It seems to me that
there are a lot of people in Canada confused about the Trans Mountain
Pipeline Expansion project. Some folks, (particularly in British
Columbia) don't want the pipeline built at all, because its product
is oil, something they would rather do without, or because that oil
produces an environmental risk, (which it does, in any form.) Some
folks (particularly in Alberta) want the pipeline built because its
construction and existence means continued employment in the area,
continued revenues created from the product itself. Then there is a
third group of people made up of folks (from all over Canada,
including the west) that either do or don't want the pipeline built,
but regardless of their thoughts or feelings on the matter, believe
that the project is “on again, off again” depending on the
decisions of politicians or their parties. From these folks we get
things like social media commentaries, protests, advertisements in
media and entertainment, even the Conservative Party has made “Build
the Pipeline” the major component of their platform in the 2019 election.
The Pipeline Project
is not, in any way, being hindered by anything, nor has it ever been.
The pipeline project is an expansion of what is already there. The
new pipeline is going to run right beside the old pipeline, that has
been there since 1953. The foundation for this work, the ground
preparation, the laying of rock, the purchasing of that rock, has
already happened. Tens of millions of dollars have already been
spent on the laying of this foundation. The foundation has already
begun being put in place. The pipeline is happening, it's being built
currently, as you read these words. Our prime minister has not
stopped any part of the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion project,
neither have the provincial governments, environmental groups, Native
groups, no one, ever, anywhere. (The current downturn of work in the Alberta oil fields has nothing to do with the TMPE.)
So why do we have
expensive campaigns to sway the minds of the public, one way or the
other? Why do we have a political party whose entire platform is
centred around a fictional problem? Why do we have this tension in
western Canada over an economical concern that doesn't exist? Why do
we have to think about all these made up intentions? I think the
answers lie in usual arenas of social engineering, we think these
things because if we're thinking about them, we're not thinking about
other things. It's a purposeful distraction. If the pipeline equals jobs for a
generation, then that is what we need to bother ourselves with,
money. I think this entirely the reason for any pro TMPE campaign.
The anti-TMPE campaign is entirely about concern for the environment.
So, in the collective eye of Canadian society, on one side of the
argument is a redneck oil worker and on the other side is a
tree-hugging hippy. If we're thinking about jobs, we're thinking short term and more importantly, not long term. In the long term, there is only bad news, so let's ignore that...
The environmental
concerns around the production and use of petroleum products are
real. No one is contesting the detrimental effects of burning fossil
fuels, (at least, no one who should be listened to. To be
anti-science is to be anti-fact and therefore pro-fiction.) However,
folks who advocate for the continued use of petroleum products do so
from within the comforts of establishment. There simply is no
alternative to fossil fuel. We have no solar arrays, wind farms, tide
generators, etc. For the pro-oil side, the onus is on the
environmentalists to come up with alternatives, or shut up.
(Literally, this is entirely their meme exemplified.) We also have no
alternatives for the byproducts of oil production, most notably
plastics. “Do you want to stop having all the plastic things you
have now?” ask oil proponents, already knowing the answer.
Our required
transition from dirty energy to clean and from finite resources to
renewable will happen anyway, because it must. This is not the point
of this essay. I'm not here to argue for or against the production or
use of oil. I have no solution. I just want the argument about the
Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion to end, because it doesn't really
exist in the first place. You can have your opinions about whether or
not the expansion, or the use of oil in general, should continue or
not. You can have your opinions about safety, health, politics and
the economy. What you can't say is “the pipeline is being held
up/stopped/hindered or held in question.” The gravel has been
purchased. Here is the map of where the pipe is going, right beside
the existing pipe, for the most part. Stop being duped into having an
argument that doesn't exist by marketeers.
