March 6th, 2008 was the publication of my forth St. Catharines Standard Niagara Voices column. During that same week the paper was running The Road Ahead series, highlighting the flagging economic situation of the region.
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Finally! A local institution publicly pronounced Niagara to be in crisis. Until The Standard's Jan. 12 front-page editorial called for a plan to end Niagara's ailing economy, we largely ignored the writing on the wall.
Our stubborn hold on a dying industrial era blinds us from seeing how, as a region, we might orchestrate an economic renewal¶§ based on a world undergoing fundamental changes. While this week's The Road Ahead series indicates some movement towards economic rebuilding, climate change¶§Δ and an end to cheap oil¶§Δ will force our participation in an intense race against time and obsolescence.
Products upon which we regularly depend need once more to be produced locally. Niagara is blessed with significant agricultural and manufacturing capacity. However, our current import-dependencies needlessly increase global carbon emissions¶§ and leave Niagara residents vulnerable to the effects of outside initiatives addressing the same threats all regions face.
Indicators of our socioeconomic¶§ crises, and of emerging future opportunities, could not be clearer. We need enterprising strategies to re-establish regional productivity and retain our wealth. Our lack of cultural centres result in Niagaran wealth - and economic diversity - draining into neighbouring regions.
If we hope to realize a renewal, we must yield to harsh new realities.
In their 1993 book, Breakpoint and Beyond: Mastering the Future - Today, co-authors George Land and Beth Jarman cautioned that at tipping points of societal change, old rules work against the objectives of change, "abruptly and powerfully (breaking) . . . critical links that connect anyone and anything with the past."
Any coherent plans to overcome our crises must account for breakpoint changes. Conventional economic development models devised to attract outside economic saviours in the guise of employment generators and tourists have failed miserably. Continued funding of such moribund models undermines alternatives conducive to the kind of home-grown solutions we desperately need.
Community Economic Development¶§Δ is the alternative. In essence, CED hearkens back to a time communities thrived on local needs, abilities and resources. Add to that CED's inherent sustainability and as strategies go, CED¶§Δ should be given Niagara's highest priority.
At NiagaraPalooza in late January, harnessing creativity and insuring economic diversity were the central challenges posed by every keynote speaker. Creativity starts with reframing questions and challenging outdated assumptions, the likes of which have disconnected us from the very elements that enhance - and even sustain - life.
Can businesses operate such that they sustain social equity¶§, ecological integrity and economic viability? Overcoming our past unhealthy disconnects calls for strategies to enable evolving trends and societal needs to become the mothers of inventions and innovations.¶§Δ We need a new world of environmentally sustainable raw material input (and outputs), products and practices.
Immediate opportunities increase two-fold as we, along with everyone else, enter stages of transition. It's one thing to produce greener, more energy-efficient products. Zero-waste¶§Δ and fossil-fuel reduction initiatives will necessitate new above-ground resource recovery processes.
Regional sustainability¶§ embodies the relocalization¶§Δ of agriculture and small-scale manufacturing using mostly local renewable resources.¶§ Herein farming's rebirth will be conceived.
Bamboo¶§Δ and industrial hemp¶§ - Not widely grown here, yet - are easily raised in poor soils with little-to-no fertilizer. Fuel for increased market diversity, the uses of industrial hemp, none of which include smoking, range from food to fabrics to building materials. Even bamboo is now used for fabrics.
Furthermore, carbon capture and storage systems are quickly gaining market importance. Since hemp and bamboo naturally absorb far more greenhouse gases¶§ from the air than trees, including them among our agricultural assets substantially increases the value of farming. Carbon tax and carbon offset credits intended to battle climate change¶§Δ would financially help restore economic viability to farming. Since the pace of our revitalization depends on anticipating the concerted initiatives of others to undertake historical change, we cannot overlook these writings being added to the wall.
A report just released by Environmental Defence proclaims our national economy's darling, the Alberta Tar Sands, to be "The Most Destructive Project on Earth."
Freedom from Oil, a book just published by informed White House insider David Sandalow presents a fictitious, yet fact-based scenario for the next president of the United States to end that country's oil addiction. For reasons vital to national security, the next administration could realistically adopt Sandalow's "Fuel Reduction and Energy Efficiency . . . FREEdom standards" strategies. That could result in our Tar Sands' obsolescence. But it would also spur on the next industrial revolution.
National initiatives like Sandalow's further intensify that race against time and obsolescence.
The road ahead couldn't be any clearer. Our socioeconomic stability depends on anticipating the future, harnessing our regional capacities, and pressing our human and renewable resources to their greatest advantage.
Bernie Slepkov is a community activist, council-watcher and observer/participant of the Smarter Niagara steering committee. He is a member of the Standard's community editorial board.
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