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6 stouflvittesuntribimea saturday june 30 2007 fstouffvbe stoujjwemgm f suntnbune 6290 main st stouffviileonl4alg7 wwwyorkregioncom publisher ian proudfoot editor in chief debora kelly business manager robert lazurko bob dean director interactive director advertising york region printing media technology distribution general manager john futhey barry black director circulation systems lynn pashko letters to the editor bannon should resign council call byelection during novembers municipal elec tion we were confronted with a political rumour regarding ward 2 councillor phil bannon the rumour was passed off as community gossip as part of the political game however on may 27 the suntribunes front page confirmed that lingering rumour as fact the rumour we heard was mr bannon had intentions of pursuing the conservative nomination in the riding of oak ridgesmarkham for the 2007 provin cial election oct 10 my friends and i discussed the issue and asked ourselves if the right candidate elected to office last year on june 7 the suntribunes editorial stated mr bannon knocked off incum bent councillor mark carroll four years ago and squeaked past political newcom er justin airman last year we googled the names and found out mr airman was indeed new to politics and yet more impressively won nine of 14 polls in the community at large the question for mr bannon is if a young man new to politics almost defeats an incumbent how does he plan to defeat a wellweathered politician such liberal candidate dr helena jaczek in the provin cial election in our opinion mr bannons focus has not been on the constituents of ward 2 but on his personal pursuit of higher polit ical aspirations did mr bannon ever intend to com plete his fouryear term as a dedicated and reliable leader or were we nothing more than pawns in his personal political game of building a resume why should taxpayers continue to sup port and pay mr bannon for the position he now holds if he does not win on oct 10 are we just second best do we really want some one with no true intent of representing us for another three years the suntribune asked if a byelection should be called what would it cost did mr bannon ever think of the cost to tax payers could that money be the difference when it comes to funding the old town hall arts centre building a playground at musselmans lake or making main street improvements if mr bannon is so eager to run for mpp why not hand in his resignation let a byelection be held and a candidate who is dedicated reliable and for the people be elected shawn dandrea whitchurchstouffville keep lightbulb hazards in perspective whenever a new product comes to market inev itably it will have flaws that can drive some people to distraction so much so they may be unable to see the forest for the trees case in point compact fluores cent light bulbs or cfls much has been made about switching from standard incandes cent bulbs to cfls to help save energy on the surface its an easy choice cfl bulbs put out as much light as regular bulbs while using one quarter of the energy incandescent bulbs on the other hand havent really changed much since their invention over 100 years ago more than 90 per cent of the energy they use actually produces heat rather than light with cfls now on the scene and issues like global warming and air pollution at the top of peoples radar screens its only natural that switching to cfls would become an issue in fact im even doing a series of advertisements with powerwise an energyconservation partnership between the ontario government and local power pro ducers to get people to start replac ing their old bulbs still the switch to cfls is not without criticism some folks sug gest because the bulbs use less elec tricity people will be tempted to keep them on longer negating their energyefficiency advantage others point out all that extra light from people keeping their bulbs burning for longer will add to the burden of light pollution in our cities still others say that the quality of light is less pleasing and lupus suf ferers tell me incandescent light is better for them far and away the most common concern is about mercury cfls contain a small amount of mercury a toxic metal mercury poisoning can be a serious health hazard the term mad as a hatter actu- david suzuki ally comes from the days when hat makers used mercury to improve the felt on hats many hatters exposed to large amounts of mer cury over long periods of time suf fered brain damage mercury accu mulation in fish can also be a health hazard to those who eat certain types of it regularly but we have to keep things in perspective the amount of mer cury in a cfl is tiny many times less than is found in a watch battery or dental filling coalfired power plants are the single largest sources of mercury in our environment today because coal contains mercury by reducing our electricity con sumption through measures such as switching to cfls we reduce the demand for power thereby reduc ing greenhouse gas emissions along with mercury and other pollutants naturally we have to consider the entire life cycle of a product before we make a wholesale switch but the stats on cfls are pretty com pelling according to environment canada replacing even one 60watt standard bulb with a 15watt cfl in each of canadas 12 million house holds would save up to 73 million a year in energy costs and reduce greenhouse emissions by nearly 400000 tonnes this isnt to say people dont need to be educated about the safe use and disposal of these bulbs only that these shouldnt be used as yet more excuses for inaction retailers should be required to take back old cfls for recycling as a few such as hcea already do consumers should be careful when installing or replacing these bulbs and if one breaks follow safety guidelines recommended by environment canada or the environmental protection agency cfl bulbs alone are hardly thee solution to all of our environmental problems but they certainly are a step in theright direction they may have their flaws but theyre getting better all the time better light less mercury and shat terresistant bulbs so until something even better comes along theyre a good simple and effective way to help lower elec tricity consumption save money and reduce our environmental footprint which is ultimately the whole forest we need to see take the nature challenge and team more at wwwdavidsuzukioig letters policy the suntribune welcomes your letters all submissions must be less than 400 words and must include a daytime telephone number name and address the suntribunercserves the right to publish or not publish and to edit for clarity and space letters to the editor the suntribune box 154 stouffville on l4a7z5 jmason9yrmgcom editorial editor jim mason jmasonymtgcom interactive media marketing advertising manager dawna andrews dandramyrmzcom advertising retail manager staceyallen sallenyrmgcom classified manager ann campbell acampbellyrmgcom 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