Dear Editor: The Alberta versus B.C. war of words is getting me down. I have lived and made friends in both provinces. This is my plea to neighbours here and there: let’s ignore the self-interested warmongers, put down our weapons and make a common future. There is so much that (I hope) we can agree on:
- Climate change is REAL. Both sides of the Rockies have pine beetles, rising average temperatures, extreme/unstable weather, growing fire seasons, disappearing glaciers and shifting wildlife habitats.
- We are ALL to blame. Alberta exports loads of bitumen; B.C. exports loads of coal. Both provinces allow industrial agriculture, fracking, cattle, clearcutting … the list goes on.
- We ARE trying to do something about it. Both provinces have a carbon tax and binding emissions targets (but B.C. did first and more). Both provinces are investing in renewable energy (but Alberta is investing way more).
- The future is, and has to be, green. Business as usual – runaway climate change – is ugly beyond belief. Renewable energy is cheaper and way safer. If there is to be any hope for our world, a lot of carbon fuel will have to stay in the ground, everywhere.
- Reconciliation with Indigenous people is needed. Our First Nations neighbours have suffered terribly from displacement, discrimination and colonial policies. Now they are healing, rebuilding and reaching out for new partnerships that benefit everyone.
- There will be winners and losers. With any change there are, and getting off carbon fuel is a new industrial revolution. Green or not, 2050 is gonna look a lot different than 2020. I know, that’s 30 years away, but does 1990 seem so long ago?
Who wins and who loses – isn’t that what the “fight” is about? It’s easy to blame the other as the selfish/greedy/stupid one. Done that, now what? I have two ideas:
First: A Western Future Summit of B.C. and Alberta leadership. See what they can come up with together. Include the heads of all elected political parties and Indigenous leaders, so it won’t matter who wins the next election. Hold it in Banff, in the off-season (soon). Ask Vince Ready to facilitate. If they succeed, toast with B.C. wine and Alberta beer! If they fail, what have we lost?
Second: Leave it to the courts. This is already happening, in part, but just make it the whole game. We have a top-shelf judicial system, and all sides will get their day in court. Stream the hearings so anyone can watch. Again, it won’t matter who wins the next election.
My main point: the Kinder Morgan pipeline is today’s hot topic, but in a changing-climate world there will be many more. We’re joined at the hip. We’re better off looking for ways to solve problems together, than hurling insults and glaring at each other.
Karl Maier, New Westminster
