Calmer heads prevail at fracking debate
In Canada, Nova Scotia and Cumberland County, the development of natural resources is more divisive than ever.
We see this with oil pipeline development in Alberta, which has pitted province against province, and we see this with Northern Pulp in Pictou County, where the development of an effluent pipe into the Northumberland Strait has pitted community member against community member.
Fracking in Cumberland County, if allowed, has the potential to create the same kind of fissures in this community, but live debates, such as the one at the curling club in Pugwash, help ease those divisions.
In the age of social media, the internet, and the 24-hour news cycle, it’s easy for people to crash wave upon wave of emotion, and extreme views, upon each other.
It’s much different in a live setting. Calmer waters prevailed in Pugwash, where people on both sides of the issue were forced to listen to facts, not emotion.