And with good reason.

Earlier today, I outlined why in a new report for the CCPA which looks at the rapidly expanding usage of fracking in two regions of the province where the gas industry is steadily increasing its efforts to extract natural gas from deeply buried shale rock formations.

The report – Fracking Up Our Water, Hydro Power and Climate: BC’s Reckless Pursuit of Shale Gas – concludes that when all is said and done the gas produced from such operations is the natural gas equivalent of the oil produced from Alberta’s tar sands. The parallels between the two are downright spooky, and even spookier when you consider that a goodly amount of natural gas currently produced in BC is headed to Alberta to . . . facilitate the extraction of raw bitumen from the tar sands.

Both the shale gas fracking indusry and the tar sands oil industry are big consumers of water, big consumers of energy and big emitters of greenhouse gases. And they will be even more so in the years ahead. I was lucky to gain an inkling for what that may mean during a field-trip last year, which took me into the heart of one of the emerging fracking zones in BC’s south Peace region. Fortunately, I had award-winning photographer, Garth Lenz along for the ride. He captured some amazing images of all the ways our public water and hydro resources are being placed at risk as the fracking industry expands. Later, the CCPA’s Terra Poirier worked with the images to create a nifty slideshow which you can access on-line here. You can also check out more of Garth’s images on his website – which also includes portfolios of his photographs in Alberta’s tar sands and over the Athabasca river delta.

Like I said earlier, and as Garth’s work vividly portrays, the parallels between BC’s shale gas industry and Alberta’s tar sands oil industry are many. But the big three of water use, energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions clearly stick out. When you look at those three, the need to enact tough new policies and regulations to deal with BC’s natural gas sector is obvious.

In fracking, immense amounts of water – up to 600 Olympic swimming pools’ worth at some BC fracking operations – are pumped underground along with unknown chemicals and sand to break open cracks or fractures in the shale rock, fractures which allow the trapped gas to be released. That water use is very loosely regulated in BC, leading to all kinds of potential environmental abuses.

The power that the rapidly expanding shale gas industry in BC is projected to need, could, according to BC Hydro, amount to the equivalent of 2 and possibly 3 times the power that would be produced at the proposed Site C dam, on the Peace River, not far from where the pictures in the above-mentioned slideshow were taken.

Lastly, there’s all the additional greenhouse gases associated with shale gas production in BC – emission increases that will undercut any ability for BC to meet its legislatively mandated greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets.

That’s why I argue in today’s Province newspaper that it’s time to put a cap on annual gas production in the province before our shared water and hydro resources and our climate are totally fracked.

****

Gideon Rosenbluth
January 23, 1921 ­ August 8, 2011

Gideon Rosenbluth died suddenly in Vancouver while swimming with a friend on
a sunny day. He had just spent a very happy week with visiting family,
taking long walks in the woods he loved, enjoying family meals and
discussions. He was a model to family and friends of aging with dignity,
wisdom and courage, remaining mentally and physically active until the end.

Born in Berlin, Germany, Gideon was the second of three children. The family
fled Nazi Germany in 1933, moving to England where he went to school. When
the war started, he was part of the group of Jewish refugees interned and
shipped to camps in Canada. That experience made him self-sufficient, strong
and to some degree shaped his politics. He always was on the left,
supporting progressive causes, writing and actively working for social
change.

As a professor of economics at Princeton, Stanford, Queens, and UBC, Gideon
was a distinguished academic who held high standards for himself and his
students. He taught and wrote about economic theory and its application for
the analysis of individual behaviour, corporate organization and government
policy. His rigorous approach to scholarship and community involvement was
guided by his commitment to social justice. At various times, he was
president of the Canadian Association of University Teachers, president of
the Canadian Economics Association, editor of the Canadian Journal of
Economics, an elected member of the UBC Senate and honoured as a member of
the Royal Society of Canada.

Predeceased last year by Mimi, his beloved wife of 66 years, Gideon will be
deeply missed and always remembered with love and laughter by his family:
sister Raja, daughter Vera, son-in-law Robin Hanvelt, son David,
daughter-in-law Molly Moss, grandchildren Marc (Marisa Victor), Jonathan,
Anna (Paul Sheridan), Peter (Milvi Tiislar) and great-grandchildren Gryffin,
Acacia and Alex.

Gideon leaves a rich legacy of values and life wisdom, according to which he
lived. Clothes don¹t make the man. Always have some granola bars in your
backpack. Keep trying for those perfect telemark turns. Don¹t waste time ­
it¹s precious. Don¹t ever be afraid to stand up for your beliefs. His last
great lesson to us was that with time, one can heal from even the greatest
loss.

A memorial gathering with family and friends will be held on Sunday September 25. Messages may be sent to
vrosenbluth@shaw.ca. Donations in Gideon’s name may be made to either of two
organizations close to his heart: the Canadian Centre for Policy
Alternatives, BC Branch, #1400 ­ 207 West Hastings Street, Vancouver BC, V6B
1H7 or  Outlook, Canada¹s Progressive Jewish Magazine, 6184 Ash Street,
Vancouver BC, V5Z 3G9.