This is our final chance to stop the Site C dam
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- Published on Thursday, 06 November 2014 17:22
- Written by editor
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We still have a chance to save the Peace River Valley!
Hi PAOV,
Recently BC Hydro received an environmental assessment certificate from the BC and federal governments for the Site C dam project. This is bad news for those of us who want to stop the dam and save the beautiful Peace River Valley from being flooded out. The BC government must now decide if the Site C Dam makes financial sense.
We say this dam makes no sense at all.
And there are many who agree with us. First Nations from the Peace River Valley oppose the dam, as do local farmers and ranchers. Even large industrial interests are concerned that the dam would raise electricity bills through the roof.
I believe that we still have a fighting chance to win – we can stop this dam!
The bottom line is the Site C dam is an $8 billion mega-project with no useful purpose. Since 2008, British Columbians have been using less electricity per person, and that trend will continue as new energy-efficient devices become more and more commonplace.
If the Site C dam were to be built, BC would lose tens of millions of dollars each year selling excess electricity at a loss to out-of-province buyers. Everything would be impacted – our provincial debt and electricity rates would go way up, and our credit rating would go way down.
A high debt load and a low credit rating would make useful projects, like the construction of hospitals and schools, much more difficult and expensive to accomplish. The Site C dam could drag BC down into the whirlpool of debt that has gripped so many other places in the world.
Then there is the horrendous environmental damage the dam would create if it were built. Over 100 kilometres of precious valley-bottom lands along the Peace River would be flooded. These lands include some of the best farmland to be found in northern BC. Critical wildlife habitats would be lost. First Nations heritage sites would disappear under the rising water.
That’s why I am asking you to write to BC’s Energy Minister Bill Bennett and BC’s Finance Minister Mike de Jong, and demand that they cancel the Site C dam project now, on the grounds that to build it would be to endanger the province’s financial well-being.
Thanks again for all your support in the campaign to stop Site C!
For the wild,
Joe Foy | National Campaign Director
Wilderness Committee
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