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Fracking has far reaching consequences

Fracking has far-reaching consequences Open letter to the select committee on fracking: After the meeting about fracking in Watson Lake, I had the impression that the majority of people, with one exception, spoke out against fracking, including the Liard

Open letter to the select committee on fracking:

After the meeting about fracking in Watson Lake, I had the impression that the majority of people, with one exception, spoke out against fracking, including the Liard First Nation.

Some had no objections against using the resources generally, but wanted more scientific information; in essence they also used a more cautious approach.

This is all understandable, where we hear about so many states and countries that have banned fracking in their jurisdictions, and for good reason - the use and poisoning of tremendous amounts of water for a simple fracking operation, and then either storing it in ponds or pounding it back into the ground, should be declared a criminal activity.

By that single fact alone, fracking should be outright banned in the Yukon. On top of that, there are countless adverse effects that fracking has on people and the environment. There is proven air pollution with severe neurological effects on humans and animals, groundwater contamination, the causing of earthquakes and leaking of methane. Fracking is also destroying farms and ranches, and displacing people who made a living on the land for generations.

All that, of course, gets disputed by the oil and gas industry, and they will drag people through lengthy and costly court battles that no ordinary citizen can afford.

That all being known makes it puzzling to me why fracking is ever debated in the Yukon at all.

Parallel to that, our federal and territorial neocons are strategically trying to dismantle environmental protection to cater to their friends in the oil and gas industry. This is corporate welfare and ideological engineering on a large scale. Any sane, reasonable human being would find this to be outrageously biased to say the least.

If we do not brake the grip of the multinational oil and gas companies on our democratic process and regulatory regime, consultation and democratic participation will become meaningless exercises.

In seeing the whole scenario unfolding, with fracking growing like a cancer south of the Yukon border, and its potential to destroy most of the Yukon wilderness and environment, it is only logical to clearly say no to fracking in Yukon!

Reiner Rembe

Watson Lake