Quote:
Originally Posted by rubecube
I can only speak anecdotally on this topic, but the FN and environmental friends/protesters I've spoken with on the manner are primarily concerned with protecting the coast line from tanker traffic, and trying to get the government to practice more consensual policy decisions with FN bands. There have also been a number of earth sciences, environmental studies, biology, etc., professors out here from UVic, SFU, UBC, etc., who have gone on record against Northern Gateway because they feel the potential impact on the environment outweighs the economic benefits for BC. I don't think all of these people are on the payroll for American oil interests.
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The problem with this is that people are talking about tanker safety and traffic, and pinning that on the pipeline company. People are talking about emissions in the oilsands and that's the pipeline's fault. People are talking about cheap heating for houses and people driving too much, and that's the pipeline's fault too.
My issue with a lot of these things is that pipelines are unfairly blamed for a lot of upstream/downstream effects (eg. the BC gov and the letter from all those professors). I don't see, for example, people protesting GM/Ford plants because every additional car on the road causes pollution! I don't see people protesting about tanker safety, more strict regulations on tanker certification and inspections or anything like that. It's all the pipeline's fault.
Somehow, pipelines became the symbol for which all of the world's problems can be blamed. As someone that has done a public consultation (KXL), it was unbelievable to me. I came to the consultation prepared with water crossing studies, soil studies, integrity studies and the like. Then someone asked me how we planned to deal with increased smog over cities from increased driving due to the pipeline.
That's the kind of stuff we have to deal with, so as a someone in pipelines, I think that kind of shows where we're coming from when we get cynical about "environmental issues".