The Telegram (St. John’s)

March 10, 2002

Fortis has called the opponents of their proposed power dam in Belize hypocrites because they assign weight to environmental considerations, writes Newfoundland-resident in letter to the editor.

When Fortis accepted the legitimacy of the environmental assessment process, it forfeited the right to call people hypocrites for stressing environmental concerns. To be consistent, Fortis needed to have called people hypocrites for wanting an environmental assessment at all. Given that Fortis was obliged to enter into the accepted process, that would make everyone hypocrites — including Fortis. New bottom line Some years ago, we went through an evolution where environmental considerations were recognized as economic considerations. To protect the environmental bottom line, we ended up with an environmental assessment process. For Fortis to call people names now because they have taken this idea seriously brings into doubt Fortis’s commitment to environmental assessment. Opponents of the dam are being derided not because they disagree with outcome of the assessment, but because the assessment could apply over “economic” considerations, such as allowing Fortis to carry out its hydroelectric plan. There are significant differences between Fortis’s view and the contents of the environmental assessment, and the arguments brought forward by Fortis’s critics. These differences are grounds for further thought, rather than a reduction to name-calling.

Merrill Francis
Tors Cove