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EDITORIAL Nkt Aur Geo ADVERTISING Fax DISTRIBUTION Fax 250 Industrial Aurora Editorial Editor Aurora Jeff Bower Editor Newmarket Editor Georgtna Tracy Kibble Production Manager Jackie Smart jsthriyriiigcom Advertising Retail Sales Manager DaveWillittfnf Classified Mnndgcr Bonnie bwndeauyrmgcom Administration Office Manager Judy White jivliiteynngcom Distribution Manager John Circulation Manager- Megan Pike THE ERA THE BANNER York Region Media Group community newspapers The EraThe Banner published every Tuesday Thursday and Sunday are divisions of trie Media Group Ltd a wholly- owned subsidiary of Corporation The family of newspapers Is composed of community publications across Ontario Tho York Region Media Group includes The Liberal serving Richmond Citizen Economist Sun Stoufivillo SunTribune Georgina Advocate North of the City yorhregioncom and York Region Printing LETTERS POLICY All submissions must be less than 400 words and include a daytime telephone number name and address The EraThe Banner reserves the right to publish or not publish and to edit for clarity and space Write Letters to the Editor The EraThe Banner Box Newmarket 4X1 Member Established 1853 THE ERATHE BANNER wwwyprkregioncoTn 580 Steven Sewmajkef ON 250 Industrial Aurora ON Publisher IanProudfobt Editor in Chief Debora Kelly Business Manager Robert Director Oeerations Barry Black Director Advertising Distribution DiRECrop Sales Marketing Classified Todays Homes DebraWelleh TO THE Dont knock winter cycling until you give it shot Re Bad luck leads to tran sit column by Bemie ONeill Feb 11 You dont have to be a nut to ride your bike through the winter Its quite easy to do as long as you layer your clothihg and always remember hat gloves and scarf otherwise the wind will get you This is the second winter I have biked through since I acquired a 1970s European cruiser I have not been able to let go of the freedom and mobility it has given me I know it might sound crazy but there are a people who agree with me on this Just check out West Queen West in Toronto and youll see what I mean there are tons of cyclists out every day regardless of the season Trie best part about cycling is that in residential areas the bicycle is the fastest mode of transportation for trips less than five kilometr es That means Ill get where Im going first as long as its within the city Add to that the fact maintenance and running costs may top out at 30 a year for tires and repairs I have never bought gasoline for my bike and we get the best parking spots for free arid I think you need to tryjt before you knock it Why not buncileup and bike Street for a coffee or hot chocolate MICHAEL EVANS NEWMARKET Consider climate change ratio Re- Suzukis opinions not accepted by all letter by Feb Mr notes he would like to see you publish some of those who have a different view on climate change I agree but would suggest to be truly fair you should publish differing views in proportion to the number of actual climate scientists holding those views Conservatively that ratio is- about 1000 who believe climate change mainly caused by human activity to every one who believes otherwise Note Dr Timothy Bell is a professor of geography not a climate scientist Following that ratioi you should pub lish your next article from a climate- change doubter in about 2tf years SCHOMBERG organizers should strive for green medal Several people have asked me if the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics will be the greenest games yet The answer may be yes if were talking about the abundance of green ery and lack of snow brought on by record high temperatures during one of the earliest spring seasons the city has experienced With respect to environmental impact all Olympic Games leave a very large footprint Thousands of people flying in from all over the world along with local transportation and infra structure that must be created mean a lot of carbon emissions get spewed into the atmosphere What many may not realize is along with sports the Olympic move ment has two other official pillars culture and the environment People in Vancouver have seen evidence of the cultural pillar with an amazing lineup of music theatre and other cultural events for the Cultural Olympiad Vancouver Olympic organizers have also tried to reduce the environmental impact of the 2010 Games For example venues and infra structure have been built using ener gyefficient technologies clean energy sources will be used for many aspects of the Games and carbon offsets will David Suzuki with Faisal Moola balance out a significant portion of emissions As a result of these and other initiatives the 2010 Olympics are expected to produce fewer greenhouse gas emissions than previous Games But that doesnt mean the Van couver Olympics are as green as they could be In fact we may eventually have to rethink our approach to such global megaevents if we are serious about reducing the impacts of climate change We hope future host cities and the IOC itself will learn from the les sons of the 2010 Olympics For example despite an empha sis on public transit use during the Games the Vancouver Olympics will leave the region with few longterm improvements in sustainable trans portation Instead the highway up to Whistler was widened at a cost of 600 million And so far 2010 Olympic organizers havent made the most of opportunities to tell the story of their climate initiatives to Canadians and the world Because so many people will be focused on the host city and because climate change is a defining issue of our time the winter Olympics offer an unparalleled opportunity to inspire billions of people around the world with solutions to global warming The International Olympic Com mittee itself must also play a stronger role ensuring Olympic organizers take the environment seriously A look back at previous Olympics shows remarkably varied performanc es regarding the environment with the Athens Games standing out in particular for its weak environmental record The IOC should set minimum envi ronmental benchmarks so every orga- nizing committee has clear targets to meet or- exceed Such benchmarks would also allow successive Olympic Games to be assessed and compared and opportunities for improvement to be identified The IOC should also put in a place an external monitoring body for each host city to ensure standards for addressing climate impacts are upheld And because not all host countries have the same financial means the IOC could create an environmental fund with financing from media- rights revenues or other sources The fund could help lesswealthy countries incorporate environmental consider ations into their Games and invest in longterm environmental and social initiatives in their regions Of course environmental initia tives around Olympic Games are a shared responsibility For the Vancou ver Games the federal provincial and municipal governments the organiz ing committee and other organizations are all accountable when it comes to ensuring the Games are green and leave a lasting legacy for the region Future Olympics can and should raise the bar even higher by finding ways to reduce their climate impact and inspiring their worldwide audi ences with climate solutions David Suzuki writes an occasional column forThe AdvocateThe BannerThe Dr Faisal Moola is the- director of science at the David Suzuki Foundation visit davidsuzukiorg