Dear Editor:
I do not believe that the Northern Gateway pipeline should be built.
This is a cold country, and we don’t even have any overall federal energy policy.
But we allow companies to try to sell off our non-renewable oil to others as fast as possible.
What about our future energy security? Oil will eventually run out. What then?
There’s no plan regarding future clean energy coming from our political parties.
We also don’t even demand a revenue cut from what we do sell to the level that Norway does.
Why are we so stupid? Why aren’t we refining the oil ourselves for our own use?
We really need a concerted effort at making an energy plan for this country.
Another point is that the new pipeline would go over rugged mountainous land, cross at least 17 river systems, and go through areas subject to potentially severe earthquakes.
I was in Anchorage and Valdez, Alaska, after the terrible earthquake of 1964 which had a magnitude of 9.2, the second most powerful earthquake in recorded history.
In Anchorage, a large section of land with houses on it had fallen into the sea.
Valdez was substantially wrecked and they had to move what was left of the town.
In other areas, land was raised 30 feet and infrastructures were torn apart.
Don’t naively think that this couldn’t happen in BC’s earthquake zones.
Naval architects, who build ice breakers, do not believe that this new pipeline could survive a serious earthquake.
I certainly don’t think so either after having seen what happened in Alaska.
Besides, Enbridge has a poor track record of 800 spills and poor results with attempts at clean-ups.
Pilots who work on our coast say that there will be an eventual spill if we have a large increase in tanker traffic in the wild seas off B.C.’s coast.
There have been waves of 80 and 100 feet recorded, strong enough to capsize any boat.
We are told that there would be 360 permanent jobs as a result of Northern Gateway. That’s a measly number.
Our fisheries and coast could be permanently covered with tarry bitumen. An ocean food source and 45,000 jobs in fisheries and tourism would vanish, probably forever.
What a trade-off for only 360 permanent jobs in Canada and for sending refining jobs to China.
The question remains: Are we stupid? I hope not!
Marilyn Hansen
Summerland
