prices, climate change, and freshwater depletion before Webb moves into the topic of destructive inequality and financial instability. This was followed by a section discussing "addiction to growth," and the erosion of democracy, while also presenting the under-explored issue of technological research for the few.
I found Dangerous Myths of Neoclassical Economics was a particularly well-written chapter that provides structure to and context to arguments that “economic outlook” is never at a positive point when millions of children are starving. The book achieves its stated aim in reminding us that such economics are destroying democracy and that Adam Smith was from a different era. The author also then usefully explodes the myth of free markets, “left unregulated, markets work for the very rich and work imperfectly or not at all for the bottom 80 percent of humanity.”
Section 6, titled, "Cooperative Renewal and Reform" is full of many excellent cases and examples, leading well into Section 7 which discusses cooperative-friendly public policy. Then, moving past policy, Section 7 cites a number of examples and is a very helpful read. "Legislation in Italy recognizes member loans as a valuable form of financing and provides financial incentives for them; allows cooperatives to put profits into indivisible reserves without paying taxes on them, permits cooperatives to have members (within a one member, on vote limitation) who do not use the services of the cooperative but only invest in it," and, we learn, requires co-ops to donate a percentage of their profits for the purpose of national cooperative development.
Other examples chosen by the authors include Danish Wind co-operatives, Midcounties Co-operative Energy in the UK, and TREC Renewable Energy Co-operative in Toronto.
The book remarks that co-operatives and co-operative leaders have in their hands the most powerful tools available to humanity to fuel the transition to a better world. The book asks, "will they have the courage, wisdom, and strength to play that important role?"
Leading in to the final section, the book cautions, "reality demands that we keep our eyes on both the positive and the negative.”
The concluding section, Dreaming of a Better World, is full of informed optimism coupled with a shrewd eye to the future. The author has clearly seen both positive and negative aspects of the cooperative process, and comes out a strong proponent of coops as a vital tool for social and economic empowerment worldwide. Dreaming of a Better World is followed by an extensive bibliography as well as a listing of organizational websites exploring economic alternatives.
All in all, a very cool little book from the heart by J. Tom Webb. I recommend it.

Webb, T. (2016). From corporate globalization to global co-operation: We owe it to our grandchildren. Fernwood Publishing.

Project Sunshine: How Science Can Use The Sun to Fuel and Feed the World

Project Sunshine addresses fossil fuel burning, alternative energy technologies that do not create greenhouse gas pollution and how to feed the growing population of the future. It uses a friendly walk-through-history to bring readers into the future without straying from the gravity of the topic. The book is very easy to read, and almost seems directed at a young adult audience. The authors are Tony Ryan, who is Pro Vice-Chancellor at the University of Sheffield and leads the Faculty of Science with a specialty in polymer science and journalist Steve McKevitt, a U.K. Government advisor on business innovation and international trade. It's nice to read a book deliberately written in such an accessible way. There's a lot of potentially new information in here, as the authors remark in the preface, "big problems require radical solutions."
In the second chapter, "Weathering a Perfect Storm" there is a bit of a science introduction, simplistic but entertaining, followed by the chapter “taking control,” which describes the author's outlook on human history and human-as-hunter-gatherer, before moving into chapter three, “States of Emergency.” By this point the structure chosen by the authors becomes clear, as the book helpfully describes civilizations that weathered crisis through technological advances.
The book is very British, as they pursue an Elizabethan comparison into several chapters in an interesting way, first describing the Elizabethan energy crisis in 1260, a point when coal could not be shipped to London as all available accessible sources had been exhausted, starting the practice of mining it. The comparison is that we now must begin to mine solar or be left in the dark.
The book also usefully talks about slash and burn deforestation in Britain, and the exploitation of arable land as historic lessons contemporary planners must learn from. After the history lesson, it explores Britain's vast wind and tidal power resources in a way that is informational and detailed. It admires the solar project Gemasolar and Seville, Spain and explores the potential for large-scale battery storage, such as those being developed at MIT. The energy section of the book is exhaustive, exploring battery types, predicting future technologies and exploring the pro-and-cons of all the current cutting edge technology, including hurdles that are still to be overcome and in some cases have been overcome since the writing of the book. It is very positive about algal biofuels and is also enthusiastic about Methanol as a liquid storage medium. Finally, it addresses the cultural problem of climate denial and climate change, referencing Al Gore, and addresses nuclear power, remarking, "the history of fission power is a lesson in the dangers of engineering compromise."
Moving from energy questions, the authors take on food sovereignty in the chapter “Feast or Famine.” True to the book's subtitle, the authors explore ways to feed the world, remarking, "the potential for GM is significant. Bio-engineering is well-placed to address many of the problems we have outlined: Salination, climate change, drought, flooding," an opinion I find naiive without specifics. Fortunately, the book does attempt to address the problems involved with genetic modification as well as why raising plants in sterile soil as not sustainable. The book then describes why a third of all food produced in the U.K. is thrown away at the time of writing, a "chilling fact" caused by "befuddled logic and consumer whimsy." With lines like, "the foods that fails to pass muster in this greengrocers beauty parade is discarded" Feast or Famine was my favourite chapter. This section also highlights "the moral and economic challenges of maintaining a diet high in meat and dairy," and the issues of class difference, "the better-off households produce an average of 5 kilos more waste per week then working-class households."
In general, I found this book to be a readable and engaging work, the collaboration of two surprisingly accessible writers. Project Sunshine has a great amount of current research and is dense with references and sources, it has pages of further reading at the end and I enjoyed become involved with the book through the history-lesson structure of the first half. The energy technology sections are not difficult for a layperson to understand and it lays a helpful groundwork for anticipating new technologies on the horizon. This general attitude throughout the book makes Project Sunshine a recommended sunny read for dark days.

