Friday, April 27 2000 The Alberni Valley Times
Comment: Mailbag
Don’t let environmentalists halt progress
Editor:
Clean air and clean water. We all want that, don’t we? Of course. Without a healthy environment, there is no way we would be able to enjoy the Alberni Valley, and the benefits from a healthy economy.
But to listen to local environmentalists, you’d think the idea had never crossed anyone else’s mind. They’re constantly banging the same drum, and have been admittedly effective in their efforts. Big business in particular has had to take notice and implement environmental policy. I just wish they’d stick to the facts, instead of hyper-inflated, emotionally-charged pleas, which manage to whip the masses into a frenzy.
For example, the 1997 Kyoto Protocol targets “greenhouse gases” and the nations, which signed the agreement, move towards reducing emissions, which many scientists believe, is causing global warming.
Not all scientists believe that, though. John Christy, professor of Atmospheric Science at the University of Alabama and a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, in a recent article picked up from Vancouver Sun and Discover Magazine, Christy’s views were presented. He thinks it is equally likely that the Earth’s surface will cool.
When he first published his figures in 1990, the media, and the scientific journals attacked Christy. He then teamed up with Roy Spencer, a satellite meteorologist at NASA’s Marshall Space Centre to compile the needed data. In 1996, the American Meteorological Society presented John Christy and Roy Spencer with an award for “fundamentally advancing science’s ability to monitor climate.” In 1997, the Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research in England independently verified their data.
Christy is now recognized as one of the world’s leading experts on atmospheric conditions and he has cast doubt on the idea that global warming is caused by humans – or that the phenomenon exists at all.
Christy says the environmental effects of curbing greenhouse-gas emissions “are likely to be miniscule”, while the social effects could be disastrous.
He is concerned about an often-mentioned plan to reduce greenhouse emissions. A carbon tax that would raise the price of fossil fuels until consumption goes down. He believes that would adversely affect the poorer regions of the world by directly raising fuel prices. He maintains the best thing for Third World countries, which typically burn wood for fuel and heat, is to build coal-fired power plants. He says: “Cheap and accessible energy means better and longer lives.”
The current energy crisis in California clearly demonstrates what happens when the environmentalists’ lobby gets everything their way. They stopped new power plants from being built years ago, and as a result today, they don’t have enough energy. Sure, they have “clean”, technological industry in the Silicone Valley. But they need electricity to keep it going.
In Port Alberni, a small number of people, including the environmentalists, are taking aim at the generating plant and the aluminum smelter, the new big business in the Valley. As in most causes “green”, they don’t want some, they want it all.
Simply put, our valley needs those jobs for the future. We just have to consider carefully all the factors before decisions like these are made. Environmental concerns must be countered by scientific fact and we all should keep a clear head and make a decision that’s best for the valley and its residents.
Sincerely,
Warren Kiland.
