My Questions on the Enbridge Pipeline – can it be economically viable and at the same time align with sustainability goals?
Recently, there has been a heated discussion on the controversy of Enbridge Pipeline.. the fact that Canadians are generating more exports for oil to Asia creates potential economic benefits, but at the same time this project generates detrimental effects on the livelihoods of the native people in Athabasca, and especially those that consume local wild salmon as the main source of their food staple (as the fish stock shrinks).
We can conduct a cost benefit analysis to see whether Enbridge Pipeline is a project should be undertaken, under the following criteria:
1) Efficiency: does the project take into account the negative externalities such as oil spills, and noise pollution which affects the natural inhabitat? If so, did the project design and implementation teams collaborate together? In otherwords, were these external costs being taken into account through investing in cleaner technology, and more precautionary measures for oil transportation and extraction?
2) Effectiveness: Did the project implementers and designers communicate adequately with the biologists, and local stakeholders to ensure contamination in food chain/ecosystem is minimized? Whether the project cost is efficient enough to be both economically beneficial, and sustainable? OR simply a trade off between economic efficiency and sustainability?
If there is a trade off, how can we ensure the next generations would enjoy the same quantity and quality of natural capital (such as forest, salmon, and oil) as the current generation?