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alberta
October 2009 
Power (?) to the people....
Posted on May 4th, 2007
by 
earthmama
earthmama
And now comes the "venting" part of this blog.......EEKKSS!
Yesterday, shortly after I wrote about the "message of love" that I want to send to the whole world, I received news that made my heart sick and my soul cry. An energy company wants to build a nuclear power plant in our town.
Isn't that nice???
My gut instinct tells me this is not a good thing; but to be fair, I started cruising through cyberspace to find out all I could. Well, I must say I found a lovely blend of information ranging from "nuclear is the new green power" to nuclear is never a good idea! Considering the fact that radioactive waste takes between 25,000 and 250,000 years to breakdown, I tend to be on the "never a good idea" side of the equation.
So what makes our town so lucky? And why does Alberta need this? Well, in a word -oil.
While it seems that many places in the world are waking up to the fact that alternative, sustainable energy solutions must be found and employed, Alberta is still a land of dinosaurs.
This from our local paper, The Whitecourt Star:
Company president Wayne Henuset said, “"Many of my businesses were in the oil patch. My father was an oilman. I know what insatiable appetite there is for oil. I know that Alberta is taking full advantage of this now and will for many years to come. I also know that it takes a huge amount of power to extract the oil from the oil sands. I know that this power comes at a cost to the environment. I wanted to do something about that. All roads led me to Nuclear power.”
"After a lot of research and discussions with many people from all over the world, I believe Nuclear is the best way to produce the power the province needs."
He said that he was not naïve enough to believe everyone in the community would have the same convictions and therefore he and other members of the company will be visiting Whitecourt in the next few weeks to speak with the community.
"I need to speak with you, show you what the new nuclear technologies are now capable of," Henuset said, "I need to talk about the rewards, the environmental impacts and the alternatives. I need to show you what a nuclear facility will mean to you, your community and our province."
Just a question, "shouldn't we be questioning our insatiable desire for oil not just finding ways to get a fix?"
I think the community is about to be sold on this less than green energy source as a means of getting an even less green energy source from the ground, and there is nothing I can do.... To be honest, I think most people think it is a good thing. It'll create jobs.
I have always identified with Cassandra and the Lorax (lucky me!!) and in keeping with this, I sent out an information pack of sorts to many of my local email contacts. This will more than likely raise the ire of some, but I felt morally obliged to do at least a little.
In my heart, I know this is not the place for me, so I should probably just let go and let the people choose their own fate... but, for some reason I need to try to help. Why??? Why beat my head against the wall??? Because WE ARE ALL INTERCONNECTED and we should LOVE ONE ANOTHER!!
I must be clear that I don't want to change people. I simply strive to raise awareness. People deserve to have all sides of a story. In my unfortunate experience, politicians often try to suppress certain information.... eeekkss!
(Here is a video that tells Alberta's story in song.... I love Corb Lund and he definitely loves Alberta!)
Any wise zaadzster input on this conundrum would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks for listening.
Namaste,
Shannon :)
Yesterday, shortly after I wrote about the "message of love" that I want to send to the whole world, I received news that made my heart sick and my soul cry. An energy company wants to build a nuclear power plant in our town.
Isn't that nice???
My gut instinct tells me this is not a good thing; but to be fair, I started cruising through cyberspace to find out all I could. Well, I must say I found a lovely blend of information ranging from "nuclear is the new green power" to nuclear is never a good idea! Considering the fact that radioactive waste takes between 25,000 and 250,000 years to breakdown, I tend to be on the "never a good idea" side of the equation.
So what makes our town so lucky? And why does Alberta need this? Well, in a word -oil.
While it seems that many places in the world are waking up to the fact that alternative, sustainable energy solutions must be found and employed, Alberta is still a land of dinosaurs.
This from our local paper, The Whitecourt Star:
Company president Wayne Henuset said, “"Many of my businesses were in the oil patch. My father was an oilman. I know what insatiable appetite there is for oil. I know that Alberta is taking full advantage of this now and will for many years to come. I also know that it takes a huge amount of power to extract the oil from the oil sands. I know that this power comes at a cost to the environment. I wanted to do something about that. All roads led me to Nuclear power.”
"After a lot of research and discussions with many people from all over the world, I believe Nuclear is the best way to produce the power the province needs."
He said that he was not naïve enough to believe everyone in the community would have the same convictions and therefore he and other members of the company will be visiting Whitecourt in the next few weeks to speak with the community.
