LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
- January 16, 2007
The Editor:
Re: Dan Pippin, week of January 8th, 2007
Dan, I love your dream of turning Princeton into the Silicon Valley of alternative energy, but, we both know that's not going to happen. Why on earth would it? Our area is not deemed suitable for wind or solar power. We are not subject to a steady prevailing wind, we do not have sufficient, reliable hours of sunshine, and frankly if anyone tried to spoil my wonderful Tulameen River with a Run of the River project for the measly amount of power they produce I would be out there with my picket sign in a flash! The Similkameen Mine site is what it is. I don't see how it can be harmed much further.
You, like the SOS Committee, attack the integrity of Compliance Energy because they had the audacity to publish and circulate information that attempts to address the expressed concerns of local people. You state in your letter, "What you (Compliance) don't understand is that your plant is not wanted no matter how much you want to get rid of coal you can't sell anywhere else." That seems to be an honest statement on your part and the only part of your letter that really matters. The rest, one way or another has all been said before.
Clearly, for you, nothing I or Compliance Energy, or even an Environmental Assessment can say will make any difference. However, please refrain from using the royal
'We.' I can speak for myself!
Thanks to your letter though, I finally understand what all these references to waste coal have been about. You just decided to call Bituminous coal waste coal. The words waste coal do not appear in the Northern Miner article you quote. The Basin Mine coal is Bituminous coal.
Because Bituminous coal is no longer used to heat homes it is not as desirable as Anthracite but it is not waste coal. Waste coal is coal that includes too much rocky material to burn effectively. The Princeton area has been coal country for decades and is surrounded by mounds and mounds of waste coal but we are not yet so resource poor that we have to burn it.
You seem to take offence at the idea that Compliance Coal is willing to take $200 Million gamble in an effort to use a resource it owns to good effect. Why? The risk is theirs, not yours! Is that not what private enterprise is all about?
How is this different from the new pub proposed for the former Napa building? An owner has a property and location suitable for a new drinking establishment, now a vacant niche in downtown Princeton. He sees an opportunity and wants to make best use of his asset. I personally would prefer to see the building put to better use. I rarely drink and consider alcohol abuse the greatest social problem of our community and society at large. Should I therefore force my bias on the community by rallying like-minded teetotalers and printing endless diatribes on the dangerous fallout of alcohol consumption?
- Karin Green, Princeton
To The Editor;
In the January 2, 2007 letters to the editor, Karin Green writes, "I simply do not believe...that the prophecies of global warming doom are based on trust-worthy scientific research and knowledge."
Global warming events such as rate of melting of polar ice caps and ice-shelves are unprecedented in human history.
I would like to recommend the following books as references - authored by folks with degrees in science rather than in the arts:
'The Weather Makers' - Tim Flannery and 'Heat' - George Mombiot.
The Suzuki Foundation and Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund assert that if the coal-fired generators in Princeton, and Tumbler Ridge become reality, CO2 emissions in British Columbia will double.
Dr. David Suzuki has a PhD in Science rather than arts.
- G. M. Allison, Princeton
To The Editor;
The fact is that 'democracy' in Iraq, as with 'democracy' in Afghanistan, is a fraud. The good people of North America might not know it, but the good people of Iraq and Afghanistan certainly do.
Does it seem reasonable that the Iraqi 'Constitution' created by and on behalf of Iraqi's, would give American and British oil companies unfettered perpetual control over virtually all aspects of the extraction of Iraq's oil? Of course not, yet that appears to be the case.
In a country where an overwhelming majority supports the killing of Americans as an incentive to get them to leave, Condoleezza Rice expects us to believe that a majority of those very same Iraqi's have willingly given control of the nation's wealth to ExxonMobil and Chevron.
The Iraqi Constitution is rife with legislation drafted by American Corporations, on behalf of American corporations. The same is true with respect to legislation governing Afghan oil and gas development. Canadian tanks are now killing legitimate Afghans who are resisting an illegitimate
'democratization process' that has absolutely nothing to do with democracy.
The Russian assault against Afghanistan was almost certainly over oil and gas. The Russians realized that the Americans would do whatever they could to get as much of the Caspian Basin bonanza as possible.
The key for the Americans was to secure an extraction route. Iran was not likely to be in the mood to help therefore Afghanistan was the logical candidate. It was in keeping with this scenario that the CIA expended great effort in organizing and assisting a force capable of repelling the soviets, ultimately enabling American control of Afghanistan and subsequent access to the Caspian.
