O+G PUSHERs: YOU WILL LOSE..

- cuz SCiENCE aLways wins..

We aLL need to get back to respecting SCIENCE, which just IS -- in a singular category of objectivity, if not its 'last bastion' thereoF..

Science's standardized/ streamlined methodologies exemplify the most efficient/ fruitful/ TRUTHFUL use of human endeavour.. (In an era of artistic license & 'anything goes' -- of random acts & uncertain foes & non-fiction taken for fake news posing as prose (?) SCIENCE PLODS ON, indifferent to traits/ trends & stuck on measured singularities of PLACE/ TIME, in obeyance to its unwavering parameters & consistent procedures that make military regimes seem unhinged..)

Yet for all its unexciting exactitude & unfettered focus on tangible, touchable PHYSICAL REALITY, SCIENCE SUCCEEDS at joining humans in tireless quests for undiluted knowledge & observable overriding truths about our world.. & in doing so, scientists have unearthed the most heartstopping realities & real-life histories that defy the vividest mind of any mortal.. HOW can these epic odysseys of overwhelming magnitude possibly be dismissed with any integrity by self-appointed 'leaders' of whole populations, in favour of paltry fictions & the polluting limitations of ongoing, unchanged use of O&G?

It's taken 1,000s of scientists worldwide working round the clock, using hard-won samples of carefully-measured layers of air & earth & fossils & rock, extracted from physical artifacts/ digs/ dirt/ swamps/ sea-beds/ mountainsides/ cliffs representing different parts of the millions of years embedded therein, then deconstructed & dissected & analyzed & reconstructed & applied to the strictest standards & tested for specific results. The collective consequence amounts to a jaw-dropping Real Natural History of Earth spanning 100s of millions of years -- with ever-accumulating measurements of new finds filling in the blanks, each new discovery illuminating more of the whole, until massive reconstructed worlds are accurately visualized to give us insights into HOW BEST TO PROCEED GOING FORWARD..

[See NOVA TV's 'Polar Extremes']

Point is, WE could be experiencing these ground-breaking discoveries together --shared globally by real [RESPECTED!] scientists sharing their finds as they break them open one by one & unearth the keys to mould our better future-!?  Having this process blocked & downgraded by desperate politicians/ businessmen/ charlatans who profit from polluting systems proven to be the very cuLpRiTs of 100% HUMAN-CAUSED GLOBAL WARMING CONFIRMED BY MODERN SCIENCE is such an obvious perversion to those of us with half a brain who value life beyond constraints of oppression imposed by global leaders profiting from mass consumption of the inefficient, poisonous products they keep hawking, indifferent to the suffering SCIENCE IS SHOWING THEM IN 3-D..

What's gross is the QUACKs/ FoReSTRY HACKS/ FRACKeRs/ O&G cRack LACKeYs & the LiKe  --somehow, against aLL sense of decency/ reason-- have been WINNING, by silencing those of us who are almost hoarse after decades of cLamoRing for JusTice & eco-equaLiTy & future S.U.S.T.A.I.N.A.B.i.L.i.T.y (which is MoRE KEY THAN EVER NOW)..: HOW is indeed a marvel of $$-minded manoeverability of the blind leading the blind, with nothing but personal wealth & obsolete, unETHiCAL [iLLEGAL] eco-destruction mowing down all in their killing paths [furthered by complacent politicians wilfully ignoring conflicts-of-interest/ corruption at the core of lobbyists' non-stop monopoly of their target politicians' sucked-in ears..]

It's exhausting trying to arm everyone with Science + Truth ON TOP OF attending/ organizing rallies to mobilize the general public so your (supposedly Democratic) GovtS wiLL @ leasT LISTEN & mobilize WITH US --as they obviously did during wars-- instead of proving by their underhanded complicity with big-industry polluters that they OUTRIGHT LIE TO THE PUBLIC ABOUT THEIR GOOD INTENTIONS & their PRETENSIONS to 'Climate Action' (<---which however, LET'S FACE IT, reveals that the OVERWHELMING MAJORITY IN FACT FAVOUR CLIMATE ACTION / GREEN DEALS / NATURE'S PROTECTION oveR appeasing the OiL-soaked POWERS THAT BE..)  BuT WHO ARE WE to demand (/politely request) ouR own GovT's attention, having OBSERVED theiR unheaLTHY dynamics enTRENCHed in their daily M.O.s..

