Coalition + Wakeboats: Pétition + Signatures

Coalition sur les modifications de l'encadrement législatif fédéral gouvernant la navigation:

les bateaux qui ont des impacts sur l'environnement tel que les wakeboats.

Étant donné que certains types des bateaux ont des impacts destructifs sur l'environnement des lacs et rivières, tel que l'impact des wakeboats sur l'érosion des bords riverains

Étant donné que les lois fédéraux qui encadrent les eaux navigables rendent difficiles ou presque impossible d'imposer des restrictions sur certains types de bateaux quant à leur impact sur l'environnement et la tranquillité des riverains

Étant donné que le gouvernement fédéral actuel n'est pas suffisamment soucieux de l'environnement pour être réceptif aux changements de lois et règlements de navigation nécessaire pour de protéger l'environnement de nos lacs et rivières

Étant donné qu'une seul municipalité ne pourrait avoir assez d'influence pour agir seule pour changer l'encadrement législatif gouvernant les eaux navigables

Nous les signataires ci-dessous voulons participer dans une coalition inter-municipale, interrégional et interprovincial - un front commun - tel que la prochaine gouvernement fédéral, après l'élection du 2015,  ne pourrait ignorer nos propositions pour un nouvelle encadrement législatif innovateur et efficace qui nous donnerions des outils d’imposer des restrictions sur certains types de bateaux au nom de la protection de l'environnement et de la tranquillité des environs.

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Coaliton and Wakeboats: Meeting @10:00AM, Sept 1, 2013 @St-Faustin-LacCarré

Hello:

The purpose of the message is to invite you a first meeting concerning 1) the Coalition on the modification of the federal legislative framework for navigation on our waterways and 2) boats having significant environmental impacts as is the case with wakeboats.  This meeting will take place at 10:00AM, September 1st at the Parc Écotouristique, Collège Vanier, à  737, rue de la Pisciculture, St-Faustin-Lac Carré (the former fish hatchery site).

In brief, the Coalition's objective is to form an inter-municipal, inter-regional and inter-provincial group to develop innovative legislative recommendations between now and the next federal election in 2015.  These recommendations would modify the Canadian Shipping Act and the Fisheries Act and link the two Acts in such a way that, in the name of protection the marine habitat, it would be possible to impose restrictions on the use of certain types of boats.

This approach is based on the following:

1) The Canadian Shipping Act in its present form is inefficient and ineffective for regulating certain types of boating activity based environmental reasons since a) the primary purpose of the Act is to protect navigation rights and b) it takes up to 5 years from the moment a municipality makes a request for a new regulation and the approval of the regulation, plus a trail voluntary code of conduct must be attempted during the 5 year period;

2) The current government has removed the component of The Fisheries Act that protects the marine habitat;

3) Given the environmental policies of the current government, it is best to adopt a time line for targeting the next federal government in 2015;

4) A small municipality, community on its own, cannot hope to get the attention of the Government of Canada to modify legislation, especially when the modifications include the linking of two Acts.  Accordingly, the inter-municipal, inter-regional and inter-provincial approach is proposed as it would be difficult to ignore such a group.  To this end, the Coalition will be targeting other communities and stakeholders in Quebec as well as in other provinces.

Your comments and expressions of interests are most welcome.

Here is the links to the signatures document. http://willdubitsky.blogspot.ca/2013/08/coalition-wakeboats-petition-signatures.html

Please confirm your presence by e-mail by August 27th.

Regards.

Will Dubitsky                                                                      Rémi Cloutier

willdubitsky@yahoo.ca                                                    remipcloutier@msn.com

La Coalition et les Wakeboats: Rencontre @10h00, 1er sept @St-Faustin-Lac-Carré

Bonjour,

Le but de ce message est de vous inviter à participer à une première rencontre de la Coalition sur 1) les modifications de l'encadrement législatif gouvernant la navigation sur nos lacs et 2) les bateaux qui ont des impacts significatifs sur l'environnement tel que les wakeboats.  La rencontre aura lieu à 10h00 le premier septembre 2013 au Parc Écotouristique, Collège Vanier, à  737, rue de la Pisciculture, St-Faustin-Lac Carré (L'ancienne site de la Pisciculture).

