INNOVATION May-June 2014

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best practices, as part of our everyday professional practice.” I would suggest that a fundamental flaw in the whole global warming/climate change debate is our persistence in characterizing it as a problem. In fact, global warming is not a problem—it is a symptom. The root cause of the problem is too many people. Until our global society is prepared to confront the root cause of the problem, which is uncontrolled population growth, anything we can do by way of technological innovation and best practices will at best delay the inevitable by a few decades. If we’re really serious about curing global warming, we will start by characterizing the alleged problem properly. Neil A. Cumming, P.Eng. Richmond, BC Flawed Climate Change Position Paper APEGBC’s recently published Position Paper on Climate Change raises more questions than it answers. The task force report of February 2010 and the new position paper are highly flawed. Both ignore the revelations of scientific corruption in the climate community revealed by the Climategate scandal in November 2009 and the now well-demonstrated lack of global warming for some 16 years and counting. Instead, engineers are led to believe that the world will face hotter summers and warmer, wetter winters—clearly contrary to the evidence from the instrumental record. The 16-year temperature pause clearly is at odds with the task force’s statement “...that mankind is affecting the rate at which the climate is changing above the natural levels, primarily through our consumption of carbon-based products that are increasing the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.” Furthermore, no peer-reviewed literature was cited to support the position paper. Indeed, the only relevant reference is to the average of 30 climate models identified by the Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium (PCIC) at the University of Victoria. Not one of those models predicted the current temperature stasis—they all run overly “hot.” One of the models, the University of Victoria’s Earth System Climate Model (ESCM), is the worst predictor in the group. The unfortunate outcome is that an ill-conceived policy that will affect engineers’ practice has been foisted on APEGBC members without a broad and full consultation with all members. Imposition of policy by diktat does not befit an organization of this stature. Other major policy issues facing APEGBC are put to a vote. Why not this one? J.E. Christoffersen, P.Eng. White Rock, BC

sustainability, climate change issues form an integral part of my professional work. I believe it is necessary for engineers to be deeply engaged in this discussion, take into account the emission impacts of all projects they are involved in and also stay informed about the scientific debate that continues despite politically motivated attempts to declare that the current majority view on anthropogenic climate impacts should be immune from further scientific scrutiny. Martin Tampier, P.Eng. Laval, QC Position Paper Next Steps After reading the flurry of letters in the March/April issue of Innovation regarding APEGBC’s Position Paper on Climate Change, I would suggest that future direction could focus on specific measures that members might adopt to minimize impacts. As an example, cement plants are believed to be second only to coal-fired power plants in CO 2 emissions. Between 3/4 t to 1 t of CO 2 is generated in the production of 1 t of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC). By considering molecular weights it can be seen that 44% of the CO 2 comes simply from the burning of the limestone, the remainder coming from fuel consumption in the kiln. Over the past three years, my colleagues and I at Pacific Bentonite have been researching and experimenting with the burning of clay as a partial replacement of OPC. We have been carrying out the work in conjunction with UBC in Kelowna. The results are promising and have attracted the attention of cement producers. Given that worldwide cement production is well in excess of 3 billion t annually, and fly ash supplies are forecast to diminish rapidly with new EPA regulations on coal-fired power production, we feel that our work could lead to a positive step in emissions reductions. APEGBC could identify similar such innovations that engineers could bring to the attention of their clients, as well as provide informed advice for government policy. The position paper is a starting point, and I commend APEGBC on the climate action initiative. Nigel Skermer, P.Eng. Penticton, BC Global Warming Is a Symptom—Not a Problem I was intrigued by Patrick Johnstone’s letter in the March/April issue of Innovation . In it he states, “…we must go beyond merely evaluating impacts, and we must make the move towards reducing then eliminating the root cause of anthropogenic global warming, through technological innovation and

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