Treehugger's Best Regional Politician

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty was selected by Treehugger as their best regional politician, joining international environmental advocates like former U.S. President Bill Clinton, Australian PM Kevin Rudd and San Fransisco Mayor Gavin Newsom for this prestigeous honour.




Read all about it at:




http://www.treehugger.com/galleries/2009/04/best-of-green-business-and-politics.php?page=5




Best Regional Politician: Dalton McGuinty


The citizens of Ontario, Canada really didn't expect much when they elected Dalton McGuinty in one of those "throw the bums out" elections in 2003. Were they in for a surprise.




Since then, the change has been extraordinary: He invested in the health care system, banned junk food in schools, prohibited smoking just about anywhere (including private cars if children under 15 are in them), removed taxes on bikes, brought in free immunizations, protected boreal forests, instituted wine and liquor bottle deposit returns, changed the definition of marriage to include homosexual couples. On the energy front: He also closed coal fired power plants and promised to eliminate coal from the province by 2014, changed the rules to encourage alternative energy, and is introducing a controversial but important green energy plan. Not only that but he declared a green belt the size of the Province of Prince Edward Island; and recently announced a massive investment in rapid transit for Toronto.




Unlike the "checks and balances" in American government, in Canada if you have a majority government you can pretty much do what you want. Dalton McGuinty has consistently used that power to make this province greener, to control development and to try and fix our energy problems. Some have accused him of turning us into a nanny state; others of not doing nearly enough. However I do think it is fair to say that he has surprised us all with an extraordinary list of accomplishments and more in the works. --Lloyd Alter

Did the Pan-American Health Organization Drop the Ball?

There has been widespread agreement that once the World Health Organization deemed the Swine Flu Influenza A(H1N1) an international public health emergency the WHO reacted in swift and responsible way. Procedures for handling international public health emergencies that were formed following the SARS outbreak in 2003 (the so-called International Health Regulations of 2005) seem to have worked as planned; there has been robust international cooperation for dealing with this threat and the WHO has risen to the challenge.

Still, one question unresolved is why there was an eight day gap between the time that Mexico first identified troubling patterns of flu and when these WHO emergency procedures kicked in. Public health experts with whom I have spoken initially suspected that the delay was caused by Mexican authorities who were slow to report their findings to the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO), the WHO's regional headquarters in Washington, D.C. According to a report in the Associated Press, however, this is not so. Mexico's chief epidemiologist Dr. Miguel Angel Lezana tells the AP that he reported to PAHO about "alarming occurrences of flu and atypical pneumonia in Mexico" back on April 16. He claims that his messages to PAHO went unreturned.

When the dust settles questions about this eight day gap should be answered. Like I said, the WHO deserves praise for how it has handled Swine Flu Influenza A(H1N1) once an emergency was declared. Why it took so long to do so is something that the WHO and its member states will have to investigate.

Photo: PAHO's iconic headquarters in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington, D.C.