Vicki Morell
My feedback
14 results found
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408 votes
Provincial jurisdiction.
An error occurred while saving the comment Vicki Morell
commented
My friends were hit by cars and their heads were protected only because of their helmets.
An error occurred while saving the comment Vicki Morell
commented
What about safety? If you think adults shouldn't where helmets than why children. I can't believe how many cyclists think their brain isn't worth saving.
I know a few cyclists who would be dead without their helmets.
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40 votes
City of Vancouver is considering the possibility of a ban for all new residential construction. This idea is considered in the draft Greenest City Action Plan. Chemical products of concern to possibly be addressed through a VoC strategy under consideration.
An error occurred while saving the comment Vicki Morell
commented
I understand your point of view but the amount toxic emissions that would be released into the air if that were to happen would cause severe health
effects for many people, especially children, seniors, anyone with a compromised immune system and healthy people. All wood smoke is toxic and doesn't belong in urban areas in any dose. Second hand wood smoke is just as bad or worse than second hand cigarette smoke.An error occurred while saving the comment Vicki Morell
commented
Thanks for reinforcing the importance about wood smoke and the fact that all wood smoke and ordour whether it is from a forest fire, fire pit or wood burning appliance all produce noxious compounds and poisons that pollute our neighbourhoods. We only have one source of air to breathe, please make it smoke free.
An error occurred while saving the comment Vicki Morell
commented
Especially wood smoke!
Vicki Morell
supported this idea
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178 votes
City of Vancouver is considering the possibility of a ban for all new residential construction. This idea is considered in the draft Greenest City Action Plan.
An error occurred while saving the comment Vicki Morell
commented
We have had reports from people who are been smoked out by their neighbours brand new pellet stove. Pellet stoves still produce toxic emissions and yes all wood burning is also a major contributor to global warming. We need to change our ways not try to pretend that wood can be burned healthy.
Why do we have 1 lonely wind turbine up at Grouse Mtn.? We need to stop polluting our air and destroying our forests. We must be green and healthy!What about wind, solar and geo-thermal!
An error occurred while saving the comment Vicki Morell
commented
Besides been a severe health hazard, wood smoke is also a major contributor to global warming. We now have winter smog because of wood burning appliances. Wood smoke pollution doesn't belong in urban areas. I used to love smoking cigarettes but not anymore!
An error occurred while saving the comment Vicki Morell
commented
I am not sure where you have gotten your information from but last I heard there are approx. 129,000 wood burning appliances in MV. Wood burning appliances from no matter what source don't belong in any urban area. As I have said before we have gone from 1 to 3 wood burning fireplaces in our neighbourhood. The fact that people are not installing new ones in renovated or new homes is a blessing but what about the old ones
that are still used. No one has the right to pollute anyones air. It is a fact that children who come from wood burning homes and children that live in neighbourhoods with wood burning appliances have more respiratory problems. No wonder our health care costs are in the billions!
Wood burning is an option...breathing is not.An error occurred while saving the comment Vicki Morell
commented
Pellet stoves still produce neighbourhood pollution and noxious compounds that make people sick and kill many. We have had many reports from people smoked out by their neighbour's new pellet stove.
If even a few people decided to install pellet stoves they would still be polluting their own air and their neighbourhoods. Burning wood for heat does not belong in urban areas. Wood may be considered renewable to many but it is not sustainable. Let's start embracing solar, wind & geothermal. The lonely wind turbine at Grouse needs some company. www.canadiancleanairalliance.caAn error occurred while saving the comment Vicki Morell
commented
Can you imagine that you live in the greenest city in the world, Vancouver BC. You have chickens in your backyard, an organic veggie garden, and a clothes line but 1 day
you become sick and you are diagnosed with lung cancer, cardiac disease or some other serious illness.
Your doctor is puzzled about the cause but later asks, do you use a wood burning appliance or are you in a neighbourhood with wood burning appliances and you answer yes our neighbours use theirs all the time.
The light goes. The doctor informs you that the cause of your illness is the toxic emissions from your neighbour's wood burning appliance.
Preventable yes, but you never knew that it could make you and your family sick!An error occurred while saving the comment Vicki Morell
commented
Studies show that people who heat their homes with wood have more respiratory problems than those who don’t. Smoke particles also invade neighboring homes. Research shows that children in wood burning neighborhoods are more likely to have lung and breathing problems.(From Focus on Wood Smoke Pollution - Washington State Department Of Ecology)
An error occurred while saving the comment Vicki Morell
commented
"For those on the receiving end of a neighbor's fireplace or wood smoke, it is often similar to living with a chain smoker."Wayne R. Ott, Ph.D.
