In recognition of Earth Day, we geologists, geophysicists and engineers are celebrating the fact that we are intimately engaged in improving our knowledge and understanding of our planet.
This letter is inspired by one published by professional geoscientists in Quebec where, like here, the territory is vast, the mineral potential is exceptional and the challenging land use dialogue is at the forefront of the social agenda.
We geoscientists are inspired by the Earth. The Earth is our daily bread, our trade, our passion. We actualize our interest by translating observations and understanding into practical guidelines and procedures, with the motivation that our work will be of benefit to people.
The Earth provides substances and resources that contribute to the quality of life for all people. To find and extract these substances is not a matter of chance. The process is rigorous, lengthy, costly and with no guarantees of final success.
We understand the challenge posed by the goal of sustainable and responsible development. We share that goal and we rise to meet it constructively, ethically and professionally.
Our work is at the front end of a long chain of events that will eventually provide the string for the cello, the paint to the artist, the computer to the architect, the nail to the carpenter and the instrument to the surgeon.
Such technical and scientific challenges are compatible with respect for the environment. The strictness of current laws, regulations and practices are far removed from the lax practices of the past, and so they should be.
We, too, want to be proud of the environmental legacy that our children will inherit.
Developing our mineral potential can be done alongside of our other goals. To do that, we need to incorporate expert knowledge with a vision of the future that is socially and technically responsible. This is what geoscientists do daily.
Let’s, indeed, celebrate all of the Earth.
Daniele Heon, Al Doherty, Roger Hulstein, Andy Hureau, Karen Pelletier, Bill Mann, Jean Pautler, Forest Pearson, Dave Tenney, Mike Burke, Dave Hildes, Carl Schulze, Phil Jackson
Whitehorse