{"id":6217,"date":"2013-02-14T12:03:24","date_gmt":"2013-02-14T20:03:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/?p=6217"},"modified":"2013-02-14T12:03:24","modified_gmt":"2013-02-14T20:03:24","slug":"open-space-public-losing-sight-of-pipelines-true-detriment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/2013\/02\/14\/open-space-public-losing-sight-of-pipelines-true-detriment\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Space<\/em>: Public losing sight of pipeline\u2019s true detriment"},"content":{"rendered":"

In order for BC residents to get some bucks back in their pockets, they need an oil spill.<\/p>\n

If you think about it, logically, there would be several benefits for residents in the case of an oil spill. Think about all the homeless and jobless people that could be given work and taught better values through being hired to clean up the spilled oil. Think about all the publicity the BC coast would get, which would attract tourists in the long term. Or, even better, think about the out-of-work fishermen who could assist in the cleanup of the oil slicks formed across the ocean\u2019s surface.<\/p>\n

Of course, that\u2019s not what business interests are promoting, but our ignorance would certainly be their bliss.<\/p>\n

Opponents of the Northern Gateway Pipeline project are debating about economic benefit versus economic detriment. But are monetary probabilities really the most important concerns? These money issues are just a distraction.<\/p>\n

Enbridge and the government have done a great job of taking the public\u2019s eyes away from what really matters and, in effect, robbed it of its power. We could argue about money all day and never come to any shared conclusion. More important moral and ethical concerns in building a 1,100-kilometre pipeline across some of the world\u2019s most sensitive ecological landscapes have been brushed under the rug.<\/p>\n

Figures have come out regarding losses and gains in the case of an oil spill. UBC Fisheries crunched Enbridge\u2019s numbers and claim if there is no oil spill the project will produce a net economic gain of $628 million, if there is a minor oil spill it will produce $439 million, and even in the case of a major spill it would still produce $320 million in economic gains. This does not include clean-up costs, which are estimated at anywhere between $2.4 billion and $9.6 billion and would wipe out any potential gains.<\/p>\n

(The UBC study was partly paid for by a group opposing the pipeline, although UBC says the group had no input in the study; Enbridge has taken issue with the study, saying it compares economic benefits that are likely to occur against oil spills that aren\u2019t as likely to occur.)<\/p>\n

Obviously, the point being emphasized by Enbridge is that even if a horrific oil spill occurs, there\u2019s no need to worry: there will still be economic gains, and all will be okay.<\/p>\n

Early in the debate the negative impact an oil spill would have on the west coast environment and people\u2019s lifestyles gave the people the power to truly stamp this project into the ground. Over the course of the project\u2019s development these issues have been overlooked as too impossible to find a solution to, and money was ushered to the front stage as the glitzy star.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t be tricked into believing the hype around economic gains and losses. There are more important concerns to think about than just economic ones. It\u2019s evident that Enbridge only thinks about money. Let\u2019s not be duped today, and save ourselves from being duped tomorrow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In order for BC residents to get some bucks back in their pockets, they need an oil spill. If you think about it, logically, there would be several benefits for residents in the case of an oil spill. Think about all the homeless and jobless people that could be given work and taught better values […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-views","category-february-6-2013"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6217"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6217\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6219,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6217\/revisions\/6219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}