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I have since come to know this canny and fearless politician who has stayed true to his beliefs for four decades and has become so popu- lar, he doesn’t have to play party politics. free, clean energy in abundénce to all nations Here was a politician who articu- lated the obvious realities about energy. fossil fuels are finite and will run out, the biggest sources of oil are often in the most politically volatile regions, nuclear energy is also non- renewable and bequeaths a legacy of radioactive waste for thousands of generations and the sun provides lETTERS POLICY than 400 words and must include a daytime telephone number. name and address. The Sun-THbune reserves the right to publish or not publish and to edit for clarity and space. Lotta: to the Editor, The Sun-Tubal». 6290 Main St Stouth. 0N LM «:7 The Sun-Tribune welcomes your letters. All submissions must be In“ I knew nothing about him, but as I listened to him talk about how Germany had become the world’s leading exporter of wind technology and was on its way to phasing out its nuclear reactors, I was blown away. n 2005, I attended an intema- tional conference in Montreal on the Kyoto Protocol. There, I heard a speech by German parliamentarian Hermann Scheer. their lights at oncoming traflic to “wam” them of a police car ahead. Please do not do this. Apart from being illegal, have you ever paused to think abOut the people you might be warning? Stop warning Speeders police are ahead The kids using this hill deserve better. An gunce of: preyention, please. Thanks fér the oppHrtunity to express my concerns. lmason.yrmg.com Can this sign be relocated closer to the fence near the trees? Re: Man with name on hilljust happy """ununbn-o'uurruu“ kids used it, Iuly 10. t ' k t t ' ' ' _ _ 32:1, °flfiqfiiflhfiflfig D What do you think of these Issues or others? down the toboggan hill in Rupert Park col- E-mail letters to the editor to jmason@yrmg.com lides with the newly erected sign, naming filehfllafterMickeyHunt,andb1-eaksa w 7 w bone or worse. Move Hunt’s Hill sign for safety of children 6 StoujfwueSun-mmlmdax Aug. 23,2003 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR ANITA WEATHERILL STOUFFVILLE Immcnvu MEDIA Marketing 8. Advertising Manager Dawna Andrews jmason@yrmg.com Ennonm Editor Iim Mason ION What Dr. Scheer means by politiâ€" cal, I believe, is the mindset that nesults from having such a heavy All of these levels now have a huge stake in the oil industry, so it's not surprising when someone suggests alternative energy sources ,such as sunlight, have many advan- tages over fossil fuels, the response is “ludicrous”, “impossible”, “it will never contribute more than a frac- tion of our needs", “unreliable”, “too expensive" and on and on. investment in the status quo. After the OPEC oil embargo in 1973, Dr. Scheer, who has a doctor- ate in economics, realized energy was a major weakness in Germany’s industrial future. The country didn’t have oil reserves or large rivers for hydro- electn‘c projects and, so, was gen- eratino leril‘ihl urifh n1 anlnnr nut! So, for example, once the deci- sion is made to use oil, geologists are needed to find the oil, extraction methods must be developed, crude has to be refined, delivery systems must get the oil to consumers, gas stations must be built and so on. Once the decision is made to exploit a particular form of energy -â€" nuclear, hydro, fossil fuel or renewable â€" all kinds of expertise and infrastructure are built up. The problem of energy, he told me in Berlin, is not technological; it is political in the broadest sense. That way, you never have to worry if there is a police car ahead. Police are doing their job, trying to keep the world safe for all of us. If yeti really7 want to help people and make the roads safer for everyone, drive the speed limit. You are not doing 'a public service flashing your lights. Or a criminal who would have been caught, but received your warning to turn around as there were police ahead? Or the habitual speede’r who might have been stopped before he hit a child? What about the drunk driver who would normally be caught by that police officer before he causes a fatal accident? HAVE YOUR SAY, WHITCHURCH-STOUFFVILLE Classified Manager Bonnie Rondeau ADVERTISING Retail Manager Stacey Allen SUW-Tribune PUBLISHER Ian Proudfoot HELEN SCHWALME NEWMARKET 6290 Main St. Stouflville, 0N. MA 167 ww.yommgbn.oom He realimd this made Germany vulnerable to the vagaries of geo- The country didn’t have oil reserves or large rivers for hydro- electn‘c projects and, so, was gen- erating electricity with nuclear and coal plants. PRODUCTION Team Leader Sherry Day .‘dqvfityfmg.r6m David Suzuki dag-41ml Busmus MANAGER Robert Lazurko Emma IN Cum Debora Kelly ADVERTISING 905-640-2612 Classified: 1â€"800-743-3353 Fax: 905-640-8778 Mth the Green Party holding the balance of power in a left-wing coalition government, Dr. Scheer was able to introduce an innovative plan, a feed-in tariff, which commits His efforts, which coincided with the rise of the anti-nuclear Green Party in Germany, struck a chord. Could renewable energy provide enough energy to shut down all nuclear plants? Dr. Scheer lmew it could, even though scientists and other “experts” declared it was impossible for nenewables to account for more than a small per- centage of the nation’s elecm'city. Even though he was a politician Dr. Scheer founded the non-profit Eurosolar to encourage renewable- energy initiatives in all sectors of society. He recognized the sun radiates more than enough energy and this form of energy or secondary sources such as wind, wave and biomass are sustainable. politics and that these were not sus- mingle forms of energy. DISTRIBUTION 905-640â€"261 2 PIX EDITORIAL 905-640-2612 x: 905â€"640â€"8778 Dumcmn [mu Mann a 'I‘ncuuowcv John Futhey A York Region Media Group community newspaper The Sun-Tribune, published every Thursday and Saturday. Dumcmn, CIRCULATION Svs'mus Lynn Pashko Bob Dean mt 8: Sun, Georgina Advocate. York Region nos. North of the City. yorkmgioncom and Yom Regton Printing. SuW-Tribune Someone should introduce them to Herman Scheer. Many people have been calling for _a switch to renewable energy. Nobel laureate and former US. vice-president Al Gore has called on the US. to switch to lOO-per-cent renewable energy within 10 years. In response, we’ve heard the same, old tune from a chorus of stuck-in-thc- oil naysayers. As a recent article in the Globe and Mail noted, the feed-in tarifl‘, beyond giving Germany more than 20,000 megawatts of clean energy, has also created new economic opportunities That provided a huge incentive for individuals or co-ops to build turbines and install solar panels because banks would not hesitate to provide loans given those condi- tions the country to accept all renewable energy (primarily wind and solar) onto the grid and to guarantee a premium price for that energy for 20 years.