--BUT after trying to URGE EVERYONE I KNOW that VOTING GREEN is the onLy WAY TO GO --the ONLY VALiD alternative to the decrepid ECO-WASTING, U.N.D.R.I.P.-betraying STATUS QUO we've come to SEE RIGHT THRU-- the TRUSTY ECO-DEFENDING GREENS (their Constitution the BEST & mosT egaLiTaRian I've ever seen) go STRANGELY SILENT, & in their election-resultant Minority legitimacy DEMANDING iF NOT MANDATING their NOTED VIEWS on aLL GovT. issues, which oughT to heighten their visibility MORE THAN EVER BEFORE IN THEIR HISTORY, THEY INEXPLICABLY DISAPPEAR FROM VIEW -- on public media, in public events... MISSING this once-in-a-lifetime UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY TO OPPOSE GOVT.'S NEVER-ENDING, NONSTOP SLEW OF BAD DECISIONS, MISPLACED SUPPORTS & BACKWARD BETRAYAL OF THE PUBLIC THEY CLAIM TO REPRESENT!!??  (But CLEARLY, DO NOT.)  W.T.F.?

LEAVING US, THE PUBLIC --LEGIT TAXPAYERS WHO DESERVE PROPER REPRESENTATION & A PROGRESSIVE GOVT. MOVING FORWARD TOWARD THE HEALTHY, SUSTAINABLE, REGENERATIVE WORLD OUR GRANDKIDS DESERVE & EXPECT-- NO OPTION BUT TO HAMMER AT THE GOVT. WE'VE GOT, TO GET THE JUST ECO-FRIENDLY FUTURE WE DESERVE NO MATTER WHAT..

[But i digress..]

IF Govts. WERE interested in taxpayers' --as opposed to corporations'-- concerns, we'd already be transitioning EN MASSE to science-based alternatives, regenerative farming, renewable energy sources like geothermal ETC. --ALL OF WHICH HAVE SUCCESSFULLY BEEN IMPLEMENTED IN BC & GLOBALLY WITH OUTSTANDINGLY PRODUCTIVE RESULTS!?  Tragically, most govt. leaders are --STILL!!??-- wielding way too much (unwarranted) power & held in thrall (apparently?) by O&G lobbyists who have managed to monopolize their tiny brains to the exclusion of anyone else in their decision-making... WHICH I CAN'T EVEN FATHOM AS LEGAL!!?? SHOULDN'T GOVT. BE LISTENING TO THE S.C.I.E.N.T.I.S.T.S. & SUING THE POLLUTING CORPS FOR DAMAGES WITH WHICH TO FUND OUR CLEANER, COOLER FUTURE??

(AT LEAST WE OUGHT TO BE MOBILIZING TOGETHER TO URGE GOVT. TO QUIT USING OUR MONEY TO FUND POLLUTING OPERATIONS THAT ARE OBVIOUSLY CAUSING/ EXACERBATING THESE PROBLEMS???)

(HELLLLOOOO??? HORGAN?? TRUDEAU???? WE SEEEEE YOU... YOU CAN'T HIDE FROM THIS, SO STEP UP & DO US A FAVOUR.. OR BOW OUT GRACEFULLY & LET THE GREEN PARTY DO ITS THING!)

Letter 2 Govt: REJECT TMX PIPELINE EXPANSION!

[via letter-writing tool @ DavidSuzuki.org ] --but majorly customized, i.e. re-written by me!

[PS. TRUDEAU:  YOU ARE FIRED!]

Dear PM Trudeau & Cabinet

URGENT:   DECISION ON TRANS MOUNTAIN (TMX) PIPELINE EXPANSION

As an informed Canadian citizen & resident of Vancouver BC, I feel it’s my duty to communicate my deep concerns to Government officials over this critical life-or-death decision.  I urge you to re-consider the far-reaching & irreversible consequences of approving this TMX Expansion, & to use your position as a Government official to reject this onerous project.

The broadest-ranging effects of the TMX Pipeline Expansion relate directly to its status as a fossil-fuel mega-project that entails constructing the world's largest open-pit tar sand mine, which would wipe out 292 square kilometers of Alberta’s forests & wetlands.  Extracting & refining tar sand oil - the world’s dirtiest fuel – has already turned vast swathes of northern Alberta into a wasteland of cleared forests [critical wildlife habitat], poisoned water [eg. heavy metals from tailings] & polluted air [refineries emit increasing levels of GHGs].

Approving TMX would make a mockery of Canada’s commitment to climate action..

