Horgan blew it — politics as usual prevails

Re: “Province OKs Site C project,” Dec. 12.

The announcement by Premier John Horgan that the government would continue with the Site C development marks a historic missed opportunity. Claiming during the election that he would bring a new politics and would do things differently, the premier has betrayed this undertaking by continuing the politics-as-usual approach.

Sadly, the premier has been unable to shake the union/construction hydro cabal that so dominates electrical generation in this country. One sees it in Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec and Manitoba. And this is especially true in British Columbia in that there were other, more suitable alternatives available that have been shunned because of this entrenched hydro bias.

I speak most particularly of geothermal, which could act as base power.

One of the valid criticisms of renewables — solar and wind — is that they are intermittent power sources and one needs stable base power. But as the Canadian Geothermal Association demonstrated in its written presentations to the B.C. Utilities Commission, viable geothermal sites are available in B.C. that could add to base power over the next few years and do it cheaper and cleaner. Then one could supplement with appropriate renewables.

One of the other advantages of geothermal is that the projects can be strategically located around the province, reducing the amount of transmission facilities needed.

And so, B.C.’s chance to really be a part of tomorrow has fizzled into yesterday’s dubious economics, old politics and fake environmental policies of hydro development. Brian Peckford Nanaimo