To the Editor,
Re: Blue dot is a red flag, Letters, June 11.
The Blue Dot Campaign is not a profit-motivated venture. David Suzuki works for his foundation on a voluntary basis.
Development and job creation need not be impeded by environmental consciousness. The near future will include many jobs associated with clean energy development through processes that do not devastate the planet. Industrial and infrastructure projects can proceed in ways that do not pose threats to water, air and food supply.
Nanaimo’s city council responded positively to this proposal which was clearly presented as an aspirational guideline and not a binding agreement or resolution. Blue Dot recommendations will not “tie the hands” of those we elect to make decisions, but instead will further empower them.
Joan CarruthersNanaimo
To the Editor,
Re: Environmental initiative worth prioritizing, Letters, June 16.
The letter writer misrepresents our position in saying we favour the rights of industry over the “right of us all to clean air, water and food.” Our position is that making all-encompassing and ill-defined rights a part of local bylaws or the Canadian Charter is simply bad policy. Bad policy leads to more regulation, litigation and higher costs for everyone, without quantifiable benefit. The Blue Dot Campaign is a solution in search of a problem.
Empirical evidence supports our position that our local air, water and food supply are all in better shape than at anytime in the past.
What is not in great shape is our local economy. Throwing more rules, regulations, bureaucracy and taxation into the mix will improve neither.
Ron Palmersecretary-treasurerNanaimo Ratepayers Association
To the Editor,
Re: Blue dot is a red flag, Letters, June 11.
Here on Vancouver Island, when I hear the grass crunch under my feet in late May, find, one month earlier than ever, June strawberries are finished, see our unripe gooseberries baking in the sun, witness the death of a young healthy apple tree, when neighbours’ wells are drying out in April, when I watch truckloads of trees drive away, with our forests that are losing their ability to absorb carbon and moderate climate, I quell a sense of rage at all those who ever ignored my pleas to care for our environment, to protect our water supplies, to live sustainably, to put people and nature before profit.
It looks like people will not act to protect until they feel the pain themselves, and the rich seem to be the last to run out of the resources their greed thrives on.
Lavonne GarnettNanaimo