Investment not worth the spills
Smithers Interior News
June 24, 2009
Editor:
Christine Ogryzlo, from the Smithers Exploration Group, suggests in her letter that we should allow Enbridge to bring tar sands pipelines and super crude oil tankers to our coast to show that we support development in this region, acknowledging that it won’t bring about many jobs. That’s a pretty high-risk way to send a message.
Why would we put our wild salmon and rich marine waters at risk with oil spills? Enbridge records over 66 oil spills a year. As the company themselves have noted, there are no guarantees from spills regardless of technology used. Lessons from around the world (including the Exxon Valdez and Pine River pipeline spill) show us that human errors occur far too frequently.
The Enbridge Gateway project also enables the dramatic expansion of the Alberta tar sands, reducing Canada’s ability to take action on global warming. Instead of moving toward a green energy future, it locks us into one of the dirtiest energy systems on the planet.
There is no doubt that we need to encourage investment in this region. And we still need to chop down trees and dig holes in the ground for economic development. But as this economic recession shows, we need to do things differently. We need to call on our community leaders to take initiative and help shift us toward more sustainable and local development.
Supporting this tar sands pipeline project sends a negative message to our communities, which are filled with people who invest here. Instead of bringing in investment, the Gateway project allows Enbridge to make a lot of money, while those across the pipeline and tanker routes risk what we have that makes us so rich – our diverse, abundant environment.
Nikki Skuce
Smithers