An error occurred while saving the comment Vicki Morell
commented
Many people don't think of smoke from wood stoves and fireplaces as air pollution but it is. Some people even like the smell of wood smoke, but much like cigarette smoke, both contain hundreds of dangerous air pollutants, gases and fine particulates that can cause cancer and other serious health problems such as: blood clots, heart attacks, strokes, lung disease like asthma, emphysema, pneumonia, and bronchitis; irritation of the lungs, throat, sinuses and eyes; headaches; allergenic reactions; increased hospital admissions and even premature death. The particles in wood smoke are too small to be filtered by the nose and upper respiratory system, so they wind up deep in the lungs and act as vectors for bacteria, toxins and virus. It is a severe health hazard and a preventible burden to our health care system. These health effects have a human, social and financial impact, costing Canadians several billion dollars per year. This should concern all of us.
An error occurred while saving the comment Vicki Morell
commented
Wood-fueled Biomass Power Plants and CO2 Emissions
Wood fuelled biomass energy is worse than fossil fuels for carbon dioxide emissions and similar for air pollutants. It threatens forests, rivers, and air quality and will worsen global warming impacts. Wood fuelled biomass burning is a false solution to our energy and environmental problems that diverts attention and resources from truly clean energy sources such as solar, geothermal, appropriately located and scaled wind and hydro, and most importantly conservation and efficiency.
Contrary to industry claims, wood burning biomass energy does not reduce carbon dioxide emissions, it increases them. Wood burning biomass power plants emit about 50% more carbon per unit of energy than coal.
Is wood a sustainable source of renewable energy?Burning trees for energy is not a truly sustainable renewable energy because burning trees for energy emits pollutants at higher or similar to fossil fuels depending on the pollutant, and emits more carbon dioxide per unit of energy produced than any other fuel source, including coal. Increasing air pollution levels and emissions of CO2 into the atmosphere is unsustainable. In addition, the large increases in logging needed to fuel wood burning will have a serious negative impacts on forest ecosystems and detrimental impact on wildlife.
In reference to wood burning and "carbon neutrality", let's set the record straight. Here it is explained in a simple way! Most tress have lifespans measured in the hundreds of years, and some live thousands of years. Additionally, when a tree dies, it decays slowly. So, the carbon released when a tree is burned in minutes needs to be compared to carbon that otherwise remains sequestered for the tree's lifespan and decay period, as well the carbon that would have been sequestered had the tree been allowed to continue growing.When you a burn the tree, you release all carbon instantly. And then what do you do? You stuff another tree in the stove and burn it and release more carbon. You release in a matter of minutes, carbon that the tree sequestered over many decades or centuries. Carbon dioxide levels will increase even if cutting equals growth rates, because those forests would otherwise increase and help absorb carbon dioxide.
Burning forests versus letting them continue to grow as they are today is not “carbon-neutral” or a"carbon-offset" or "renewable". Nor is it “clean” heat.
Additionally, trees in general do not just rot as claimed by some biomass proponents, only the dead ones do. Most trees that will be used for biomass are living, green trees which are not rotting; they are instead actively absorbing carbon and cleaning the air.
Source: http://www.maforests.org/MFWCarb.pdf
Source: Department of Energy and Footnotes 1&2 Emissions Chart.
An error occurred while saving the comment Vicki Morell
commented
For Mimi. The last time I smelled wood smoke was this past weekend.
An error occurred while saving the comment Vicki Morell
commented
see www.canadiancleanairalliance.ca All residential wood burning is a severe health hazard and major contributor to global warming.
An error occurred while saving the comment Vicki Morell
commented
All wood burning whether it is from a forest fire, fire pit or any residential wood burning appliance all have 1 thing in common they all produce toxic emissions. Wood smoke and odour is a severe health hazard and major contributor to global warming. Vancouver can never become the greenest city in the world as long any wood burning is allowed. Wood smoke makes people sick and kills many! Burning is an option...breathing is not.
Vicki Morell
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58 votes
City of Vancouver is considering the possibility of a ban for all new residential construction. This idea is considered in the draft Greenest City Action Plan.
An error occurred while saving the comment Vicki Morell
commented
It is too bad that wood burning fireplaces were not part of the Greenest City Planning Team's idea. A neighbour 1 block over emailed me last night to say that they were been smoked out again. People like Pradeep K. Verma are a very good example of why our politicians need to get the word out about this very harmful yet preventible form of air pollution. Most people don't know this.
An error occurred while saving the comment Vicki Morell
commented
I would like to add to the list of health hazards that the Greenest City Planning Team left off.
