Review: National Resource Policy in Canada
| Author | J.H. Dales |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070207302800109 |
| Date | 01 March 1973 |
| Published date | 01 March 1973 |
| Subject Matter | Review |
REVIEWS
155
One
of
the
most
surprising
commonalities
of
the
three
books
is
their
neglect
of
non-fossil-fuel energy
systems.
It
is
true
that
the
rapid
ad-
vance
of
'bigger
and
better'
technology has
fouled
our
air,
soil,
and
water
resources,
but
these
industrial
obscenities
are
fuelled
by
coal,
coke,
oil,
and
gas.
Petroleum products
foul
our
air and
have
almost
negated
the
benefits
available
from
the
marine
environment.
Coal
and
coke
spew
black
columns
of
lung-destroying
particles
which may
help
to
cause
climatic
changes
in
the
environment.
What
Messrs
Serwer,
Harrison, and
Rothman
neglect
is
the
alternative
-
the
real
alternative:
solar power,
more
efficient
hydro
power,
diesel
engines,
fusion-process
nuclear
energy,
all
viable possibilities.
Economics
seems
to
indicate
that
these energy
sources
may
even
be
cheaper
in
the
long
run;
if
it
is
only
marginally
cheaper,
the
positive
relationships to
the
environment
and
to
all
creatures
of
the
earth
should
certainly
swing
the
balance
in
favour
of
non-fossil
fuels.
We can
do
away
with
oil
tankers
and
pipe-
lines,
internal
combustion
engines,
and
huge
industrials
erupting
in
towers of
black
smoke
-
and
with
that
will
go
clouds of
grey
covering
cities,
oil-covered beaches
and
oceans,
multitudes
of dead
waterfowl,
fish,
and
terrestrial
animals,
including
man.
Whether it
is
culture
or technology
that
is
to
blame,
it
will
take
both
of
these
as
well
as
human
ingenuity
and
inspiration
to correct
the
degradation
we
presently
wallow
in
and to prevent
the
renewal
of what
William
Blake
called:
'A
murderous
Providence!
A
Creation
that
groans,
living
on
Death
Where
Fish
&c
Bird
&c
Beast
8c
Man
8c
Tree
8:
Metal
&c
Stone
Give
by
Devouring,
going
into
Eternal
Death
continually!'
Larry
Edelstein/Toronto
NATIONAL
RESOURCE
POLICY
IN
CANADA
Issues
and
Perspectives
Thomas
L.
Burton
Toronto:
McClelland
&c
Stewart,
1972,
174pp,
$3.50
Little
in
the
way
of
depth
of
analysis
and
understanding
can
be
ex-
pected
from
a
book
that
talks
about
natural
resources
in
the
wide
contexts
of
economic
growth,
international
relations,
the
Canadian
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