We have had a lot of talk about "green" in the last month and it is great to see that we want to take care of our environment and the quality of our surroundings. It is good that we do not want to live in a polluted world.
Before we get on this green wagon and rant and rave, we need to do an assessment of how we live, one would think.
How many of us keep the same vehicle for more than 10 or even 15 years. How many of us want to live in a house as big as the average house was in the '50s?
How many of us are content with the same kitchen for 30 years or more? How many of us have to keep with the latest fashions or buy the latest phone that just came out?
Who grows a garden on their front lawn or in their back yard? Could you imagine what the neighbours would think!
I would say that looking at the stats, that Canadians are spending record amounts, we only want to feed lip service to the green push. We want the government to promise that they will get on the green train but we do not want to change our lifestyles.
We have scientists and famous media people telling the world how dirty our oil is but the money they spend on all the frills of life and the amount of homes they own and vacation in tells you that it is lip service.
We enjoy all the pleasures that are created to entertain and "make life better and make people happy" but it comes at a cost.
I need to change how much I want. Politicians that are telling you that they will push for green are only feeding your emotions when they should be telling us that "I" need to buy less. We will never be green if we keep spending like we do.
Could you imagine watching TV on a 12-inch screen, are you crazy?
If you want to go green, stop taking the green out of your pocket and stop spending so much of it.
And if you do not want our pipeline, maybe you should pay back all the transfer payments that have come from Alberta over the years from our "dirty oil revenue" and helped Canada become what it is today. Send it back please. If you do not want to send it back than please do not tell us how dirty our oil is. Do not tell us how green we need to be. You do not want to give us approval to move our resources but you will take the transfer payments. If you are willing to send the money back to Albertans and start living on less, than maybe your voice will hold some merit.
David Schroeder, St. Albert
