British Columbian politicians held out promises for the development of renewables, when the Meikle wind project was announced two months ago. The Minister of Energy and Mines, Bill Bennet, said, “Independent power projects continue to play an important role in powering our province. Our decision to proceed with Site C provides a firm energy source that will support the integration of more wind energy projects in the future.” To which Mike Bernier, the MLA for Peace River South, chirped in, “the energy sector is providing employment and economic opportunities.” One of the headlines in the March 2015 North American Windpower states, “BC Wind Industry Seeks Clear Signal.” The same statement could be asked by the geothermal, solar, and river diversion projects – but does BC need the electricity?
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Jimmie Creek Run-of-River Hydro Project
I’ve heard negative stories about run-of -river hydro projects. Most of them were told by people whose opinion I respect. Very little of what they said may be applicable to the Jimmie Creek run-of-river hydro project.
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Americas’ Neglected Bridges & Exploding Oil Trains
By Roy L Hales
During the past seven years, the amount of oil by rail traffic to the coast has increased over 5,000%. This has resulted in a corresponding surge in the number of oil train derailments, spills, fires, and explosions. There was more oil spilled from trains in 2013, alone, than the previous four decades. As some of these incidents were caused by misalignment or failure of railroad bridges, a grassroots co-alition of Riverkeeper, ForestEthics, and 22 Waterkeeper organizations inspected 250 railway crossings. The result is a shocking report, on Americas’ neglected bridges & exploding oil trains.
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War On The Woods Returns To the Walbran
By Roy L Hales
The struggle to save the Walbran valley’s ancient trees, in a intact Old Forest ecosystem, started in the 1980s. This led to the logging blockades and the provincial government setting a portion of this area in the Carmanah Walbran Provincial Park. A Surrey based logging company recently applied to harvest eight cutblocks of the unprotected area and on last month the Ministry of Forests gave them permission to start in cutback 4424. Friends of Carmanah/Walbran responded by setting up a community witness camp. Yesterday, September 9, Teal Jones’ road building crews were turned away. Thus it is that war on the woods returns To the Walbran.
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Vancouver’s Record-Breaking Bike to Work Week
By Roy L Hales
There prize draws, free tune-ups, coffee and snacks at 48 events across Metro Vancouver. More than 6,300 people registered through HUB Cycling’s website, a 47% increase over last year. They logged over 260,000 km, enough to circle the earth 6.5 times! Those are a few of the highlights of Vancouver’s Record-Breaking Bike to Work Week (October 26-November 1).
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