Energy or the Environment?
I am getting increasingly frustrated by newspaper articles and letters implying that if I drive, or use any product that requires oil, gas or electricity, I have to be in favour of the bloody pipelines, tarsands development and fracking.
No. I don't.
I know that much of my life relies on these commodities and that we are still far away from finding cleaner alternatives. But just because we need some, doesn't mean that we should give resource companies free rein to demolish the environment in a rush to extract all the oil immediately. These new or widened pipelines are only required because these huge energy companies (and their political puppets) want to make as much money as they can before we discover alternative fuel sources or enforce cleaner extraction methods. It's not for sustainability, but instead for an instant cash grab.
The ill-conceived pipeline running through pristine parks and vulnerable rivers is a prime example of greed over the common good. Yes, there will be employment in the building of the line, and again more employment when the next massive oil leak clean-up is required. But the majority of the money and benefits will go to whichever international conglomerates the Harper government bestows the contracts on.
(The government will also make some money which they will use to pretend that, yes, they are balancing the budget. Considering how much of our money they've already wasted in advertising what good, caring, individuals these behemoth companies are, and in doing pro-gas environmental studies, the actual bucks they'll come ahead with has already been severely diminished. On a side note, think how much good all that money could've done researching clean energy alternatives.)
B.C. and Alberta fighting over royalties is annoying. The only discussion should be, how the hell do we get the inevitable disaster cleaned up when the pipeline breaks and/or the oil tanker runs aground? Saying that new safety standards will be implemented without ensuring they are in place before any ground is broken, is mere political posturing. It's especially galling after all the environmental monitoring agencies have been disabled. If a pipeline leaks in the wilderness, but no government agency reports it, can we just pretend it didn't happen?
There are incredible messes left behind from Exxon Valdez and the BP oil disaster in the gulf of Mexico. There are so many other leaks that newspapers have stopped reporting on the ongoing (we hope)clean-up efforts. Pipelines seem to be leaking and/or exploding on a regular basis. And yet the government and gas companies keep saying how safe they are. Bullshit! Harper just wants the money now to make him look good and then he'll pretend to be shocked and dismayed when the disasters occur. And he'll blame others when taxpayers are left on the hook for the majority of clean-up.
It's not as though there's not a hell of a lot of precedencies. Lac Megantic was screwed by the train company disassociating itself from its parent company so they could avoid paying. This would seem to be a major concern with tankers as well. They can be registered in foreign countries and claim no ability to pay the billions to restore the environment even half-way.
And after the devastation, somehow the CEOs of the companies involved will still get their million dollar bonuses, Harper will still pretend to be a fiscal conservative by propping up his government by pimping our resources, and the Canadian taxpayer will end up more in debt and with pollution problems rivalled only by China. (Although we can keep them below us in this department by shipping them bitumen so they can make their country completely uninhabitable. Always good to have someone you can point at as being in worse condition.)
I'm going back to bed...
No. I don't.
I know that much of my life relies on these commodities and that we are still far away from finding cleaner alternatives. But just because we need some, doesn't mean that we should give resource companies free rein to demolish the environment in a rush to extract all the oil immediately. These new or widened pipelines are only required because these huge energy companies (and their political puppets) want to make as much money as they can before we discover alternative fuel sources or enforce cleaner extraction methods. It's not for sustainability, but instead for an instant cash grab.
The ill-conceived pipeline running through pristine parks and vulnerable rivers is a prime example of greed over the common good. Yes, there will be employment in the building of the line, and again more employment when the next massive oil leak clean-up is required. But the majority of the money and benefits will go to whichever international conglomerates the Harper government bestows the contracts on.
(The government will also make some money which they will use to pretend that, yes, they are balancing the budget. Considering how much of our money they've already wasted in advertising what good, caring, individuals these behemoth companies are, and in doing pro-gas environmental studies, the actual bucks they'll come ahead with has already been severely diminished. On a side note, think how much good all that money could've done researching clean energy alternatives.)
B.C. and Alberta fighting over royalties is annoying. The only discussion should be, how the hell do we get the inevitable disaster cleaned up when the pipeline breaks and/or the oil tanker runs aground? Saying that new safety standards will be implemented without ensuring they are in place before any ground is broken, is mere political posturing. It's especially galling after all the environmental monitoring agencies have been disabled. If a pipeline leaks in the wilderness, but no government agency reports it, can we just pretend it didn't happen?
There are incredible messes left behind from Exxon Valdez and the BP oil disaster in the gulf of Mexico. There are so many other leaks that newspapers have stopped reporting on the ongoing (we hope)clean-up efforts. Pipelines seem to be leaking and/or exploding on a regular basis. And yet the government and gas companies keep saying how safe they are. Bullshit! Harper just wants the money now to make him look good and then he'll pretend to be shocked and dismayed when the disasters occur. And he'll blame others when taxpayers are left on the hook for the majority of clean-up.
It's not as though there's not a hell of a lot of precedencies. Lac Megantic was screwed by the train company disassociating itself from its parent company so they could avoid paying. This would seem to be a major concern with tankers as well. They can be registered in foreign countries and claim no ability to pay the billions to restore the environment even half-way.
And after the devastation, somehow the CEOs of the companies involved will still get their million dollar bonuses, Harper will still pretend to be a fiscal conservative by propping up his government by pimping our resources, and the Canadian taxpayer will end up more in debt and with pollution problems rivalled only by China. (Although we can keep them below us in this department by shipping them bitumen so they can make their country completely uninhabitable. Always good to have someone you can point at as being in worse condition.)
I'm going back to bed...
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