Today, because events are moving so quickly, a twofer for you.
First, Premier Clark is in one hell of a jam and it’s scarcely improved with a man who I bet left the inner staff of Attila the Hun to join with Madam Photo-op by name of Ken Boessenkool, who amongst other clients worked as lobbyist for Enbridge for two years! What the hell reason could she give for this kind of move?
This woman is out of control. She’s in a political hotbox like President Gerry Ford was when he took over the mess Nixon left him. In fact she’s in a box Houdini couldn’t have escaped.
She’s trying to distance herself from the disgraceful reign of Gordon Campbell and now finds herself in the midst of the worst environmental fight probably in history. The proposed Enbridge Pipeline and resultant tanker traffic is straight from the Gordon Campbell/Fraser Institute playbook and it isn’t working out quite like the Liberal advisors had expected. In fact, Clark is facing, and knows she’s facing a political storm that makes Bill Vander Zalm’s troubles look like a kid’s fight in a sand box.
The trouble is, the public is onto them. It’s becoming clearer and clearer that a rupture or spill is inevitable and that the word “risk” has been replaced by “certainty”. Clark has this problem: the project only has the support of the “right” and the pretty far right at that. This problem wasn’t seen by the likes of Patrick Kinsella and other handlers – it’s called believing your own bullshit.
The NDP, and, of course the Greens have staked out the “no bloody way” voters and you might think well, so what’s the problem?
It’s called The Conservative Party and John Cummins. Without them, Clark might have been able to hold all the non NDP vote and been able to hold on. I doubt that because the government is in deep doo doo on so many fronts. With the Conservatives in the picture it’s Adrian Dix’s dream come true. Not only is their enemy divided but he has a good chance with the voter who perhaps doesn’t like anybody very much but tends to vote right rather than left.
If Ms. Clark were surrounded by happy campers, perhaps the Libs could hang on. The cold fact is that she only had one caucus member who supported her leadership and because he was given a cabinet seat – and then screwed up – she has a nest of adders in her caucus, many of whom will be looking at their own ridings and grasping at the life saver as they jump ship.
The pipeline/tanker issue has Clark buried. She knows it’s a terrible idea for the province and the people but can’t say so because she’ll lose her supporters.
She can’t say yes without jeopardizing her election chances.
She’s apparently without sufficient courage to say “no” and say “to hell with the right”, inside or outside the party, run on that stance then say, “Mr. Dix, we both agree on the pipeline/tanker issue now lets get down to the issue of which party should run this province.”
She doesn’t have the jam to do that so even the faint chance of a May 2013 victory is all but gone.
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Secondly, let us get some things straight for the times ahead – there will be leaks and spills from the pipeline and tankers no matter how much trouble Enbridge goes to avoid them. We’re being asked to commit environmental suicide – by Enbridge, the federal government and, by strong inference, Premier Clark.
My old and perhaps late friend, Bud Smith, says we cannot demand perfection. The trouble is, that is precisely what is demanded from Enbridge and its tanker clients because anything less will permanently damage the world’s last great rainforest – it cannot be remedied.
The route Enbridge’s pipelines would travel is for the most part inaccessible except by helicopter, meaning that even if there were measures to fix an oil spill (there aren’t) there is no way it could be handled (see map below).
The proposed pipeline crosses several mountain ranges and nearly 1000 rivers and streams, including at least three major ones where hundreds of thousands of salmon spawn. This is a region which caribou, grizzly bears, other species of bear, including the rare Spirit Bear, deer and moose inhabit. It is, in short, an ecological treasure.
But let’s play along with Enbridge and let’s say that there is only a one in 100 chance of a leakage. Look at the map and see where that 1 in 100 is going to strike…are you going to gamble away our wilderness on these odds?
Forget about the environment for a moment and look at it as a cost-benefit analysis. Given that the leakage will come in a wilderness which will likely be only reachable by helicopter making any equipment for a clean-up out of the question, is the financial gain to BC worth this likely consequence?
This is a critical question, for the record is clear – you simply cannot clean up an oil spillage wherever it may occur.
