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water management
Aug. 1st, 2006 14:04something i had previously not heard about: qattara solar-hydro development. that's ... brilliant, and on a huge scale.
softwood lumber
Aug. 14th, 2005 12:33copied and slightly modified from comment in another journal where the main complaint was about the US not adhering to international treaties. me, i think we have problems even without the US Department of Protectionism's ongoing treaty violations.
<rant>
ever since i moved out here and looked at the situation closely, i've been with those who want to see a complete ban (without the existing loopholes) on selling raw logs to the US. we shouldn't waste our natural resources like that, we should be making value-added products from said lumber and sell those; the more value added the better. why the fuck are we supporting US value-added jobs over our own? yes, stumpage fees ought to be assessed in a more transparent manner; i'm not actually in disagreement with that. and of course (the paramour can now snort), i would like to see corporate control over canadian timber lessened, and wouldn't mind seeing the large timber empires broken up; i think we need tenure reform very badly. i want to see us establish regional timber markets. what good do other reforms do for small businesses if they have to keep selling to a limited number of large, privileged distributors anyway? free market, my hairy white ass. none of this even addresses the environmental issues (BC in specific does not have sufficient regulations to protect small fish-bearing streams and happily ignores federal legislation, and the feds don't seem to be willing to crack down). and i myself am woefully ignorant of aboriginal rights. ghod, there is so much wrong with this industry; the dispute with the US is only the tip of the iceberg.
</rant>
<rant>
ever since i moved out here and looked at the situation closely, i've been with those who want to see a complete ban (without the existing loopholes) on selling raw logs to the US. we shouldn't waste our natural resources like that, we should be making value-added products from said lumber and sell those; the more value added the better. why the fuck are we supporting US value-added jobs over our own? yes, stumpage fees ought to be assessed in a more transparent manner; i'm not actually in disagreement with that. and of course (the paramour can now snort), i would like to see corporate control over canadian timber lessened, and wouldn't mind seeing the large timber empires broken up; i think we need tenure reform very badly. i want to see us establish regional timber markets. what good do other reforms do for small businesses if they have to keep selling to a limited number of large, privileged distributors anyway? free market, my hairy white ass. none of this even addresses the environmental issues (BC in specific does not have sufficient regulations to protect small fish-bearing streams and happily ignores federal legislation, and the feds don't seem to be willing to crack down). and i myself am woefully ignorant of aboriginal rights. ghod, there is so much wrong with this industry; the dispute with the US is only the tip of the iceberg.
</rant>
