Politicians failing to plan future of transportation
Like far too many politicians Alistair MacGregor has not given the response to climate change the attention it deserves. He, like many who have commented on this have, and are still, relying on rhetoric and misinformation. The T.M.P. expansion will increase exports from 300,000 bbl.’s per day to 890,000 bbl.’s, a three-fold increase, which logically will increase tanker traffic by three not seven.
The Green party are also contradictory in their statements. Andrew Weaver in an interview on B.N.N. stated that we, or rather Alberta, should build refineries and export the finished product instead of exporting the unrefined product. Yet their opposition to the T.M.P. is based upon the carbon emissions that will be produced by the oil exported. Are they saying that the refined product will not produce emissions? How would this refined product get to tide water given the opposition of the Green party to pipelines? How is our natural gas transported to Vancouver Island? We don’t have an oil and gas industry. Would it be presumptuous to suggest it arrives via a pipeline?
Electric vehicles are touted as an environmental panacea which will solve our emission problems. But then there is opposition to the Site C hydroelectric dam. From? Yeah, you guessed it.
A quick look at the cobalt required to produce electric vehicles makes it glaringly obvious that these modes of transport are not the final answer they are purported to be. The production of just 500,000 electric vehicles will consume 7,800 tons of cobalt, which is six per cent of global production. The current global vehicle manufacturing forecast is for 85 million units per year. Which of course, will mainly be powered by petroleum spirit. The very petroleum spirit that Andrew Weaver wishes to see exported?
The solution requires a complete re-thinking of mass transportation. Unfortunately, the present politicians of all parties seem to be quite incapable of going just that. Which is a tragedy.
Ian Kimm
Duncan
