LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
- February 6, 2007
Prime Minister Stephen Harper
John Baird, Minister of the Environment
Mr. Minister, congratulations on your recent appointment.
Mr. Harper, I recently received a flyer in the mail from the Conservative Party/Government stating that the environment was now your number one concern and that changes were coming. Great!!
Over the last few days there have been several announcements from you on the subject of green and renewable resources. Great!!
There is a situation here in B.C. that flies in the face of all of your announcements and good intentions. It also flies in the face of all reason and common sense. While in some respects it is a provincial matter, it is clear that it requires some leadership from the federal level. It is a matter that should not require any federal funding; only some commitment and determination.
The Provincial Government in their wisdom has asked for proposals from the private sector for the generation of additional electric power. One of the methods included in the discussions is the burning of fossil fuels, specifically coal and wood products. The location cited in the resulting proposal from Compliance Energy Corporation is an outdated mine in the Princeton B.C. area. There has been a significant negative response from all of the local governments and residents because the topography of the area will funnel exhaust fumes from the plant down into the Similkameen Valley and will destroy the air quality in several communities. It will also cross the international border into Washington State. Satellite photographs of the smoke plume from a forest fire last summer proved this beyond any doubt or argument.
A multitude of letters and presentations to the B.C. Government has fallen on deaf ears. A curtain of silence seems to be pulled around the matter in the hopes that we will get tired and stop complaining. None of the parties to whom we have sent letters has even had the courtesy of acknowledging receipt of the letters, let alone responding to them in an appropriate manner. It almost appears that it is a "done deal" with the local residents being forced to endure a very poor air quality with no say in the matter. (a copy of my letter to the Premier and environment minister is attached for your information.)
We have received nothing but "smoke and mirrors" from Compliance Energy in the form of condescending ads taken out in the local papers saying that we don't understand their processes, but offering no hard facts to explain what they are intending, only vague references and dubious promises.
They have stated that they will remove 85% of the mercury from the exhaust gasses. I know of no one who would willingly drink a glass of water knowing that 85% of the sewage had been removed. Why on earth should we be forced to breathe their exhaust effluent with only 85% of the poisonous gasses removed?
It would seem to me that this is an ideal opportunity for you to demonstrate your commitment to the environment and to show Canada's intention to do its part to reduce, and hopefully reverse the damage we have all been causing over the years. Your participation and your opposition to this ridiculous and outdated idea will cost you nothing, and will help save a lot of people from a very unpleasant future if the plant goes ahead.
I urge you in the strongest possible terms to intercede in this matter and to bring whatever influences you can to bear on the Provincial Government to reject this application. It is bordering on insanity that anyone would contemplate burning coal given the current state of the planet on which we all depend for survival. It will most definitely condemn the residents of the communities downstream of the plant to suffering very poor air quality and increased health problems, and will only worsen the already poor international reputation that Canada has in the effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Sincerely,
Duncan J. McCulloch, Keremeos
Cc:
Gordon Campbell, Premier
Barry Penner, Minister of Environment
Rick Neufeld, Minister of Energy and Mines
Regional District, Okanagan Similkameen
Village of Keremeos
Town of Princeton
CBC
John Tapics, Compliance Coal
Friends of the Similkameen
Dear Editor,
First, I would like to thank you for your paper which has promoted an excellent debate regarding coal fired power generation in your area. I have been following it with interest. You and your residents have truly been involved in the democratic process and that has reinvigorated me to continue to try to make a difference in Tumbler Ridge. Another inspiration has been your Mayor, Randy McLean, whom I would like to thank. He has encouraged me with excellent advice and moral support.
Princeton and Tumbler Ridge are the two BC communities that have been granted this coal fired energy opportunity. The proposed plant near Tumbler Ridge is three and a half times the size of the Princeton plant.
Metallurgical coal built Tumbler Ridge and now, it is helping to rebuild it. It is crucial for residents to understand the difference between metallurgical coal projects, and thermal coal. It has to be acknowledged that at present there is no realistic alternative to metallurgical coal in the production of steel, which is a very recyclable substance. By contrast, there are many alternatives to thermal coal, and safer ways to use thermal coal than the options currently proposed.
Debate, since the announcement of the proposed plant, has been virtually nil; however, I feel this is changing. At a meeting in Dawson Creek and again in Tumbler Ridge those present were unanimous in calling for a public hearing into the project.
Our Liberal MLA Blair Lekstrom was on CBC Radio and said, My hope is one of two things will happen; we're going to use the best available technology in the world if we're going to utilize coal or we're not going to utilize coal. One of those two options seems to jump out at me.
The two proposed plants are not the best technology in the world. I am still not convinced of the need, but if we proceed and if we settle for anything less, then we are not providing for the next generations. I have found the proponents to be very good corporate citizens but they do not set the benchmarks. They are following the rules set by the government, but are these rules realistic?
This thinking is akin to placing a 100km/hr speed limit in school zones. Drivers could not be blamed for accidents, for what they would be doing would be deathly legal.
If we fail to hold the government accountable for what could be a disastrous outcome, then all the silence we've heard will come back to haunt our children.
I encourage Princeton to continue the discussion. If you would like to lend support in this direction, then I may be contacted through this paper.
- Larry White, Councillor
District of Tumbler Ridge
Note: These are my opinions and do not necessarily reflect those of my fellow councillors.
To The Editor;
Karin Green says she is not concerned about Global Climate Change. I find this a strange comment coming from someone who values the natural world enough to object to a small pipe in a local stream or river. In B.C., we are already seeing the effects of Global Climate Change with wetter, milder winters and drier summers. According to scientists, intense storms like the one that heavily damaged Stanley Park are just the beginning of wild weather to come.
