No More Giveaways says our Premier to the People
Guaranteed Giveaway he tells Industry and Central Canada
Premier not only thinks we are gullible he's telling the world we are...
Guaranteed Giveaway he tells Industry and Central Canada
Premier not only thinks we are gullible he's telling the world we are...
Every time I hear the Premier or Ed Martin trying to convince the people that our hydropower must be exported I get ill. This is the real threat to our long-term future and prosperity. Today on Open-Line Randy asked me about the "fact" (Martin's and some Quebec economist's) - that we can't use the power domestically so we must export.
Let's look at the real situation - industry is being told over and over that Newfoundland and Labrador wants to export power from the Lower Churchill - so why in god's earth would they bother to worry about having to set up industry here to get the power. Then the Quebec genius apparently adds that our power would be too expensive to use in Labrador - so what we need to do is run it through thousands of miles of transmission lines which will cost money to build and maintain plus the marketing and contractual costs - to deal with out-of-province customers.
The same could be said for Iceland or Norway or the States - if they can expect Iceland or others to export it's power - why set up there. Of course they would rather operate in Ontario - it's easier for them - but we have to put our foot down and say to the world - you want the power come to Labrador - set-up shop and get it.
We are simply sending the message to industry - you don't have to come here to get the raw resource. Williams is selling us out - the biggest giveaway in our history.
Tell you what - tell the world that Newfoundland and Labrador has passed legislation which prohibits the export of hydropower and Labrador will get some customers.
Instead Martin tells Ontario and Quebec come pick our low hanging fruit and take our future while you are at it.
In this day of outrageous and crippling oil and gas costs to industry - there is no manner of development that would make Lower Churchill Power unattractive.
Williams tells the oil companies he wants refineries if they want the oil - and we don't own that resource - it is non-renewable - and subject to volatile market prices - yet he tells the world come take our hydropower - which we do own - is renewable - and subject primarily to fixed costs - and you don't have to set-up industry here to get it. Our Premier is using our power to drive industry to Ontario and Quebec and if the Americans get their way to New England as well.
The message is all wrong - and it always has been - and until we change the message - we will not succeed in maximizing our natural resource benefits.
Here are some quotes from a story out of Boston:
Natural gas fuels about 40 percent of the regional generating capacity. This represents a dangerous over-dependency, subjecting the region to potential disaster in the event of a regional gas shortage. Unfortunately, New England is on the verge of becoming even more dependent on gas: it has 2,600 megawatts of proposed natural-gas-burning projects on the drawing board.
The good news is that Canada wants to export clean, renewable energy this way. The Province of Newfoundland and Labrador wants to construct a Lower Churchill hydro project and export its power to the south.
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My god how ignorant does the Premier want us to look - Boston can rationalize buying our power at whatever cost yet we cannot see us using it ourselves. We are past the primate stage Premier Williams - a monkey can export hydropower - it takes a business person with guts to attract industry to use it in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Are we going to let it happen again?????
We must have learned from the Upper Churchill and that was when oil was 3 - 10 dollars a barrel. Speak up people and speak up now - before we do it again...
2 comments:
Sue it is quite obvious Canadians and Americans still think we are in the primate state of development. And, no doubt about it, a monkey's brain would figure out more quickly than our homo sapien brain that the best route to go with the Lower Churchill is to develop it for use in Labrador.
The whole world is in a state of development at this point in time. China and India and the rest of Asia are zooming ahead like a house on fire. They are not going to stop at this juncture. Asians want all the material things that North Americans and Europeans possess. They have gotten a taste of material things and they will to keep going until they are on par with the developed world.
So China and India are looking for all kinds of resources, energy, minerals, ores, and whatever they can get their hands on to create the type of economies others have been enjoying for so long. There are 2 billion Asians, all wanting a car. That is just one item.
Why are we contemplating exporting these resources, when we could advertise for industries to come to this province instead of sending our energy and raw materials to Quebec and Ontario to keep their existing industries alive, some of those industries which should have been here in the first place? In other words industries we were screwed out of.
The first thing we have to do here is grow a brain. Then we talk about developing our resources for Newfoundland and Labrador. And in the case of Lower Churchill Hydro development, it should be for Labrador. It is as easy as ABC.
If our politicians move in the direction they appear to be, there will be nobody else to blame but them.
One of the prolems we have here is that this Premier and Government, as have all previous ones, do not truly see Labrador as part of 'the Province'. The sole aim, up til now, and including now, is that the Island government is only able to see what good Labrador resources can do for the Island. The only way to get those kinds of resource to the Island is to convert them to cash. Most Labradorians have understood this for decades, now some others are beginning to understand this as well. Good for you.
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