EDITORIAL Lakes, forests, people If you’re not a child or over 65 years of age; if you don’t have asthma, chronic bronchitis, heart disease or emphysema and if you’re not pregnant — you can relax — sort of. It means you’re not in a high risk group from the effects of acid rain pollutants. It means you can “simply” regard acid rain pollution as the third u ANERIKKKA MAXI-SERIES Fp Il ue STORY OF 4 PEOPLE cause of lung disease after active smoking and passive smoking. Ss A NEO EO This is the startling testimony heard by the environmental pollution sub- = +} ~~ = BRUTAL 17> committee of the U.S. Senate. Testifying were doctors of the American SESE PD NSER VAT I vE TAKE Academy of Pediatrics, the American Lung VE R y = Association, the American Public Health G RONALD REAGAN é Doesn't it make | Association and Mount Sinai Medical Centre, STARIN G 24 HOURS & more sense to New York City. Witnesses said that studies PLA v/ S AN a TY N eA show pollutants in acid rain are an important cause of bronchitis and asthma, a among children. “Until now, the basis for action on acid rain was its adverse effects on water resources and it potential effects on forests,” said one doctor in his submission. “Now we have independent evidence of its impact on health.” Another doctor told the committee: “The sources of the pollution are being identified. Technology to significantly reduce pollutants has been in operation for many years in Japan. Doesn’t it make more sense to eliminate the cause of ¥ the health problem rather than have children suffer?” ao. MG Doesn’t it, indeed. 3 What U.S. legislators are now hearing from their own people Canadians have argued for years. The case of clean-up, for tough laws with teeth, has been made time and again. eliminate the cause of the health problem than to have children suffer? But Ronald Reagan opposes anti-pollution laws. He wants “more study.” The powerful vested interests have told him acid rain is caused by ducks. Editor — SEAN GRIFFIN Assistant Editor — DAN KEETON Business & Circulation Manager — MIKE PRONIUK Graphics — ANGELA KENYON Published weekly at 2681 East Hastings Street Vancouver, B.C. V5K 1Z5 Phone (604) 251-1186 ISSN 0030-896X Subscription Rate: Canada — $16 one year; $10 six months Foreign — $25 one year; Second class mail registration number 1560 While he vetoes funds for environmental protection and the U.S. dumps its pollution on its neighbors as well as on its own citizens, hard evidence is now produced showing that pollution kills lakes, forests and people. bes — When Shamrock Summit III bursts upon Ottawa in April and Ronald ; ) Reagan returns with more empty promises to pitch at “my good friend Brian”’, thousands of Canadians should be there to tell him (and Mulroney) we expect immediate, effective action to end the shower of death raining on this country from south of the border. hen the Social Crédit government by the right wing Liberal-National ee announced last year that it would be lifting the moratorium on uranium mining in the province, it knew that it would have to run a thicket. of public opposition. Undoubtedly, it was because of that oppo- sition that Energy Minister Jack Davis dismissed any ideas of an impending mine development, insisting that the morato- rium was being lifted simply to remove any dampening effect that it might be hav- _ ing on exploration for other minerals. But no sooner had the announcement come than the joint owners of the Blizzard uranium mine site, Lacan Mining, Norcen - Energy, Campbell Chibougamau and Ont- ario Hydro — who were close to opening their mine in 1980 when the moratorium was imposed — declared that they would be meeting within a month to consider whether they would begin mining on the site. And now a report in the Financial Post Feb. 9 provides some idea of why they were so quick to move — and why uranium mining may indeed be on the corporate agenda in this province. The Post story quotes the London- based Uranium Institute which issued a forecast last month indicating that ura- nium demand in the world would rise by some eight per cent by 1990 and by 37 per cent over the next 13 years. The Institute, which is made up of both producers and users of uranium — and includes five Canadian mining companies — reported that the increased demand would result from new nuclear power facilities expected to be operating by the year 2000. As a result, it said, new mines will have to be developed to produce the additional uranium that will be required. People and Issues Undoubtedly, there will be increased pressure on the Socred cabinet to give the go-ahead to the Blizzard mine consortium to proceed with its development. And that makes it even more imperative that the government get the resounding message from British Columbians that they do not support uranium mining in B.C. — Demand or no demand, the immediate dangers of uranium mining and its long- term potential for environmental catas- trophe far outweigh any economic benefits (if indeed there are any) that would come from commencing uranium mining in this province. The moratorium, far from being lifted, should be replaced with a ban. * * * ose who have followed closely the campaign to prevent the great climax forests of Lyell and Meares islands and the Stein watershed from being put to the log- ging companies’ chainsaws will be inter- ested to know that their efforts have their counterpart half way across the world — in Australia. In an attempt to put more chips into their pulp and paper mills at a time when market prices are high, three of that coun- try’s biggest forest companies — two of which are controlled by the same multina- ~ tional — have mounted an assault on the unique forests of Tasmania, the island ter- ritory south of Melbourne. Although the issue there does not involve aboriginal rights, the objectives of the multinationals and the jobs-versus- environment controversy that they have fostered presents a striking parallel with the situation in this province. The companies involved, primarily the Associated Pulp and Paper Mills(APPM) and Tasmanian Pulp and Forest Holdings (TPFH), have already begun logging in two of the areas, the Lemonthyne Valley and a huge tract called Jackey’s Marsh, with the blessing of the Tasmanian government. But the logging is proceeding despite the overwhelming opposition of conservation- ists who point out that the areas are part of the country’s National Estate forests and contain scores of rare plant species not found elsewhere. They also note that there is supposed to be an agreement with the federal Labor Party government to halt logging while a compromise proposal is worked out, but the forest companies have proceeded nonetheless. For their part, industry representatives admit that timber for their needs is availa- ble elsewhere but want to log there because of the ease of access and the value of the timber in the two areas. In another parallel with this province, several resource- based multinationals in Australia are seek- ing the right to log and mine in national parks, a demand which has been backed governing coalition in Tasmania. Bob Brown, an independent MP from Tasmania, points out that very companies which havespent $1.4 million in advertis- ing to convince the public that jobs must come before the environment, is cutting jobs by closing camps elsewhere. “APPM, which is logging Jackey’s Marsh, made $35 million last year and was responsible for the closure of 96 labor-intensive small sawmills since 1970,” he said. Significantly, the logging currently underway is being done by non-unionized contractors which, unfortunately, pre- dominate in the Australian forest indus- try. Jackey’s Marsh for blockading logging trucks and the campaign is expected to intensify. Several conservation groups have vowed to set up platforms in trees to | block further logging. What is missing from the Australian events is the full support of the labor movement since the Australian Council of Trade Unions has backed the logging companies. But others in the labor move- ment have rejected the cut-and-get-out policies of the forest multinationals, | including the Socialist Party of Australia which has taken a position opposing log- _ ging in its paper, The Guardian. “The conservationists at Jackey’s Marsh,” it stated, “deserve all the support they can get because they are fighting for | jobs and the environment against large corporations which are destroying jobs and Australia’s unique natural heritage in order to wring out the largest possible private profits.” — So far, 23 people have been arrested at a lca aE SS OEE: 4 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, FEBRUARY 18, 1987 Be sch