.
.
.
.




28.11 C.U.E.W. Executive
and Union Organizing

28.11.1 Introduction

In 1984 and 1985 I was still editing, contributing articles, and creating cartoons and art for the CUEW News. The following is a cartoon I did and published for the issue just before International Women's Day (March, 1985):









28.11.2 Organizing at the University of Manitoba

.



28.12 David Fletcher and Associates

28.12.1 Introduction

.



28.13 Health and Welfare Canada Research:
Airborne Chemical Hazards
and Energy Conservation in Housing

28.13.1 Introduction

The first project undertaken by David Fletcher and Associates was a contract (together with Michael Holliday in Ottawa) with federal Health and Welfare Canada.

28.13.2 Contractual Research

This contract, the largest contractual research which I undertook under the rubric of "David Fletcher and Associates", was with the Monitoring and Criteria Division of the federal department of Health and Welfare Canada. It concerned the health hazards, specifically airborne chemical ones, which may be associated with recent efforts to make Canadian housing more energy efficient by making them sealed tighter. I co-authored the report with Michael Holliday and John Park and submitted a final report in the Fall of 1984. The bulk of the research work had been done in the winter of 1983 and Spring of 1984. I submitted my first draft before leaving for Europe for the summer.

The energy crises of the 1970s and the subsequent escalating cost of energy has engendered the innovation and rediscovery of energy conservation techniques in both residential and commercial / institutional buildings. While successful in reducing the consumption of energy, these techniques have also had many unforseen consequences on indoor air quality. The most serious seem to be the acute carbon monoxide hazards arising from furnace reverse drafting and the chronic indoor air pollution hazards of radon, sulfur dioxide, and formaldehyde when air exchange rates are reduced.

This report is a review of available information on chemcal hazards as they relate to energy conservation in buildings. It outlines measures for conserving energy in both dwellings and commercial buildings, identifies the most common sources of indoor air pollution together with the pollutant levels expected, discusses the potential health effects of these pollutants, and considers possible connections between conservation measures and health effects. It is concluded that, of all the areas which may be considered, the quality of indoor air is the one which is most likely to have a bearing on public health. While it is acknowledged that energy conservation measures per se are neither obvious nor proven sources of adverse health effects, the indjudicious application of such measures (e.g. use of unvented space heaters, excessive air sealing) could be regarded as a problem. The following goals are recommended: establishment of air-quality standards, setting specifications for maximum pollutant emission rates for building materials, estimation of the chemicaly hypersusceptible population, and improved public education into aspects of indoor air pollution.


.



28.14 Other Projects and Research:
Diagidan, Director of OPIRG,

28.14.1 Introduction

28.14.2 Environmental Research

At this time I worked in a research assistant capacity on a number of projects --mostly environmental.

28.14.3 Sustainable Development of the Biosphere Project (through IIASA)

I was a contributor to the original "Sustainable Development of the Biosphere" project through the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, (IIASA), which first brought the term "sustainable development" into the lexicon of the international community. I had worked at the IIASA head office in Austria in the summer of 1984 (see Chapter 27, section __)

28.14.4 The Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change (through IFIAS)

I principally worked with Peter Timmerman, but also did some assitance work with professors Ian Burton and Lino Grima, connected with the International Federation of Institutes for Advanced Study (IFIAS). We were concerned with the changes occuring in the atmospheric, oceanic, and terrestrial systems --including their global biogeochemical cycles, and their relationship both to human causes and consequences of the changes.

28.14.5 Global Environmental Change

It increasingly seemed apparent that they were all undergoing significant changes. These changes were eroniously labelled with the term "global warming". The variety of effects, much broader than simply temperature, seemed to be driven by increases in Earth's "greenhouse gases". The changes seem likely to included changes in climatic patterns, readical changes in rainfall distribution, an increased frequency of external events, and a rise in sea level. Agriculture, energy, fisheries, would all be affected directly, and indirect effects will extend into many areas of human activity.

28.14.6 ICSU's "IGBP"

In the early 1980s the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU) launched a major new international scientific programme under the rubric, the "International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme" (IGBP) otherwise known as simply "Global Change". The purpose was to develop more precise understanding of these changes and to achieve a high order of predictive power in our models of global climate. There was perceived a need to broaded the scope of these studies beyond the natural sciences, to include other international organizations, socio-economic, policy, and management perspectives.

28.14.7 IFIAS's "HRGC"

In response to this need, the International Federation of Institutes of Advanced Study (IFIAS), in 1986 established an ad hoc group to develop a parallel programme to the IGBP, called the "Human Response to Global Change". Other organizations became involved, including the following:
Organization:My connection to this organization:
University of Toronto, Institute for Environmental Studies (UofT IES) I was a graduate student, and research assistant at the UofT IES.
United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) .
United Nations Education and _____ (UNESCO).
the International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) I had worked with IIASA in Vienna in 1984.
Atmospheric Environment Service (Canada).
Royal Society of Canada (RSC).

The outcome of this ad hoc committee was the publication of a paper. This paper outlined a framework for the development of an international programme on human response to global change, which would emphasize the policy aspects and management responses of impacts in agriculture, energy, urban systems, coastal zones. It suggested research priorities in all of these fields, including science and technology. It also proposed an ongoing organizational mechanism for co-ordinating future studies of human response.

28.14.8 Metro Toronto and Region Conservation Authority Study

Professor Ian Burton, my thesis supervisor, hired Bob Sargalis and myself to write a report on the MTRCA. It was being promoted by Burton as a precedent for a fourth level of government which should be copied to solve environmental problems.

28.14.9 "Diagidan"

This was a project initiated by Peter Timmerman. The title, "Diagidan" means a ball of knots, the idea being that it can only be unravelled when one finds just the right knot to undo first.
The research topics within "Diagidan" included climate change,

28.14.10 Ralph Nadar and PIRGs

In the Fall of 1982, I was one of the people that invited Ralph Nadar to come and speak at the UofT on the occasion of the founding meeting of the Toronto Chapter of the Ontario Public Interest Research Group. PIRGs were being organized across North America. This founding meeting took place in Convocation Hall on ________ 19__ and was great success. Nadar spoke inspirationally to a packed house.

28.14.11 Ontario Public Interest Research Group

OPIRG Toronto is a volunteer-based group at the University of Toronto, with a mandate for action, education and research on environmental and social justice issues. We are part of an international network of Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs), including ten others in Ontario.

We are a volunteer-driven organization that seeks to empower and educate students and other members of the community, provide a forum for learning and sharing skills and give people the tools and opportunity to work co-operatively for social change.

While OPIRG Toronto is best known for our environmental work and related research, the majority of our projects actually focus on a wider variety of social justice issues or on the links between various issues.

28.14.12 OPIRG Elections

I stood and was elected to office as one of the members of the Board of Directors of OPIRG.

.





Next section
Chapter 28:15
1986 to 1987

1