Dear Editor:
In reading Norman Gibson’s letter to the editor (Seal Sighting Prompts Plea to PM, Nov. 16 Mailbox), whereby he pleads with our current prime minister not to approve the Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion project, an informed reader should be surprised that Mr. Gibson actually saw a seal, or any other wildlife in the waters near Vancouver, the Gulf Islands or Victoria at all.
After all, tankers laden with oil and other solids and liquids potentially harmful to the environment have been plying our waters pretty much since Vancouver was in existence over one hundred years ago.
In fact the current Kinder Morgan pipeline, I am told, has been sending tankers weekly through these waters since 1956, which is 60 years ago. Back in those days, there was no GPS, radar was not nearly as accurate as it is today, and these tankers were not double hulled. In spite of that, there has not been one spill from any of these approximately 3,000 tanker trips. Why is he convinced that there will be a spill now or in the future, with all the advances in technology?
An informed reader may also wonder if Mr. Gibson uses oil and its byproducts to enjoy the lifestyle he has now. Hopefully not, lest he be considered hypocritical in his desire to ban oil tankers in our waters. Hopefully Mr. Gibson does not live near the railroad tracks in West Vancouver, where the likelihood of another Lac Megantique disaster is much more likely than a marine spill. Does he go into the forest and chop down trees for fuel to heat his home, or does he use oil or gas? Does he drive a car or take a bus, or does he walk everywhere (not on the street, I hope, as asphalt is an oil byproduct)? Does he wear anything made of vinyl or use plastic? Does he make all his furniture at home using hand tools? Did he build his own house from only natural products made on site, or was it built for him by contractors with trucks? Does he grow his own food or shop at a grocery store, where all the food is brought in by oil byproduct burning fuels like gas and diesel?
An informed reader may also want to hope that Mr. Gibson is not reliant on our taxpayer funded health care system, which, by many accounts, is not sustainable, and will need large injections of money to keep it going. The royalties that governments collect from the sale of oil will go a long way to keep us enjoying the lifestyle to which we have become accustomed, especially in light of the reckless spending habits of our current prime minister, but that is another discussion for another day...
Jonathan Lazar
North Vancouver
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