As the global economic meltdown and in particular the US housing market collapse continues to savage BC lumber producers, government leaders boldly predict that wood-fired energy – “bioenergy” – will ride to the rescue of a shell-shocked industry and brutalized rural, resource towns dealing with soaring unemployment rates.
February’s Speech from the Throne is a case [...]
Entries Tagged as 'pine beetle'
Bioenergy – Catching on like a house on fire or set for slow burn?
March 11th, 2009 · Ben Parfitt · No Comments · BC Election 2009, Economy, Energy, Environment, resources & sustainability
Pining for some straight talk
March 6th, 2009 · Ben Parfitt · No Comments · BC Election 2009, Economy, Environment, resources & sustainability
BC Forests Minister Pat Bell grabbed plenty of headlines this week when he said that the threats posed to resource communities by the mountain pine beetle infestation may be overstated. Stories about a rapid deterioration in the quality of trees attacked by the beetles, Bell suggested, are wrong. In fact, the minister said, he expects [...]
Memo to Colin Hansen: Time for forest industry reality check
March 2nd, 2009 · Ben Parfitt · No Comments · BC Election 2009, Economy, Environment, resources & sustainability
If Finance Minister Colin Hansen’s budget forecasts are right, British Columbia’s battered forest industry is in for a modest recovery this coming fiscal year and a more robust recovery in 2010/2011.
Gian Sandhu isn’t buying it.
Owner of the Jackpine Group of Companies in Williams Lake, Sandhu was a leading light in British Columbia’s interior forest industry, [...]
Tags: forestry·pine beetle·recession
Time to take the axe to province's dubious forest-related budget projections
February 19th, 2009 · Ben Parfitt · No Comments · BC Election 2009, Environment, resources & sustainability
Two words sprang to mind this week when perusing the provincial government’s latest revenue projections from BC’s once healthy, wealth-producing forests – confusing and misleading.
Confusing because Finance Minister Colin Hansen projected that forest revenues will go up next year when all signs point the other way. And misleading because even a cursory review of revenues [...]
Tags: budget·forestry·pine beetle
