Editor:
In response to Alan Trenzek’s letter “We Must use Resources to Improve Our Quality of Life” in the Wednesday, Feb. 8 edition of the Tribune:
Mr. Trenzek, I think it is worth noting that approximately 98 per cent of the world’s scientists are in agreement about the perilous state of things as a result of our relentless pursuit of material comforts and extreme wealth.
I must ask Mr. Trenzek, why in this part of the world do we feel like our quality of life still needs improvement? Aren’t we pretty comfortable over here in the First World, consuming our guts out?
Do we seriously need more in our lives that can be granted to us by squeezing every last drop of fossil fuels out of the Earth and pumping it into the atmosphere to the point where our children and grandchildren actually have to question whether or not they will be able to have a future on this planet? Are we really able to look them in the eye and explain that we knew what the consequences of our actions would be but chose to stick our heads in the sand because we were unable to conceive of giving up any of the comforts we have become accustomed to?
What do those who sound the alarm about climate change and a much needed change in how we live on this Earth have to gain by challenging the status quo?
Why would any sane person put themselves out there just for the fun of it? Chicken Littles are met with unprecedented levels of hostility for their efforts; look at David Suzuki.
No one is talking about a Garden of Eden, Mr. Trenzek, and no one is saying that we do not need natural resources. But the science is not lying. Vancouver just had 70 cms of snow fall over a couple of days.
Fort McMurray just burned. Here in the Cariboo, we’ve had a pendulum swing from cold weather warnings to balmy plus 8 C temperatures in the middle of January.
How is it that we do not recognize the fact that we are in a time of major change on this Earth, that it is directly tied to CO2 emissions caused by human activity, and that geo-engineering is not going to be the magic fix where things get turned around at our most dire hour.
Humans are supposed to be civilized. We claim to be intelligent and place much faith in our ability to adapt, but we are not adapting.
In answer to your question Mr. Trenzek, yes we are supposed to ignore and not utilize the “greatest abundance of oil in the world” and leave it in the ground.
And no, it is not OK to burn rail ties even in a throw-away place like Williams Lake appears to be in the eyes of the province.
Yes, we need natural resources- but they should be extracted responsibly and by companies that are locally owned. Mr. Trenzek, you rail against Prime Minister Trudeau for imposing a carbon tax, and I say he isn’t doing enough to move Canada away from fossil fuels.
I would like our Prime Minister to put more money into renewable energy and subsidizing all of us to make the changes in our lives that we will all need to make to ensure a future for generations to come.
As we have seen with the oil boom of the last few decades, the welfare of Canadians has not necessarily improved.
The middle class continues to disappear while gap between the average citizen and the super-rich grows ever-wider. Something has to give.
Cherrie Carr
Williams Lake
