Unless and until Mr. Snyder and Mr. Caldicott (The News, March 23) move about by foot or in a dugout canoe and live in caves, they have no right to argue against industrial developments such as the Raven coal mine or to deny young families the right to strive for the same level of comfort as they have.
They have the good fortune to be able to enjoy the pleasures of driving cars and living in comfortable homes because of, not in spite of, coal mines and other industrial activities that drive the economy of our country.
It is the homes they live in and the cars that they drive, the highways that they drive on and all the other trappings of our modern lifestyle that are the primary cause of the perceived environmental degradation they are so concerned about.
Their personal chattels may look prettier, in their view, than a mine site however it is because of them that mines are developed and mountain sides are logged.
They fail to recognize the fact that if they get their way all the pollution and environmental degradation created by manufacture of products that are a large part of their comfortable life style will be exported to other countries such as China, India, Africa and South America, where environmental regulations are virtually non-existent. This is the fundamental flaw of NIMBY philosophy.
Alf Randall
Qualicum Beach