Trans Mountain opponents out of touch with reality
Many opponents of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion justify their opposition by citing concerns about climate change and carbon emissions, but this raises some important questions.
What about coal? Vancouver is North America’s largest exporter of coal, one-third of it thermal coal for generating electricity. Vancouver exports U.S. coal because Oregon and Washington have stopped coal exports as a result of environmental concerns.
In 2012, B.C. Green Party Leader Andrew Weaver wrote that “global warming from coal [is] worse than oil sands.” If this is true, why doesn’t B.C. stop all coal exports?
Of course, coal exports earn billions of dollars and stopping them would destroy B.C. jobs. But what about the Alberta jobs that B.C. is destroying by blocking Alberta’s access to tidewater? If stopping carbon emissions is so vital, then why should other provinces like Alberta and Saskatchewan make virtually all the sacrifices to achieve this goal?