The Lucknow Sentinel, 1980-12-17, Page 7• .• • • " ' •,.,. • • ',
•
rmirtg? ee
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letter asking us to wind down our
sow operation. •
"We have fed: out feed now that
was planted last year and are buying
feed to feed out the remainder of the
pigs. Now, we have land and
machinery so why could we not have
been helped to put in our crops?
Since May, the bank has received'all
our money from pigs as it now goes
there directly from the hog
prodticers (association).
''You can see the position it leaves
us in.
"We live in an area where foreign
investors are buying land and taking
down the barns and houses.
-- "It hurts-us-to-see this,- especially
when the world food council says
there will be a serious food shortage
next "year. Why not help us keep
farming?
`Tye held down a full-time job for
12 years, raised three children and
worked on the farms Sunday nights
and holidays. Now, as you see by the
bank letter (which was enclosed),
they recommend my husband do
the same. We already work many 18-
hour days and, to tell you the truth,
I'Mgetting very tired.
"I think the trouble with the
government 'is they think you can
run farms on hindsight'and they are
in for a shock..•
"Our bank manager's idea is, if
you're riot making money on
something, you stop producing and
start again when demand is greater.
Things are going to have to change.
"Although this letter is
depressing, I will close by saying
you may count us down but don't
count us out."
Too many depressing situations
such as this have happened, in this'
country recently. I am not an
economist and I am not a politician.
I do not know the answers for the
many people who have written to me
nor for the many thousands who
have not.
I know of a couple of hog
producers last year who went to the
bank, couldn't get any more babking
and simply dropped the keys to' the
barn on the bank manager's desk
and walked out saying: "Okay, bub,
you run the farm."
Why these situations have to occur
in a so-called developed country
such as Canada is, to say the least,
depressing. To say more would be
enough to get ine saddled with libel
suit.
--Ent I guess the letter sin-Us-for
itself.
Politicians make promiies they
cannot or will not keep.
is not my policy to acknovviedge
every letter that is sent to me. Too,
many'letters can become boring.
: However, one arrived not long ago
that should be given some publieity.
setup
with
have two-farms. One is
With a farrow-to4inish operation and
the other 'is a cow-calf operaticin
slowly over alew years. A year ago,
We purchased the" second farm when
the animals bedame too many to
houge in the one barn. As.you know,
last, winter interest rates and ex-
penses started to rise and our in-
borne dropped drastically.
"In the spring when Our
agricidtural minister Said no farmer'
will be refused money , to plant a
crop, our bank -manager said, No,
when we asked - for money for seed
and fertilizer;' so, no crops. When I
asked if it would be any use to go to
another bank• for money, I was told
no! , •
"We did, in fact, try another bank
to borrow money against our cattle
'which we had built up, one by one,
With any spare money we had along
the way..
"We wertra-gnin -refused because -
these cattle, even though we/had
never borrowed money to buy the
herd, would come under a Section 88
at the bank. Our bank then sent us a
Such' are the sentiments of one
farm wife. I have received maybe a
dozen such letterS in the, past few
months and just could not ignore
them any longer.
The httsband-and-wife team in the
----aboVe letter obviously bit off a huge
chunk in purchaSing a second farm
but all they wanted to do was expand
tbeir-operation-toirelp-feed-a-hungry
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Lucluiaw Sentinel, NitOi,hteSdayt: .DeCeMber- 17, 19807•Page
.• . • .
ices affect the environment •
Of all our energy choices, coal ':ranks
among the. dirtiest
}
. fuels, and nuclear
-raises serious-questions in he-minds ;-of
Many -- yet both now, figure prominently in
projections for accelerated electrical genera-
tion in Canada. Plans call for nuclear power
to overtake hydropower-as Canada's largest
single source of electricity beyond the year
2000.
disturbed by surface mining for coal, tar
sands, and shale Oil, Coal extraction, has also
resulted in contamination of streams; lakes
and reservoirs through silteration and mine
drainage. Enormous wastes result, from tar
sands and shale oil extraction, and methods
used are highly energy intensive.
Of all' the fttfis now
,
ttsed exlensively, .
natural gas is he least objectionable. It
causes little air;pollution when burned, and,
can be transported invisibly, in underground
pipelines. Still, northern pipelines must,he
built partially, above muskeg and perma-
frost, and can impede.migrations of wildlife.
Even renewable energy systems are , not •
without environmental impacts; CUtting,
Despite shortages of energy reserves that
show every sign of permanence,. Canada is
now among the industrial countries of the
world with, the' highest per -capita energy.
consumption, Climate and enormous trans-,
Portafion distances born of Canadian geog-
raphy account in part for high consumption,
but low' domestic energy prices are also
accountable. • ' • •
Oil, and gas exploration, which are being
greatly stepped up now, also pose enyiron-
7ifiental 'probleins-.'"The Canadian Oil indus. • try,'.' a major oil company official is reported
to have .said ;recently, "should be moving
into our most promising Atlantic and. Arctic
properties like an, army of occupation..".