The fact is, except for a few low paying white collar jobs there is no gain for BC. We are letting Enbridge use our wilderness to transfer Alberta’s toxic gunk to Kitimat to be shipped down our highly sensitive coast line to Asia and America. Does that sound like a good deal to you?
I don’t want to deal with economics here but simply the wilderness of the province of British Columbia.
We must understand that Enbridge has an unbelievably bad track record. Since 2002 their American subsidiaries alone racked up 170 leaks, and the company itself had a staggering 610 leaks from 1999-2008, including a 2007 explosion in Minnesota that killed two men and brought it $2.4 million in fines – this in addition to a 2003 gas pipeline explosion that killed 7 in Ontario. More recently there is the Kalamazoo River spill in July 2010 which will never be cleaned up.
I leave it thusly:
Is there any set of circumstances, other than an assurance of God Himself, under which you would approve any pipeline going through our precious wilderness?
Harper must be panicking over this one; this whole pipeline thing could be over before it even starts:
Check this out….This could be the reality and soon;
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1351341/Relief-pumps-Revolutionary-hydrogen-fuel-cost-just-90p-GALLON-run-existing-cars.html#ixzz1jPO8SX4x
II Chronicles 7:14 isn’t going to help. Nor is ranting about this situation. What it will require, as someone seemed to suggest as the last stand, is civil disobedience. As a retired person, this will be my contribution to the future of, not only northern (really more central) BC, but also for my children and their two children. When action is called by the natives of the area, I will make it a point to be there and stand with them against Enbridge or anyone else that wants to build a pipeline.
Okay, so everyone seems to agree about not wanting this pipeline… but NO ONE is saying HOW TO STOP IT FROM HAPPENING…..the big dumbass corporations don’t care… the jackass politicians talk about how it is going to help the economy… THERE WILL BE NO ECONOMY IF WE CONTINUE TO DESTROY THIS PLANET …..
So now, instead of just spewing words on how it’s not good, and why we don’t want it …. point us in the direction of actually stopping it!!!!!!!! Enough with the freakin chit chat…. it’s time to do something!!!!!!!!
Yaah and even China is threatening Canada to get control of things so this abomination can go through smoothly. Is that an act of war?? I am even going to say GOD DOESN’T WANT THIS LINE TO GO THROUGH!! He has other ideas for cleaner energy. Why are the people missing and black listed who come up with these ideas for alternate energy? I think the fight is bigger than we see here. Cars and oil companys are keeping us in the dark ages of technology! This is an epic battle that affects all of us. Time for 2 Chronicles 7:14
It would be reassuring to know that the pen is mightier than the sword but in this case the odds are against the pen. If that proves to be the case, who will be willing to put their life on the line in order to stop Enbridge?
The sad part is that despite the outcome, when it becomes obvious that unmanageable energy costs are precipitating economic calamity, the public will demand that oil-limiting roadblocks are removed. The pipeline may not be built in BC but the tarsands will be mined and the public will continue the plunder, oblivious to the fact capitalism is facing its nemesis: the age of no-growth.
We’re still on the wide lip of the downward spiral. Wait ‘till it starts to narrow.
Admittedly there have been past instances where the environmentalist position has overpowered corporate interest. However, none so far have had the potential for such far-reaching impact on government and corporate interests. Participation in the global economy requires unencumbered trade and commerce; oil allows that to happen.
Given that most public enquiries are a sham and project plans proceed despite public opinion, what will those that want to stop Gateway do to prevent that pipeline from becoming a reality? Write letters to the editor? Swamp the blogosphere with facts and figures? Stand in the trenches with a video camera recording the progress? Give a ten-minute presentation at the commission hearings? Civil disobedience?
The residents of BC are faced with a moral/ethical dilemma … vis a vis to Gateway or not to Gateway … watching this unfold will be revealing.
The arguments on both sides are compelling: A spill on this route would be devastating for the environment and the well-being of society, within and beyond BC borders. But the global economy, which has evolved to underpin everyone’s well-being, requires a steady supply of oil, preferably cheap oil, in order to keep on keeping on. (Folks that believe alternative energy will save the day need to do some serious math when it comes to relative values of energy intensity. Nothing, including nuclear, compares to oil in terms of energy availability and portability.)
