Island News & Views
General · 23rd May 2008
Damien Gillis
MAY 24 - Rafe Mair comes to the Salmon Capital of the World to discuss with the public and First Nations the threats of private river power to three major local watersheds.
Public Meeting May 24, 2008 – Carihi Secondary, 6-9 PM: Save Our Rivers Society and its spokesperson Rafe Mair, former BC Environment Minister and member of the Canadian Broadcasters’ Hall of Fame, are coming to Campbell River to raise awareness with the public and local First Nations about three of the largest proposed private river power projects in BC: Plutonic Power's projects in nearby Toba inlet and multiple proposed projects in Bute Inlet; and Kleana Energy's proposed project on the Klinaklini River feeding into nearby Knight inlet—which would be by far the largest “run of river” private power project in BC. The meeting will also include presentations from the Western Canada Wilderness Committee’s Joe Foy, COPE 378’s “Take Back the Power” campaign, the BC Creek Protection Society, and local First Nations. Invitations are being extended to the private power promoters as well. The meeting will run from 6-9 PM at the Carihi Secondary gymnasium, with presentations, followed by public comment/questions and panel discussion. The public is welcome beforehand from 5-6 PM for refreshments and an opportunity to meet and greet our panelists and pick up information materials.
Panelists will present information about the BC government’s plans to privatize our public power systems — specifically through “run of river” power, which has seen hundreds of BC’s rivers and streams put into private hands. Not only does private river power — with its exorbitant costs that are already pushing up electricity rates for consumers and cutting into the public profits of BC’s last profitable crown corporation, BC Hydro — it is far from the “green” power the population is told about by its government. A single project requires hundreds, even thousands of hectares of deforestation to build access roads, pipes that divert up to 90% of a river’s flow for kilometers, powerhouses and transmission lines. Furthermore, our government is giving away our most valuable natural assets for mitigating and adapting to climate change: BC’s magnificent watersheds.
All three of these projects—or collections of projects—pose a serious threat to coastal fish and wildlife, as well as the supernatural watersheds of Knight, Bute and Toba Inlets.
For more information, please email
contactourrivers.ca or call
Damien Gillis at 604.780.2544
Or visit www.SaveOurRivers.ca or http://www.klinaklini.info/
More Background on Private River Power in BC
As British Columbians we are blessed with the most valuable renewable energy assets in the world — which explains why some of the world’s largest corporations are here now, taking hold of our rivers, streams and forests — destroying wilderness to produce costly power that we don’t need. We import power today because we can — because of our big dams — and we sell it back to our neighbours at higher prices when their demand is high. We choose to do this because it is profitable-returning a hundreds of millions of dollars a year to our province for health care and education. Even at that, BC has been a net exporter of clean, green power to our neighbours in all but three of the last fifteen years.
A public power province since WAC Bennett founded BC Hydro half a century ago, BC’s energy system has been the envy of the world —
delivering clean, green power to consumers at the most affordable rates on the continent, all while returning a healthy profit to the province to help keep taxes low and pay for social services. While
the large heritage dams of the 60s and 70s brought significant environmental, social and economic costs with them — we chose to limit our major power production to just two of BC’s many rivers —
the Peace and Columbia — while leaving the rest to do their job in nature. Our current provincial government is attempting to change all that with the most drastic transformation to our energy policy
since the creation of our public power system years ago. In this era of global warming and conflict over shrinking natural resources, maintaining control of our water — for life and peace — is the most important challenge facing British Columbians today.
Public Meeting May 24, 2008 – Carihi Secondary, 6-9 PM: Save Our Rivers Society and its spokesperson Rafe Mair, former BC Environment Minister and member of the Canadian Broadcasters’ Hall of Fame, are coming to Campbell River to raise awareness with the public and local First Nations about three of the largest proposed private river power projects in BC: Plutonic Power's projects in nearby Toba inlet and multiple proposed projects in Bute Inlet; and Kleana Energy's proposed project on the Klinaklini River feeding into nearby Knight inlet—which would be by far the largest “run of river” private power project in BC. The meeting will also include presentations from the Western Canada Wilderness Committee’s Joe Foy, COPE 378’s “Take Back the Power” campaign, the BC Creek Protection Society, and local First Nations. Invitations are being extended to the private power promoters as well. The meeting will run from 6-9 PM at the Carihi Secondary gymnasium, with presentations, followed by public comment/questions and panel discussion. The public is welcome beforehand from 5-6 PM for refreshments and an opportunity to meet and greet our panelists and pick up information materials.
Panelists will present information about the BC government’s plans to privatize our public power systems — specifically through “run of river” power, which has seen hundreds of BC’s rivers and streams put into private hands. Not only does private river power — with its exorbitant costs that are already pushing up electricity rates for consumers and cutting into the public profits of BC’s last profitable crown corporation, BC Hydro — it is far from the “green” power the population is told about by its government. A single project requires hundreds, even thousands of hectares of deforestation to build access roads, pipes that divert up to 90% of a river’s flow for kilometers, powerhouses and transmission lines. Furthermore, our government is giving away our most valuable natural assets for mitigating and adapting to climate change: BC’s magnificent watersheds.
All three of these projects—or collections of projects—pose a serious threat to coastal fish and wildlife, as well as the supernatural watersheds of Knight, Bute and Toba Inlets.
For more information, please email
contactourrivers.ca or call
Damien Gillis at 604.780.2544
Or visit www.SaveOurRivers.ca or http://www.klinaklini.info/
More Background on Private River Power in BC
As British Columbians we are blessed with the most valuable renewable energy assets in the world — which explains why some of the world’s largest corporations are here now, taking hold of our rivers, streams and forests — destroying wilderness to produce costly power that we don’t need. We import power today because we can — because of our big dams — and we sell it back to our neighbours at higher prices when their demand is high. We choose to do this because it is profitable-returning a hundreds of millions of dollars a year to our province for health care and education. Even at that, BC has been a net exporter of clean, green power to our neighbours in all but three of the last fifteen years.
A public power province since WAC Bennett founded BC Hydro half a century ago, BC’s energy system has been the envy of the world —
delivering clean, green power to consumers at the most affordable rates on the continent, all while returning a healthy profit to the province to help keep taxes low and pay for social services. While
the large heritage dams of the 60s and 70s brought significant environmental, social and economic costs with them — we chose to limit our major power production to just two of BC’s many rivers —
the Peace and Columbia — while leaving the rest to do their job in nature. Our current provincial government is attempting to change all that with the most drastic transformation to our energy policy
since the creation of our public power system years ago. In this era of global warming and conflict over shrinking natural resources, maintaining control of our water — for life and peace — is the most important challenge facing British Columbians today.