Dear Editor,

As a lifelong south-western British Colombia (BC) resident, I was left feeling I could never again complain about the weather being too cold after having suffered the unprecedented heatwave here in June 2021, described by meteorologists as a stalling dome of high heat.

But then complain I somewhat did when most of the province suffered an unprecedented cold bunch of days in January, which was described by meteorologists as a stalling dome of freezing cold. And I doubt it was just coincidental.

Basic common sense dictates that it is no longer prudent to have so much of society, including our primary modes of transportation, reliant on traditional sources of energy.

Yet, if the universal availability of green-energy alternatives will come at the profit-margin expense of traditional energy production companies, one can expect formidable obstacles, including the political and regulatory sort.

In this world, if something notably conflicts with corporate interests, even very progressive motions are greatly resisted.

Meantime, fossil fuel-friendly governance and the industry can tell when a very large portion of the populace has been too tired and worried about feeding/housing themselves and/or their families while on insufficient income to criticise the industry for environmental damage their policies caused, particularly when not immediately observable.

Even as bone-dry vegetation regions uncontrollably burn, mass addiction to fossil fuel products undoubtedly helps to keep the average consumer quiet about the planet’s greatest polluter, lest they be publicly deemed hypocritical. This must be convenient for big fossil fuel.

Frank Sterle Jr

fgsjr2013@gmail.com