I think Stan Kolomyjec makes a very pertinent point in the Gazette’s June 27 Opinion section. We are incredibly dependent on oil. As he points out, so many aspects of our modern lives are tied to it. Alarmingly so. Plastic cutlery, many fabrics, cellphones and most vehicles require it. Knowing what we know about the ‘unrenewable’ nature of oil, our ever-more constrained access to it, the multiple dangerous side effects of its use (oil spills to hormone disruption from plastics), and how perilously dependent we have become on it, we have the perfect launching point to reshape our future. Stan's accusation of hypocrisy on the part of Tim Hortons for pulling Enbridge ads, however, is unfair. I think it is impossible for them, or for any of us, to “walk the talk” when we speak out against our unhealthy reliance on oil and express our unwillingness to continue down that path, There really is no other way to function in our society, as it exists, without participating in the problem … demonstrating how necessary it is for us to stand up and demand change.
We need our government to support alternative energy options and products. We need generous funding for research to develop more efficient and effective alternative energy technology. We need government subsidies that enable masses of us to purchase these technologies allowing us to wean off of non-renewables. We need punitive costs for using or over-using non-renewables and incentives to use less energy. As far as pipelines and other oil infrastructure, we should stop putting exorbitant amounts of money into archaic systems that are quite literally, going the way of the dinosaur. As evidenced in the most recent, massive oil spill – despite being a brand new, state of the art pipeline, transporting oil is still a dangerous business. I don’t think anyone can refute that diversifying our economy will make us more resilient.
As with most positive change, it will be a grassroots movement fuelled by citizens who are concerned about our current situation pressuring corporations and government to make the shift. We have to start somewhere. We aren't denying our dependence on oil, we are decrying it.
Jill Cunningham, St. Albert
