'g B4 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, November 16, 2005 ae 7 SKEENA ANGLER ROB BROWN a Pipe dreams - he: prospect of an oil pipeline snaking _ through the coast mountains to Kitimat -has the congregation that worships at the - “ing hymns of praise to the gods of unrestrained in- - dustrial expansion. Before they offer up one prayer to y the prospect of jobs and the putative economic well-being they . believe the mammoth project will bring, these true believers - ~ and all of us in the Northwest, for that matter: - — need to reflect On some really troubling __ aspects of this massive undertaking. First we need to consider the Big Picture. For * those of you who haven’ t heard, the amount of sea. ice.in Arctic waters is shrinking by about 14,000 square miles per year, an area about half the size of Nova Scotia, while slabs the size of prairie towns are breaking free of the Antarctic ice sheet with frightening regularity. Glaciers ‘are retreating like ‘routed infantry; look up and around on the next clear day, and you will see it is so. ‘The results of one’ ‘of the most recent studies * combined 46 years of data documenting. the declin-. “-ing extent of Northern, Hemisphere sea ice. and ana- ~ lyzed the information using two leading computer ‘programs that simulate world climate. Authored by a team of scientists headed up by Konstantin Y. Vinnikov of the University of Mary-— land and subsequently published in the highly re- - spected journal Science, the study indicated a less 4 than two per-cent probability that the melting of:the: “past 20 years is due to. normal climate variation, “* Ultimately, Vinnikov et al concluded that the _ data strongly suggests that the observed decrease in northern hemisphere sea ice is related to human- ‘caused global warming. The Maryland scientists are not alone. For the last 20 years, scientists have been publishing Jer- emiads warning of the effects of global warming. After each, the media, which thrives on contro- versy, finds it in the spin produced by the corpora- tions who profit from fossil fuels, in much the same "way that tobacco corps once argued that smoking _ wasn’t bad for you and auto makers claimed tetra- ethyl lead was no threat to health. . Even if you distrust the growing scientific con- sensus and don’t believe in erring on the side of caution, and believe environmentalists are domi- - nated by hysterical yuppies and tattooed eco-freaks - _ with green hair and piercings, you will have trouble - ignoring the Pentagon, who, in a report to George Bush, warned that catastrophic climate changes ‘in “the next 15 years are a bigger threat than terrorism, and will lead to massive riots and nuclear war. The combustion of fossil fuels is at the heart of _ “global warming. With the global ecosystem unrav- eling like a cheap:suit, it’s patently obvious that we need to get off the hydro carbon express and aggressively seek alternate fuel forms. Building a pipeline perpetuates the status quo. Once you get oil to Kitimat you need to take it - out by mega tanker. Double hulled or not, a number of oil tankers break up every year and wreak marine havoc. Added to this pollution are the daily spills that attend oil transport that in aggregate cause " §gceanic pollution many times larger than large oil spills. When you ponder this i issue, consider that if the moratorium of tanker traffic on this coast is lift- ed, oil tankers will pass through treacherous cold seas where cleanup and containment is impossible ~ that’s right, impossible. The world’s largest spill occurred i in the warm seas of the Middle East during the Gulf War. In a matter of months, naturally occurring bacteria had cleaned it up. In the cold waters off our coast there_is no such bacterial action. Oil persists here. Knowing that, governments have attempted to contain spills in _experiments on the east coast, where a similar situ- ~ ation exists..On seas as flat on pee on a plate, using State-of-the-art equipment, they failed miserably. Scour the Internet and you will not find a single in- stance of an oil spill roundup that worked. In evaluating pipeline pros and cons, dwell on the prospect of punching a pipeline over and through the mountains around here. They’re young _. fellows in geological terms, these coastal ranges. Like most youngsters they tend to be a little quirky. and unstable: their tops fall off; they’re slide prone; floods are not uncommon and there’s always the. risk of seismic upheaval. ' The history of the natural gas pipeline ‘should give us pause, especially considering the environ- - mental cost of an oil rupture. The line will need a right of way, a massive linear . clearcut that will follow the corridors of the Morice, the Burnie, the Clore and the Kitimat Rivers with an incalculable impact on the fauna therein. But, on the other hand, the pipeline will provide 35 to 75 long term jobs. Temple of Growth is Good fervently sing- , it 3 / TERRACE STANDARD 4 SORTS 638-7283 fio a HUGO: HARRISON, one of Canada’s premiere 3 freeskiers hits the backcountry in the Terrace area last winter. Scenes Tike