B.C.’s intention to crack down on deliberate wildfire starters comes as welcome news.
Presumably the first target of this legislation will be Premier Christy Clark for the irresponsible manner in which she proposes to release immense new quantities of methane and CO2 into the atmosphere through fracking and LNG development.
B.C. is already hard-pressed to cope with drought, tinder dry forests and record numbers of wildfires, and it is frightening to contemplate that the climate change we have already locked in ensures that, throughout the lifetime of our children, each year will be even hotter and drier that the one before.
What will remain of our forests and farms, the salmon and free flowing rivers, our lakes and wildlife — the soul of “Beautiful British Columbia” — in years to come if our leaders insist on releasing new sources of carbon into an already dangerously overheated atmosphere?
The science is simple; more methane and CO2 in the atmosphere means that more of the sun’s energy will be trapped, thereby raising temperatures and drying and igniting our forests.
Forests Minister Steve Thomson claims you can’t legislate against stupidity but Christy Clark seems intent on proving that you can legislate for it, with an LNG deal that will inevitably accelerate global warming.
Mike Ward
Duncan