July 2023
On 28 June, a group of around a dozen protesters marched outside of the constituency office of Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte Member of Parliament Doug Shipley, pushing for an end to subsides to fossil-fuel producers. I agree with this, as I’m against corporate welfare. Where the protesters lose me, is their demand that “We have got to stop burning fossil fuels,” according to protest organizer Pat Smith.
While this is certainly something that may indeed happen, the harsh reality is that there are no practical and economically viable alternatives for the average citizen. Sure, we all want a clean environment, including clean air, which is why nuclear and natural gas has replaced coal for the majority of our hydro generation. Natural gas has replaced coal and oil burning furnaces in most homes. We even have clean-burning technologies for times when coal-burning is preferable.
Our gas-burning cars are cleaner than ever and getting better with stricter emission-control technology being installed in the vehicles.
Sure, nothing is perfect, including zero-emission nuclear generation, which does produce radioactive waste that must be dealt with, and it still isn’t a recommended practice to stick your face in front of a car tailpipe and take a deep breath, given the carbon monoxide being expelled, but our air and water is cleaner than even 20 years ago. Does anyone remember why Doug Ford’s government canceled the Drive Clean Program? It’s because it actually worked in cleaning up the emissions coming out of car tailpipes and getting most of the old oil-burners off the road, excluding prized “classic cars,” of course.
What the protesters at MP Shipley’s office seem to fail to comprehend is that burning fossil-fuels is not the problem. Responsible use of fossil-fuels, while refining clean-burning technologies, will have more of a positive impact on the environment than a total ban. Many of the so-called “green” alternatives come with their own environmentally-problematic effects.
Sure, electric vehicles (EVs) may not have any emissions coming out of a tailpipe, but when you account for the carbon-intensity of the battery production, including the toxic-waste issues we have to confront in disposing of them at the end of their useful life, are we simply trading one problem for another? This is in addition to the fact that for EVs to truly be “emissions-free,” the source of the hydro generation to charge the battery must also be emissions-free. Let’s not pretend that just because there are no emissions coming out of a tailpipe on EVs, that they have no environmental consequences.
Speaking of hydro generation, wind turbines and solar panels are touted as “emissions-free” hydro generation, but when you take into account how carbon intensive their production and construction are, the steel, concrete, copper wiring and toxic materials in things like the solar panels, they are hardly environmentally-friendly. This is in addition to being horribly inefficient at hydro generation (the sun doesn’t always shine and the wild doesn’t always blow), they can’t supply on-demand base-load power, the minimal amounts of hydro they actually generate can’t be stored for later use (when the power is actually needed), taking up large tracts of land, being bird blenders (wind turbines) and other negative effects on both wildlife and humans, are they really a better alternative to nuclear or natural gas generation?
“Green” alternatives certainly can be a part of the solution for the betterment of our environment, but they aren’t the only solution. Activists like the ones protesting at Doug Shipley’s office seem to think that there is no solution other than their inefficient and economically unsustainable “green” alternatives. Many of them also don’t just want no more burning of fossil-fuels; they want no more fossil-fuels period!
I wish that I had known this protest was going to happen, because I would love to have asked the participants how their homes are heated, along with seeing how many of them drove to the protest in a gas-powered car, or had a cell phone with them, or any other products made from petrochemicals.
Sources: ‘This is my grandkids’ future’: Protesters push for end to fossil-fuel subsidies at Canada is Burning rally in Barrie (simcoe.com), Petroleum in Real Life: Smartphones – Context Magazine by CAPP, Canada is Burning Day of Action – 350.