In as much as there are persistent problems with the Pakistani government being unable to secure its border with Afghanistan, the death of the Turkmen dictator has thrown yet another wrench into the works. The Americans need access through Turkmenistan during the initial portion of the extraction route. They will probably be compelled to interfere in the process of choosing a successor to their dead puppet. The Russians, for their part, profit considerably from Turkmenistan's natural gas and will probably have ideas of their own.
Iraq and Afghanistan are all about oil, the Iraqi's know it, the Afghans know it, and no phony fraud of a Constitution or illegitimate American imposed legislation is going to change their minds. If we Canadians had balls half the size of the Iraqi's, Afghans, or Scandinavians, we would probably be able to construct a resource extraction and governance regime that would reject these crimes of globalization and allow us to sustain a progressive social system within a truly advanced and prosperous democracy.
When the Prime Minister tries to elicit negative shame based support by refusing to cut and run, be reminded of his glaring dishonesty in claiming to be protecting ours or anybody else's freedom or democracy in the first place.
Canada's troops have a legitimate mission in protecting Canada's Arctic. If Stephen Harper really wants to help, he can get serious about that.
- Robert MacKay, Merritt
To The Editor;
The following article was recently published in the Interior Health Newsletter. As it pertains to the Princeton Hospital, I felt it should be shared with the whole community.
The program that this student participated in is vital to all remote/rural hospitals. The Undergraduate Nurse Program should be advertised at UBC Okanagan when the students are seeking summer employment.
In order to utilize the program, it needs to be promoted and advertised to draw graduate nurses in the future to remote/rural hospitals such as ours.
This community desperately needs family supportive jobs in order to sustain the level of service we now have at our hospital. I trust town council is working diligently to promote our Industrial Park and bring jobs and investment back to this community.
Sincerely,
Kathy Clement, Princeton
Rural Nursing - You Get To Do It All!
My name is Zach Brown and this September (2006) I will begin my third year of nursing at the University of British Columbia Okanagan.
This past summer I worked as an undergraduate nurse (UGN) in my hometown of Princeton, at Princeton General Hospital (PGH). Working as an UGN in a small, rural hospital was phenomenal as I had countless opportunities to practice skills that I had learnt in school, as well as refine my skills of assessment and organization.
I was blessed with very patient Lab and X-Ray Technologists that were always willing to offer a learning opportunity or two and I had wonderful nurses that mentored, supported and challenged me on a daily basis!
Princeton General serves the 2,500 Princetonites as well as a surrounding area consisting of three smaller communities, Tulameen, Coalmont and Eastgate.
Princeton is located in the south-western Okanagan between Hope and Penticton. Princeton General is a small, six-bed hospital. We have a three bed Emergency Room/Ambulatory Care and one Palliative Care bed. We have the use of diagnostic imaging (X-Ray) as well as a lab and that's all folks!
The job description of a nurse at PGH entails a little more than another nurse working in a bigger hospital. Nurses at PGH sometimes get to be porters and unit clerks. If your patient needs an ECG, cast removal, IV or codes, you take care of it!
Equipment used in minor procedures gets cleansed and auto-claved by nurses and nurses even assemble suture trays. Nurses even get to order and stock all the equipment and medications that are needed.
In the ER/Ambulatory Care, we treat a wide variety of patients. We see fractured limbs, burns, lacerations, cardiac patients and even the odd motor vehicle accident. We do minor procedures for out patients such as biopsies, IV antibiotic treatments, blood transfusions and phlebotomies.
It is not uncommon for a nurse to escort an emergency patient to Penticton Regional Hospital or Kelowna General Hospital by way of ambulance. On the ward we treat medical and surgical patients and provide care and support to palliative patients and families.
Working as a UGN at Princeton General has been an excellent opportunity to consolidate nursing skills, learn the true definition of teamwork and, most importantly, gain experience. As I am entering my third year of nursing, I feel more confident in my skills and abilities and I am very excited to start a new school year!
In closing, I wish to thank the staff and nurses of PGH for their eagerness to teach, their patience, and, most importantly, their wonderful and unique personalities.
I will forever hold a special place in my heart for Princeton General Hospital and the wonderful nurses that keep it going.
- Zach Brown
(Editor's Note: Brown is Clement's grandson).
