Fraser River works as transport route
Environmental impact less when containers put on barges
Brian Lewis, The Province
Published: Tuesday, August 12, 2008 Original article
VPO note - the NDP under Glen Clark ended up wasting millions of BC taxpayer dollars in the 1990’s on the FastCat ferries, and took heat for it from the Liberals. But now those same Liberals are about to waste BILLIONS of BC taxpayer dollars on the Gateway project just when people are finally starting to drive less, and cheaper alternatives like barges & rail - that are better for our future - are available. See our FAQ on VPO’s Gateway 2.0 proposal.
VPO considers this a scandal, if there’s any meaning to the word.
A report commissioned by local port authorities but virtually ignored by the B.C. government for more than three years now raises serious doubts about the economic viability of building the $1-billion South Fraser Perimeter Road.
In fact, the holes it opens in the so-called rationale for this 40-kilometre, four-lane truck freeway through Delta farmland and Burns Bog are large enough to drive an 18-wheel container truck through. Read the complete Post.
I watched scores of footage of town hall meetings, speeches, press conferences and political ads by the two candidates. And there was a strange echo, something I’ve heard before from someone I don’t quite like. So I rewound back to Bush’s 2007 State of the Union and here’s what I found.
Students in the SFU Dialogue and Public Issues class hosted a discussion on the “oil crisis” (their term) yesterday, called “Beyond the TurmOIL”, involving students, activists, members of the general public, and 4 speakers. It was an interesting and fast-paced session anchored by Sara Robinson, futurist and blogger for Blog For our Future and other sites; Sara provided both hard facts and her personal story about the impacts of oil on her life.
Other speakers included Shannon Daub, who gave some results of her interviews with Canadian energy workers (including many in the tar sands) who support the switch to alternative energy, and Jennifer Fisher-Bradley, who’s working with her partner Stephen to make Port Alberni into Canada’s first Transition Town.
The fourth speaker was Ray Lord, PR man for Chevron. Lord too told his personally story, becoming choked up at a couple of points about how personally he takes his job (and the attacks that are sometimes aimed at his employer), then went on to talk about how Chevron is “positioning” itself to be helpful to Premier Campbell in successfully executing his climate change plan for the province.
Whether or not Ray, as the only person in the room who was paid to be there — and thus the only person with a sales agenda aimed at increasing profits — was appropriate as a speaker is open to debate; it’s certainly true that as a person he had a right to stand and tell his own story.
What was not appropriate, in my opinion, was the 2 minute Chevron commercial that the SFU students dutifully showed at Lord’s behest. The commercial, part of a series of commercials (conveniently available on youtube) under the general rubric “Human Energy”, is a montage of lovely images under carefully calibrated piano music intended to sell the idea that the folks at Chevron (actually ChevronTexacoUnocal since the mergers) are just moms and dads and football coaches like you and me, looking for ever-cleaner ways to power our world. An animation at the end emphasizes that they’re not just an oil company anymore, giving equal weight to their comparatively miniscule investments in clean energies. Read the complete Post.
Help us be a winner of The Tyee’s Green Your Campbell Cash contest. Voting only takes a few seconds. Winner’s receive $500 to further their causes. Help us get the word out!
Last night we had a packed house at the Ukrainian Hall, for the first event sponsored by the Vancouver Peak Oil executive. This was great step in getting the ball rolling in our city and I would like to thank everyone who made this happen. Not only did many concerned citizens showed up for the screening and panel discussion, but a little bit of media was generated due to our effort.
With that said, we need to capitalize on this momentum and get the word out. This summer will surely see a spike in gasoline prices and we must be prepared to help people make the connection with Peak Oil.
Write to your news paper and tell them there is a connection between Peak Oil and rising food and energy costs.
Those are just a few, but we need more ideas and energetic people to see them through. Again thanks to all who attended and stay tuned for the next VPOE event.
This article hits the issue more directly than any others I have seen printed in Canadian media. How long will it take before we are blessed with some leadership that understands that the economic growth paradigm is coming to an end?
One of our members has created a petition that we intend take to the Vancouver City council to urge them to create a task force to begin looking at the multitude of issues that permanently declining oil supplies creates. Politicians and business folk accustomed to the growth paradigm need to wake up and realize that it’s time to plan and implement solutions that account for shrinking liquid fuel supplies every subsequent year from now. No one yet knows the rate of decline that we will collectively experience but it is this rate that should determine the scope and time line of solutions to effectively mitigate the numerous and far reaching risks. The City of Vancouver needs to perform a thorough risk assessment, facilitate scenario planning, draft a plan, circulate the plan to all stakeholders and begin implementation. Help us create a loud enough collective voice that will demand the attention of city council.
I’m a member of Voters Taking Action on Climate Change (VTACC), a local citizens group lobbying the BC government to take action on climate change. The organization has successfully lobbied to stop the coal plants and is now campaigning for a carbon tax. In a recent budget consultation process, the government received an unexpected call for action to create a carbon tax. Here are the details:
Vancouver city councilor (NPA) Suzanne Anton is the first councilor I have heard use the term “Peak Oil” publicly. She seems to have seen the light considering her comment:
“I don’t think we should be thinking about anything except global warming, climate change and peak oil,” she said. “Everything else should fit within that.”
made in response to her thoughts about the GVRD’s revision of the 11 year old Livable Region Strategic Plan. The full article is available here: Urban, suburban divide revealed in growth plan.
Perhaps we should organize a meeting with her to discuss how we can raise peak oil as a higher priority within the council?
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