tnd Op-Ed February 19, 2003 Science Matters Taking Advantage of Kyoto FLU SUZUKI Round about this time of the year, every year, the feder- al government hunkers down to prepare the release of its annual budget. And round about this time of year, every year, interest groups across the country fire out “wish lists” on how they would like our government to collect and spend taxpayers’ money. But this year is a little different. You see, this budget will be the first since Canada ratified the Kyoto treaty on climate change. Only eight weeks have passed since this historic moment, but Canada has changed. We've taken some responsibility for our actions and we've grown up a little bit. We've promised the world that we will reduce our greenhouse gas emissions that are causing global warming. We've set targets and dates to reach them. http://otherpress.douglas.bc.ca What we dont have yet is an action plan on how to get there. That’s why this budget is so important. The budg- et sets the country’s priorities for the coming year. And how we use our limited financial resources says some- thing about who we are as a nation. Arguably, we have never faced a bigger challenge to the long term health and welfare of our citizens than we do from climate change. How we choose to meet this challenge will help define us. If we continue with business as usual—as though noth- ing has happened—and put off dealing with global warming for another year, we will miss an incredible opportunity. We will miss the chance to reaffirm Canada’s commitment to the environment and to inter- national cooperation. We will spew more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, which will remain there for hundreds of years and make it more difficult to reach our goals. And we will miss out on the economic and health advantages of becoming more energy efficient. On the other hand, if we build a strategy into the budget that takes advantage of the Kyoto treaty, we will set the groundwork for a smooth transition to a cleaner, more efficient economy. Such a strategy does not mean having to reinvent the wheel. Solutions are out there, we just need to take advantage of them. Rather than just throwing around token sums of money to make it appear as though we are doing something. We need a concerted strategy that makes becoming cleaner and more efficient, an ongoing part of everything we do. We could start with our homes and businesses—where we live and work. Right now, they waste lots of energy, but that’s because there are few incentives for people to the other press change. Establishing low interest loans and financi assistance to make our homes and commercial buildin more energy tight (as is being done successfully by t City of Toronto) would provide encouragement—ar save us all money in the long run. Encouraging clean, renewable energy sources is anot er good strategy. Developing these sources of electric ty—like wind, solar power and micro hydro—wou benefit Canadian industries, reduce air pollution and c our greenhouse gas emissions. We could encourage the industries by phasing out preferential tax incentives f fossil fuel exploration and nuclear power. Over the ne four years, this would free up more than $3 billion th could be invested in energy efficiency, conservation renewable energy projects. ‘Transportation makes up almost a quarter of Canad emissions, so a national plan for sustainable transportd tion is essential. Such a plan would allocate funding urban transit improvement, change tax structures to be efit the more efficient shipping of freight by rail and pr vide incentives that would encourage citizens to buy fue, efficient vehicles. Canada is a different place than it was last year at th| time. In fact, Canada is a different place than it was ju two months ago. In ratifying Kyoto, we took a stq towards a cleaner, healthier future. Our coming budg will be the first and biggest opportunity to reflect the new priorities. To discuss this topic with others, visit the discussig forum at . The Starving Student Mother Hubbard OP Recipe Guru This week, we're going back to soup because basically, most of us don’t know beans about soup. Now there’s a treat—bean soup—totally living up to Maxim Litvinov’s statement “Food is a weapon.” Not only does it fill you up, you're also provided with hours of enter- tainment, driving away any unwanted guests. But where did soup come from? The earliest concept ee ee eee ee eee eee eee nena ~ Olive’s Beef Barley Soup 1 lb hamburger 1 cup chopped onion 1 Tbsp minced garlic 6 cups beef stock (3 beef oxo cubes dissolved in 6 cups boiling water will do it) 1/2 cup uncooked barley 1/2 cup diced turnip (optional) 1/2 cup diced carrot 1/2 cup diced potato 2 tsp tomato paste (optional) 1/2 tsp thyme dash pepper salt to taste Sauté meat, onion and garlic in a frying pan. When cooked, drain off the fat. Put the meat mixture into a large saucepan. Add barley and stock. Simmer for 15 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir to blend. Simmer, covered, for 30 minutes (or until vegetables are soft). ee wwe ee mee wee ewe eee eee ee eee eee eee eee ence nee sc cy ee, asc a ee so ms“ eo. hn nis es am ws ete nen see ee se oe of soup came about when somebody had the brilliant idea of dropping a red-hot stone into a liquid to warm it up. In 1598, an Englishman named Andrew Boorde had a better grasp on the situation: “Pottage is made of the liquor in which flessche is sodden in, with puttying to chopped herbs and oatmeal and salt.” Yum. Thank your lucky stars for the French. They thinned this muck out and called it “soupe” because of the practice of placing a “sop” of bread at the bottom of pottage bowls to soak up the juices. While I’m sure you're dying to hear more on this fascinating topic, we'll leave it there as a “soup hanger.” For now, let’s check out Beef! Barley soup. an vy J.J. McCullough—OP Cartooni