The environment is again on the top of the agendas of national and world leaders as they grapple with issues that seem impossible to counteract, and weather occurrences that defy the imagination.
Unfortunately, what ends up happening is the environment gets politicized, as politicians make it a crusade for themselves as they grandstand for the cameras and loudly proclaim what they are for and what they are against.
The environment ends up being left on the sidelines, and policies which may, or more likely may not, help it are discussed and debated while action-wise not much is really being done.
One example of grandstanding are the debates and protests over the Energy East pipeline, with Quebec flexing their muscles to show how important they are, stopping a major pipeline project that would actually benefit them, and the environment, but loudly shouting about how the pipeline will harm their environment without offering any data or proof to back their arguments up.
A pipeline would safely and efficiently move crude oil from Alberta, through Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario on the way out to be refined in New Brunswick, providing a Canadian source of oil which is otherwise being provided from the Middle East and the U.S.
How on earth is it safer for big tankers to be bringing oil to Canada when we can safely provide domestic oil and also provide jobs within our country, jobs that are very badly needed right now? Another point is that pipelines are safer than tanker trucks and rail cars — or do we really need to revisit the images of rail cars blowing up and killing people, as one small Quebec community has experienced? Maybe the Mayor of Montreal should ask the residents of that town if they’d prefer more tanker cars, or a safe pipeline?
Then we have a prime minister who’s interested in photo ops with Barack Obama and with panda bears but not much interested in providing any solutions to this debate. He tried getting all the premiers to sign on to a carbon tax, which thankfully Premier Brad Wall spoke against noting the harm that it would do our province and our hurting energy sector. The words all sound good about how a carbon tax would work, but in reality it’s a tax grab that has no real end use for our money, and it’s doubtful the environment would see any benefit of that tax grab. It would be better if an actual solution was presented that would help the environment rather than politicians. — Greg Nikkel