It should be obvious, given government priorities and the outcomes of past environmental controversies, that trade and commerce take precedence over environmental protection. The fish farm/wild salmon debate is a case in point. Government is pulling out all the stops to ensure corporate interests come out on top.
A lot of people in BC who don’t get out of their urban settings, and even there don’t recognize the enormity of the damage that has been done to our environment since white people first came here. Travel through Vancouver Island and see all of the first growth lumber that companies like MacBlo ripped out, or areas from Pr. G. to our southern border that have blocks of harvested trees that should have been replaced but never were. Look at the fishing industry that has been decimated by greedy fishers and overlooked by our politicians and civil servants just looking after their jobs. Look at all the mines in BC that have left the residue of their tailings to pollute nearby rivers and lakes.
What we we doing to stop this process of environmental rape while it happened? It isn’t as if we didn’t know it was happening? In fact, a lot of us helped it happen. It was just a job; we needed the money to look after our families, not thinking that what we were doing was screwing up their future as well as our own.
A good partial solution would be that all those who oppose the pipeline to stop driving completely and reduce the amount of products made from oil that they buy. This would result in an immediate drop in demand for oil, reducing the price and making the oilsands too expensive to process. This action can began immediately. All those reading this now who are opposed to the oil industry can stop driving today and can stop purchasing plastics and any other products that are derived from oil. Instead of driving you can walk, ride bicycles and take public transit. You can wear clothes made from cotton and wool and only buy foods from bulk food stores. Together, you can all make a serious impact. Time to get started today.
Has anybody considered why God put the oil here and not in for instance, China? Perhaps because He thought we were better stewards? Why not use the resource to our own benefit? The US has the Sun Belt. Well, we have the Oil Belt. Make economical fuel available to the logging industry and perhaps our lumber will become more competetive. Reduce our fuel prices to become competetive to the US fuel so the 90% by location that can afford to cross border shop, won’t. Or put it on a par with Venezuala or Saudi Arabia.
Or refine it here and ship the finished product, if we in fact must export it.
I have a couple of Grandkids who would love to deal with the problem in a generation or so. Leave it to them!
Just like the Salmon virus, the both the federal Canadian government and the provincial BC government have lied and promoted dishonesty – all to protect private commercial interests!
Had this been done by individual citizens – they would soon be taken to court for dishonesty. The government struggles and continues to manufacture lies and secnario’s where this disinformation is acceptables.
What a vesy sad day for canada as a country ! We have a federal government that thumbs it’s nose at legal questions – decides arbitrarily what is right !!! Whoa – will out dictator in chief start up the road to enforcement using themilitary and the RCMP ???????? Sure seems like that is the way things are heading eh !!!!
A bit of news for Harper – you don’t have enough prisons to accomodate all of the decent Canadian people – nor enough manpower. Your days are numbered as LIAR in CHIEF for Canada !! Your ego will never be able to handle the truth – born again Christian, yeah right!!!!!!
Mr. Harper, just like Gordon Muir Campbell, your dishonesty is going to be the cause of your resigning in disgrace !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WAY TO GO CANADA EH !!!
Thank you.
Enough already with the Greed!! What the hell has happened to this country?? Harper has, is what! We need to drum this sob out of office, nevermind waiting til the next election! He doesn’t play by the rules ….. why the hell should we?? Surely there must be a way!
And ditto for ms photo-op! She’s even dumber than a sack of hammers! She was never elected so let’s put her out of our misery!~~
Here’s the reason she gives for hiring this bozo and she thinks we’re going to believe it:
“People, when they’re in the private sector, leave those things behind when they come to government,” she said. “The fact is, advisers advise, premiers decide.”
Uh huh…….sure Christy
Well said Rafe. Sure do miss your voice on radio here…but this is good. Wouldn’t care to jump back into politics would you? Can always use a good man..