"I need to speak with you, show you what the new nuclear technologies are now capable of," Henuset said, "I need to talk about the rewards, the environmental impacts and the alternatives. I need to show you what a nuclear facility will mean to you, your community and our province."
Just a question, "shouldn't we be questioning our insatiable desire for oil not just finding ways to get a fix?"
I think the community is about to be sold on this less than green energy source as a means of getting an even less green energy source from the ground, and there is nothing I can do.... To be honest, I think most people think it is a good thing. It'll create jobs.
I have always identified with Cassandra and the Lorax (lucky me!!) and in keeping with this, I sent out an information pack of sorts to many of my local email contacts. This will more than likely raise the ire of some, but I felt morally obliged to do at least a little.
In my heart, I know this is not the place for me, so I should probably just let go and let the people choose their own fate... but, for some reason I need to try to help. Why??? Why beat my head against the wall??? Because WE ARE ALL INTERCONNECTED and we should LOVE ONE ANOTHER!!
I must be clear that I don't want to change people. I simply strive to raise awareness. People deserve to have all sides of a story. In my unfortunate experience, politicians often try to suppress certain information.... eeekkss!
Corb Lund Band - Roughest Neck Around
(Here is a video that tells Alberta's story in song.... I love Corb Lund and he definitely loves Alberta!)
Any wise zaadzster input on this conundrum would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks for listening.
Namaste,
Shannon :)
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Access: PublicTagged with: nuclear power, Alberta, politics, oil, green, music, video, decisions, future, zaadzsters, energy, the Lorax, environment, Cassandra
Here's my “take” on this as a fellow Albertan. The oil produced from the tar-sands goes, for the most part, toward running North American cars. Nuclear waste doesn't break-down like compost - it hangs around, and around, and around. Adding nuclear to the mix in a big way, is like giving a person a second medication in order to “cure” the symptoms created by a first.
I totally agree with you that we need to take a good hard look at our “addiction” to fossil fuels. The fact remains, we live in a cold country and need to cover great distances in order to transport ourselves, our produce, etc. The solution lies in three directions - in creating more efficient engines, furnaces, houses, etc. (for example, there's a project in B.C. which is developing a way to use natural gas in vehicles). Through tax incentives which motivate people to retro-fit their houses, buy more fuel-efficient cars and appliances, use publc transit, etc. And, to focus intensely on reforestation, recycling, reduction of waste,etc. The way the Alta government has handled oil and gas resources hardly reassures me they'll fo a better job with nuclear power. p.s. I love Corb Lund too.
Spirit will guide you, EarthMama, to move if this in fact what you should do. Look at it from the inside … what does your heart tell you is right?
With gasoline prices already at near record highs and the summer travel season not even upon us yet … there will be a huge incentive to seek alternative sources of energy. The old adage that ”Necessity is the mother of invention” comes to mind here. It's only a matter of time before we transition to alternatives. We simply cannot continue as we have been. This is not an option.
And as already stated, nuclear energy has its own issues to contend with. There are some wonderful things happening in the alternative energy field. It's just a matter of making the best idea economically feasible. It'll come. It must.
Dear Shannon,
Thank you for posting this. Are there any actions that we can take to oppose this decision?. It is of vital importance to educate the community and to encourage everyone to take action against this. Once again, profits for a small group oppose the health of the community, the environment , and life in general . It happens everywhere and we have to take action!
Thank you all for your kind comments and support! I truly appreciate it! At present I am trying to remain as calm and centered as possible…. but it is hard!!!! EEKKSS! My poor husband doesn't know what to do with me (sorry, hon!!).
I have contacted numerous environmental non-profits seeking their advice and support, and some of my local contacts seem keen to become involved. Right now, the whole province seems a bit shocked. Nuclear energy has never been seriously considered in the province before (although there have been rumours for awhile) because of our oil and gas deposits. If a plant is to be constructed it wouldn't neccesarily be helpful in providing energy to anyone but the oil and gas industry and possibly the OILSANDS (located north and east of here).
Dribs and drabs are coming out in the paper about it; some supportive, some not. The local MLA (Provincial Representative) has publicly pronounced his support and town council members (my former colleagues!!!) are presently being courted by the energy co. who has flown them to a Nuclear plant out east! So it goes…..
I will keep you posted.
Power to the peaceful!
Shannon :)