Media Clipping — Saturday, August 11, 2001, The Halifax Herald

Story misses point of greenhouse gas report

By Meinhard Doelle

THE AUG. 9 front-page story "Truckers miffed by group's pro-rail report" misses the point of the GPI Greenhouse Gas Accounts.

1) This was not a "pro-rail, anti-trucking" report. It was an analysis of the potential impacts of climate change on Nova Scotia, the costs of Nova Scotia's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and the potential benefits to society of reducing those emissions.

2) The story says that GPI Atlantic recommends greenhouse gas reductions of 32 per cent by 2010. That figure appears nowhere in the GPI report. That report recommend a target of 17 per cent below 1995 emission levels, which equals 27.5 per cent below current levels.

3) The GPI report describes cost-effective GHG reduction strategies in power generation; business and household energy conservation; and shifts to carpooling, mass transit use and smaller cars. The 10 per cent freight shift from road to rail on the Halifax-Amherst corridor accounts for only 0.4 per cent of the recommended GHG reductions for Nova Scotia. Yet the Herald headline and story indicated it was the basic focus of the entire report.

4) GPI Atlantic made clear that truckers should not pay the costs of an investment that benefits all of society. We all share responsibility for action to reduce GHG emissions. The GPI report explicitly recommends new trucking employment through inter-modal and regional feeder systems that work with rail freight transport. Retraining affected workers is also vital.

5) True, the trucking industry was not asked for input into the report. The rail industry was also not asked for input, nor was any other industry. The GPI report used data from Statistics Canada, Transport Canada, Natural Resources Canada, Environment Canada, the N.S. Department of Transportation, and other unbiased sources to examine GHG emissions from different sectors. The next step, in determining how to implement reductions fairly, will involve consultations with industry.

6) The news story misrepresents the Genuine Progress Index as measuring "well-being and not just a successful economy." The GPI results demonstrate that valuing our social and environmental assets is the key to a successful economy.

It is unfortunate that the results of more than two years' research by GPI Atlantic on Nova Scotia's response to climate change got so lost in this news story. The Herald has given excellent, accurate and in-depth coverage to the GPI results over the last four years. The Aug. 9 story was a rare exception to otherwise first-rate reporting.

Meinhard Doelle is adjunct professor, Dalhousie University.

Copyright © 2001, The Halifax Herald