The Editor,
I know a lot of people who voted for Andrew Weaver and the Green Party in our recent provincial election. I am concerned that they do not know that Mr. Weaver is going to be the guest speaker at a Clean Energy BC conference on June 1 at the Hyatt hotel in Vancouver. This is a $300- to $400-per-plate “cash for access” event of the type that Mr. Weaver admonished his competitors for taking part in.
Clean Energy BC is the new name for the Independent Power Producers Association of BC. This event has a large contingent of the hydroelectric faction, colloquially known as run of river. Most voters identified as Green supporters are aghast at the huge environmental impact of IPP projects like the ones on the Sunshine Coast that bottom-drain alpine lakes, divert waterfalls, allow miles of rivers to run 95% dry, clearcut swaths to the shoreline of pristine fjords, construct concrete powerhouses and string miles of power transmission lines.
Mr. Weaver has a PhD in mathematics and climate science. I challenge him to answer here how the arithmetic of buying high and selling low for the duration of 25- to 40-year inflation-adjusted contracts is in the best interest of B.C. taxpayers. I am reasonably certain, by way of his climate science studies, that he knows water gets hard in the wintertime. I challenge him to answer here how run of river projects can deliver electricity when we most need it in the winter and hard water — known as ice in scientific terms — cannot flow through the turbines.
I concede there are some very good run of river projects that are close to the point of consumption and take communities off of diesel power for a significant portion of the year. However, these are few.
Having Mr. Weaver and MLAs-elect Furstenau and Olsen show unequivocal support for this troublesome BC Liberal policy is troubling.
Ken Holowanky, Coquitlam
