I am one of many Fraser Valley residents who was very grateful when the provincial government took steps to permanently shut down the natural gas-fired Burrard Thermal generating plant in Port Moody. Burning non-renewable fossil fuels in a confined airspace like the Lower Mainland is not good for anyone’s lungs let alone for our children’s lungs or for those of people who suffer from asthma.
But now that a new technology has been developed that can extract natural gas locked in massive shale rock deposits (providing an abundant new supply of relatively cheap natural gas), I fear natural gas-fired power plants similar to Burrard Thermal and Sumas II could resurface in this province and reverse the progress we’ve made in cleaning up our air.
I would therefore like our elected officials to recommit to clean energy development, because burning natural gas to generate electricity is simply not necessary when we have so many alternative energy resources in this province that can do the job better and do it cleanly and renewably. Staying on the clean energy path is something our children and grandchildren will thank us for someday.
Marney Hogan
