PGAQ #76 by Vic Steblin, Jan 12 , 2009

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

I talked to various long-time residents of Prince George about wood smoke and many have told me that “It used to be a lot worse”. Many note that fewer homes in the downtown are burning wood and some say that burning wood does not add significantly to the air pollution anymore.

Of course one wood burner in all of the downtown would not have much effect unless you happened to live next door. If everyone burned wood as in the old days before natural gas then once again we would have a serious problem. Thanks to modern, efficient heat like electricity and natural gas no one needs to produce smoke anymore. Smoke in any amount is unacceptable and woodburners burn mostly because they want to.

Just because it used to be a lot worse does not mean that wood burning is justified. Just because many homes have stopped burning wood does not mean that it is OK for the remaining ones to still keep burning. Anyone with access to electricity or natural gas should be using modern efficient sources of heat.

If you were the last person in Prince George to burn wood you should still stop because it is the attitude that is important. Wood smoke is not negligible and any amount has an effect over time. Smoke matters whether there is a thousand or only one person that burns wood. To be fair everyone should stop.