Nuclear?
This issue may try to be forced down every ones throats by our own ill informed Provincial Government.
Please just look up the true science facts for yourself on the impacts this toxic industry has on our air, water, land and all life forms.
From Ur mining to nuclear reactors to the source for nuclear bombs as well as the depleted uranium weapons which have poisoned thousands of Iraq civilians from their use in armor piercing bullets and shells by the US military.
The birth defects being created in Iraq alone are an outrage to any decent society.
We have our own example from just one accident, the Chernobyl kids. They come here to Jasper and Hinton for the clean air, water and food as a break from their toxic home land and this is the 3rd generation already being continuously poisoned in the Ukraine.
“Nuclear energy has to be seen as a totality: from the mining of the uranium ore (causing pollution and carbon emissions) to the production of electricity (routine radioactive emissions into the air, water, soil) to the long-term management of nuclear wastes (no permanent solution) and finally to the unsavory reputation of CANDU technology due to its links to nuclear weapons.”
The actual CO2 created in the total nuclear cycle, along with many other far more deadly and toxic gases than CO2, are no less than current energy sources in use and that does not even begin to take in the $300 billion estimated cost (and CO2 released) it will take to dismantle and store the waste these nuclear dinosaurs have created at the end of their short lives.
Wonder why the people in the medical community don’t want this industry – just look at the 25 billion tax dollars wasted by our Feds to start with, propping up an industry that has created nothing but untreatable toxic waste for the future to deal with.
How many schools and hospitals that would have created!
Cancers and many other immune diseases for people living anywhere near reactors are the highest for children. Pregnant women are advised not to eat the food or drink milk or the water within a 10 to 50 km radius of reactors. Wonder why?
The real choice we can now make is to support all forms of renewable and not continue to prop up, with our tax $, these totally unsustainable future energy sources like oil or nuclear.
Art Jackson,
Jasper resident
RE: Leaving Jasper: Local boy leaves Jasper to pursue greater education
In regards to the article about the young man who had to leave Jasper to find educational success, I have to say that I had some difficulty accepting the overall tone of the article/interview.
Let me preface my response by saying that I am very happy for the student that is the subject of the article. His goals and values are clearly admirable. He has clearly worked hard and should be congratulated for his acceptance to such a prestigious university program.
However, whether it was purposefully or accidentally implied, the message I took away from the article was that an education in Jasper limits and does not create opportunities for students. He, among others in Jasper, has chosen the private school route for his high school career and this is fine – to each his own.
But to say that this post-secondary education opportunity would have never happened by staying in Jasper, I must respectfully disagree. I can point to some recent Jasper graduates who are accomplishing some unique and amazing things which are also beyond the realm of our small town. In fact, on page three of the very same paper that the article was featured, there is an article about a recent Jasper grad that, with support from the Jasper community, traveled to Kenya to help a community create their own source of fresh water and education. He will now pursue studies at UBC’s Natural Resource Conservation program this fall. Though this particular student was also bright enough to rest on his laurels through Junior High, he chose a path that is available to all those that go to Jasper Jr./Sr. High School. He got involved outside of the classroom and took on challenges that made his high school experience more challenging.
Earlier this summer in the Fitzhugh, there was an article about another recent Jasper grad who was going to Mexico to take on similar challenges in an impoverished area. I would like to think that these Jasper grads were inspired enough during their high school careers to pursue such opportunities outside of school.
When I think about available opportunities to our high school students, I can think back in the last two years about students with the opportunities to go to places like Ottawa, Yellowknife, Quebec, Seattle, Ireland, Japan and Kenya. Opportunities are available; students must be willing to take them when they come.
Jasper does feel isolated and like a ‘bubble’ from time to time. However one thing this community and school will ensure is that if you are a motivated student and have a dream or idea, you will be supported. Also, remember that where you are is always the greatest place to get something going. I’m happy for the young fellow off to Leicester to pursue a dream he never could have if “he hadn’t of left Jasper High School several years ago”.
But I’m also happy for our many local students who are right now getting ready to go (back) to schools in Calgary, Edmonton, Camrose, Vancouver, Saskatoon, Kelowna, Victoria, Ontario, the Maritimes, the U.S.A., Thailand, etc... Good luck to you all and congratulations on your hard work to this point.
Adam Robb
Teacher, Jasper Jr./Sr. High School |