Dirty Oil Wins, Forest Industry Loses.

If GM and other begging car companies had not been so resistant to change, they wouldn't be in the trouble they are in. Instead of adopting practices recommended by experts telling us we need to get off oil, and by clients who wanted cleaner vehicles, GM continued to build gas guzzlers such as Hummers, encouraging dirty oil.

Meanwhile, BC's forests were showing clear signs of global warming, including the devastating Pine Beetle. As BC's mountains turned red, so did the financial projections of forestry companies and the bank accounts of forest workers. An economic blow of this magnitude should have been cause for concern at the federal government level, particularly in a government that prides itself on having an economist as a prime minister.

But it didn't. As the rest of the world discussed how to reduce the impacts of global warming and carbon emissions in Bali, our government encouraged the expansion of the Tar Sands so guzzlers could be filled with cheap oil at the expense of industries whose livelihood depends on a stable climate, such as fisheries and forestry.

Had government and/or GM been forward looking instead of resisting change, things could now look very different. Instead of spending $10 billion of our tax dollars bailing out an industry bound to fail, they could have retrained their workers and retooled to build clean vehicles, high speed trains, buses, and electric cars right here in Canada. Our money could go to helping the forest industry and workers mitigate the problems they face and will face for many years. Beetle kill is not only reducing the available timber for years to come, but present a fire hazard that reduces the number of days logging can occur. While big union and big corporation are bailed out, forest workers are left high and dry and broke.

Instead of spending $10 billion keeping an industry that harms our environment and natural resources, we could help industries whose survival depends on those resources. Now is the time for industries and workers to demand that government act to protect the environment, the climate and the resources we rely on for our economy. As more and more jobs are lost while the deficit grows (now said to be over $50 billion), we will all be losers, there will be no winner.

Huguette Allen.
Green Party Candidate.
130 Shuswap River Drive.