Dear editor,
Many of us in the Comox Valley breathed a sigh of relief when Compliance Energy temporarily pulled the plug on its Raven Coal Mine project.
But the real struggle is just beginning.
Compliance, like the phoenix, may rise from the ashes. And there are a lot of other corporations with government coal leases in their talons just waiting for favourable economic winds before they swoop down.
The real problem is the federal and provincial governments that want to turn us into an energy super power
Financial advisers always warn us to diversify. Unfortunately our government leaders who are supposed to help create a sustainable and resilient economy for our future did not get, or did not want to get, this message.
They didn’t realize that getting involved in the energy sweepstakes is like getting involved in an international horse race that they can’t control.
They’ve tied our future to a one-trick pony called Carbon that turned up lame just out of the gate.
But they still stand at the rail cheering Carbon on and yelling “jobs, jobs, jobs.” All this while the price of oil is down by half, coal mines around the world are closing or laying off staff, pipelines are in big trouble from spills, aboriginal communities, law suits, and citizen opposition. And, in terms of environmental protection, our governments have become an international pariah.
Let’s deal with the real problem – governments. Let’s start with the advice that Deep Throat gave to Robert Redford in that dark parking garage in the movie All the President’s Men: “Follow the Money.”
The real development problem in this Valley is not about individual coal mines.
It is about money and political power – and it always has been.
Mike Bell
Comox Valley Keepers