Nic Rivers: Are low oil prices good for the environment?
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By Nic Rivers, Ottawa Citizen, December 12, 2014

The price of oil has fallen by almost half in the last six months. This affects both our transport choices as well as investments in oil extraction, so it is difficult to pin down exactly what the effect is on greenhouse gas emissions. World leaders met in Lima this week to negotiate an agreement on climate change; it is important to consider what effect the major slump in world oil prices over the last six months has on the environment. Recent history provides some clues. The long surge in the price of crude oil from around $20 per barrel at the beginning of the millennium to a high of almost $150 per barrel in 2008 brought about fundamental changes in energy markets. Car companies made significant investments in alternative drive trains, such that fuel-sipping hybrid vehicles now make up a small but growing share of vehicles, and such that the fuel efficiency of the entire new vehicle stock is poised to reach double today’s level within a decade. Last year, Tesla’s elegant new sedan was the first ever electric vehicle to be universally praised as the car of the year, and a wave of similar vehicles from other companies is likely to carve out an important niche in the car market of tomorrow. via Nic Rivers: Are low oil prices good for the environment? | Ottawa Citizen.

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Auditor slams City of Ottawa officials over handling of Barrhaven housing development

By Randy Boswell, Ottawa Citizen, November 24, 2023

The City of Ottawa’s auditor general has slammed municipal officials for mishandling a major housing development in Barrhaven that involved extensive alterations of the Jock River floodplain to accommodate a sprawling new subdivision with nearly 1,000 new homes.

Auditor General Nathalie Gougeon has released a scathing, 14-page report detailing her team’s investigation into the project after allegations of mismanagement were made through the city’s fraud and waste hotline. The report has been tabled for discussion at the city’s audit committee meeting on Monday.

...The plan involved cutting away more than 100,000 cubic metres of soil along the north shore of the Jock and depositing more than 400,000 cubic metres of soil on adjacent land immediately to the north so houses could be safely built there, beyond any flood risk.

Find the whole article here.

Ottawa city council asks province to reinstate nine-storey building heights on minor corridors

By Blair Crawford, Ottawa Citizen, November 25, 2023

In a head-spinning move that has angered some community groups, Ottawa is asking the province to reverse its decision to override the city’s official plan on building heights.

A motion, approved by council this week in a 19-2 vote, instructs city officials to ask Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Paul Calandra to reinstate rules allowing higher buildings heights along minor road corridors. It’s something the city’s planning committee rejected two years ago, when it approved Ottawa’s new official plan.

Pellerin: Speak up for the glorious, badly under-used, Rideau Canal

By Brigitte Pellerin, Ottawa Citizen Op-Ed, November 24, 2023

The City of Ottawa, the National Capital Commission and Parks Canada are launching a consultation on the Rideau Canal, and they want our opinions.

What they hope we do is complete a survey, attend a virtual meeting, visit a pop-up kiosk at Landsowne Christmas Market on Nov. 25 and send our comments. I’m going to skip right to the last step.

...Around here, we only think of roads for commuting. Everything else — even a lovely gem like the Canal — is for recreational purposes. It’s a failure of imagination that deprives everyone, residents and visitors alike, of truly magnificent public spaces in the nation’s capital.

Find the whole article here.

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