[All] My submission to RoW Climate Adaptation Plan

[Eleanor Grant]

I hope it went in!  I copied-pasted into the box and hit Submit, then the
screen said Submitting, but no further confirmation.

Eleanor


What I like: The Plan tries to cover a wide range of climate adaptation
concerns.

What I don't like - Three major gaps:
1. More emphasis needs to be given to adapting to extreme heat. It is
already an ordeal to go out on a summer afternoon because there is no
shade, and sidewalks and bus stops are baking hot. Does anyone monitor the
actual pavement temperature?

Fifty years ago our streets were tree-lined.

We already need to bury overhead wires because of more intense storms. Get
started now, and while digging, plant leafy trees lining every street and
placed where they shade the sidewalks. It is a necessity if you want people
to get out of their air-conditioned cars.

Building standards also need to change for a hot climate: balconies,
screened porches, and enhanced ventilation on summer nights must now be
mandated for new residential builds and retrofitted for existing ones. Get
started now.

2. Significant money needs to be made available for these mass changeovers.
I don't see a serious recognition of this reality in the Plan. Get started
promoting the necessary spending when it's not an election year.

3. Give a bigger role to Neighbourhood Associations.

*****

Now to comment on the 36 Actions:

1.1 - Good. Can RoW lobby for additions to the Employment Standards Act?

1.2 and 1.3 - Cooling and Warming centres need to be open evenings. Need
them in neighbourhoods. Need to be able to get to them and home again
(sidewalks safe, more frequent transit at night). If you get warm, then
have to stand at bus stops for 30+ minutes in minus 20, it undoes the
benefit of the warming. And in summer if you are sprung from the cooling
centre at 5 pm it may still be 30° and there is no shade at bus stops. This
quickly undoes the cooling.
In practice, people now go to Tim Hortons or a mall for warming and
cooling.

1.4 - WAY more money is needed for supportive housing. And policies are
needed to promote affordable housing. The Region and its cities are failing
abjectly at both of these. Topic for another day.

1.5 - Building Design! Rather than more air conditioning, we need ways to
*ventilate buildings on summer nights*. This is extremely important, as
 most apartments, and even house bedrooms, do not have access to a
cross-breeze. Get some engineering students working on solutions to this.
Also, *balconies* must be made mandatory, and retrofitted if missing. (Note
that balconies are also necessary for fire safety, to escape from smoke
inhalation.)
And new homes must have *screened porches* for sleeping. And bylaws must be
changed to facilitate adding screened porches to existing houses.
We now live in a hot climate - build for it.

1.6 and 1.7 - Good, nothing to add.

2.1 - Give every homeowner Blair Feltmate's flood protection checklist.
Provide funding or interest-free loans for fixing the items on it: sewers,
backup valves, sump pumps, eavestroughs and downspouts, window wells,
grading.

2.2 - Good, nothing to add.

3.1 and 3.2 - Help Neighbourhood Associations to take inventory of
emergency resources nearby as well as the location of vulnerable residents
and their needs. Also, we need to foster neighbourhood awareness within
apartment buildings and towers.

4.1 - nothing to add.

5.1 - nothing to add.

5.2 - See 1.5 - Design residential buildings and homes for extreme heat!
Balconies and screened porches must be mandatory. Design for serious
Ventilation on summer nights.
Also roofing that withstands higher winds and more severe and frequent ice
storms.

5.3 - *Street shade trees must be mandatory.* They must be leafy varieties,
and planted where they will shade the sidewalk. *Bury services* so that
fallen limbs don't knock out power. Spend the money, it's important.

5.4 - Good. Less pavement, less monoculture lawn.

5.5 - See 1.5 and 5.2. Change "encourage" to "incentivize". Make money
available.

5.6 - As with 5.5, make money available.

6.1 - OK.

6.2 - Task Neighbourhood Associations with keeping storm drains clear. Is
it partly a design problem? As soon as heavy rain starts, debris is carried
to the drains and blocks them. Design something better; get engineering
students working on it. *More frequent street-sweeping would also help.*

7.1 - Much more frequent transit, and add way more transit to townships!

7.2 - OK

7.3 - Keep *sidewalk corners* clear of snow so pedestrians can safely
cross. *Carry snow away* from corners, otherwise it just forms a lake that
pedestrians can't cross - or put a storm drain at every sidewalk corner.
Priority for bus stops and crosswalks.

ADD 7.4 - Improve SUMMER travel conditions for pedestrians. *Monitor actual
temperature of sidewalk concrete*. Add WAY MORE street trees to shade
sidewalks. Bury services to make this possible. (*With climate change we
shouldn't have overhead wires any more.*)
Add benches along trails, so seniors and others can rest in a place that's
shaded and surrounded by nature.
Add two shade trees at every bus stop, for shade at different times of day.
*Shade now must be thought of not as a nice-to-have but as essential going
forward.*

8.1 and 8.2 - Good.

9.1 - Salt is necessary - but people use way too much. Teach in school how
to apply salt correctly. Design better machines for dispensing salt more
lightly and evenly. (Another job for those engineering students.)

9.2 - Good.

10.1 - Good.

11.1 - Street trees, street trees, street trees. Shade sidewalks! Shade bus
stops! Rows of trees in parking lots and plazas! (Two examples of places
that are now a *disgrace* are Waterloo Square and The Boardwalk. Baking
hot, no relief.)

12.1 and 12.2 - Good.
Promote Regenerative Agriculture, for improved soil quality and
reduced runoff of rainfall, topsoil, and chemicals.
Many new farming techniques are becoming available: No-till, Cover crops,
Fewer inputs, Reintroducing trees and hedgerows, Silvopasture.
(Why do we see no grazing animals in the countryside now? Just miles and
miles of cattle corn monoculture.)

13.1 - Local power self-sufficiency will become more important, as
long-distance transmission may be subject to more stresses.
Ten years ago we talked about CHP, central heat and power for high rises,
malls, hospitals etc. CHP may still be a good plan, but less so if it
depends on natural gas, which we now recognize as not the carbon-saving
bridge fuel we thought it was.
*Take the plunge into renewable power stations and geothermal.*
Having thousands of localized sources of heat and power would make us less
vulnerable to climate-related disasters (as well as enemy or terrorist
sabotage, which also needs to be considered, unfortunately).

13.2 - Bury services.

14.1 - Good.

15.1 and 15.2 - Good. Involve Neighbourhood Associations.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://gren.ca/pipermail/all_gren.ca/attachments/20191007/6b872153/attachment.html>