Something Useful For Ross and Gaetz To Do

By Mike Archer. Now that the BC Utilities Commission has decided to approve Metro Vancouver’s plans for a Waste to Energy incinerator leaving the Fraser Valley’s most popular pseudo-environmentalists with one less platform to campaign on in this fall’s municipal election, perhaps the two can focus on an issue where they might be able to do some good.

According to Vancouver Sun reporter Larry Pynn, cruise lines are not taking advantage of the option to hook up to local electricity while they stop over in the Port of Vancouver.

According to Pynn that is cause for serious concern because the ships which do not take advantage of the option cause as much as ten percent of CO2 emissions which travel through Vancouver and out to the Fraser Valley.

It is a well-established fact that the biggest source of pollution in the air of the Fraser Valley is greenhouse gas pollution from cars, trucks and other vehicles. Now that we know where ten percent responsible for that pollution is coming from, perhaps the Fraser Valley regional District (FVRD) could refocus its environmental campaign on something more useful and effective than its pointless battle with the GVRD over its attempts to reduce waste.

While the biggest cause of car pollution is the type of cities being built by Fraser Valley politicians which offer no good jobs or careers which would allow residents to stay in town for their work, this is an issue with which the pseudo-environmentalist could join forces with both the GVRD and the Port of Vancouver and force the remaining cruise lines into line.

[From the Province] “According to a port EcoAction brochure, the electrical hook-up program for cruise ships is eliminating 3,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases, the equivalent of “taking 770 cars off the road for a year.” It calls the program a “highly effective way” for docked cruise ships to “shut down their engines and plug into the city’s electrical grid to run all on board services.””

If either Ross or Gaetz want to regain some badly tarnished credibility with the environmental voters they should do two things:

1. Stand up for local citizens, fishers, First Nations and environment groups who oppose Gaetz’s toxic waste facility on the banks of the Fraser River in Chilliwack
2. Join forces with the GVRD and the Port of Vancouver to force foreign-owned cruise lines to stop dumping greenhouse gases into our airshed