Open Letter to Gateway Contractors

-
Transtoll Inc., The Macquarie Group, Flatiron Construction Corp., Kiewit Corporation,

I am writing to ask that you cancel your participation in the Metro Vancouver (Canada) “Gateway Program” as it is currently planned. Instead you should negotiate with the public and provincial government to create a new program that is environmentally sustainable and financial viable. Highway expansion does not fit these criteria.

Here are a few reasons to withdraw from the Gateway Program:

1. Reduced revenues as a result of carbon reduction programs.

Programs like BC's carbon tax are designed to encourage people to drive less. Fewer vehicle trips means less revenues for the private partner.

2. Reduced revenues as a result of peak oil.

We are already seeing people reducing their vehicle trips as a result of recent spikes in gasoline prices. As the price of a finite resources increases we will see further reductions in potential revenues.

3. Increased costs.

Rising oil prices also means increased costs for pavement – a basic component of highway construction.

4. Public Opinion.

There is widespread opposition to the Gateway Program in BC and participation in that program could be a public relations nightmare.

5. Protests.

Two recent highway expansion projects (Sea to Sky and Bear Mountain) were delayed for months by protests.

6. Financing.

The current situation in the global financial markets makes financing the project extremely difficult.

7. It is the right thing to do.

The Gateway Program will increase emissions from the sector that is already the highest source of greenhouse gas emissions in this region. It will also increase pollution that is responsible for health problems. Climate change has been called the greatest moral issue that our generation faces.

Sincerely,

Rob_

(For contact info to send your own letter: http://www.ecocascadia.org/BCCC.shtml )

Comments

Anonymous said…
Your blog keeps getting better and better! Your older articles are not as good as newer ones you have a lot more creativity and originality now keep it up!
5:37 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What are so many Canadians duped by this graphic?

-
Image
This graphic gets several things wrong. First it assumes that Canadian forests are a CO2 sink. But in fact they have been a CO2 source for several years (in other words they are emitting more CO2 than they absorb). The data to support this is publicly available: https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/forests/report/disturbance/16552 More obvious is the fact the graphic also assumes a misunderstanding of how the carbon cycle and emission reporting works. The graphic claims that Canada produces 559 Mt of CO2 (the actual number is closer to 700) but the number reported for CO2 emissions is not the total CO2 released in Canada. It is just the amount from post-industrial sources. Animals (including humans) all release CO2 as part of natural processes. These are not counted in the emissions reporting because they have no affect on global warming. They have no affect because the CO2 is absorbed by plants (including Canada's boreal forests). During per-indus
Read more

Is BC Hydro about to Kill Solar Energy in BC?

-
On April 20th BC Hydro announced changes to the net-metering program. The announcement was made late on a Friday afternoon, which is when one makes announcements that you hope the public and media will ignore. About 95% of the projects under net-metering are solar energy (photovoltaic) projects. The immediate change would limit the size of projects based on the utility customer's electrical consumption in the prior year. It would also end the payment for excess annual power. This change won't have a major affect on new participation since most projects would fall below this threshold. What is more worrisome is the contents of the submission to the BC Utilities Commission (BCUC) which will need to approve the change.  In the submission it is clear that BC Hydro thinks that there is already too much enrolment in the net-metering program.  And they state they will further review the program and make another submission to the BCUC before the end of the year. Reading between the
Read more

Buses on the Port Mann

-
Image
Apologists for the Gateway Program appear to be re-writing history and claiming that Translink had no plans to run transit over the Port Mann bridge. In actual fact a transit route with queue jumpers was originally planned to be implemented in 2004-2005 (see page 93 of Tanslink's South of Fraser - Area Transit Plan, Final Report - June 2000 : http://www.translink.bc.ca/files/pdf/plan_proj/area_plans/south_fr_final.pdf) Later it appears this was changed to 2007 (see page A8 of Three Year (2005 - 2007) Implementation & Financial Strategy - December 2004 :http://www.translink.bc.ca/files/pdf/plan_proj/ThreeYr05-07Strategic.pdf ) The two maps below produced by a third party illustrate the plans outlined in the documents referenced above. The Port Mann bus route is shown in red. The 2000 Transit plan had the route stopping at central Surrey - this map extends that route. The queue jumper lanes. Update: This project is also mentioned in the "KEEPING GREATER VANCOUVER MOVING&q
Read more