Nothing natural about fracking process

Re There must be a way forward, Editorial, Jan. 11 I was sorry to see your editorial supporting the coastal gas link pipeline. This issue far transcends who speaks for Indigenous peoples.

The gas to be exported is fracked. This means its production has caused massive methane pollution of the atmosphere and overuse and pollution of precious water supplies, as well as local earthquakes and other environmental problems.

Canada ranks 54th out of 60 countries in the Climate Change Performance Index. This is deeply shameful. The United States and Saudi Arabia are ranked 59 and 60.

Futurists have said that advanced technical societies will destroy themselves. It would be good, to put it mildly, to prove them wrong.

Jenny Carter, Peterborough

Your editorial claims that the pipeline under protest isn’t particularly controversial because it will transport natural gas, not heavy crude oil, suggesting that the people who consider it worthy of controversy have no facts on which to base their protests.

But that so-called natural gas is fracked, which is controversial no matter how it is transported. While it may not threaten the environment while being transported, it certainly does while being forced out of the ground with harmful chemicals and millions of gallons of water.

I suggest you consult thenarwhal.ca for information on fracked gas. I first read about this website when referenced by your esteemed columnist, Tanya Talaga.

Of course, the main issue is agreement from the First Nations across whose land the pipeline will travel, and that means from the people who belong to those First Nations, not the elected councils that depend on the pleasure of the federal government for their funding.

Elizabeth Guthrie, Toronto