The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Ve N01 IF ven ss NoepbieeY -- ATE YRAYG Tage 6 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, February 28, 1989 Editorial Comments OZONE LAYER The Ontario government is taking steps to phase out the use of substances which are known to be depleting the critical ozone layer in the earth's stratosphere. Ozone depletion is one of the most serious enviro- nemntal issues facing this planet. This ozone layer shields life on earth from exposure to ultraviolet radiation from the sun. The province of Ontario, to its credit, is planning amendments to the Environmental Protection Act to phase out the use of chlorfluorocarbons (CFCs) and hal- ons. CFS are widely used in industry in aerosols, in rigid foam packagaing and insulation, and in coolers and air conditioners. Halons are used in fire extinguishers. The government is proposing a ten-year phase out period for these substances, starting this July when aero- sols and rigid foam packaging with CFCs will be banned, and ending in 1998 when CFS use in air conditioners, coolers and fridges will be banned. The reason why governments are finally taking action are fairly well known. The ozone layer is decreasing by about two per cent each year: the result is higher rates of skin cancer, cataracts, reduced crop yields and damage to aquatic vegetation. Every time, the layer is depleted by three per cent, sci- entists estimate the result is 2,000 new skin cancer vic- tims in Canada alone. Obviously, the world has a major problem on its hands. Some people may believe that a nine year phase out period for CFCs and halons is not quick enough, in light of the warnings from the scientific world. However, - Canada two years ago signed an international agree- ment which calls for only a 50 per cent world wide reduc- flon ip CFCs by 1998. The Ontario bill is much tougher than that. But, this province produces now some 10,000 tonnes of CFCs annually, or about 1.2 per cent of the production world-wide. What about the other 98.8 per cent that is go- ing into the atmosphere and depleting the ozone? Is a ten year phase-out period too short? Ontario is to be commended for at least taking these steps to address this problem, but what of the rest of the countries in the world. What are they doing? The nations that signed the 1987 treaty in Montreal account for just two-thirds of the ozone depleting materi- als. The world is Broducing about one million tonnes an- nually bi Les. ntario's production is a mere drop in the bucket. And there are large costs in finding safe substitutes for CFCs and halons, applying them to industrial use, and getting rid of the CFSs in fridges and air condition- ers, for example. While we applaud the efforts of the Ontario govern- ment in at least taking some initial steps to address this probien) which threatens all life on the planet, we can't elp but wonder if it's not already too late, and if it will do any good without similar action everywhere in the world. Pc | . ort Perry «© A STAR a | cn 235 QUEEN STREET - PORT PERRY, ONTARIO Phone 985-7383 P.0.Box90 LOB INO J. PETER HVIDSTEN ' Member of the Publisher Canadian commit Newspaper Association and Ontario munity Newspaper Association. Advertising Manager Published every Tuesday by the Port Perry Star Co. Ltd., Port Perry, Ontario. J.B. McCLELLAND Editor . Authorized as second class mail by the Post Office Department, Ottawa, and for cash CATHY OLLIFFE payment of postage in cash. News & Features Second Class Mail Registration Number 0265 ANAOIAN COMMU. » » Gon Subscription Rate: In Canada $20.00 per year. Le 4 Elsewhere $60.00 per year. Single Copy 50° © COPYRIGHT -- All layout and composition of advertisements produced by the adver- tising department of the Port Perry Star Company Limited are protected under copyright and may not be reproduced without the written permission of the publisher. COME YOU REACH THE RUSTY YEARS, YOUR RATE PD } vir THE GoLDEN Years | : AN' GET > Chatterbox by CATHY OLLIFFE SNOWMOBOBBLING PREMIER "Nobody ever told me snowmobobbling was FUN!" said my beloved, his helmet slightly askew, his moustache stretched in a perma- nent ear to ear grin. Doug fairly giggled his way over the 20 or so kilometres of magnificent trails we traversed Phe recent Sunday in the Haliburton High- ands. It's winter there. Actual winter. You remem- ber what snow looks like? Well there's plenty of