6.28.2011

Les poules sont de retour!

Source: La Presse, 28 juin 2011


Après 44 ans d'exil, les poules sont de retour à Montréal.

Pas tout à fait par la grande porte, et pas en très grand nombre: elles seront cinq, en fait, hébergées par un organisme communautaire de l'arrondissement Rosemont-La Petite Patrie dans le cadre d'un projet-pilote.

Ces cinq poules, de la race patrimoniale Chantecler, devraient pondre leurs premiers oeufs urbains vers le 11 juillet, a annoncé ce matin la directrice générale de la Maisonnette des parents, Lison Hovington. Cet organisme, qui dessert les familles défavorisées du secteur en proposant notamment des cuisines communautaires et des dîners chauds aux enfants, a ouvert la voie au retour des poules en ville en déposant ce projet à l'arrondissement.

Le 4 juillet prochain, les élus voteront un règlement autorisant l'élevage de ces volailles dans des conditions très strictes: un maximum de cinq, gardées dans un espace fermé, uniquement dans le cadre d'un projet communautaire à des fins éducatives.

Le règlement a été conçu après des consultations juridiques et constitue une première brèche dans l'interdiction des animaux d'élevage dans le territoire de Montréal, instituée en 1967.

Suite

6.27.2011

Europe Stifles Drivers in Favor of Alternatives

Source: NY Times, June 27, 2011


ZURICH — While American cities are synchronizing green lights to improve traffic flow and offering apps to help drivers find parking, many European cities are doing the opposite: creating environments openly hostile to cars. The methods vary, but the mission is clear — to make car use expensive and just plain miserable enough to tilt drivers toward more environmentally friendly modes of transportation.

Cities including Vienna to Munich and Copenhagen have closed vast swaths of streets to car traffic. Barcelona and Paris have had car lanes eroded by popular bike-sharing programs. Drivers in London and Stockholm pay hefty congestion charges just for entering the heart of the city. And over the past two years, dozens of German cities have joined a national network of “environmental zones” where only cars with low carbon dioxide emissions may enter.

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6.23.2011

Moncton Bike Parade - Défilé de bicyclettes de Moncton

Where: McBuns Bakery, 122 Shediac Rd
When: Friday, June 24th at 5:00 pm
Route: McBuns Bakery to Stirling Apple and back

Wear head gear. Buy stuff at McBuns and Stirling

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Lieu de rencontre: Boulangerie McBuns, 122 ch Shediac
Date: le vendredi 24 juin à 17 h
Trajet: Boulangerie McBuns jusqu'à Stirling Apple et retour

Portez vos casques. Achetez chez McBuns et Stirling Apple

6.21.2011

It's about more than bike lanes

Moncton to remove busy street lanes

Source: Times & Transcript, June 21, 2011 (Page A1)

The City of Moncton announced plans yesterday to remove traffic lanes from busy Shediac Road and Salisbury Road this summer to accommodate new bicycle lanes.

The plans, which also include the addition of bike lanes on Vaughan Harvey Boulevard, were presented last night to city council by Rod Higgins, general manager of parks and leisure services, as part of the city's active transportation plan.

The changes will reduce Salisbury Road and Shediac Road to two lanes from four, with a common centre passing lane.

Higgins explained that axing the lanes on both roads is feasible because they don't reach the benchmark daily number of 20,000 vehicles, which would necessitate four lanes. He confirmed with Stephane Thibodeau, the city's transportation and parking co-ordinator, that the roads only get in the vicinity of 6,000 to 10,000 per day.

The city will also be putting up universal signage to indicate that motor vehicles and bicycles share the road. They are green with a white image of a bicycle. The signs are meant to ensure that cyclists and motorists look out for one another.

Higgins said the goal of implementing the lanes and the plan itself is to make Moncton more cyclist- and pedestrian-friendly.

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6.20.2011

Monctonians learn to grow urban gardens

Source: Times & Transcript, June 20, 2011



Botsford Station was full of seeds, soil and green thumbs Saturday afternoon as the local food education series, hosted by Post Carbon Greater Moncton, kicked-off.

About 12 Monctonians showed up to get their hands dirty and learn how to grow plants, vegetables and fruit organically, from the comfort of their front porch or backyard.

It was the first of five upcoming workshops, and next one, concerning food conservation, will be held in the fall.

Michel Desjardins, spokesman for the group, says a food forum, held in March, was the catalyst in the creation of the workshop series.

"First off, we are group of about 150 people focused on reducing our carbon footprint and so we hosted the forum, where about 100 locals agreed that there needed to be more educational activities in the city about local food."

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6.16.2011

Show of Support for Bicycle Lanes - Montrez votre appui aux voies cyclables

English follows

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Lundi prochain, le 20 juin, à 16 h, le conseil municipal de la ville de Moncton discutera du plan pour réduire la largeur des voies du Ch. Shediac et du Ch. Salisbury dans le but d’accommoder les vélos.