It only takes one spill, lrh. Ask people in North Burnaby how they feel about the Kinder line after it gushed oil all over their neighbourhood. Besides, it’s not just the pipe, it’s the associated tanker traffic. There are two questions people form Vancouver, Victoria, Nanaimo, the Gulf Islands and all the most populated parts of our province who are in the direct path of an oil spill from those tankers should be asking: 1. Do we want Vancouver transformed into a major international shipping port for the Tar Sands?; 2. Are we comfortable with 300 suezmax supertankers every year leaving the Vancouver Harbour, past Stanley Park, the Fraser River, etc. destined for China or the US? That’s the decision before us. However stupid the Northern Gateway line is, the planned expansion of the Trans-Mountain line to 700,000 barrels a day (bigger than Enbridge by almost 200,000) is at least as stupid….I can read your mind – you’re asking, “Are you against everything?!” No, just everything stupid…I’m fine with piping enough oil for our local needs – just not with turning Vancouver into the next big oil shipping port for the Tar Sands.
When one considers the possible risk of an oil spill; one must also include as a risk factor, an act of sabotage. Given the volatility of our political landscape, I would not rule it out.
“Is there any set of circumstances, other than an assurance of God Himself, under which you would approve any pipeline going through our precious wilderness?”
Not even then, Rafe. Not even then.
The Trans mountain pipeline seems to have a better record than Embridge. Whatched a report on Global tv last night. It’s been taking crude from Edmonton to Burnaby since 1953 with only a few minor leaks so far. Maybe we should just expand this line. As far as companies doing business with China, it’s hard for any Canadian to not do business with them they seem to make everything. And all people seem to want is the cheapest product they can find.
Harper, Clark, Enbridge, and the Oil Lobbyists are caught in a psychotic bubble. They are completely removed from nature and the unique beauty of our wilderness and they are hell bent for leather on a path of massive destruction…all for votes, money,power…all short term gain. They havent a clue about ” intrinsic ” qualities. They havent a clue about the legacy they are leaving our kids and grandkids. They dont CARE!
They should be struck with fear over our eroding Democracy, over handing over our resources to China, a Police State that has the WORST Human Rights record in the world, that continues to destroy its minorities,rape the environment,lie to the world and its own people,support corrupt regimes. How in the world does “”Ethical Oil” ( insult of insults ) do business with Harvesters of organs for transplant, at $50,000 a shot, from living, and often CONSCIOUS political prisoners ( Tibetans, Uighurs, Falun Gong, Artists , Intellectuals, dissenters, Migrant workers,) who have been tortured into signing declarations of voluntary donations of their body parts to needy clients..How DARE they insult Canadians with talk of ” Ethical Oil “…this is absurd beyond belief!….Karen
Good questions, Dan. And bear in mind that when Enbridge burst its pipe in Michigan, employees tried several times to manually override the emergency signal coming from the line indicating the spill. Their response only came after local citizens noticed the spill many hours later. And that was in a heavily populated area. Who’s going to call Enbridge up north? And can they be trusted to be monitoring and reacting to their own equipment?
Here’s where the greedy bastards want to run it, Rafe:
[IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c11/crhood/401165_10150491868291964_512376963_8852712_1646450512_n.jpg[/IMG]
Right through Hecate Strait and Dixon Entrance…some of the most treacherous waters on the PLANET…
If the people of BC accept this disaster without fighting it till the death then we’re merely a province of cowardly chumps.
Hunting down EnBridge executives in hiding after the fact wont bring our province back.
A few more thoughts on Rafe’s excellent column….
So the area is accessible only by helicopter…. for examples sake, between Tumbler Ridge and Bear Lake the pipe bursts.
I only have a couple of unimportant questions:
How will we know?
Who will have the ability to jump into their helicopter and witness the destruction?
Are we to leave the press release responsibilities of informing British Columbians up to Enbridge? The provincial politicians? Harper?
How to stop flow and then repair? Will there be any attempt at repair?
610 spills over nine years; 365 X 9 = 3285 days ÷610 =5.39
Every 6 days Enbridge has a spill somewhere.
Not a chance, my water supply, my heritage and last but not least the legacy I leave for my kids.
Take the hint Clark, Harper, Enbridge.
I see no situation in which I would risk our wilderness for profit. It belongs to future generations and it is not ours to risk!
Not a snowball’s chance in Hell Rafe!