Editor:
One of the unelected “chiefs” objecting to the new natural gas pipeline to Kitimat undercut his own credibility by saying the pipeline would carry “fracked gas.”
I doubt there’s significant difference due to source, as long as hydrogen sulfide is removed before putting the gas in the pipeline (that’s standard practice). Hydraulic fracturing of underground structures simply improves flow of the gas to a well, the technique has been used since 1949.
Indeed, from the viewpoint of his claimed concern it wouldn’t matter if the pipeline was flowing Moose methane, or was a conduit for communications cable, it’s the construction activity that he objects to.
He throws fad words out, distracting from his argument against the pipeline. Clever NOT.
By the way, reality is that tribal people have long altered their environment to improve life – such as building shelters partly underground (bottom half of Coast Salish winter residence) or completely underground (some drier locations in the western US). As do animals – bear dens and beaver dams for example, and herons tearing branches off of trees to add to their profligate nests.
Humans are inherently good, but to thrive we need protection against coercion by those who err.
Keith Sketchley
Saanich
