Media Clippings 2007

"Anti-smoking campaigns have had a real impact in Nova Scotia but the habit still costs people in the province close to $1 billion each year, say the authors of a new report."

"You've gotta spend to save. The Canadian Cancer Society and GPI Atlantic sent that message to the province Wednesday when they called for twice as much anti-smoking funding."

"$1 billion can buy a lot of cigarettes, but that's what it's costing this province in sickness, lost time at work, productivity losses and the impact on an already struggling health-care system."

"A new report applauds Nova Scotia's efforts to reduce smoking rates since 2000, but the study — commissioned by the Canadian Cancer Society — also says the province's anti-smoking campaign has stalled in the past three years."

"Ron Colman, executive director of GPI Atlantic, also said that the province is well-positioned to cut back on consumption and become a model for sustainable development. "

"Walk into a new NSLC store and the difference is immediately striking. The design is warm and inviting. The store is laid out to make sense. The selection is slowly growing to cater to different tastes. And if you don't know which vintage of wine to enjoy with fresh salmon, you can ask someone for help - and get it. "

"Economists are now looking at more comprehensive ways of measuring well-being, with the idea of producing a Genuine Progress Indicator. This measure includes not only GDP, but also factors in leisure time and life expectancy, for example, and subtracts for pollution, overcrowding and other issues. "

"We have homegrown examples of what can and should be done. The sustainability of rural economic initiatives should be assessed using the full-cost accounting methods being developed by Nova Scotia's GPI Atlantic. "

"The head of a Halifax-based organization that produced a report last fall that was highly critical of the provincial government and the province's monopoly utility, Nova Scotia Power, and which said Nova Scotians are among the highest per capita energy users in the world, with a reliance on fossil fuels it called “unsustainable,” says there are hopeful signs that things are changing in the province."

"A Halifax-based organization that subscribes to the belief there's more to economic growth than -- well -- economic growth, has launched a program it hopes will eventually help all of Atlantic Canada develop in a way that assures its future in a world of scarce and expensive resources. "

"Several municipalities, businesses and non-governmental organizations have signed on to an initiative designed to turn Atlantic Canada into a model of sustainable development for Canada and North America. "

"And a study by GPI Atlantic, commissioned for the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Nova Scotia, identified transportation as one of four major areas in which people have the opportunity to be physically active during their day. "

"Canadians, and Nova Scotians in particular, have very big feet. Ecological feet, that is. Our "ecological footprint" is the amount of productive land area, including crop land, pasture, forests and fisheries, required to supply current human consumption and absorb wastes."

"One recent GPI Atlantic study noted Nova Scotia is part of the richest one-fifth of the world that consumes 84 per cent of all paper products, compared to nations among one-fifth of the poorest that use just 1.1 per cent of available paper products."

"Issues around energy affordability and environmental impact should take priority over hearings to consider a fuel adjustment mechanism, says a group of interveners who plan to file written submissions to the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board this week. The group, which includes the Affordable Energy Coalition, the Ecology Action Centre, Genuine Progress Index Atlantic and a local resident, is questioning the need for the government regulator to hold hearings to consider a way to adjust fuel costs to power bills automatically."

" Instead of planning to widen two-lane highways 101 and 103, which would disperse more people away from Halifax, the province should promote smart growth, advises Victoria Transport Policy Institute Executive Director Todd Litman in the new ''Sustainable Transportation for Nova Scotia'' report, which enumerates economic, environmental and social advantages of compact, mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly development near transit, including lower commuting costs, gas use and air pollution; better public health, fitness and safety; and traffic fatality rates cut by some 75 percent. "