As citizens of Newfoundland and Labrador, we find ourselves caught up in a process that is supposedly designed to facilitate an “independent” review of Hydraulic Fracturing. A panel has been convened and has been deemed to be independent by the Minister of Natural Resources. NLFAN is being told they asked for an independent panel and they have been granted one.
The problem is that NLFAN asked for a Mercedes Benz. What has been established is a panel that more closely resembles a “used” pick-up truck. The Mercedes Benz would have characteristics such as a limited mandate to determine whether or not NL should allow the fossil fuel industry to engage in the practice of hydraulic fracturing within the province’s jurisdiction.
The “used” pick-up truck allows the “independent” panel to conduct a review of current regulatory process in Newfoundland and Labrador respecting hydraulic fracturing operations and identifying needed changes consistent with other jurisdictions and best practices. This presumes a “yes” as the answer to the question for the Mercedes-Benz panel.
NLFAN hardly received the “independent” panel they requested. To suggest they did is “smugness” taken to the extreme.
All of this avoids the issue of climate change – the real “elephant” in the room. Premier Paul Davis recently commented “I think the argument is swaying to the reality that climate change is real and there's numerous evidence to support the concept that climate change is real."
A recent UCSUSA position statement advises that “some energy costs are not included in consumer utility or gas bills, nor are they paid for by the companies that produce or sell the energy. These include human health problems caused by air pollution from the burning of coal and oil; damage to land from coal mining and to miners from black lung disease; environmental degradation caused by global warming, acid rain, and water pollution; and national security costs, such as protecting foreign sources of oil.” This is by no means an exhaustive list.
Hydraulic Fracturing, through the exploration for, the drilling for, the extraction of, the transportation of, and the consumption of oil, contributes to global warming and climate change. It also contributes to the poisoning of water used in the fracking process and of groundwater through leakage of fracking chemicals and through mishandling and disposition of used fracking fluids.
Christophe McGlade, at University College London (UCL) says that “vast amounts of oil in the Middle East, coal in the US, Australia and China and many other fossil fuel reserves will have to be left in the ground to prevent dangerous climate change, according to the first analysis to identify which existing reserves cannot be burned.”
I digress from my argument which should be kept succinct for clarity’s sake. Climate change is real. Using fossil fuels to generate energy contributes to climate change. If climate change is not brought under control, we risk the extinction of the species. Finding and exploiting additional fossil fuels is reckless abandonment of moral responsibility to our grandchildren. What conceivable reason do we have to frack for oil in Western NL when all common sense tells us to leave the stuff in the ground?
I am about to be a grandfather. I believe that the human species is in danger of extinction if we do not control climate change. I can envision my grandson, in 15 years, asking me if I knew what was happening and what I did about it. I would like to be able to say that we, as a species, had the wisdom to recognize when there was an “elephant” in the room and that we had enough courage to remove the beast from our home.
Joe Wiseman
The problem is that NLFAN asked for a Mercedes Benz. What has been established is a panel that more closely resembles a “used” pick-up truck. The Mercedes Benz would have characteristics such as a limited mandate to determine whether or not NL should allow the fossil fuel industry to engage in the practice of hydraulic fracturing within the province’s jurisdiction.
The “used” pick-up truck allows the “independent” panel to conduct a review of current regulatory process in Newfoundland and Labrador respecting hydraulic fracturing operations and identifying needed changes consistent with other jurisdictions and best practices. This presumes a “yes” as the answer to the question for the Mercedes-Benz panel.
NLFAN hardly received the “independent” panel they requested. To suggest they did is “smugness” taken to the extreme.
All of this avoids the issue of climate change – the real “elephant” in the room. Premier Paul Davis recently commented “I think the argument is swaying to the reality that climate change is real and there's numerous evidence to support the concept that climate change is real."
A recent UCSUSA position statement advises that “some energy costs are not included in consumer utility or gas bills, nor are they paid for by the companies that produce or sell the energy. These include human health problems caused by air pollution from the burning of coal and oil; damage to land from coal mining and to miners from black lung disease; environmental degradation caused by global warming, acid rain, and water pollution; and national security costs, such as protecting foreign sources of oil.” This is by no means an exhaustive list.
Hydraulic Fracturing, through the exploration for, the drilling for, the extraction of, the transportation of, and the consumption of oil, contributes to global warming and climate change. It also contributes to the poisoning of water used in the fracking process and of groundwater through leakage of fracking chemicals and through mishandling and disposition of used fracking fluids.
Christophe McGlade, at University College London (UCL) says that “vast amounts of oil in the Middle East, coal in the US, Australia and China and many other fossil fuel reserves will have to be left in the ground to prevent dangerous climate change, according to the first analysis to identify which existing reserves cannot be burned.”
I digress from my argument which should be kept succinct for clarity’s sake. Climate change is real. Using fossil fuels to generate energy contributes to climate change. If climate change is not brought under control, we risk the extinction of the species. Finding and exploiting additional fossil fuels is reckless abandonment of moral responsibility to our grandchildren. What conceivable reason do we have to frack for oil in Western NL when all common sense tells us to leave the stuff in the ground?
I am about to be a grandfather. I believe that the human species is in danger of extinction if we do not control climate change. I can envision my grandson, in 15 years, asking me if I knew what was happening and what I did about it. I would like to be able to say that we, as a species, had the wisdom to recognize when there was an “elephant” in the room and that we had enough courage to remove the beast from our home.
Joe Wiseman