Pipelines and Politics #2

It was easy to predict that within minutes of the Liberal government’s decision to back the Kinder Morgan pipeline that a preordained cast of characters opposed to any such decision would come out in full force. In fact before I finished watching the announcement and then went on to another news site to read a bit about the proposed pipeline, the perennial complainers of all government’s policy on the environment were condemning the decision and promising to fight it with every means possible.

To be clear - in my opinion it was a poor decision that both sends the wrong message to the rest of the world about the need to cut down on our consumption of fossil fuels and commits Canada to perpetuating the rape and disfiguring of our land. But I am offended by the rhetoric that suggest that it was an unexpected decision (Trudeau had made it clear in his speeches during the election that Canada could not afford to leave trillions of dollars worth of oil buried in the land) or that in some fashion that the decision made in without rational discussion. In fact the government had numerous discussions with groups of people - they just decided to not give extra weight to the environmentalist’s position. The Liberals decided that the need for people to have jobs etc needed also to be considered.

The need for both sides of the argument to demonise the opposition and to use language that at best could be describe as inflammatory does nothing to find reasonable solutions. Some of the comments on Facebook for example are derogatory and if they were printed could almost be labelled as libelous. The comments make gross generalizations and will only ensure that people who want to find solutions or those who agree with the Government’s decisions will stop listening. Surely we can do better than that. This is not about who won or who lost.

The  hyperbole is counter-productive. I understand the need to get people worked up and mobilize to protest the decision but I think there are other steps that can be taken to ensure that Canada reduces its collective carbon footprint as soon as possible.

1. Let the courts decided. I would much rather people send money so that the First Nations communities can hire lawyers ( Most Canadians would have no legal standing in the courts on this issue). It is clear that at least in the recent past that the Supreme Court has stated that such proposals need to be discussed in a meaningful way with local communities. It seems likely that this proposed pipeline will not pass this test.
2. I think someone needs to provide some alternatives in terms of how to replace some of the tax dollars that were raised in Alberta because of their higher incomes etc. and then was transferred to provinces that had lower incomes. Those transfers contributed to our health care, education and social programs. If we are going to say that Alberta is not going to be able to sell its oil - then how  are we going to replace that income federally?
3. We also need to find good, well paying jobs for the 35,000+  (CBC) people who lost their jobs and probably at least an equal number who will lose their jobs when the oil sands are shut down.
4. We need to find a way for Canadians to stop using oil. I would love it if everyone had a battery operated car - but I will never be able to afford one unless there were significant government subsidies.  It would be great if we took off the road all of those big trucks - as long as we accept that for most Canadians such a decision would mean no fresh produce for 6-7 months of the year, no internet shopping and of course no more oil or natural gas heating. If we are going to be serious about reducing our carbon footprint - we need to do it across board - not just to some of the people.

I think all of the above is achievable. But there needs to be a commitment on everyone's part to make the needed sacrifices and adjustments. It is not enough that we say no to pipelines. We need to say that we have working alternatives that can be in place as our oil usage is reduced. It can be done but we need to do it together - something that will not happen as long as we stand on opposing sides on the protest lines.