the white stuff in West Guilford, where my sister Whiz lives with her boyfriend Don's fami- ly, and where she says we never make enough of an effort to visit. _ Whiz put the screws to us and we finally did make it up to cottage country for a day of snowmobiling, Whiz and Donny's favourite winter preoccupation. Between the two of them, they own three machines, a twin pair of Skidoo 340's and an antique Elan, which is so small they've nick- named it "PeeWee." Donny's a mechanic by trade, so he has no qualms about picking up machines on the cheap and breathing life into them. A good guy to know--I hope he marries my Kid sister soon so we can get our car fixed for free. Snowmobobbling addicts, they live right be- side trails that will take you as far as Quebec in one direction, Algonquin Park in another, and even Port Perry (if it had any snow, that is). Every spare minute they get is spent on the machines, and while they've been complain- ing that we never get up to see them--l ha- ven't seen them down here much since the snow started falling. Me and Doug, on the other hand, aren't die- hard snowmobilers. Doug. in fact, has never really even been on one before. | used to ski- doo a lot with ny family when my parents owned a cottage in Haliburton, but that was nearly a decade ago, and | hayen't been on a machine much since. The last time | had a ride was about two years ago, briefly, and it scared me silly. Besides, we're more cross-country skiing pes, who enjoy the forested quiet of remote trails and the sheer beauty of Mother Nature. We'd al- ways thought of snowmobiling as noisy, smel- ly and too fast to gawk at the scenery. So we weren't exactly looking forward to spending a day roaring around breathing in exhaust umes. Fortunately the day turned out a whole lot better than either one of us expected. In Doug's case, he simply fell in love with the sport. As for me, well, it's remarkable how quickly all the old snowmobile skills | once knew came flooding back, and how my pre- conceived notions went out the window. First of all, there wasn't any exhaust to speak of. And while the machines were noisy, the steady thrum was actually relaxing. As for the scenery, we had plenty of opportunity to gaze | at inky black creeks set in puffy white cush- ions of snow; massive rock mountains cut and Shaped by glaciers, dazzling with silver blue icic opment, ringed with acres of majestic pines; and the straight lined devastation of forest = caused by a tornado a few years back. The same tornado that had wreaked such havoc in Barrie had swept through smaller are- as of Haliburton, lifting trees from the ground by their rbots and cutting a swath through fo- rests that a whole army of lumberjacks couldn't equal in a month's work. - We covered a lot of area in about five hours of trail-riding. Had we been cross-country ski- | ing, we wouldn't have seen nearly as much. But scenery aside, the actual act of snow- mobiling was a joy in itself. Handling the pow- erful engines through the narrow twisting turns of the trails, up and down like a roller coaster, was a natural high. My arms, shoul- ders and back ached the next day from the ex- ertion--1 don't know why | thought snowmobil- ing didn't provide any exercise. And the stops were fun as well. Whiz had - made up a thermos of coffee to take along, and we'd sip the sweet, hot liquid on breaks, the machines turned off, the-overwhelming si- lence of winter surrounding us. Best of all, my Uncle Howard and Aunt Mary, - who have a cottage in Haliburton, lent us their machines so everyone could drive their own. Their daughter, my cousin Karen, and a neighbour also joined us on the trails. So there were six of us riding convoy style, loving every minute of the day. . Unfortunately, my beloved and | are now ea- ger snowmobobblers without a machine to our names. Doug seems to think this situation can be remedied, but | know the sport isn't a cheap one--he's definitely not the mechanic that Donny is. In the meantime, we'll be borrowing ma- chines once again in order to take part in West Guilford's annual Snow Shuffle, a 70 km. trail ride on March 4th that ends with dinner and a dance. So don't call me for any assignments that day--I'll be snowmobobbling, folks. Look out winter, here we come. es as high as houses; dozens of small lakes inaccessible by roads and free of devel- i i El el ea hh i i a a PS a Re oe -- PR conte 4 tee tt oui . 5 i