Dear Editor:
The cost of exporting oil, gas and coal is exorbitant, in taxpayer and shareholder dollars. Pipelines, rail, tankers, refineries, ports, on both sides of the Pacific - fossil fuels to build and operate such systems are incalculable. They would use up every diminishing resource that our kids will need - including ecosystems.
Every country has renewable energy sources and the capacity to raise the productivity of the energy we use. Energy expert Dr. Amory Lovins has good news: "Climate solutions are profitable, not costly, as saving fuel costs less than buying fuel. ... Raising global energy productivity by just two per cent a year ... would stabilize carbon emissions; raising it by three per cent would stabilize climate. Energy efficiency, the main tool for profitable climate protection, could actually do the whole job if pursued to its modern potential."
His study, Small is Profitable, has found 207 ways in which decentralized renewable energy is more profitable than centralized energy systems. Improved efficiency, diversification and profitability are win-win for corporations and the public everywhere.
Our scarce resources include human energy and time. If we waste them on business as usual, we won't have them for the climate solutions. We can profit today by protecting our children's future.
Hildegard Bechler, New Westminster
