Friday, June 08, 2007

Republic Of Chile Inspires Ontario Green Plan

If you want to make a green political gesture that is both cheap and effective, you can't do much better than Dalton McGuinty's new "comfortable clothing" policy:


TORONTO — Ontario government workers will be allowed to wear casual clothes instead of suits and ties during the summer months.

Premier Dalton McGuinty says government air conditioners will be set to 26 Celsius this summer in order to help save energy costs.


[....]


He says he'd also like private companies to follow the government's lead and adopt a "comfortable clothing" policy.

Weirdly enough, the policy is almost a clone of the policy adopted earlier this year by the Republic of Chile, where air conditioner use accounts for 60% of energy consumption in workplaces.


Although "small bore" is definitely the way to describe it, I am entirely supportive of a move towards office casual-wear. My own company did this in the early 1990s, as a cheap concession to the employees who hadn't been downsized. Previosuly, my wardrobe had been100% black pants, cheap shirts, and ugly ties, and I looked frighteningly like Mike Herman's character in "Office Space". Ever since, my wife has been dressing me head-to-foot in Eddie Bauer gear, and the other middle-managers say that, of all the organization's office drones, I am by far the sexxxiest.









BCL As A Young Man

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

polyester looks good on you . . .

Its a cheap, uncomfortable, ill-fitting imitation as well.

Ti-Guy said...

Anonymous needs a diaper change.

I'll have to go on "crop tour" to see how "casual" is being executed; old-order Torontonians have a bit of a problem when it comes to dressing "smart but casual." When I moved there, I had to fight to be able to wear my mock-turtle/sport jacket/jeans combo, although that's changed, thank God.

It it gets really hot this summer, I'm going to start wearing sarongs.

JimBobby said...

Whooee! I ain't exactly a globetrottin' jetsetter but I been in Yerp an' Merrie Olde Englande a few times. They don't use AC like we do. If they got it, at all, they keep it set up there 'round 26C like Ginty's sayin'.

My old Mum is 82. She's dang independent an' I'm proud of her fer that. I borrow a vehicle an' take her grocery shopping every 10 days or so. When it's 90-odd degrees in the summer, she's gotta take a sweater on accounta it so dang cold inside the supermarket.

Same deal at shoppin' malls an' bigass department stores. People I know who work in them refrigerated stores an' offices is always comin' down with summer colds an' chills.

I put out an idea a few months ago about all gummint buildings gettin' energy audits wrt lighting, AC, heating, insulation, etc. I figger the savings realized in energy use could eliminate the need to replace at least one of our coal-fired generators.

The money saved by gummint in raisin' AC thermostats should be highly publicized so private enterprise'll take a cue.

JB

Anonymous said...

hey, just close down all your Co2/GhG spewing coal fired electrical plants and there won't be enough juice for AC.

Solves your problem of being anti kyoto at the same time.

Ontario - the home of climate change denial & hypocrisy . . . lotsa talking, not much walking.

Ti-Guy said...

I don't think that's a practical idea, ding-a-ling. But keep trying; you're obviously very concerned about anthropogenic climate change, since you insist that Ontario's coal-fired generators are to blame.

Glad to see you're not one of those climate-change deniers; they're weird.

Anonymous said...

Chavez also inspires emissions reductions. Just appropriate all the businesses, run them into the ground using marxist mentality, and bulldoze any dissenters into mass graves. Fewer people means fewer emissions.