One Ton Challenge- Admirable Or Propaganda?

How can the reduction of fuel consumption by the citizenry compare to the impact on our water, air and land and the emissions created by Sour Gas Wells and Coalbed Methane? Why is the Governor of Montana discouraging the B.C. government and writing to them and Ottawa to express concern about Coalbed Methane mining and its impact on the environment? Why are our governments giving incentives for gas/oil companies to mine it? Is it the ever-increasing greed of governments that do not wish to invest in alternative fuel sources, the fact that industry would have to change (which would cost shareholders and profiteers money), and the clear lack of leadership on the part of Canada to protect its environment? How do these projects fit with our commitment to Kyoto and how will they affect our lives and the future lives of inhabitants of this country? There will be public forums around Southern Alberta in the next few weeks: one in Vulcan on Wednesday, February 23, regarding Coalbed Methane; and one in High River on Saturday, February 26 on Sour Gas Wells. Public Forums tend to be information nights where the companies can promote the good of the project and sometimes allow the public to ask questions. I will try to attend these forums, but I must say my expectation is that the public will be treated to how great these projects are for Alberta, how many jobs will be created, and the royalties in our public coffers; but I could be wrong. The questions for me are not to discourage economic prosperity for Albertans, but rather to look at long-term impacts of our decisions today. Can the population look beyond the short-term gratification and consider the long-term impact? Money will not buy us clean water, pure air or land-producing food if we contaminate it. Money will not return healthy fish to the streams once they are extinct. Put one drop of arsenic in a water system and then offer it to someone to drink; it is doubtful that she would consume it. Yet we are doing this to livestock, wildlife and fish by allowing pollutants to seep through the land into aquifers and be absorbed into our air--and by doing thus we too end up consuming it. Livestock, which ultimately ends up in the food chain, grazes near Sour Gas Wells, and people live downwind of them; Coalbed Methane mining forces ground water out of the earth which is either re-injected into the aquifer, or flooded onto nearby lands or into streams. The result in some cases is that drinking water wells run dry and artesian wells no longer produce, because the underground water streams have been altered. The environmental impact of these two procedures is not considered in the decisions of our governments to extract this gas to meet the ever-increasing demands for it. Is it worth it? Alternative energy research, production and implementation will also create jobs. Where is the incentive for Canadians to embrace it? While you jog down the street or ride your bike instead of using your vehicle to fulfill the exercise requirements, breathing in the smog-filled air, you’ll be glad you don’t smoke! While the gas and oil revenues put money into the public coffers and they still privatize our healthcare and you are laying in a hospital bed, being offered cures which you can’t afford, will you be glad you embraced the Sour Gas Well in your community? When the next generation can’t reproduce, the fish are gone and our food supply is in jeopardy, will you be thankful for Coalbed Methane mining; or will we call it "evolution"? [Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on February 24, 2005]