Olympics nab bronze for green efforts

jeff hodson/metro vancouver

David Suzuki, right, with alpine skier Kelly VanderBeek at the Pan Pacific Hotel yesterday, awarded the Vancouver Olympics a bronze medal for their environmental efforts.

More about
Vancouver Olympics

JEFF HODSON

METRO VANCOUVER

February 04, 2010 5:28 a.m.

Be the first to comment

Print article

Text size

The Games have yet to begin, but VANOC has already been awarded a bronze medal for its environmental efforts.

The David Suzuki Foundation (DSF) said Vancouver’s Olympics made it onto the podium because they will primarily use energy from clean sources and will leave a legacy of energy-efficient buildings.

The foundation also said the Games fell short by not leaving a legacy of sustainable transportation and hasn’t — at least so far — inspired the public with solutions to climate change.

“A bronze is great, but we could have done better,” said David Suzuki. “I’m pleased that we’ve set a bar now and we can all aim for something higher.”

The DSF also applauded VANOC’s efforts to offset carbon emissions and its championing of public transit during the Games. It is estimated that the Vancouver Olympics will have reduced its overall emissions by 15 per cent, or 57,000 tonnes of GHG emissions.

Linda Coady, VANOC’s vice-president of sustainability, said organizers were happy with the bronze, but hoped the medal would transmute to silver or gold as much of their public outreach is planned for Games time.

More about Vancouver Olympics

Don't be greedy, share this article:

	User Comments & Ratings	Comment as guest

            
            


            
                
                    Title:
                
                
                    
                        
                    
                
                
                    Comment:
                
                
                    
                        
                    
                
                
                    
                        Publish to Facebook

Haim family to get help with memorial costs from Toronto funeral home

TORONTO - Former teen heartthrob Corey Haim will be laid to rest Tuesday with a private funeral service in Toronto, but a public celebration of the troubled actor's legacy will be held next month in Los Angeles, says famous friend Corey Feldman.

Williams back on the job after surgery

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - Premier Danny Williams of Newfoundland and Labrador is back at work, almost six weeks after having heart surgery in the United States that created an uproar on both sides of the border.

Native gangs spreading, target at-risk youth: RCMP

Aboriginal gangs are proliferating across Canada as criminal organizations exploit the intense poverty and squalid conditions that many First Nations youth live in, says a top officer with the RCMP's aboriginal police division.

Firms coping with strong dollar: Report

OTTAWA - With the loonie once again nearing parity with the U.S. dollar, a new report on the currency is giving hope it may not be the menace to the economy many believe it to be.

Would-be Regina car thieves steal vehicle with owner clinging to hood

REGINA - It turned out to be one wild ride on the streets of Regina.

Memo does not refute Prius driver's stuck gas pedal report: Lawyer

SAN DIEGO - Investigators with Toyota Motor Corp. and the U.S. government could not replicate the runaway speeding reported by a Prius owner who said his car's accelerator got stuck as he drove on a California freeway, according to a memo for a congressional panel.

Swarm of Thai protesters demand government dissolve Parliament

BANGKOK, Thailand - As many as 100,000 people demonstrated peacefully against Thailand's government at a party-like rally Sunday, but the capital was being kept on edge by their threat to continue protesting until Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva calls new elections.