Climate Change

Climate destruction

The out-of-control Donnie Creek wildfire, having now scorched more than 1.3 million acres, is burning  in one of the world’s biggest gas deposits. The Narwhal reporter Sarah Cox believes this raises questions about potential dangers to human health.

Even without the current year’s wildfires, emissions traced to British Columbia are material contributors to climate change. Government directly subsidizes the fossil fuel industry and had ceded tens of billions of dollars more to gas producers to promote increased production. Each year, British Columbia ports export more coal than any North American region.

And, of course, we cannot forget the wood pellet industry is converting BC forests from carbon sinks to carbon emitters.


BC’s climate policy inspiration


Categories: Climate Change

6 replies »

  1. The forestry policy of the province for the last four decades has been one of clear cuts and sell at all costs. Management of the forests is non existent and the results of this massive failure of fiduciary control of our forests is more than an embarrassment it is a wholesale slaughter of our forests and for what, wood pellets for a power plant in the UK..

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  2. Sometimes when connecting dots you have to do a bit of your own composing. All the elements Norm provides in his article contribute to the effect described in the title.

    As for the Sarah Cox piece, two paragraphs might illustrate part of the problem.

    “Clark Williams-Derry, an energy finance analyst for the Institute of Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, pointed to wildfires and drought as material risks for fracking operations in B.C.”

    Methinks he has cause and effect reversed.

    “In an emailed response to a request for an interview, a media spokesperson for LNG Canada said the consortium is not involved with upstream activities such as the supply of natural gas, suggesting The Narwhal contact natural gas producers for comment.”

    Of course. LNG Canada bears no responsibility whatever because it gets its gas from the tooth fairy.

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  3. Tks for another relevant & timely article — I’ve shared it on Twitter.com/planetsedge — pls ‘like’ and/or Retweet to help spread the word! Appreciate – tks 😀

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  4. Date of the logging of old growth is 2022. Linking this issue with the burning forest and the gas fields is understandable but not well composed.

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    • Not sure what is “not well composed” when Sarah Cox wrote clearly in The Narwhal about an important issue that is largely ignored elsewhere:

      Contaminated water from fracking is stored in waste pits, which can contain heavy metals, carcinogens and naturally occurring radioactive materials. The regulator said the pits — known as fracking ponds — are not a fire concern. “We would expect nothing to happen to these contaminants. The volume of water inside provides natural protection should any fire come in close proximity.”

      [Tim Takaro, professor emeritus and former associate dean for research in Simon Fraser University’s health sciences faculty] isn’t so sure. He asked the government if fire smoke is monitored for toxicants and if emissions are factored into evacuation orders. “And the answer was no, that generally it’s based on wildfire behavior and weather patterns, not based on the human health effects of the emissions.”

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