Ryan, T., & McKevitt, S. (2013). Project sunshine: How science can use the sun to fuel and feed the world. Icon.

Energy Services for the Urban Poor In Africa

I chose to read this book because I was more interested in the between-the-lines information, which was whether the very poor in Africa are being forced into payment schemes around the theme of climate emergency in the process of solving Africa's energy crisis. The studies in the five-country cases sought to determine whether energy subsidies are well-targeted to the urban poor, the impact of energy subsidies on public finances and how electricity tariffs affect the operation of SME's (small and medium enterprises). I found the writing compassionate, the comparison between countries very readable and of interest to a layperson.
Bereket Kebede is currently development economist and is systems development manager at the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company. The book is a publication of Zedbooks, a press specializing in international social science research and investigation based in London, UK and is an update from 2004. The book itself is a project of the African Energy Policy Network, a Nairobi-based NGO launched in 1989 that works with the UN and SIDA, among others, in examining future energy scenarios for African cities.
Subsidies in Sub-Saharan Africa are widely used to “improve the access of urban poor” to electricity, a population that relies largely on fuel-wood, kerosene, and dung as their main sources of energy. Many governments provide kerosene subsidies. Electricity supply is mainly dominated by government-owned utilities, so connection fees become an issue that can be spread out allowing connection access over a number of electricity bills. An example is Uganda which subsidizes 79 percent of the connection fees if customers are located within an 80 metre distance of a low-tension line.
The studies also examine the question of who receives subsidies and suggests removing kerosene subsidy because it tends to be only higher-income households that receive the largest portion of the subsidy. This was interesting, as it evidences government intervention to prevent improper exploitation of subsidies. Other ideas such as tariffs are also discussed, as each region has very different culture and human resources and technical capacity.
The book then discusses projects such as Zambia's Pamodzi Low Cost Electrification Project, “which uses a deferred payment system to enable poor urban households to own 2-plate cookers for which they pay over time.” In the Pamodzi project, use of charcoal and firewood was radically reduced, but participants then become dependent on the grid.
This made me wonder if climate change issues would result in the bullying of the poor in such areas to take on exorbitant and long-term expenses because their pre-existing (traditional) heating and cooking methods are interpreted as environmentally problematic.
Thankfully, the book addresses the ability for households to afford such expenses is also studied in detail, as is the capital cost of subsidy on the GDP. In many cases, upfront costs have been a major deterrent in terms of house wiring, utility fees, and electrical equipment such as bulbs, and other devices.
“It seems that despite subsidy, many households are not able to switch over." The examination of loans and repayment periods is presented in depth. Payback with an interest rate of 14 percent in five years was offered but the book remarked that some would need sixteen years. Many good suggestions are offered including increasing support for sustainable energy use which could help with the introduction of solar energy and other forms such as wind power.
This is a theme in Uganda, where advocates for the poor argue around price and support resistance to switching. The book does effectively explore these ideas and others, arriving not at a series of conclusions so much as a demonstration of trends. The book then proceeds to reinforce the relevance of the discussion with a series of regional profiles, addressing Zambia, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia and Tanzania and Uganda. By examining key trends, including which houses are on the electrical grid and the mandated book inquiry involving energy use in SME's.
It's a very comprehensive study with notes on each region as detailed appendixes, references and charts. There is detailed data regarding the researchers, the research approach and a transparent discussion of their data collection challenges.
I recommend this book as a groundwork for understanding the issues, but while it displayed how vulnerable this population might be to pressure, as it was an update to a 2004 publication, it did not directly address climate change so much as environmental degradation, but it demonstrated compassion for Africa's poor in the approach of these studies, which was reassuring to a reader. The book approached the rapid rate of urbanization in Africa and “the recent focus on poverty alleviation,” in a comprehensive manner. Today the authors are involved in putting the infrastructure in place that can address climate change goals in Africa, a place with the richest solar resources on the planet. The potential to power Africa in a way that avoids the fossil fuel dependency of the past has never been brighter, assuming political regimes and big energy interests can allow universal access to clean, affordable energy to gain ground in 2020.

Kebede, B., & Dube, I. (2004). Energy Services for the urban poor in Africa: Issues and policy implications. Zed.