Dear Kinder Morgan,
I want to give you a little advice.
Why do you care? Well, I'm one of the mushy middle-of-the-road folks you need on side if you're going to triple the size of your pipeline running from the oil sands in Alberta to your Burnaby terminal.
You need people like me. I'm not going up to protest on Burnaby Mountain if you start working there again. Heck, I may not even sign a petition unless it's shoved under my nose.
But that doesn't mean I'm sympathetic to your cause.
In fact, I've been cheering on the protesters because I see it as part of a big pushback that's needed, and gathering steam.
That huge barrage of ads you've put out in recent weeks isn't going to sway me, either. Yes, your employees in the ads look like people I'd like to share a beer with. And I think they deserve a job to feed their families.
And, yes, I know they're not sinister schemers trying to soak the ocean floors with undiluted bitumen or alter the atmosphere with oil burned somewhere in China.
And, truth be known, I don't even think Kinder Morgan - or any "Big Oil" companies for that matter - is inherently evil or bent on fouling the Earth beyond repair. I know they're creating loads of high-paying jobs and helping to fill our national coffers at a time when, frankly, the economy is a basket case.
It's hard to talk to too many people these days without bumping into someone who's either worked in "Fort Mac" or who knows someone that is. Shut down the Alberta oil sands tomorrow and there'd be a whopping fallout.
Meantime, along the Fraser River, it's harder to make a case for the economic benefits of the massive shipments of coal they want to transfer from train to barge at Fraser Surrey Docks. Many oppose this, too, but the response hasn't matched the protests on Burnaby Mountain.
On this issue, much of the opposition has focused on the local. The health impacts of coal dust wafting off trains. Train cars tipping into creeks, killing fish and wildlife, etc.
The big companies involved can deal with that kind of thing. They've promised a bunch of mitigation initiatives.
But what makes the coal plan or the pipeline plan hard to stomach, for a mushy-middle guy like me, is that climate change is not addressed anywhere.
And really, Kinder Morgan, I don't expect you to address climate change. As I'm sure you'd be the first to admit, that's not your job.
But the lack of any plan, that is your problem. It's why I'm opposed to your plans and, I suspect, why many people are.
Shipping coal for China to burn is just daft, plan or no plan.
But pipeline expansion, the Alberta oil sands and many other carbon-intensive projects will face an increasing opposition if Canada doesn't start making some smart steps toward a post-carbon future.
Me, I'd like to see a whole raft of smart, small steps: Put a levy on the oil and gas industry that's earmarked for incentive projects for a cleaner Canada. Give me a $5,000 rebate to buy an electric car, a $1,000 rebate to put a geothermal system in my house. Give my region a couple billion dollars for another SkyTrain line (or two).
All I know is, I want to see action. I want to envision an environmental future I can be optimistic about.
So Kinder Morgan, I'm not sure what you can do. Maybe you could spur the folks in Ottawa to action.
Because until I see that, I'm might just add a bandana to my wardrobe. And other mushy-middle folks might just do the same.
Sincerely,
A Constituent You Might Need