Sachez que la décision de réduire la largeur des voies passantes des Ch. Shédiac et Salisbury a déjà été prise. Le but de la présentation sera de mettre le Conseil à jour sur la mise en œuvre de cette décision.

Cela étant dit, si vous connaissez l’histoire de ce dossier, mieux vaut ne rien tenir pour acquis. Il est important de montrer au conseil municipal qu’il y a un appui important en faveur du transport actif sur les chemins Shédiac et Salisbury.

Je vous invite donc à venir montrer votre appui le 20 juin à 16 h à l’Hôtel de ville.



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Next Monday, June 20th, at 4:00 pm, Moncton City Council will discuss the plan to reduce traffic lanes on Shediac Rd and Salisbury Road and introduce bicycle lanes.

Council has already approved the modifications to Shediac Rd and Salisbury Rd. The presentation will put Council members up-to-date on the implementation of that decision.

This being said, if you know the history of this file, it is best to take nothing for granted. It is important to show City Council that there is a great deal of support for active transportation on Shediac and Salisbury Road.

Come and show your support on June 20 at 4:00 pm at City Hall.

6.15.2011

UK ministers ignored 'peak oil' warnings, report shows

Source: The Guardian (UK) June 15, 2011

The government was warned by its own civil servants two years ago that there could be "significant negative economic consequences" to the UK posed by near-term "peak oil" energy shortages.

Ministers were told it was impossible to know exactly when production might fail to meet supply but when it did there could be global consequences, including "civil unrest."

Yet ministers consistently played down the threat with the contemporaneous Wicks Review into energy security (pdf) effectively dismissing peak oil as alarmist and irrelevant.

The report on the risks and impacts of a potential future decline in oil production has just been published – but only after the Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) was repeatedly threatened under the Freedom of Information Act with forced disclosure.

The information is revealed at a critical time when oil prices have soared to historic highs of around $115 (£71) a barrel hitting motorists through higher petrol costs and helping to drive up household gas bills. The price of oil and gas tend to be linked due under the terms of many wholesale gas contracts.

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6.10.2011

OPEC Warns of Supply Gap

LONDON (Reuters June 10, 2011) - OPEC followed this week's failure to reach an output deal with a forecast world oil supplies would begin to fall short later this year, draining inventories just when demand is expected to hit a seasonal peak.

In its monthly report published Friday, OPEC said world demand for its oil would average 30.7 million barrels per day (bpd) in the second half of the year, much higher than the 28.97 million bpd the 12-member group produced in May.

The figures suggest the world will be undersupplied by 1.73 million bpd -- enough to meet demand in an economy the size of France -- if the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries does not increase supplies.

"Looking to the remainder of this year, the expected supply/demand balance indicates a tightening market," OPEC's report said. "As a result, global inventories could continue to decline as the market enters a period of high seasonal demand."

OPEC, source of more than a third of the world's oil, met in Vienna for the first time this year on Wednesday and for the first time in around a decade failed to make a decision on output policy.

The group's Secretary General Abdullah al-Badri said after the meeting members had different numbers and were unable to agree on any need for more oil. Analysts said political tension also played a part in the split.

Oil prices fell on Friday as top OPEC producer Saudi Arabia began offering more oil to customers, easing worries about supply. Brent crude was down more than 50 cents and trading below $119 a barrel.

IEA SEES SMALLER SUPPLY GAP

The supply gap seen by OPEC's report is even larger than that of the International Energy Agency, which advises consuming countries and had lobbied OPEC to raise its oil output before its meeting.

According to the IEA, demand for OPEC crude will average 29.95 million bpd in the second half of the year, or 1.2 million bpd more than April production of 28.75 million bpd.

Analysts said OPEC's report mattered little for oil prices and a bigger focus would be the IEA's latest forecasts scheduled for release on Thursday.

"It's absolutely market neutral," said Olivier Jakob of Petromatrix. "What's going to matter more is the IEA report next week when we will be able to see if there are any more changes."

OPEC said its oil output in May rose by about 171,000 bpd to 28.97 million bpd as extra supplies from Saudi Arabia, Nigeria and Iraq offset a further decline from Libya. The report pegged Saudi output at 8.86 million bpd in May.

Saudi newspaper al-Hayat reported on Friday Riyadh would boost supplies to 10 million bpd in July and oil traders said the kingdom was offering more to customers in Asia, which is driving the increase in global demand.

The world is expected to use 1.38 million bpd of oil more this year than in 2010, OPEC's report said, a forecast little changed from last month.

6.02.2011

Codiac Transit

Veuillez noter que le service autobus de Codiac Transit sera gratuit le mercredi 8 juin 2011 dans la région de Moncton. Profitez-en!

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Please note that the Codiac Transit bus service will be free of charge in the Moncton area on Wednesday June 8, 2011. Hop on if you can !