Wildsight,
Sierra Club, Y2Y and CPAW’s (environmental NGO’s) are losing credibility with
their continued opposition to resource extraction in BC and Alberta. The call
to ban new coal mines and place a moratorium on
expanding existing mines is part of the Y2Y strategy. The ultimate goal is to
remove at least 50% of the land base from Yellowstone to Yukon and lock it away
from human interference and habitation. This report is on the heels of another
study, Safe
Havens and Safe Passages,
produced by environmentalists from Montana. These two reports want the same end; a national
park and land locked away from development. These groups are not accountable to
anyone but their US funders who provide millions to push an anti-fossil fuel
campaign hidden in environmental campaigns.
The environmental NGO’s will
cherry pick data to support their ideology and this latest one by Hauer
provides ample ammunition for their rhetoric. The report was commissioned by Glacier
National Park (GNP) which has no connection to the Elk River and only borders
the US portion of Flathead River. Why would GNP meddle in the affairs of Canada
other than to assist environmentalists in their goal of creating the long
sought after Flathead National Park? The objective of the study was
to “focus on potential
environmental effects of proposed coal mining in the Canadian portion of the
Flathead River Basin” One has to
wonder why the report is focused on the Elk River when the study is supposed to
be about the Flathead.
The information in Hauer’s
report is not new, multiple studies since the late 90’s have been done on the Elk and Flathead River. Hauer fails to reference any of
the historical data or the studies done by many selenium experts in Canada and
the US. To further complicate the issue; Hauer is
associated to environmental NGO’s on both sides of the border. In 2012 he was
the coordinator for Wildsight’s 2012 Bioblitz in the Canadian
side of the Flathead. Science is
supposed to work by building a body of research which takes us closer to the
truth and is free from external influences.
We should demand better science
from a university professor that expects no less of his students.
Selenium is a naturally
occurring mineral that is found throughout the system and is a required mineral
in our diet. The known science on selenium in the Elk River shows that it is
not a mortality factor for fish over the entire length due to the fast flowing
flushing capabilities of the Elk River. In 1995 the river had a major freshet event
that flushed fish and their spawning beds out of the river. It has bounced back
to record levels of bull trout, cutthroat and whitefish without any
intervention other than reduced angling regulations. For Hauer to suggest that
“coal mines represent a significant
threat to the ecological integrity of these streams and rivers” does not
take into account the historic rise and fall of fish populations. This is a
classic example of cherry picked data.
The environmental NGO’s
definition of the Elk River as “polluted” “poisoned” “toxic’ are clearly
ignorant of the natural beauty of the Elk. It is widely known as one of the
best Cutthroat fisheries that attracts fishers from around the world. Fishers
come here because of the size and quantity of cutthroat not the polluted toxic
mess that activists want to frame the argument around. Wildsight’s Ryland Nelson went out on a limb
and recently
quoted in the Fernie Free press “"You
should not be eating more than one fish a week out of the Elk River otherwise
you could be having health concerns". To suggest that people will be harmed by eating fish from the Elk River
is fear mongering at best. Not one study has ever shown that correlation based
on the values found in the Elk. Nelson uses no science to back up his claim;
he is neither a scientist nor a health professional with any qualifications to
make such a statement.
To place a moratorium on coal
mining based on the Sierra Clubs rhetoric would be destructive at best. The
environmental NGO’s are against all resource extraction regardless of the
benefits to mankind. Environmentalist’s use a self-written version of the
precautionary principle that places the onus on companies to prove nothing will
ever happen to anyone forever into the future before they can proceed. Using
their ideology a lot of the advances in modern science would never have been
achieved.
Hauer's report only serves to
fuel the media hype to ban coal mining and create a Flathead National
park. Environmental NGO’s and their
American funders have the ability to be constructive and help the coal mines
develop solutions to environmental issues, yet they choose the destructive
path; using fear and misinformation to push their vision of what the world
should be. It’s time we told these environmentalists to butt out unless they
have something constructive or credible to add.
Paul Visentin Kootenay
ThinkTwice group
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