The world has already witnessed more than 2 decades of discussion about the reality of a warming planet, starting with the UNFCC’s 1992 Earth Summit where nearly all the world’s nations agreed on a need to stabilize GHG (CO2) concentrations:  http://unfccc.int/meetings/copenhagen_dec_2009/meeting/6295.php

17 years later in 2009, more than 100 world leaders at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen committed to limiting global warming no more than 2°C above pre-industrial temperatures - beyond which the UNFCC & other experts predict irreversible & potentially catastrophic climate change impacting coastal regions, food production, water supplies & more. Since global warming is already underway (average global temperature has risen 0.85°C since pre-industrial levels) experts believe we can’t afford a temperature increase of more than 1.2°C above today’s level. The European Commission on Climate Action states, “To stay within this ceiling, the scientific evidence shows that the world must stop the growth in global GHG emissions by 2020 at the latest, reduce them by at least half of 1990 levels by the middle of this century & continue cutting them thereafter.”

2020 is next year.  And Canada’s carbon tax, “Climate Action” & other weak initiatives have failed to slow our steep rise of CO2/GHG levels.  If ever there were a time Govt leaders had to step up & take action to protect our precious natural resources & transition to green energy policies, IT IS NOW.  As Genus Capital’s sheet reads, Canada’s economy will only benefit by moving away from fossil fuels.  Opposition to TMX is backed by science.  Green energy leads oil & gas in both number of employed & growth rate for jobs in Canada. This pipeline locks us into decades more eco-destruction & tarsands pollution, which the global scientific community is desperately trying to tell us we cannot afford if we hope to have a habitable planet in the near future..

This is not a distant threat, it is here & now.. We are living unsustainably. Easy access to cheap, abundant oil has created a high standard of living for many cultures and societies. At the same time, the extraction, refining, distribution & use of this oil – as energy & in products – is increasingly undermining many of our planet’s life forms & the fragile balance of conditions that support climate stability & human prosperity. These effects are occurring on local, regional & global scales.  The Arctic & Greenland icecaps are melting at an increasing rate of speed.  Dead fish are washing ashore in Nova Scotia, & Orcas are struggling to survive in an increasingly industry-heavy Vancouver harbour.  It is imperative that we fight climate change & the ways in which climate change is exacerbated.  Supporting the financial interests of banks & oil barons is not sustainable, & the building of additional capacity to transport oil is simply criminal.  We need to stop producing and exporting more fossil fuels.  Period.  Building more pipelines only increases production of fossil fuels:  simple math/logic.

The public interest in slowing down global warming & preventing more environmental pollution/spills must take precedence over the selfish financial interests of tar sands investors & the political interests of politicians who pander to status-quo industries desperately clinging to yesterday’s consumer-driven economics without compromise.  It is up to YOU, dear leaders, to make up for Canada’s lost time spent ignoring/ suppressing scientific imperatives.. & ACT on behalf of all Canadians to bring about a sustainable future..

We residents of BC are in panic mode over this impending TMX approval, for many reasons.  Expanding the Trans Mountain pipeline will lock in decades of increased tanker traffic & climate-destabilizing carbon emissions. It will also put the incredible ecosystems of Vancouver Harbour, the Fraser River estuary & the Salish Sea at risk from a catastrophic bitumen spill & shipping increases.  The existing & expanded proposal would deliver 890,000 barrels of tar sands oil per day to Vancouver. Oil storage capacity at Burnaby would triple, adding 14 new tanks to store another 3,900,000 barrels. The pipeline would cross more than 500 streams in the Fraser River watershed. Tanker visits would increase by 574% above 2010 levels to more than 400 oil-laden trips through Burrard Inlet, the Fraser estuary, the Gulf Islands, Haro Strait & Juan de Fuca Strait, every year.  The integrity of our waters would be forever destroyed, for questionable economics that have not even been properly analyzed or disseminated..

This is a frightening prospect that we have a responsibility to oppose.

The threat from oil tankers to Southern Resident killer whales, a listed Species At Risk, is insupportable.  Importantly, even if the project goes completely according to plan, with no oil spills & no ship strikes, the increased noise alone from more than 800 tanker transits significantly increases their risk of extinction. When cumulative effects are considered, these whales face more than 50% chance of functional extinction within the next century.  If you approve the TMX expansion anyway, the catastrophic outcome will be on your heads, to explain to your children & grandchildren.

Please read Raincoast’s Executive Summary reporting the risks posed to the Fraser River’s productive salmon populations:

https://www.raincoast.org/reports/salmon-oil-pipeline/

Being emotionally overwhelmed by the number of threats currently endangering BC's environment & the wildlife I care about, I include this link to details on exactly how the TMX Expansion would affect BC, by the unflinchingly hard-working Raincoast Conservation group:

https://www.raincoast.org/trans-mountain-pipeline/

Canada’s recent policy changes aimed at reducing carbon emissions will be undermined by the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. Building major infrastructure for oil and gas exportation will have catastrophic implications for decades to come. 

Please take every reasonable action to reject the Trans Mountain pipeline.

Sincerely,

Sarah (Saz) Chesterman
Vancouver, BC