En bref, la Coalition se donne pour objectif de former un front commun inter-municipal, interrégional et interprovincial, avec un échéancier d'ici la prochaine élection fédérale en 2015, en vue de  faire des recommandations législatives innovatrices. Ces recommandations viseront à modifier la Loi sur la marine marchande et la Loi sur la Pêche et lier ces deux lois pour nous permettre, au nom de la protection de l'habitat marin, d’imposer des restrictions sur certains types de bateaux qui sont nuisibles à l'environnement.

 Cette approche s'inspire des points suivants:

1) La Loi sur la marine marchande telle qu'elle existe actuellement est inefficace pour imposer des restrictions sur les bateaux de plaisance au nom de l'environnement puisque a) sa raison d’être est de protéger les droits des navigateurs, et b) qu'il y a un délai d’environ cinq ans entre la demande d'une municipalité pour un changement de règlements et une approbation, le tout exigeant une période d’essai avec code de conduite pendant cette période;

2) Le gouvernement actuel a éliminé la protection de l’habitat marin contenu anciennement dans la Loi sur la Pêche;

 3) En tenant compte des politiques actuelles, il faut attendre la venue d'un nouveau gouvernement suite aux élections de 2015.

4) Une petite municipalité ne peut par elle-même attirer l'attention du gouvernement fédéral afin de modifier l'encadrement législatif, surtout puisqu’'il s'agit de modifier deux lois.  Par conséquent, nous avons adopté une approche inter-municipale interrégional et interprovincial, une approche de front commun, tel que Le Gouvernement du Canada ne pourrait pas nous ignorer.  À cet effet, nous avons l'intention  d'inclure sous peu d'autres collectivités et intervenants au Québec et dans les autres provinces.

Vos commentaires et/ou  expressions d'intérêts sont les bienvenus.

Voici le lien pour les signatures. http://willdubitsky.blogspot.ca/2013/08/coalition-wakeboats-petition-signatures.html

SVP, confirmez votre présence d'ici le 27 août.

Au plaisir

Will Dubitsky                                                                      Rémi Cloutier
willdubitsky@yahoo.ca                                                    remipcloutier@msn.com

The Critical Role of Public Financial Institutions in the Green Economy

Purpose

Both the Intergovernmental Panel and Climate Change and the International Energy Agency have concluded that public policies, rather than the availability of resources, are among the key determinants for a shift from fossil fuels to clean technology development and deployment.  This article is about the role of public banks as critical agents for change along these lines.

The article begins with a review of public financial institutions around the globe that support the development of the clean technology sectors and concludes with options for Canada to build upon these models from elsewhere.

Public Financial Institutions and the Green Economy

Starting with some of the largest public banks, in July 2013, both the World Bank and the European Investment Bank announced that they will limit to the bare minimum, investments in fossil fuel projects, while shifting the lion's share of their respective energy investments to renewables.

World Bank's Jim Yong Kim – the first scientist to head the institution – said it is impossible to tackle poverty without dealing with the effects of a warmer world.  “We need affordable energy to help end poverty and to build shared prosperity. We will also scale-up efforts to increase renewable energy and improve energy efficiency – according to countries’ needs and opportunities.”

Based on perspectives not very different from that of the World Bank, in July 2013, The European Investment Bank (EIB), in line with the current European Union climate policy, announced it will implement new lending criteria that skew heavily towards renewables and screen out nearly all coal and lignite plants.

