media releases

Media release
B.C. Citizens for Green Energy
www.greenenergybc.ca
April 25, 2008

Anti-IPP myths, misinformation
and great big whoppers

The April 26 “Rivers at Risk” speeches in Revelstoke
promise to obscure the issue of
independently produced clean electricity

Tomorrow’s event at the Revelstoke Seniors’ Centre will be another stop in a province-wide campaign of misinformation, says B.C. Citizens for Green Energy. “The event’s sponsors, COPE 378 and the Wilderness Committee, have been spreading much of the misinformation we’ve heard in a well-organized offensive against independently produced electricity,” said BCCGE spokesperson Bruce Sanderson. “They’ve repeated the same myths so often that many people believe they’re true.”

For the most part, discussion about the subject has been one-sided. “The public has had little or no opportunity to examine this information objectively or consider the motivations of these groups,” Sanderson added.

COPE 378 is a BC Hydro union and probably one of the biggest backers of the campaign against independently produced clean electricity. “COPE 378 really has no environmental credentials,” explained Sanderson. “Last January COPE 378 was campaigning to have Burrard Thermal, a gas-fired electricity plant in Port Moody, restored to full capacity. But when this plant was operating at full capacity, it was one of the Lower Mainland’s worst sources of greenhouse gases and other air pollution. So you can only wonder about the motivations of this BC Hydro union.”

The Wilderness Committee has also been very prominent in the campaign against run-of-river hydro. “But the WC clearly says they’ll support run of river if it’s built by BC Hydro,” said Sanderson. “There’s no reason to think BC Hydro could achieve even higher environmental standards than independents. So the WC’s opposition isn’t environmental at all. It’s political.”

Together these groups have propagated a number of myths. “We keep hearing the same nonsense about privatization, American control, skyrocketing rates and environmental desecration. One of their favourite myths is that 500 B.C. rivers will be given away, sold, stolen or otherwise affected. And just recently some people have upped the total to an even more amazing 700 or 750. These groups have got away with their nonsense because the debate is almost entirely one-sided. Almost no one challenges their claims.”

Driven by scepticism about these allegations and concern for the environment, a group of people formed B.C. Citizens for Green Energy. They created their own website with a myth-busting page that responds to just about every claim made by COPE 378 and the WC:

http://www.greenenergybc.ca/myths.html

Some of COPE 378’s other outrageous claims are debunked here:

http://www.greenenergybc.ca/bccge_cope.html

“Our website offers lots of information that you just won’t hear from tomorrow’s speeches in Revelstoke. I hope the media and public will check it out before they accept the claims of those groups,” said Sanderson.

“The issue is too important to be obscured by myth-makers,” Sanderson continued. “We need more electricity for future generations and clean electricity for the sake of our planet. Independent operators are ideally poised to realize B.C.’s tremendous potential. Together we can create a legacy for future generations. Or we can continue to serve vested interests at the expense of our economy, environment and energy security.”