In the Similkameen and Okanagan valleys we have seen Mountain Pine Beetle infestations, destructive wildland fires and low river levels. Karin, you have repeatedly claimed that the 20 to 30 jobs promised by Compliance will lift Princeton out of what you see as an impoverished state. Think of the local people who are currently working in the forest industry. These jobs are threatened by the effects of climate change as well as acid rain caused by the coal plant you have so earnestly promoted. If coal is so great, why is Appalachia one of the poorest areas in the U.S.?
I can only conclude that your lack of concern is related to lack of knowledge on the subject. You stated in one of your letters that you had not seen Al Gore's film. If I made a copy of The Inconvenient Truth available to you, would you watch it? I would be most interested in your comments after viewing the film with an open mind. I would hope that you would come to the high school on February 26 to hear Dr. David Suzuki talk about the subject. Coal releases much more C02 per megawatt produced then any other type of electrical generation facility. Coal is the worst choice for meeting B.C.'s energy needs.
Solar power is not commercially viable yet! That is why I suggested that it would take financial incentives from government to make it feasible in the short term. To give you an example, the City of Ashland, Oregon offers a 30% rebate on the cost of residential solar installations. The State of Oregon pays another 20% of the cost.
There is a 3,000 Megawatt wind power project proposed for Banks Island on the North Coast. This will produce 50 times the power of the proposed Compliance plant. As for the concern over bird kills, it has been found in the UK that larger turbines have reduced the bird kill rate to one per turbine per year. Compare that to all the birds killed by cars traveling on Highway 3.
The effect of this plant on property values is by nature speculative. I based my comments on the fact that many of my customers that have purchased property in Princeton have respiratory problems. They have moved from the Lower Mainland to get away from pollution. Randy McLean has stated that the coal plant would make it harder to attract business to Princeton.
As far as the Environmental Assessment process is concerned, it's a joke. Randy McLean wrote an excellent letter about it. In August of last year John Tapics said that there would be no harmful environmental effects caused by emissions from the plant. How could he know the conclusion before the study had even began? He is paying the people who are doing the study. He who pays the piper calls the tune. Karin, you are a self-proclaimed skeptic. Do you really think the Environmental Assessment will be unbiased?
- Dan Pippin, Princeton
To The Editor;
Does the town council have a secret agenda with the Cenotaph Park project?
I was shocked at the last Town Square meeting held at the Skills Centre in November 2006 when Mayor Randy McLean spoke. He looked over in the direction of Bud and Maria Sadegar and me and said, "Don't shoot now, - but I was wondering if it would be a good idea to construct a special monument for the Indians who served during the war." It fell like a dead balloon with no one commenting.
I was stunned by such a suggestion because everyone born in Canada is a Canadian.
We all earned the same medals to wear. For those who lost their lives they have been honoured with their names inscribed on the Cenotaph. Those whose actions in the line of duty deserved special recognition were honoured accordingly. So I question the need to have a special monument for Indians in the new
'Town Square.'
Are their names already inscribed on the Cenotaph?
I was shocked again when reading the Mayor's statement in the newspaper article about the historic agreement signed between the local governments and the Upper Similkameen First Nations people. He is quoted as saying, "We will be able to work together as well as respect the history of those who came before us."
There is so much deceit and lies about the Indians being Countries, had migrated through Europe and Russia where they trekked across the Bering Strait to the North American Continent. Others were exiled from England, put on scows and shipped to the Hudson's Bay and Labrador areas because they were a savage people who took up too much prison space.
The Haida Indians state their ancestors came from the Polynesian Islands.
It was the United Nations, the shadow government for the One World Government that in 1982 declared the Indian - Aboriginal - Tribal - Indigenous people in each country would be recognized as
'First Nations.'
That was designed to coincide with the One World 'Earth Charter' which recognizes their religious worship of Mother Earth, the Sun, Moon and Stars (not Father God). The Bible reproves those who worship the creature rather than the Creator.
The Mayor stated further that he acknowledged the aboriginal people have taken better care of the land over 5,000 years then white people have over three or four hundred years.
To make a reckless statement like that in the twenty-first century is an insult to the pioneers who have built this country.
My maternal Welsh ancestor was conscripted into the French Army and was shipped over to establish
'New France' on the East Coast in 1572.
He was taken prisoner by the Indians but while other French Soldiers were scalped and disposed of the Chief's daughter begged for the life of this young man to
'cure him' and have him in their tribe to replace her brother who was killed by the French Army.
After three years John Richards managed to escape. After running for six weeks he took refuge in a Dutch Village.
He later moved on to settle in a British Colony where he married and raised a family. Other ancestors came here in 1620 on the famous Mayflower ship.
I am proud to be a descendant of the pioneer families who have sacrificed and slaved to develop this country for all of the Canadian Citizens to enjoy.
My Paternal Grandparents came from Ireland so I am Irish by descent. From the beginning of time every person takes their race from the bloodline of their Father. Strangely, it appears today that the Status Indians in Canada claim their heritage from their Mother or Grandmother even though they have a white father.
When my ancestors came to North America it was a wilderness but the historical facts prove that it was the civilized, educated Early European and British Settlers and their descendants who transformed this country into being the
'best place in the world to live,' according to the United Nations.
It would behoove everyone to recognize that "the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, and we are to take dominion over all that God created from Sea to Sea to shining Sea."
- Kay Hardy, Princeton
