Dear Editor:
This is going to cost us, make no mistake on that. No matter what we do we’ll end up paying. Part of the question is, ‘What’s it worth?’ Thanks to the B.C. and federal Liberals we’re on a path to having the Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion.
The 40.36 per cent of B.C. voters who supported the B.C. Liberals in the last election likely believe B.C. will get jobs and tax revenue, while Alberta, in particular, and the country as a whole will enjoy income from the sale of tar sands to Asian markets. These people are prepared to risk a near unimaginable cost if a pipeline breaks, there’s a fire, or a tanker spills part or all of its load. They are also prepared to accept the measurable cost in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and resultant climate change.
The 57.12 per cent of people who voted for the B.C. Green Party or the B.C. NDP are unwilling to accept those certain and possible costs. They would rather pay the legal costs, including the likely payout to Kinder Morgan, to stop the project. They’d rather pay this than risk paving the bottom of the Salish Sea. They’d rather pay this than risk a fire or spill and the possible loss of property and life. Most of all they understand that the cost of saying ‘no’ to this project is worth it in the fight against human-induced climate change. These people feel they must pay up now to help minimize the costs our children and grandchildren will already have to bear.
Thanks to the B.C. and federal Liberals, we’re all on the hook for some kind of hefty bill.
David W.G. Macdonald, Burnaby
