Monday, June 20, 2016

Site C Dam : Leave the Peace in peace


"All over the world countries are tearing out old mega-dams because they are expensive and destructive. Yet in British Columbia the government is forging ahead with the Site C hydro dam even though there's no immediate need for the power and it means displacing farmers from their land, destroying First Nations territory and flooding agricultural land that could feed an estimated one million people."

"Since 2005, domestic demand for electricity in BC has been essentially flat. I think we're making a very big mistake, a very expensive one." 
~ Harry Swain,  Chair of Joint Review Panel on Site C Dam.

Petition : PM Trudeau: Don't sign construction permits for the Site-C dam  
'Site C is a disastrous plan to build a giant dam in the Peace River Valley of northeastern BC. It’s an $8.8 billion project that will flood 83 km of farmland, drown wildlife habitat, and trample indigenous rights — all to supply electricity for dirty tar sands extraction and fracking. 
The most expensive, unnecessary public project in BC history, the Site C dam could also trigger a massive rate increase on BC hydro bills — between 30 – 40% within three years.
Farmers, environmentalists, First Nations, and the public are united against the project, and want this massive amount of money to go towards sustainable local energy instead. First Nations are fighting a legal battle to defend their Treaty rights to hunt, fish, and trap on the lands Site C will destroy.
Despite the overwhelming opposition, BC Premier Christy Clark is bulldozing through her plans to build Site C – a project that few want and nobody needs.
The federal government is caught in the middle. 
PM Trudeau will have to pick a side within the coming weeks because Premier Clark needs federal permits to ramp up construction on the dam. She wants to build Site C past the point of no return, before the courts rule on the outstanding First Nations legal challenge.[5]
Under increasing pressure from Premier Clark, PM Trudeau could sign federal construction permits at any moment. If we all speak out, they’ll have the support they need to do the right thing: side with First Nations, environmentalists, and farmers and stop construction on Site C until the court has ruled on the legal challenge. 
[Your name here]
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5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Alison:
I am under no illusion that the Fed. Libs will not ratify the construction of Site C. Please Google NAWAPA (North American Water And Power Alliance) which has been taken off the shelf 60 years after being first proposed by Ralph M. Parsons Engineering.
Cheers;
Ernie T.

Alison said...

I watched a Lyndon LaRouche vid about that once - got as far as his rant about the evils of environmentalism. Are you talking about something more credicble?

e.a.f. said...

It is to be hoped Trudeau does not sign anything to permit Site C to go ahead. it will be a disaster financially and environmentally. it would however make a lot of money for those who are awarded the contracts by Christy. We shall see if Trudeau signs the contracts. If he does it will clearly signal all his talk about First Nations rights was just so much bull shit.

Ernest RB Titcomb said...

I worked heavy construction in the Kootenays in the early 90's when NAWAPA reared its ugly head again with the proposal to dam the 49th parallel and flood the Rocky Mountain Trench back to Revelstoke. Local reaction was, shall we say, viscious!
Now we have permanent drought in the SW USA and Mexico and the BC Libs forcing ahead with Site C for no logical reason whatsoever.
Both of these monstrosities figured prominently in NAWAPA.
I'm not suggesting that Parson's original proposal will be implemented in its original form but I truly believe that some modified form of this scheme is being foisted upon us. NAWAPA, in some form, is not dead!
Alison, I may well be wrong (the BC Libs would not deceive us, would they?) but in my 70 yrs on this Earth I have learned to trust my intuition. As e.a.f. states above, let us see if the FED. Libs ratify this project.
Cheers;
Ernie T.
Denman Island

Alison said...

Ernie : I don't doubt the scenario you describe for a moment. Neither does the DND, which has been mapping out strategies to deal with future water scarcity wars for years. Just wasn't sure how literally you were asking me to take NAWAPA.

eaf : There will be provincial/federal horse-trading we don't know about yet, might never know.

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