Who Should Decide On Mines That Pollute?

[bigdude]

Article

Unfortunately mines cause serious pollution problems. Who should be making these decisions about starting up, or expanding a mining operation, so that the Canadian public, the first Nations people, the environmentalists, and the Investment community, are all adequately represented?

I am beginning to realize that we cannot rely on our feeble bot off provincial governments to properly address the issues, and that the federal government should be at the table for all discussions.

What say you?

[bigdude]

And what about wind energy?

Do we need the federales to intervene here as well?

I think so!

B.C.'s wind energy touted

Guy Dauncey, president of the BC Sustainable Energy Association, told the Straight there are eight other B.C. companies planning or developing wind-power projects. Dauncey said that they would all be viable if BC Hydro would agree to buy the electricity for between seven to 12 cents per kilowatt hour. However, Dauncey claimed that BC Hydro and its regulator, the British Columbia Utilities Commission, are undermining the wind- power industry’s future in B.C. by favouring cheaper electricity sources.

“It is not considered in the public interest to protect the world from global climate change or from fossil-fuel emissions or mercury or anything else like that,” Dauncey said.

Two Stanford University researchers, Cristina Archer and Mark Jacobson, concluded in a recent study that there are 72 terawatts of potential wind power in the world—which is greater than global electricity consumption, according to Dauncey. Their study included a map that identified the Queen Charlotte Islands and northern Vancouver Island as two of the best locations for wind power.

Dauncey claimed that BC Hydro doesn’t consider wind power to be a “firm” electricity source, so wind-energy companies are excluded from certain requests for proposals for independent power. Vancouver energy lawyer David Austin echoed Dauncey’s allegation.

“BC Hydro is saying the typical green sources of energy, including wind and run-of-the-river hydro, are not firm,” Austin told the Straight. “More to the point, they’re basically saying, ‘We don’t need your electricity in that sort of May-to-July period.’?”

Mary Hemmingsen, BC Hydro’s manager of power planning and porfolio management, told the Straight that the Crown corporation and the BC Sustainable Energy Association jointly sponsored the meeting with Maegaard to consider the application of wind power in B.C. In 2003, BC Hydro announced that it would buy almost 60 megawatts of power from a wind farm being built on northern Vancouver Island.

Hemmingsen said that in a recent call for proposals, BC Hydro has asked for a certain level of “firm” energy, and it will buy an “associated” amount of non-firm energy. “We understand that can fit the profile of certain wind projects in the province,” she said.

Wind-power consultant Garrad Hassan recently submitted a report on the topic to BC Hydro. According to a summary obtained by the Straight, Hassan reported that industry officials have identified the potential generation of 5,000 megawatts of wind energy across the province.

British Columbia Transmission Corp., a Crown corporation, commissioned a report from North Carolina–based ABB Inc., which suggested that wind power could potentially supply 20 percent of U.S. energy demand. The report also stated that wind power is feasible in B.C.