THE BARD ON TRAGEDY OF THE COMMONS

FILLING
IN

They’re
filling in along the shore,
On
mudflat, bog, and gravel bar.
At
riverside and through the Bay
No
buffer zones enforced today.
In
many towns Municipal
In
Provincial Parks or Federal
The
excavators and big trucks
On
Preserves are dumping muck.

Land
levelled past the water line,

With,
gravel, soil, and rocky berm.
At
Bonne Bay, or in Codroy Cove,
On
wetland, water, the dirt is hove.
Structures
placed by sea and pond:
Houses,
sheds, wharves, beyond.
To
brace the view and winter winds
That
raise the heat bills to unkind.
Once,
were castles built on hill
For
defence, or view-the-mill.
Now,
they sprawl across the tide
To
access scene; show house pride.
Vanity
that impairs the coast?
To
shelter pleasure boats a boast!
No
public right-of-way enjoyed,
And
wildlife habitat destroyed.
Has
Tourism OK’d new view,
Or
Fisheries the coastal strew?
Environment
effects assessed?
Storm
and tidal flood ingress?
Were
permits got for work before?
Were
regulations all ignored?
What’s
the point of Governments?
If
toothless time on paper spent.
The
Common Good is being seized:
The
access asset, the public ease.
Those
fillers-in should restore
High-water
lines as were before.
John
Tuach
February
08, 2018

REMEMBERING BILL MARSHALL

Bill left public life shortly after the signing of the Atlantic Accord and became a member of the Court of Appeal until his retirement in 2003. During his time on the court he was involved in a number of successful appeals which overturned wrongful convictions, for which he was recognized by Innocence Canada. Bill had a special place in his heart for the underdog.

Churchill Falls Explainer (Coles Notes version)

If CFLCo is required to maximize its profit, then CFLCo should sell its electricity to the highest bidder(s) on the most advantageous terms available.

END OF THE UPPER CHURCHILL POWER CONTRACT: IMPROVING OUR BARGAINING POWER

This is the most important set of negotiations we have engaged in since the Atlantic Accord and Hibernia. Despite being a small jurisdiction we proved to be smart and nimble enough to negotiate good deals on both. They have stood the test of time and have resulted in billions of dollars in royalties and created an industry which represents over a quarter of our economy. Will we prove to be smart and nimble enough to do the same with the Upper Churchill?

1 COMMENT

  1. The lines:
    To brace the view and winter winds
    That raise the heat bills to unkind

    As the Bard has composed a piece on attic mounted mini-split, and last night being the coldest in St John's this year, reaching -14C (actually -13.6). this is monitoring results from last night, 1000 sq ft heated to 22 C.
    The unit is rated for 1575 watts, so the percentage shows the amount of loading, and suggests that -20C would not be a problem

    1am……840 watts …..-13.6C……..53 %….wind 11mph
    4am……1000 watts…..-13.1C……..63 %
    6am……1350 watts…..-12.8C……..86 % wind 22mph
    8am……1050 watts…..-11.4C……..67 %
    10am……680 watts…..-9.3C………43 % wind 9mph

    The 86 percent loading includes a defrost cycle, only 1 defrost all night, but also notice the wind had doubled, and impacted the increase.
    The 43 percent reflects the improved efficiency from solar gain into the attic this morning.
    Power used for heat from midnight to 2pm today is 13.14 kwh, so $1.31 if rates are 10 cent per kwh.
    An old house from the 1960s would have about 10,000 watts of electric heatcapacity (10 watts per sq ft). This house was built in 1987, but had upgrades, and in 2010, a minisplit……..handling this weather with less than 1500 watts input, do less than 1.5 watts per sq ft.
    The wind increase during the night added about 20 percent to the load.
    "Winter winds that raise the heat bills to unkind"
    As Liberty pointed out, Hydro's Nostradamus software did not allow for extreme winds effect on electric baseboard heating, (part of DARK NL lessons). And does Nfld Power care? Not their problem they say, as Nfld Hydro uses Nostradamus, not Nfld power! Finger pointing?
    Winston Adams