[Vision2020] Sometimes the Good Guys Win (even if it'sjust temporary)

Tue Aug 17 18:11:48 PDT 2010

Contrary to some statements in this thread, I am among those concerned not only with local environmental issues, but with large scale environmental issues and with big oil.

Previous posted to Tom Trail early in July:

Here are some links that may aid in learning more about the Alberta oil/tar sands, especially the China connection.  Why should Idaho roads be used to help create an environmental disaster far greater than the current BP disaster, and to make China (and France), not the U.S. and Canada richer?

It's time for our country to invest private and public resources into developing large scale solar energy generation and storage source, just like the space race program in the 50's and 60's.  That will help us wean off foreign oil and make it easier to oppose horrible plans like the oil/tar sands.

http://blogs.berkeley.edu/2010/06/24/alberta%E2%80%99s-tar-sands-a-slow-motion-equivalent-of-the-gulf-disaster/

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/05/22/CHINA.TMP

http://www.greenfudge.org/2010/02/17/tar-sands-china-invests-in-canadian-oil-as-u-s-moves-out/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8231006.stm

http://www.tarsandswatch.org/chinas-oil-sands-push

http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/5605227-alberta-oil-sands-deal-gives-china-veto-rights-on-oil-exports

If you Google: Alberta oil tar sands china   or   Alberta oil tar sands environment

you will find hundreds of articles, some clearly not only scary from an environmental viewpoint, but from the specter of China gaining more wealth and power at great costs to the U.S. and Canada.

We need to stop these shipments that have very little benefit to the U.S. but bode great future losses, but huge gains for China, an environmentally insensitive country of enormous power.

Every day this last week in Canada the business sections of the newspapers were full of news and OP/ED articles about the oil/tar sands and the huge foreign investments (China and France) who give not a whit about causing environmental problems of great magnitude far from their homelands.
____________________________

A number of us are working with Tom Trail to amend and to improve the state statutes dealing with certain kinds of highway loads.

The following is part of a post that I sent dealing with this issue and the corresponding national interests issue:

Tom,

In my remarks about the draft ordinance, I did not address the following issue, although in the longer term it is an important one.

The present huge proposal to aid in the trans-shipping of essential machinery for the Alberta tar sands is certainly not in the best interests of the United States.

As you know from links I previously sent you, China is by far the biggest investor in the Alberta tar sands projects -- billions and billions of dollars of investment.  They now have the controlling interest, and now can dictate to whom the oil produced is sold to and for how much.

This is not in our interest.  

China is now the most potent economic force in the world having taken our place a few years ago.  They are our competition, and have shown via their currency policies, their manufacturing of unlicensed knock-offs, etc that they are cutthroat and unscrupulous.  Hence, we ought not be aiding them to so us more harm, especially by helping them develop energy sources the products of which can be sold to us at gouging prices (and thus weakening our competitive ability in the global and national marketplace) and at the cost of great environmental damage to North America.

There ought be a way via statute to deny permits for processes that are not in the best interests of our country.  We need to think about a way to do this before any final draft of the statute at issue is completed.

_______________________

Wayne A. Fox
1009 Karen Lane
PO Box 9421
Moscow, ID  83843

waf at moscow.com
208 882-7975

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Tom Hansen 
  To: 'Paul Rumelhart' ; 'Wayne Price' ; MoscowCares at moscow.com 
  Cc: 'Moscow Vision 2020' ; 'Jeanne McHale' ; chicory at wildblue.net ; 'Kathy Judson' 
  Sent: Tuesday, August 17, 2010 5:10 PM
  Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Sometimes the Good Guys Win (even if it'sjust temporary)

  Paul Rumelhart, without substantiation, stated:

  "Everybody seems to be looking to this as a 'win' for the 'good guys'
  because we are in effect sticking it to Big Oil."

  Wrong, Mr. Rumelhart.  My concern, as well as everybody else with whom I
  have spoken, relates to the potential for serious damage, not only to the
  highway, but the environment if an accident were to happen.

  Take a look at:

  http://www.MoscowCares.com/Highway12

  Nowhere does it even imply that people are upset with "Big Oil".  Can you
  even begin to imagine the damage, and the costs related to repairing that
  damage, if a road or bridge were to collapse under the pressure of cargo
  (six feet wider than the road) weighing 200 tons.

  Do you see what I'm saying?

  Tom Hansen
  Moscow, Idaho

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