this c one will be ' featured in the film “Hit List” that will be shown at Gator’s Pub this Saturday. ; Ski films feature local peaks” BLAKE JORGENSEN PHOTO i “Hit List” just one of two films with a focus on area skiing, snowboarding - By SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN’. SKIERS and snowboarders here can finally see the results of much filming here last year by prominent North” . Arfierican’ filmmakers, ’ with” ‘the recent release of two -films featuring some of the world’s top athletes. “Hit List” is the latest offering from ski film gi- ants Matchstick Productions and cinematographer Scott Gaffney. He and his crew of seasoned backcountry skiers spent several weeks in Ter- race last winter heli-skiing on local slopes in search of big powder and top- -quality footage. . “Paradox” . And Standard Films’ lat- est DVD is also out. Called it features out- standing black and white footage of some of the _, world’s most talented.snow- ” boarders hitting area t hills; ‘Both crews were awed by the features area moun- tains have to offer and spent many patient days waiting for weather to lift just to get the perfect shots. Gaffney and Standard Films’ cinematographer Mike Hatchett both said they liked filming here because of the easy access to the back- slopes never before featured in their films. ° @ Lady liberty for Lundqvist MARK HART finished painting this goalie mask with the Statue of Liberty de- sign-for New York Ranger Henrik Lundqvist after working non-stop for 3-1/2 days earlier this month. He said Lundqvist asked for something plain, sharp and simple and that the Rangers equipment manager said it should look dif- ferent than the mask of former Ranger netminder John Vanbiesbrouck. Feber ATS . They also liked filming in Terrace over places: such as Alaska because there are far fewer athletes and film crews here. “There was ‘much hype = surrounding | the~film: crews ** visiting last year and people here now have the chance to see what it was all about. | And the results are out- standing. Northern Escape Heli-. Skiing is hosting a pre-sea- son party featuring a special screening of “Hit List” Nov. 19. The evening is being ‘dubbed A Tribute to Ullr — . country and the ability to hit - the god of skiing and snow. . “It’s a great film and we’ll — have the full sound system _and guide for Northern Es- and a big screen,” says Matt | Pinto, operations. manager cape. Following the screen- ing, Whistler’s D.J. Rico- chet will be spinning tunes ~ for the rest of the night.” Keep an eye out for door prizes including a free day of heli-skiing. This is a no- minors event happening at Gator’s nightclub down- stairs at the Best Western Terrace Inn. Tickets are $10 and are available at Azad Adven- tures, All Seasons Source for Sports and Ruins Board . Shop. Doors open at 7 p.m., film at 8 p.m. For details call 615- 3184. ‘ Curlers get grant for rink ‘Scott Gaffney Both films are also avail- able at local Sporting goods stores. renovations THE TERRACE Curling Association will get over $100,000 for much-needed renovations thanks to money from the provincial government. _ _The club will receive $118,725 for a new 1,400 square metre (15,000 sq. ft.) roof, replacement of the insulation, electrical; plumbing, painting and washroom upgrades to make the facility more user-friendly. The money comes from the Olympic Paralympic. Live ~. Sites fund, as announced by minister of economic develop- ment Colin Hansen Nov. 7. “Right now we're losing a lot of money energy-wise be- cause our heating is going right out the roof,” says Sylvia Griffith, vice-president of the Terrace Curling Association. The 34- ~year-old facility’s. roof has been leaking for awhile, preventing the use of sheet one. A consultant who looked at it said it didn’t have much life left and could only be patched so many times, she says. Washroom Tenovations will make them wheelchair-ac- - cessible. ; While the club has no wheelchair curlers at present, Prince George and other areas are seeing the sport's popular- ity rise and a wheelchair world curling event already exists, Griffith says. “We'd like to start promoting it,” she says. . . Renovations, which will also allow the club to host more off-season events, likely won’t happen until spring now that the season is underway with the first bonspiel scheduled for next week. She says the club asked for the money to upgrade the rink last summer. The club’s directors will have to meet to discuss the de- tails'of the renovations and await the paperwork, she adds. Announced in November 2004, the $20-million Olympic Paralympic Live Sites program provides up to $330,000 in funding for projects with budgets under $1 million, in com-_ munities outside of Greater Vancouver and the Whistler- Squamish corridor. , The B.C. government has now invested more than $9.3 million in 60 Live Sites projects provincewide. Earlier this fall, in order to allow more communities time to apply for funding, the government extended the deadline . for applications to March 31, 2007, and the deadline for completing projects was extended to March 31, 2008. -'