No matter how closely one follows the news about the train wreck/crash in Lac-Megantic, it is difficult to imagine how absolutely horrendous the past week or so have been. And in the weeks to follow, long after the media have stopped reporting, the challenges will test and exhaust many of the residents' emotional and physical resources.
It was interesting to note how quickly the blame game started. The company that owns the train blames the engineer for not doing his job properly, and a former colleague of the engineer suggests that the company's decision to only have one staff on board may have led to the accident. The government and its various agencies are saying there will be a through investigation of the incident and it causes. They have, of course, promised new and tougher regulation to insure that such an incident never happens again, which would be a bit more believable if this was the first such accident. While all of the points need to be discussed and investigated, I wonder if anyone will ask the real questions.
Are freight trains the right way to transport such dangerous cargo and why? It doesn't really matter if the tracks are going to by-pass small towns (although that would be good interim step) or if by law, there are going to be in the future two or more workers on the train or if an improved and perhaps automatic braking system gets installed. Another accident will happen. While the loss to life and personal property may be less, the environmental carnage might be even greater if an accident happened in a remote area. Again the question is do we need to transport crude oil by train.
There are only three other obvious options. Send it by boat via the Panama Canal, ship it by tanker truck or build more pipelines. The first option is not only too expensive, but people who live along the coastline on both sides of the continent might have legitimate concerns as their environment. Trucking oil is also too expensive and while the spills are smaller, it is equally as dangerous. Which leaves us with pipe lines - which would make some sense except for the fact that their track record is not clear and therefore the risks appear to be fairly high that breaks in the line will occur.
There is another option. It is not a quick fix but it may be the only long term answer. Stop using oil. We live in a large country much of which gets damn cold in the winter. Canada can not be a viable entity if we are all forced to live either on the Gulf Islands or perhaps in the southernmost parts of Ontario or the Praries. The nation can not exist if we live in only isolated communities. So we need to find some way to transport our goods and ourselves and to heat our homes. Not only is oil a limited resource that is not sustainable in the long run, its use will continue to pose an environmental risk.
Perhaps it is a fantasy - but maybe, just maybe the horrible incident at Lac Meganic will be a wake-up call to start thinking of the alternatives to oil.
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Sunday, July 14, 2013
On the Road Again 2013 A Brief Intermission #2
For those who live on the Islands ( for example the Gulf Islands on the west coast of British Columbia) it is tempting and perhaps even somewhat arrogant sounding to suggest that these islands are special places (and some would argue the only places) to live. Or at least it would be arrogant if it were not at least partially true. Perhaps all islanders whether they are from small islands off the east or west coast of North America or some windy and and isolated by storms island off the coast of Scotland feel this way. There is a special magic in these places that is hard to define.
It is not that things are immeasurably better on, for example, Salt Spring Island than anywhere else. It shares with the the mainland all of the social and economic problems that can affect people anywhere else in the world. On the Island there are people with addictions, people who are living with mental health issues, people who are ( by Canadian standards) very poor, people who are without adequate shelter and on occasion people who are inclined to break the law. There is no reason to assume that any of the above happens at a lesser frequency on islands then anywhere else. In fact because there are perhaps fewer services on Island and a generalize perception on the part of many islanders that there are not any serious problems, the consequences of such social conditions may be more severe. The problems may be compounded by the fact that islands such as SSI are a mecca for people who are searching for new experiences or life changes. While the Islands may provide those opportunities for personal growth - for some- the lack of structure and the dearth of opportunities for meaningful, fulfilling and sustainable occupations can create more stress.
For some the weather, at least in terms of the west coast Gulf islands, is a major factor in their decision to live here on a full time basis. Almost all of those islanders who offer me drives and almost everyone that I know are migrants from another part of the country. But while the weather in the Gulf Islands is without question remarkable, not all islands in the world have great weather. However, I suspect that most islanders think their home islands are special places.
If the social conditions on some islands are not significantly better than elsewhere; if people for example, are not freer on SSI from the "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" than anyone else; if the weather is not always a consistent factor in glorifying one's home island - why do islanders almost always refer to themselves as a special breed of people who are unique and by extension perhaps better that those of us sometimes called "mainlanders" (which may at times been seen as a less positive description)?
I think it is the perceived isolation from the rest of the world that causes this sense of being in a different place, a different time. And it is only a perceived difference. As I was walking downtown yesterday I saw a number of people drinking their coffee while reading their Globe and Mail. I am sure that they would have said, if asked, that they enjoyed being away from the rat race and the chaos of the mainland as they folded their newspapers to a new page. But perception is always more important than reality. I suspect that all people everywhere, when they have the luxury to believe that they have a choice as to where they live, create the perception that that place is special. They do so perhaps because to believe in the uniqueness or a place validates their decision or need to be there. It is not the place that is unique or remarkably different, it is people's belief that it is.
It is not that things are immeasurably better on, for example, Salt Spring Island than anywhere else. It shares with the the mainland all of the social and economic problems that can affect people anywhere else in the world. On the Island there are people with addictions, people who are living with mental health issues, people who are ( by Canadian standards) very poor, people who are without adequate shelter and on occasion people who are inclined to break the law. There is no reason to assume that any of the above happens at a lesser frequency on islands then anywhere else. In fact because there are perhaps fewer services on Island and a generalize perception on the part of many islanders that there are not any serious problems, the consequences of such social conditions may be more severe. The problems may be compounded by the fact that islands such as SSI are a mecca for people who are searching for new experiences or life changes. While the Islands may provide those opportunities for personal growth - for some- the lack of structure and the dearth of opportunities for meaningful, fulfilling and sustainable occupations can create more stress.
For some the weather, at least in terms of the west coast Gulf islands, is a major factor in their decision to live here on a full time basis. Almost all of those islanders who offer me drives and almost everyone that I know are migrants from another part of the country. But while the weather in the Gulf Islands is without question remarkable, not all islands in the world have great weather. However, I suspect that most islanders think their home islands are special places.
If the social conditions on some islands are not significantly better than elsewhere; if people for example, are not freer on SSI from the "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" than anyone else; if the weather is not always a consistent factor in glorifying one's home island - why do islanders almost always refer to themselves as a special breed of people who are unique and by extension perhaps better that those of us sometimes called "mainlanders" (which may at times been seen as a less positive description)?
I think it is the perceived isolation from the rest of the world that causes this sense of being in a different place, a different time. And it is only a perceived difference. As I was walking downtown yesterday I saw a number of people drinking their coffee while reading their Globe and Mail. I am sure that they would have said, if asked, that they enjoyed being away from the rat race and the chaos of the mainland as they folded their newspapers to a new page. But perception is always more important than reality. I suspect that all people everywhere, when they have the luxury to believe that they have a choice as to where they live, create the perception that that place is special. They do so perhaps because to believe in the uniqueness or a place validates their decision or need to be there. It is not the place that is unique or remarkably different, it is people's belief that it is.
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