I am sympathetic to the environmental movement and its concern for the future well-being of both humanity and nature.
One of our most aggressive acts is digging and drilling the depths to wring out precious gifts - gold, diamonds, oil. We are told that the blade cuts deeply and the damage is irreparable.
In the case of petroleum, the great threat is that a pipe could burst or a tanker overturn, spoiling some unfortunate part of the world "forever."
This is where I part company with my greener brethren.
We are all challenged when contemplating the distant future. Told to think seven generations hence, most of us can't manage beyond two, our grandchildren. And of course politicians famously believe the world recreates itself on three to five year cycles.
But the time-scale of importance for ecosystems, if we can manage to keep all the parts, that is, maintain biodiversity, is hundreds to thousands of years.
An oil spill killing a river? I think not. Is a tornado or forest fire any less traumatic? The notion of Earth as vulnerable and whimpering offends me.
Earth can take care of herself just fine, thank you. I suggest a posture of deep respect and even reverence for the natural world - it's powerful, surprising, awesome and resilient.
Of course, nature's resilience does not give us licence to be careless.
An oil spill is fundamentally rude, like a child who carelessly drops ice cream on grandma's favourite carpet. Now in this case, the child (oil company) needs to clean up their mess, and it still may take granny (aquatic ecosystem) 50 years to get over it.
I'm just pointing out that granny's been around for thousands of years and may have a million left to go, so it's more disrespectful than fatal.
Should we paint a petroleum pipeline as the sword of Damocles hanging over our precious waterways?
I don't believe so. Does the pipeline perpetuate unsustainable and unimaginative lifestyles based on burning up our Jurassic inheritance as quickly as possible? I'll buy that.
But pretending Mother Earth is a sissy just isn't a healthy attitude, and it's empirically untrue, even if it gets attention on placards and in the news.
Dave Tamblyn
Prince George
