Protest outside the Kamloops office of Environment Minister Terry Lake.

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Governments and industry often use the classic sustainability model of the three-legged stool and the importance of keeping each leg; economic, social and environmental, strong. This is a false analogy because a stool needs a firm foundation to stand on and that foundation is the environment.

We cannot have a healthy economy nor can we enjoy a healthy society if the environment is not healthy.

Since 2001, British Columbia has shifted far away from the principles of environmental sustainability due to the current government’s focus on resource exploitation. The B.C. Liberals have done so much damage, that if the NDP returns to power it will be difficult for them to solve many of the problems. The corporations and the one-percenters have benefited, whether it was through the B.C. Rail decision, the give-away of our streams through the ruin of rivers projects, the handing over our forests to the major forestry corporations, or the subsidies to oil and gas.

Two of the guiding principles used by the B.C. Liberals when they gutted government oversight of the environment and forests were “results-based” and “professional reliance.” Well the results have been mostly a failure and that is no wonder as all that we can rely on professionals to do is get the results that their employers demand. It has been the foxes looking after the henhouse for over a decade and the public needs to know what has happened and what needs to be done to ensure that their land and resources are being sustainably managed.

Of all the damage that has occurred under the Liberals, perhaps the most serious and the most difficult to fix is what they have done to B.C. Hydro. The issues are far more than mismanagement, as there has been a deliberate effort to transfer the wealth and benefits from the B.C. public to private corporations, as the public is now faced with massive debts and continuous rate increases.

One of the biggest threats to environmental sustainability in British Columbia is from the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline, due to the likely spills in northern salmon watersheds and on the rugged coastline. However, even when the federal government eventually approves it, the chances are it will never get built, as the First Nations will stall it in the courts.

Less known are the problems associated with the plans to build liquefied natural gas plants. First of all, the gas development is no longer benign as fracking has become a major environmental concern. Groundwater is getting poisoned. The amount of water needed is monumental. Fracking has been shown to cause an increase in the number of earthquakes.

The need for electricity is growing exponentially and the exploration and development is causing habitat fragmentation.  No wonder there is a moratorium on fracking in Quebec and other jurisdictions. It is imperative that there be an inquiry into fracking to ensure this controversial practice is only allowed where there are minimal impacts. 

The power needed for liquefied natural gas plants is also monumental. A Site C dam equivalent amount of power is needed to run just one plant. The way B.C. Hydro is structured now with guaranteed low rates for industry means that residential users would get stuck with the bill for these energy needs to export natural gas. And most important, although exporting the gas brings higher revenue for the large corporations, it threatens the energy security for British Columbians. What good is it if we export most of our gas in the next few decades and, when we need the gas for our own energy needs, there will not be sufficient supplies left?

There is a solution now available for both the problems with B.C. Hydro and the problems we could face exporting natural gas. A company in the U.S. called Bloom Energy has invented a new power plant that uses a fuel cell that can be powered by natural gas or other types of fuel. It takes up very little space, is very efficient, and produces electricity for half the cost of any other method. Another advantage is there is no power loss through transmission lines, as the plants are situated next to where the energy is used.

The next largest issue of concern is what has happened to B.C.’s forests. Years of work went into the Forest Practices Code, but it was quickly trashed after the B.C. Liberals were elected. The industry controlled government then shrank the forest service and handed forest management over to the companies. When the climate change fuelled beetle epidemic hit the logging rates went through the roof. Now after a decade of mismanagement, continued overcutting, disastrous forest fires and raw log exports, so much has been thrown at the proverbial fan that government oversight has nearly ceased functioning.

Through it all, the land use plans were maintained, which was one of the crowning achievements of the 1990s. And now in desperation, there are plans afoot to basically burn the furniture by logging the protected riparian, old growth and scenic areas in order to keep the mills in the Cariboo running a few months longer. These plans must not be gutted which is the position taken already by the professional foresters, the mayors of these logging towns and the environmental community.

Plans are needed to revitalize our forests, help workers, help communities and improve protection of environmental values like fish and wildlife, clean water and carbon sinks. A new forestry act is necessary that will revive government oversight and once again allow the public to have input into planning.

We need to reinvest in forestry with proper inventories, a revitalized reforestation program where it makes ecological sense to replant, reforms to the tenure system that ensure logging rights are connected to job creation, revival of smaller tenures that provide more jobs per cubic metre, and a value-added program that works to create more jobs per cubic metre logged. Land use plans need to be reviewed and improved. Efforts are also needed to re-connect communities and young people to our forests and to nature, through outdoor education programs, summer camps, interpretive programs and work projects.

Since there is not room to cover all the important issues, here are some priorities. The Jumbo Glacier Resort in the East Kootenays must be axed and one of the simplest ways would be to nix the expensive road construction that would cost the public many millions of dollars in upkeep and maintenance.

Funding should be restored to the Ministry of Environment so staff can adequately protect habitat, prevent pollution and ensure there is proper compliance and enforcement. The environmental assessment process needs an overhaul, as it obviously is not working properly considering that it approved the destruction of Fish Lake.

Mineral tenure reform must ensure that environmental, community, First Nations and private land values are respected. We need better protection of water, including groundwater, wetlands and riparian areas. The need for effective endangered species legislation continues to be a priority. Revisions of the Local Government Act that took power away from local governments should be repealed so they have the ability once again to safeguard their communities from inappropriate development. And subsidies must end for the oil and gas sector, and the additional revenue could help fund projects that benefit the environment and the economy.

The only way we can ensure a healthier economy is to improve protection British Columbia’s magnificent environmental values. The major challenge for the next B.C. government will be to reverse the impacts from over a decade of mismanagement of both the environment and the economy by a political party whose main focus has been to enrich the corporations at the expense of all British Columbians.

We can do it, especially if we all work together as a team; environmentalists, First Nations, workers, youth, academics and seniors to build a better society based on equity, justice, fairness, and true ecological and economic sustainability principles.

 

A longtime advocate for peace and the environment, Jim Cooperman worked for the B.C. Environmental Network from 1990 to 2000 as editor of the quarterly journal, The B.C. Environmental Report and as coordinator of the forest caucus. Now retired, Jim focuses on local issues in the Shuswap, writes a bi-monthly newspaper column and a blog (www.shuswappassion.ca) and continues to live with his wife Kathi at the same rural property he moved to some 43 years ago after graduating from the University of California at Berkeley, where he was also an anti-war activist.

This article appeared in The Watershed Sentinel and is reprinted here with permission. 

Photo: Council of Canadians