POWER to host student environmental conference

Protect Our Water and Environmental Resources (P.O.W.E.R.) is holding its first annual student conference on environmental sustainability Friday, November 24, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Georgetown District High School. The conference, titled E-POWER '06, will have representation from all schools in Halton Hills who have students in Grade 6 or higher. E-POWER '06 has been designated as a United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development Conference and will focus on the Niagara Escarpment as its key emphasis. "This conference is a natural extension of our organization's environmental education opportunities," said Leslie Adams, President of P.O.W.E.R. "We have developed and delivered extensive hands-on programs for high school students and for the past six years we have worked with more than 11,000 local students on the

Future Forests initiatives. Now we are taking that experience and providing a sophisticated learning option for our local youth." The conference keynote speaker will be Gord Miller, Environmental Commissioner of Ontario. He has served as the Environmental Commissioner since 2000 and oversees the implementation of the Environmental Bill of Rights. Miller has extensive experience with environmental issues, including approval and inspection activities, municipal sewage, drinking water, solid waste management, hazardous waste, noise, air pollution and land use planning. More than 70 students are expected to be involved in six major topics during the day, including hands-on experience with Escarpment raptors and their prey, developing waste audits, discussion of this unique World Biosphere Reserve, and general themes that allow full use of the Escarpment without damaging its delicate ecosystem.