Dear Editor:
RE: Do something, June 3.
I was not surprised to read Gerry Walsh’s letter, in which he blames the harvesting of BC’s old growth forests on greed. Misinformation is abundant and lack of information stops us from understanding the big picture.
Actually, it is not greed, but the Green movement and its ideology demonizing coal, which by the way, greatly advanced our civilization to where we are today. Yes coal is dirty, however scrubbers have minimized its impact on pollution. So what has the EU done to address coal, they have embraced the word ‘renewable’. Trees have been designated as renewable. Yes, you can grow another tree but how quickly?
In Germany, coal plants are being converted to burn wood pellets which are dirtier than coal and not as efficient. BC has given approval to cutting down of old growth forest so the logs can be converted to wood pellets then shipped to the EU to satisfy their virtue signalling of saving our planet.
You have to wonder why Germany needs wood pellets to generate electricity. They got spooked by the Fukushima disaster and are closing down their clean “no emissions” nuclear reactors.
My suggestion would be to use up all of the world’s coal reserves before cutting down our trees. Scotland cut down 17 million trees in order to build wind turbines in their highlands. These turbines may have a 20-year life, then what?
The Green movement has many flaws. Cutting down old growth forest in BC and old growth oak forests in North Carolina to satisfy the EU’s need to be Green is lunacy. The ball is rolling in the wrong direction. I feel hopeless to stop it.
Peter Mandic,
Fergus