Editor:

With the new technology of “fracking” in the oil and gas industry, it is projected that the United States will become self-sufficient in energy between 2015 and 2020. Vast recoverable resources have been discovered in many parts of the U.S.

Of our oil and gas production, of what we do not consume ourselves, all is exported to the U.S. by pipelines.

It is to be expected that once the U.S. reaches self-sufficiency, they will no longer buy our oil and gas, or if they do at very discounted prices only. Presently we have no facilities to pump our oil to other markets such as Asia. Unless we build pipelines, the oil and gas industries in Canada will shrink considerably.

Thousand of workers will be out of a job and the huge oil revenues, royalties and taxes will contract considerably. This might result in severe financial hardship for the federal and provincial governments and ultimately for our population (healthcare, education, etc). It is projected that without the oil income, our standard of living might decline by some 20 per cent. Are we prepared to live with such a decline, or permit the building of pipelines that must be of the highest standards?

Jakob Knaus, Wilson Creek