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Letter: Pipeline controversy

I think it’s time to stop the protesting and let’s build up our economy instead of tearing it down
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Penticton Western News letters to the editor.

I’ve seen protesters against the bitumen pipeline some time ago and they have managed to scare off the Kinder Morgan project and what good was that?

It cost Canada $4.5 billion when our present government was trying to salvage what protesters have disrupted. That is just the beginning cost. And now, I notice protesters are at it again but with the LNG pipeline this time. They even have David Suzuki helping them disrupt yet again.

So I ask; how did these protesters against the pipelines come to assemble in their various groups, even to the point of having to have police out to see that all goes peacefully? Did any of them drive there with vehicles that were fuelled up at the gas stations? Or city buses? When someone had to get rescued from a fall at a mountain (helicopter) or rescued from a burning building (fire trucks) or transported by paramedics (ambulance) due to a health related issue, do protesters feel that we just stop with all fuel-operated equipment? Maybe let’s just haul it all out to our already overloaded landfills? How about the forest fires all summer? Do you recommend parking all the airplanes that drop the fire retardant and all the other firefighting equipment while your houses are burning up?

How about the clothes you wore that were transported from the factories? The food that fuel-operated farm tractors and trucks that brought it to your family’s table? How did you get to travel long distances? Easy to get on a fuel-operated airplane and go visit your far away relatives, huh? I live in B.C. but I can’t imagine how much difficulty and useless trauma this is causing not only Alberta’s economy but Canada as a whole. Imagine all the job losses involved for all that depend on the oil industry. And lets talk carbon tax. How ridiculous is this? I guess it’s a way for the government to help fill it’s coffers. I believe Canada spreads an extremely small percentage of emissions compared to other countries.

I heard people say on the news that we have to get away from fossil fuels. In that case they; better go naked, better walk everywhere, make sure not to eat foods produced commercially, don’t heat your home with natural gas and don’t depend on fuel-fired equipment of any sort. And, if anyone thinks that electrically operated cars will be the future, think again. With more battery than car, can you imagine how we will recycle all these batteries in the future? And where will we get all the electricity to charge all these vehicles when they are recommending we conserve electricity even now without these cars on the scene yet?

I think it’s time to stop the protesting and let’s build up our economy instead of tearing it down. Canada needs to export their profitable product and give back the jobs. Lets stop all this useless protesting and lets rebuild Canada. Build the LNG and Trans Mountain pipelines.

Mike Bugyi

Penticton