We can’t afford to miss the global eco-train
This entry was posted on Thursday, January 29th, 2009 and is filed under Green Energy.
Tags: Green Energy
Blanket objections to hydro projects make no sense
I remember covering the Clayoquot Sound logging blockades back in the 1990s and encountering a young, tough-as-nails environmental activist named Tzeporah Berman.
My impression at the time was that she was too tough for her own good — so headstrong that she was unwilling even to consider opposing points of view when it came to managing B.C.’s natural resources.
That’s why I’m pleasantly surprised to see her emerge as a reasonable voice in the current high-volume battle over hydroelectric developments on B.C. rivers.
The fight over so-called run-of-the-river and micro-hydro projects is sure to be an issue in the looming provincial election. (The private hydro projects are backed enthusiastically by the Gordon Campbell government, while the NDP, which calls them a “capitalist ripoff” and damaging to the environment, wants them effectively banned.)
Well-financed environmental groups are fighting the hydro developments tooth-and-nail in an alliance with the union representing B.C. Hydro workers. (Something tells me that, if Hydro was building the projects with union labour, the union wouldn’t be so concerned about their environmental impact.)
I personally think these projects should be carefully studied before they’re approved because not every river is suitable for a hydro development. That’s why I was against the proposed Pitt River hydro project, which was rejected by the government last year after a huge protest campaign.
But here’s where common sense and rational thinking have to enter the picture: In an era of climate change, B.C. must develop clean, zero-emission energy sources.
Even if you’re a climate-change skeptic, the fact is the world is moving to low-emission power. Just this week, U.S. President Barack Obama called for a “global coalition” to fight climate change and vowed the United States will lead the effort.
In other words, the train is leaving the station whether we like it or not. B.C. can’t afford to be left behind.
