Quote:
Originally Posted by Table 5
I generally put climate-change deniers in the same group as the anti-vax crowd, or the anti-evolution crowd... people I just don't need to waste time associating with.
But with a lot of Albertans, usually people are smart enough to know better, but don't want to disrupt the sweet paycheck so I think everyone here just tries to ignore it. Which I can understand from a practical level.
However, I always keep hoping Alberta will find a way to use all that amazingly smart and educated workforce and try to channel it into building up next-wave energy tech of the future. I'd love to see us slowly become the Silicon Valley of energy, and maybe in a generation or two, be able to phase out oil without much of a blip.
Clearly there's just too much easy money in the traditional fields to make it worthwhile right now. There has to be some more positive incentive...but it doesn't seem like it will ever come from the provincial government.
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This is a great perspective on this issue. I totally agree that a lot of Albertans heads are in the sand about this issue simply because it affects them so deeply on a personal level. When an issue like this one directly affects people's bank balances it gets very difficult to keep an open mind on the dangers posed to themselves and the future generations.
I think the tar sands development is tragic. Despite what the industry apologists, lobbyists and cronie public representatives spout in the media and to their constituents I believe the development is irreversibly altering the ecosystem of a large chunk of Northern Alberta. To think that won't affect the province as a whole is short-sighted and naive.
Looking at the issue pragmatically: if the people of Alberta are allowing the industry to ravage the ecosystem and environment, thus affecting current and future generations, I personally would want the government and people of Alberta to be getting a
much better deal. I would want processing plants built in Alberta, allowing the bitumen to be processed locally rather than shipped to the US and China at wholesale rates. I would want the industry to contribute more via tax, rather than be given ample tax breaks at every angle. Government cuts to health and education are completely unacceptable when there are corporations making gazillions off the backs of the people and resources of a land. I would want the engineering firms to be discouraged from outsourcing many of the engineering jobs to China so that we keep most of these jobs and money in Alberta. This practice has been sneakily implemented, but huge amounts of locally trained engineers are getting laid off in favour of cheaper, outsourced workers.
Unacceptable. I would expect these corporations to contribute much more to the arts and culture scene, as they are expected to do in big oil money states like Texas. Though many Albertans do pretty well off the tar sands, the American companies are getting away with highway robbery compared to what they would if they excavated this oil from their own country, and the government is allowing them to do it. Why? Because they are the major league financial contributors to the politicians, that's why.
When you dance with the Devil, the Devil calls the steps. If you're allowing your soul to be sold you'd better make sure it's not for the discounted rate. If you're jeopardising your children's future well-being then financially and culturally there had best be the maximum benefit to the maximum amount of the population.