For a city aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by six per cent by 2010, where is the logic in ripping out over 1,500 acres of forests which absorb incredible amounts of carbon dioxide?
Recently, there have been warnings from environmental experts, insurance bureaus and urban planners from across Canada that city planners must make whatever efforts they can to try to minimise the effects of climate change.
If our best natural defense against greenhouse gases, flooding and water shortages is mowed down and paved over, the “Green Matters” campaign becomes nothing but a publicity stunt – or a cruel joke.
That the city has been recently criticized nationally for its environmental hypocrisy should make it more, not less, willing to make the UNB woodlot its business. If city council’s present development mindset is continued, Fredericton’s motto (Fredericton – noble daughter of the forest) will become a thing of the past.
Frances Campbell
