This is another letter sent to and published by the Irving owned Telegraph Journal newspaper. I'm actually surprised they agreed to publish it since some of what is in the letter is currently applicable to Saint John.
First, some background
A possible, second refinery project is being talked about for Saint John. Depending on what side of the fence you're on, this is either good news for the economy here, or threatening news for the environment, including human health.
(Personally, I don't know why we collectively can't achieve the vision to have both).
The firm that wishes to do it, is also looking to partner with B.P. Corp. The proposed cost?... $7 billion + , and to be built over the next few years. If you take into account what Jeffery Sachs says in regards to the U.S. spending only $3 billion a year on energy research, then to my mind, $7 billion could also help us discover, and refine a new energy source to use, such as recapturing hydrogen, and then reusing it, etc.
The answer to this moral -crossroads dilemma seems simple to me:
If we want others to see our perspective on their wrongdoing, then we have to set the example here first .We condone violence in the form of pollution, and poverty and lost ideals against our own children, but think nothing of speaking out against the crimes that other nations commit. We must become more mature, more humbly intelligent in the way we conduct our own lives so that others may eventually see the wisdom that we are attempting to share, and then begin to follow us in this truly new, enlightened path we can both travel on together....
Here's the letter: (remember: these letters have a 250 word count limit)
Well, Janice Harvey sure said a mouthful in her latest article entitled"What will stop Global Warming?" In it, she hit the proverbial economic nail painfully on its head with a swift swing of weighty environmental truth.
What she is proposing is an incredibly heroic effort by all levels of society, but ironically, mostly by those who have the most to lose by having the applecart upset. Today unfortunately, there are many otherwise intelligent people who refuse to comprehend there is any moral problem with polluting our world further still.
Often, this inability to admit our own wrongdoing is compounded by the degrees of separation in our lives, and between industry giants and local workforces. There is a trickle down effect in how relationships are effected between neighbors, and family members whose incomes are solely dependent on working for these same industries. People are usually afraid to speak out for fear of ridicule from people they know. Local politicians too, have traditionally shown they don't have the vision, or the courage to question the environment versus jobs anthem, just as an elementary school full of innocent children downwind of an oil refinery is morally not responsible.
The oil giant BP might fund large wind farm initiatives, but unfortunately, once pollution from its oil refining enters our atmosphere,and gets into our water, and our food supply it can not be taken back, or the damage it causes lessened. We've polluted much in two hundred years. We should really think about stopping.
First, some background
A possible, second refinery project is being talked about for Saint John. Depending on what side of the fence you're on, this is either good news for the economy here, or threatening news for the environment, including human health.
(Personally, I don't know why we collectively can't achieve the vision to have both).
The firm that wishes to do it, is also looking to partner with B.P. Corp. The proposed cost?... $7 billion + , and to be built over the next few years. If you take into account what Jeffery Sachs says in regards to the U.S. spending only $3 billion a year on energy research, then to my mind, $7 billion could also help us discover, and refine a new energy source to use, such as recapturing hydrogen, and then reusing it, etc.
The answer to this moral -crossroads dilemma seems simple to me:
If we want others to see our perspective on their wrongdoing, then we have to set the example here first .We condone violence in the form of pollution, and poverty and lost ideals against our own children, but think nothing of speaking out against the crimes that other nations commit. We must become more mature, more humbly intelligent in the way we conduct our own lives so that others may eventually see the wisdom that we are attempting to share, and then begin to follow us in this truly new, enlightened path we can both travel on together....
Here's the letter: (remember: these letters have a 250 word count limit)
Well, Janice Harvey sure said a mouthful in her latest article entitled"What will stop Global Warming?" In it, she hit the proverbial economic nail painfully on its head with a swift swing of weighty environmental truth.
What she is proposing is an incredibly heroic effort by all levels of society, but ironically, mostly by those who have the most to lose by having the applecart upset. Today unfortunately, there are many otherwise intelligent people who refuse to comprehend there is any moral problem with polluting our world further still.
Often, this inability to admit our own wrongdoing is compounded by the degrees of separation in our lives, and between industry giants and local workforces. There is a trickle down effect in how relationships are effected between neighbors, and family members whose incomes are solely dependent on working for these same industries. People are usually afraid to speak out for fear of ridicule from people they know. Local politicians too, have traditionally shown they don't have the vision, or the courage to question the environment versus jobs anthem, just as an elementary school full of innocent children downwind of an oil refinery is morally not responsible.
The oil giant BP might fund large wind farm initiatives, but unfortunately, once pollution from its oil refining enters our atmosphere,and gets into our water, and our food supply it can not be taken back, or the damage it causes lessened. We've polluted much in two hundred years. We should really think about stopping.
