PGAQ #4 by Vic Steblin, Jan 1, 2008

2570 Laurier Crescent, Prince George, BC, 250-564-1123

Good intentions often come with ironies and the air quality issue is no different. Having good intentions reminds me of touring a special “Ecological Reserve” at Cinema Bog near Quesnel in the late 70’s with the Prince George Naturalist’s Club. We stayed on a special trail to do as little damage as possible, but moose had tracked everywhere. Good intentions on our part but the moose did not care.

Many of us try to make this world a better place despite the ironies. Some fix a dripping tap while others water lawns. Some make special trips to recycle plastic while the full dumpster goes to the landfill. Residents are asked to stop backyard burning while industry is encouraged to increase jobs with the inevitable pollution.

Some take advantage of the good intentions of others. This probably will always exist to some extent in an opportunistic world. However, we can still learn from past mistakes, and try with good intentions to improve bad situations.

We must listen to new explanations and ideas. Ultimately, it may be those good intentions that result in the biggest difference to the quality of our lives.

Although people generally tend to avoid confrontation, more of us should point out abuses. We should try to resist the few who do great damage. We should complain more about unacceptable air quality in Prince George.

We should try hard to find reasonable solutions with the industrial mega polluters and also try to clean up individual bad habits.