Response to blog post: http://blogs.ubc.ca/farwahahmed/2014/10/02/to-build-or-not-to-build/
Farwah’s Blog Post stated that even though that there was a possibility of an oil spill, not a certain oil spill there’s still not much of a reason to stop the pipe line from being built. Granted there are a lot of financial benefits and Enbridge has tried to make the project beneficial for all stakeholders leading to the least possible negative externalities. They have worked to minimize potential environmental damage, accommodate land owners (including First Nations), and created a $6.5 billion solution to provide crude oil access to new markets in the Pacific Rim. (http://commonground.ca/2012/03/gateway-pipeline/)
However, this raises the question of where to draw the line. Even though this project might be financially beneficial and apart from the risk of an oil spill (which might not even happen), all the other angles of this project are pros and seem beneficial to everyone. But sometimes with the need to grow economically, some things are easily forgotten. In the heart of Nak’azdli territory, the pipeline is to be built in traditional territory encompasses about 25 per cent of the proposed 1,177-kilometre route from Alberta to Kitimat on the coast of B.C. And no matter how small the risk of the oil spill is, I think sometimes economic growth has to take a back seat to mother nature.