Ecostupidity in aces
Here’s a Journal piece headlined L’écostupidité de l’administration Plante. In this brief piece, Nathalie Elgrably assumes (or pretends to assume) that city hall’s intention to limit wood‑fired ovens is about greenhouse gas emissions.
It isn’t. It’s about particulates. Here’s a page from the American Environmental Protection Agency that explains some of the health effects of wood smoke.
I still tend to feel that in a city this size, we can deal with a few bagel bakeries and pizza places that burn wood, given all the other sources of crap in the air, but some people clearly do not agree.
DeWolf 20:39 on 2024-04-18 Permalink
There are certain sacrifices to be made when living in a big city. A bit of noise, a bit of filth, a bit of pollution – all within reason, of course. And I think that having a handful of woodfired ovens for culinary purposes is entirely reasonable.
If Paris, Tokyo, London and other big cities much larger and denser than Montreal can handle restaurants with wood ovens, why can’t we?
Ian 20:55 on 2024-04-18 Permalink
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, if the city was serious about this they would make the police enforce the existing anti-idling laws against delivery trucks.
Going after bagel ovens is just misdirection that will do almost nothing to improve air quality, and in so doing, destroy one of the things Montreal is actually famous for.
Joey 14:26 on 2024-04-19 Permalink
@Ian I thought the bagel factory people said that they could switch to gas without changing the taste of the bagels.
Blork 14:29 on 2024-04-19 Permalink
That EPA page is interesting and informative, but it doesn’t really set a context. It seems to be oriented around home heating systems or fireplaces, etc. As in, those are hazards you need to be aware of if you have a wood burning stove in your house. It doesn’t say anything about what your hazard is if you live next door to a bagel shop or a block away from a wood-burning pizzeria.
Ian 15:02 on 2024-04-19 Permalink
@joey you could make them in whatever you feel like but the texture and flavour will obviously shift.