Wood smoke from any residential wood burning appliance
is like cigarette smoke, both contain hundreds of dangerous air pollutants, gases and fine particulates that can cause lung cancer and other cancers and serious health problems such as: blood clots, heart attacks, strokes, lung disease like asthma, emphysema, pneumonia, and bronchitis; irritation of the lungs, throat, sinuses and eyes; headaches; allergenic reactions; increased hospital admissions and even premature death. The particles in wood smoke are too small to be filtered by the nose and upper respiratory system, so they wind up deep in the lungs and act as vectors for bacteria, toxins and virus. Wood smoke is more than a nuisance, wood smoke is chemically active in the body 40 times longer than cigarette smoke. It is a severe health hazard and a preventible burden to our health care system. These health effects have a human, social and financial impact, costing Canadians several billion dollars per year. This should concern all of us.Vicki Morell
supported this idea
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82 votes
City of Vancouver to assist Metro Vancouver in their Non-Road Diesel Engine Initiatives & consider application to City of Vancouver equipment. This idea is considered in the draft Greenest City Action Plan
Vicki Morell
supported this idea
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An error occurred while saving the comment Vicki Morell
commented
Please add wood smoke to that as well. The PM 2.5 from residential wood smoke is just as deadly
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67 votes
Outside City jurisdiction. While improved transit service South-of-Fraser is important, the Greenest City plan focuses on projects within municipal boundaries.
Vicki Morell
supported this idea
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18 votesVicki Morell
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272 votesVicki Morell
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256 votes
An error occurred while saving the comment Vicki Morell
commented
The only problem I have with this is as long as wood burning appliances are allowed in Vancouver/Metro Vancouver the land that is used for urban farming can easily be contaminated by a neighbours wood burning appliances
CSA/EPA certified wood burning stoves produce 2-3 times more dioxins and furans. How healthy is that? All wood burning appliances must be banned in Vancouver/Metro Vancouver. -
18 votesVicki Morell
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12 votesVicki Morell
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4 votes
An error occurred while saving the comment Vicki Morell
commented
Wood-fueled Biomass Power Plants and CO2 Emissions
Wood fuelled biomass energy is worse than fossil fuels for carbon dioxide emissions and similar for air pollutants. It threatens forests, rivers, and air quality and will worsen global warming impacts. Wood fuelled biomass burning is a false solution to our energy and environmental problems that diverts attention and resources from truly clean energy sources such as solar, geothermal, appropriately located and scaled wind and hydro, and most importantly conservation and efficiency.
Contrary to industry claims, wood burning biomass energy does not reduce carbon dioxide emissions, it increases them. Wood burning biomass power plants emit about 50% more carbon per unit of energy than coal.
Is wood a sustainable source of renewable energy?Burning trees for energy is not a truly sustainable renewable energy because burning trees for energy emits pollutants at higher or similar to fossil fuels depending on the pollutant, and emits more carbon dioxide per unit of energy produced than any other fuel source, including coal. Increasing air pollution levels and emissions of CO2 into the atmosphere is unsustainable. In addition, the large increases in logging needed to fuel wood burning will have a serious negative impacts on forest ecosystems and detrimental impact on wildlife.
In reference to wood burning and "carbon neutrality", let's set the record straight. Here it is explained in a simple way! Most tress have lifespans measured in the hundreds of years, and some live thousands of years. Additionally, when a tree dies, it decays slowly. So, the carbon released when a tree is burned in minutes needs to be compared to carbon that otherwise remains sequestered for the tree's lifespan and decay period, as well the carbon that would have been sequestered had the tree been allowed to continue growing.When you a burn the tree, you release all carbon instantly. And then what do you do? You stuff another tree in the stove and burn it and release more carbon. You release in a matter of minutes, carbon that the tree sequestered over many decades or centuries. Carbon dioxide levels will increase even if cutting equals growth rates, because those forests would otherwise increase and help absorb carbon dioxide.
Burning forests versus letting them continue to grow as they are today is not “carbon-neutral” or a"carbon-offset" or "renewable". Nor is it “clean” heat.
Additionally, trees in general do not just rot as claimed by some biomass proponents, only the dead ones do. Most trees that will be used for biomass are living, green trees which are not rotting; they are instead actively absorbing carbon and cleaning the air.
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11 votes
An error occurred while saving the comment Vicki Morell
commented
As long as they don't switch to wood. Wood smoke is highly toxic and a major contributor to global warming. Wind, geothermal and solar are the only way to go.
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5 votes
City of Vancouver is part of, and encourages, Metro Vancouver’s woodstove exchange program. This idea is included in the Draft Action Plan.
An error occurred while saving the comment Vicki Morell
commented
The new stoves only promote wood burning. 2 new stoves would be just as bad as 1 old one. Banning wood burning appliances is the greenest way.