The significance of the EIB shift is illustrated by the fact that the EIB invests, lends and leverages $13.2B/year for energy initiatives.  The leveraging of EIB investments in turn fosters private financing, especially important for the capital intensive offshore wind sector.  Many offshore wind projects have benefited from the low cost EIB loans in recent years.
 

Also in Europe, in the UK, the Green Investment Bank, headquartered in Glasgow, was created in 2012 with $3.6B (£3B) in initial capital to carry it through until 2015.  Its mission is to respond to the specific financing challenges of commercial green infrastructure projects by tackling the finance gaps which remain despite the advent of new government policies.  Like the EIB, this mission includes leveraging its investments to bring in other lenders and investors.

To raise additional capital, GIB’s capital base is, and will be, regularly reinforced with pollution permit proceeds and the newly announced carbon tax revenues.  Beginning in the 2014-2015 period, bonds will be issued to raise additional capital.
 

Meanwhile in Germany, the state bank, kfw, is backing offshore wind development to the tune of $7.2B (5B€).

With respect to China, the Chinese Development Bank (CDB), has been a key player in making China the world's largest clean tech player.  In 2012, total investments in renewables was $67.7B, compared to its closest rival, the US, with $56B in investments in that same year.
 

The CDB is a formidable player, especially because the CDB appears to have no limits on the billions of dollars with which to work.  About 2 years ago, the CDB committed a whopping $45B over 5 years to smart grid development and deployment.-- Smart grid platforms are the key to the massive integration of intermittent renewable energy production such as energy from wind and solar sources, by storing surplus energy for redeployment, as required.  

More recently, the CDB provided Goldwind, a state-owned wind turbine manufacturer, with $6B to finance international business development.  Similarly, Ming Yang, a smaller Chinese turbine manufacturer, acquired $5B from the CDB for loans and credit facilities between 2011 and 2015 to prepare its way to enter international markets.
 

The aforementioned orders of magnitude of CDB support for China's clean tech sectors have contributed to accusations of global clean tech dumping, specifically, accusations from the US and the European Union.  Both the US and the EU have responded to the alleged dumping by imposing steep tariffs on imports of clean tech products from China.

By way of contrast, Canada has taken on an opposite type of course of action by being oblivious to the problem of dumping of clean techs by China.  To this effect, the proposed Canada-China trade deal stipulates that there will be no commercial barriers applied to environmental technologies.  Evidently, the Harper regime is prepared to give China what it wants, in order for Canada to sell tar sands oil them. -- Either the Harper administration is unaware of the significance of China's request, it simply does not care or a combination of both!
 

Yet another variant of an innovative public financial institution model for supporting domestic clean tech manufacturing, is that of Brazil's Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Economico e Social.  As of Jan. 2013, Banco Nacional requires that wind turbine manufacturers source 60% of components in Brazil and produce or assemble in Brazil at least 3 of the 4 main wind technology components-- towers, blades, nacelles and hubs, between now and 2016.  Under the Banco Nacional model, turbine makers have to meet the staggered manufacturing phases established by the bank, which would be stepped up every six months, until 2016.

Turning to the US, there the US Export-Import Bank, which represents 7 US government agencies, was created to finance renewable energy projects in emerging markets and, most important, support the US clean tech industry with its requirement for 30% US content.  India, one of Bank’s 9 key markets, accounted for approximately $7B of the Bank’s worldwide credit exposure as of the end of FY 2011.  Another example of Ex-Im Bank loans was the $1B credit package to fund wind power development in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam, in collaboration with the Vietnam Development Bank.
 

Lastly, there is the pension fund green investment model such as that established by Denmark's Dong Energy.-- Dong is 75% owned by the Government of Denmark and is involved in 30% of all offshore wind projects in the world.  Currently, Dong uses Danish pension funds for its financial activity in offshore wind projects in Denmark and partners with the Japanese trading firm Marubeni for equity financing for projects outside Denmark.

