Editor:
For the past two weeks there have been articles in Coast Reporter about students holding strikes protesting Big Oil and the effect it has on the climate. I applaud the students’ concern and I am sure their protesting has been recognized by the public.
I suggest the students now take the next steps and do what they can to reduce the threat to the climate. First, I recommend they change their banner to read: “STOP USING BIG OIL”
It is important to recognize the size of the problem.
In the business world, companies operate on the basis of supply and demand. Applying this to crude oil, the daily demand for crude oil for the world is 100 million barrels per day (en.m.wikipedia.org). For the gasoline component, the world demand is 37 million barrels per day and Canada’s portion is 617,000 barrels per day (indexmundi.com).
Proceeding with the idea of the new banner, STOP USING BIG OIL, I suggest they develop a project that would have people pledge that the next car they buy is an electric one. They could start with their parents and adult friends. They may have a competition among students to see who is most successful. They could also have a challenge between high schools.
This would fit into the government’s program of using the carbon tax, which is designed to promote buying electric cars.
I am sure there are other topics that can be developed in a like manner, that can reduce the generation of CO2, such as using solar panels.
Bob Urquhart, Retired Petroleum Engineer, Gibsons
