I can only hope that Mr. Fletcher’s view “Enbridge oil pipeline won’t happen” is true(Sooke News Mirror Other Views, Jan. 18, 2012.
The proposed Northern Gateway oil pipeline by Enbridge is pure madness. It pits big money and old school philosophies against sustainable industry and an emerging global consciousness. The only benefactors of this proposed mega project are the already super wealthy.
I question the government officials who are unable and/or unwilling to spawn new Canadian industry concepts that will incorporate environmental sustainability into their vision. I also question their ethics in trying so desperately to supply the very aggressive industrial parts of Asia with crude oil knowing that the extraction, shipping, and use of this product damages the chances of this planet avoiding a global, environmental meltdown.
If the dominion of dollars and the international system of currency that now determines the totality of life on this planet is allowed to continue to be controlled by the 1 per cent, we will all simply cease to exist. The health of our planet, the alarming rate of species extinctions, and the general spoiling of our waters, forests and atmosphere are of great concern to anybody who cares about the quality of life as a whole. This to me is what the whole occupy movement is about; sustainable, fair trade growth vs. blind corporate greed.
The $5.5-billion proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline would cross 1,000 rivers and streams, including the Fraser and Skeena headwaters. Super tankers, with capacity of up to two million barrels of oil, would crisscross along coastal waters.
It has been estimated, using Enbridge’s own numbers, that on average, a pipeline of this length and volume will spill approx. 1,000 barrels of oils per year though uncontrollable leaks and mishaps. In a mere 10 years that means 10,000 barrels of crude will be spilt along the sensitive eco-systems this pipeline plans to travels through.
The fact is, oil will eventually run out. The question is: why not start preparing now? Why is our government, or should I say Mr. Harper, bent on continuing to transfix our economy on raw resources that have a limited life span? Why is he so reluctant and/or too weak to join the rest of the modern world in developing sustainable energy concepts, and joining in with world plans that can slowly relinquish our addiction to oil?
Instead he has become the “pusher.”
Rejection of this proposed pipeline would be the start of our treatment program. It will force our federal government to takes its head out of the “oil sands,” work with other leading nations, and come up with some real sustainable energy initiatives and solutions.
Tom Eberhardt
Sooke