The aforementioned government and pension fund financial and policy connections have translated into Dong being a very special kind of energy investor in that 85% of its current portfolio is associated with fossil fuels and 15% renewables, but its mission is to reverse this ratio by 2040.
 

Canada

With the examples of the World Bank, the European Investment Bank China, the UK Green Investment Bank, Germany's kfw, the Chinese Development Bank, the US' Ex-Im Bank and Brazil's Banco nacional, showing the way to the effect that publicly funded investment institutions can play critical roles in assuring a migration to renewables and clean techs, the question to raise in Canada is as follows:  Why can't Canada do similar things via the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) and Export Development Canada?

Indeed these Canadian investment vehicles offer excellent options for the financing the development of Canada's clean tech sectors.  The BDC, like the other institutions mentioned in this article, could leverage its venture capital funds to attract additional support from Canada's private banks and financial cooperatives.  What an excellent way to take on the challenge of reaching US equivalency with regard to 20% of US venture capital activity in 2011 and 2012 represented by investments in the US clean tech sectors.
 

As well, the BDC could take a page from Brazil's Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Economico e Social and include Canadian content requirements, thus assuring optimal benefits for Canadian economic development and job creation.  It is  conceivable that BDC supported local economic development along these lines could fly under the radar of free trade agreements.

As for an approach for supporting Canadian exports of clean technologies, the models described in this article, in particular the Chinese Development Bank and the US Export-Import Bank, are tough acts to follow since these institutions have billions of dollars to work with. 
 

Nevertheless, the fact that the US Ex-Im Bank brings together 7 US national government organizations, suggests this US model could provide some insights for a Made in Canada model.  For example, if the Canadian International Development Agency  would partner with Export Development Canada, the Government of Canada would be able to support the setting up of clean energy micro-grids in isolated communities without necessitating the prohibitively expensive land infrastructure connections to very distant centralized electricity generation plants.  

On the subject of pension fund models, in the previous section, mention was made of Government of Denmark investing pension funds in Dong Energy, a company 75% owned by the Government of Denmark, and planning to reverse its investment ratios, from the current 85% in fossil fuels to 15% renewables, to the very opposite ratio by 2040.
 

Well, as it happens, contrary to what most may think, there are Canadian precedents for major investments of pension funds in clean tech sectors.  That is, in February 2013, the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, the financial arm for Quebec pension funds, invested $757M to purchase half of Dong Energy's 50% share in the world's largest offshore wind energy project, UK's 850 MW London Array.  Just prior to that, in January 2013, the Caisse purchased $500M in shares of 11 Invenergy wind farms in the US and Canada, representing 1500 MW and including 2 wind projects in Canada, one of which is in Quebec.

This raises a second question.  Why can't the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) create a Canadian clean tech portfolio to support optimal Canadian participation in one of the world's largest growth and job creation sectors, the clean tech sector?
 

From my previous dealings with the CPPIB, I know that the CPPIB answer is that their job is to get the maximum return for pensioners and consequently no particular preference is given for Canadian investments.  This is faulty logic for 2 reasons.  First, it is not unusual for investment vehicles to be associated with more than one objective.  Second, and most important, investments in growth sectors in Canada that offer high paying jobs, would bring additional revenues for the CPPIB in the form of greater contributions from both employers and employees -- in addition to the traditional form of returns on investments.   Indeed, from time-to-time, the Caisse has adopted priorities for investments in Quebec with similar motivations.

Conclusion

In conclusion, 1) innovative clean technology roles for the BDC and EDC to support and leverage venture capital and finance exports and 2) the creation of the clean tech portfolio for the CPPIB, could significantly contribute to Canada's catching up to its competitors in the global migration to the high growth and high job creation green economy, all while making good money in the process.  Earnings from completed projects would in turn finance more projects. -- These are opportunities that make good sense for Canada to embrace.

As Jack Layton used to say, "Don't let them tell you it can't be done."

Will Dubitsky, 14 08 13
willdubitsky@gmail.com