This is a hard, dangerous and fascinating time for Powell River.
Hard for the 206 employees who have just lost their jobs, quite possibly permanently. Hard for their families. And especially hard in light of the announced mill closure arriving at a time when many celebrate holidays in various traditions [“Powell River mayor supports future development at Catalyst Paper Tis’kwat site,” December 3].
It’s a dangerous time because there is a long and ugly history of deindustrialization, here in Canada and around the world. Giant corporations wring every last penny out of an operation and then leave an often toxic mess behind for local communities and governments to clean up.
It’s also a dangerous time as there is no obvious replacement (understatement) for the revenue that the mill has provided for local services, even at their heavily discounted tax break rate.
Maybe a fascinating time also. If the mill can be repurposed into a production site for truly clean energy then there is an interesting path forward.
But, the great majority of hydrogen energy now being produced around the world is made with dirty fossil fuels, coal and fracked gas. This method of production is so greenhouse gas intensive that the resulting hydrogen fuel cannot be said, in any way other than a fraudulent greenwashing way, to be a clean fuel.
However, there is a clean way to produce hydrogen fuel using electrolysers (electricity and water). If the mill were to be repurposed to produce truly clean hydrogen fuel, then that would be a good thing.
There will be no shortage of politics and spin as the mill’s story plays out its final chapters. And we should all be vigilant. As a great poet (Tom Waits) once said: “The large print giveth and the small print taketh away.”
John Young
Powell River
