Guest Editorial -
We like nature in Newfoundland and Labrador, we really do. We like it so much that we even build substantial homes in the forest where we could live year-round, and call them 'cabins'.
In the Exploits Valley, we like to think we appreciate our environment: We have the powerful natural resource of the Exploits River, we harvest our forests - or used to, anyway - for timber to make paper and wood, and we have used the area's gift of volcanic-origin base metals to mine for export.
Some of us are passionate about protecting that gift of nature, for environmental and human health.
Because we're connected with our environment in the Exploits Valley, we should be watching what's being proposed for our western neighbours with Gros Morne National Park.
The government is thinking about building 40-metre high transmission towers through the park located in Western Newfoundland to bring power from the Lower Churchill hydroelectric project to the Island.
It seems that our premier, the man who spearheaded severance payments for mill workers because AbitibiBowater wouldn't do it, says he's willing to risk losing Gros Morne's UNESCO World Heritage status if the cost of preserving it is too high.
To their credit, the folks in power are asking Nalcor, the Crown-owned energy company, to prepare an environmental impact statement for the project. But asking Nalcor, a Crown agency, to prepare such a statement for another government branch, is the same thing as asking Wile E. Coyote to babysit the Roadrunner.
Why should we in the Exploits region take interest in what's going on at Gros Morne? For starters, it's a national park. That means that it belongs, in a sense, to all of us, whether we live in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Grand Falls-Windsor or St. John's.
It's even one of two UNESCO World Heritage sites in the province, more than what other parts of Canada have. What makes Gros Morne so special, other than its spectacular beauty with fjords that make Norway look ugly? It's one of the very few places in the world where you can see, in what's called the Tablelands, the inside of the earth: The mantle.
Getting power from Labrador is admirable in one sense, but another route should be considered instead of messing up a national park. Parks Canada doesn't want it to happen.
Premier Williams runs the risk of having something in common with Iran, of all places. Many ordinary Iranians aren't happy about it, but their government is considering construction of a dam near a UNESCO World Heritage site. There could be flooding and a change in humidity could affect the site.
The site in question? It's the ancient city of Pasargadae, where the tomb of one of the ancient world's greatest statesmen, Cyrus the Great, is located. The man in question, who ruled in about 530 B.C., was noted - read Isaiah - for bringing the Jews out of exile and abolishing slavery. He was big on human rights for the time. It goes without saying that honouring Cyrus is not looked on fondly by the present Iranian government. Do you want to be in the same company as that government, Premier Williams?
We should stand in solidarity with the folks out west and voice concerns about what could happen with Gros Morne: If these big transmission towers are built through the park, who's to say such a similar situation can't happen with our own Exploits region?
Oh wait - it already has. Can you say 'Star Lake'?
Sue Hickey, Grand Falls-Windsor Advertiser
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