In Texas, it was said that counties voted “dry” and drank wet when it came to alcohol. In Vancouver, we want to stop the oil trains, but buy the refined oil piped back to us.
We complain about the possibility of a train explosion in our Columbia River Gorge, yet every moment there are many small explosions in our cars over a month or so that likely add up collectively to a train explosion in the damage done to our environment. When the Sierra Club, ILWU and various council member demonstrators arrive at Port of Vancouver meetings riding C-Tran or by driving personal electric vehicles, I might take them seriously.
Oil — and coal as well — for all its problems, can be cleaned up from the environment in time frames that approximate the human life span. I’ve personally have experienced the change from coal to electricity in providing household heat. I have noted the skies and winter snow in areas change from dark to blue and white. China is now beginning to make progress on this.
For now, I will continue to leverage my investments in Kinder Morgan and BNSF to buy electric vehicles and make our home more energy efficient and possibly electric-generating. Once the so-called environmentalists and those they politically endorse start living and voting “dry,” I might consider readjusting my retirement portfolio.