Provincial governments in. Canada, while
sUpporting exploration, haVe begun to
recognize problems. In an effortto grasp the
irnplicatiOns :of offshore exploration, •Nova.:
Scotia recently sent officials to an "9oshore
Impacts of Offshore Oil" conference at the
University of Edinburgh. : •
While oceanologists have determined that
only a small percentage of oil pollotion at sea
comes from offshore prodnetion, discharges
of oily wastes from ships and onshore
sources place More than two million tons of
',heavy 'petroletim products into the 'World's
oceans every year. Despite a number of
'stediet, the effect on marine life is still
peorly undertiood, • -
Arctic exploratiOn far oil and natural. gas is
of particular concern to environmentalists.
Damages to this hinterland: can nich, More
quickly get of hand, and take years to
Correct. Will we care enough about what
happens in such remote regiens?
By Dr, C, Kirk Brown .
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND ENERGY
• CORPORATION
The desire to. match 'Canadian energy
supplies with. consumption Patterns by 19"
is moving this nation toward energy choices
which have huge environmental consequ-
. em.es. Althotigh-people-are-heeemilfg-More-
aware of threats from speCifie energy
activities, 'few realize the degree to which
energy systems affect the environment.
Converting fossil fuels into energy is one
of the major sources of air pollutants. All
fossil fuel combustion produces carbon
dioxide, and' there is speculation that
increased leveli in the atmosphere coeld
• • lead itn'a' "greenhonse'effeer and eventual
disruption of ,world weather patterns.
Critics • Of , nuclear • power worry about.
radioactive emissions fro
d
t generating
plants, as well as nuclear safety and 'waste
dispOsal problems They say the -record of
nuclear generation is marked by one plant
breakdown after anether. Supporters,' how,
look at same , record and. claiM
demonstrates nuclear: • plants are . safe.
AMong enviropmeetalists, nuclear power
raises some long-range questions. What will
be done with a nuclear plant once its life is
up? Where do we bury 'a hot, worn °it,:
nuclear reactor?. Can we safely dispose of
radioactive 'Wastes? •
Nuclear and fossil fuel power plants are
also the major'source of thermal discharges'.
into water bodies, and without proper care;
these can seriously-affect delicate environ-
merits..
Hydro prOjects" have • turned beautiful
gorges and river valleys into, huge, ,'dull
lakes; and damaged wildlife habitats. Some
experts claim the James. Bay :project will
alter weather in parts of Atlantic Canada.
Millions of acres of land have been
down, forests for fuel, without replacement,
Wood burning is also' a source other air •
pollutants, and the manufacture. of solar
panels arid windmills is inextricable freni the
exploitation • of metalt and minerals .
Esthetically; the landscape can be blight,
ed not only 'by miles of electrical trati;
smission lines, ,but by acres of solar farms
and wind turbines as well: Somehow, a
tercet-of hugeocitilletg, rigged' above"steel
towers, just doesn't seem destined for a•
snapshot album: I
Conservation is clearly the energy supply
option with the least environmental -harm,
but it is still largely unrecognized at a:supply
'option by governments.. Recent studies have
shown that conservation is`the.mott effective
way to keep energy costs down; while
providing time to develop supply alterna-
fives carefully, • -
Environmentally, conservation results in
only a small, fractiOn •of the impacts 'of
competing energy.supplies: In addition,
conservation is labour intensive, and the fact
that the labour will be required in cities•and
towns across the country. • will reduce
concentrations of activity in frontier areas.
• Canada already has an energy.conserva-
tion prograin in plaee; but it is aimed largely
at increasing public, awareness; Its. effeetiVe-
pest_ is also 'hampered by reliance upon
voluntary measttres.. More importantly,
Canadahas created a Major disincentive to
conservation in the form 'of a national energy
policy 'built around subtidizing oil beldw
world pricei. '
•• The example.of other nations with similar
strates that energy cOnsumptiOn in Canada
can be reduced without hurting the nation's
economy or living standards, But this cannot
be done through low energy prices and a
continuing conservation approach built on
Anions what ,may be needed as we 'Move
out of a • transitional phase: increased oil
"'prices as part of a well"--eraordinated Pte0ain—
which will minimize social impacts; intro-
duction' of fuel economy standards for cars;,
minimum: insulation standards and other
conservation measures adopted as 'part of
14ililding codes; 'annual maintenance and
service inspection of 'all fuel burning, equip- • •
merit . especially cars and furnaces;
efficiency ratings on all appliances; federal
grants and loans to defray capital costs of
Major conservation projects at least Until
Canadian oil prices come into line with the
cost of imported, oil.- •
Redistribution of oil import'subsidization
funds to non-oil energy sources, including
.conservation, could make many projects
economical without creating a new drain on
the federal purse.
The Canadian government has alreadY
shown its willingness to manage national
energy affairs in the area of pricing; it must
now show at much willingness to develop a
national.commitment to conserve energy, By
such an undertaking major new commit-
ments to conventional energy supplies can
be put off,. and environmental impacts can
be kept to a minimum.
returns carbon dioxide 'to. The atmosphere, • Climates and living standards clearrfdeinon-
•1
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