Editor:
I wonder if Buzz Bennett has ever had a conversation with the activists he’s so quick to pass judgment on. As members of this society, stepping outside mainstream choices takes time and often money. Attacking people who use any form of fossil fuels is a tactic used to deflect from the real issues, a strategy often used by those who are stuck in old ways of thinking, believing those old ways are best. It’s a way of avoiding a real discussion about how we should live on our planet.
Those of us who promote turning away from fossil fuels, recognize that by dumping 40 billion tons of CO2 into earth’s airshed every year, humans are warming the planet (not to mention the terrible pollution caused by exhaust particulates) and dooming our grandchildren to ever more extreme and unpredictable weather. Scientists warn of our warming, acidifying oceans and mass extinctions of many species. Perhaps Mr. Bennett does not care about the other species, but most people do, recognizing that we are nothing without them.
As we face the monumental repercussions of cleaning up from the mining of natural resources, for which society ends up paying, there are alternatives. I am not against natural resource extraction, only against irresponsible extraction, which endangers lives and future environmental well-being. I am not against fossil fuels, which will have some role to play in our future, but most forward-thinking people know that we must make changes. Fortunately there are solutions.
We need to quickly adopt solar and geothermal technology, which are much less subject to the huge profits that foreign companies take out of our province and country every year. Rather than continuing to heavily subsidize fossil fuel industries, it makes more sense to promote clean, job-rich energy.
Gayle Neilson, Gibsons
