Responsible lifestyles require more than just lip service

Greg Pyrcz's thoughtful observations on discerning the public good are timely, to say the least. For those citizens of Kings County, including me, who have been engaged in the struggle to protect our agricultural land from urban sprawl, discerning the public interest is of fundamental importance.

It seems to me that an enlightened approach to defining the public interest ought to include several key elements: the notion that we all have a responsibility to combat global warming by reducing our environmental footprint; and we all need to take concrete steps to achieve more environmentally responsible lifestyles.

These steps include achieving greater food security, a more just distribution of wealth, and creating less energy-intensive communities and transportation systems.

From this perspective, the debate over low versus high-density housing in Wolfville is really no different than the debate in Kings County regarding new residential sub-divisions on agricultural land. In both instances, allowing more low-density housing means added pressure on surrounding land, be it zoned agricultural or forestry, and consequently the undermining of efforts to achieve greater environmental responsibility.

I think it’s time we all recognized that the crisis of global warming and food security affects us all equally, wherever we live in this province. What we need is a common approach to environmental responsibility, and an end to the parochial debates that treat environmental issues as if they only existed within the boundaries of specific municipalities, be it the Town of Wolfville or the County of Kings.

Yours sincerely,

Scott Burbidge

Port Williams, NS