Hang up the hard hat . . . Put on an apron

Bugs are important to ecosystems (though we’ll never be fans of blood-sucking mosquitoes and flesh-eating black flies), but are they always more important than people?

Environmentalists opposed to the Cheviot coal project in Alberta seem to think so. They have publicly stated that “a whole complex of rare and uncommon plants, animals and particularly insects” will be at risk if the project is approved as a replacement for the nearly depleted Luscar mine near Hinton.

As for the 1,000 miners who would lose their $60,000-per-year jobs if approval is not granted, the answer is: Sorry boys, hang up the hard hat, put on an apron and get to work flipping burgers. Eco-tourism — in this case, tourism based on “the area’s most outstanding natural features” — will provide you with more environmentally correct career options. There’s an elitist imperialism at work here that can no longer be tolerated.

Environmental elitists aren’t the only ones who seem to think it’s OK to ask well-paid miners to be minimum-wage tour guides and short-order cooks. A federal court seemed to think so too, when it ruled that an environmental assessment study for the Cheviot project was flawed and incomplete.

The Cheviot project has been in limbo of “procedural hearings” ever since the federal court overturned its permits earlier this year. The project’s main opponent, the Sierra Legal Defense Fund, was successful in using the courts to stop development on the flimsiest of arguments.

The courts are not supposed to be a substitute for the mine development review process; they lack both the technical expertise and the political mandate for this important role. Yet they never seem to hesitate to do exactly that whenever a special interest group does an end-run around the regulatory and permitting process.

No matter that the open-pit project had received both provincial and federal permits after extensive environmental reviews. No matter that the underground mining option that the court said the company had failed to “consider” was obviously uneconomic. No matter that the coal industry is being battered by weak markets and prices. No matter that the town of Hinton wants the mine and the jobs it will provide for another 20 years. And no matter that the operator has won awards for its reclamation work and for helping establish one of the largest herds of bighorn sheep in Alberta.

The real tragedy of the Cheviot mine saga is that once again environmentalists have achieved a victory on the false premise that mining and wildlife are incompatible. Nothing could be less true.

A mine does not have to mean the end of grizzly-bear habitat, or the demise of species of plants. Big-horn sheep are not the slightest bit shy about traversing mine sites, and neither are caribou herds. And as every northerner knows, mine sites are often places of refuge for old, ill and weakened animals.

Mine sites typically disturb only a few acres of habitat, which have to be reclaimed and rehabilitated after mining ends. Yet preservationists preach an apocalyptic destruction of entire ecosystems, with wildlife fleeing for their lives as loaders and haulage trucks move in. It’s utter nonsense — propaganda meant to justify their anti-human, anti-development view of the world.

The Luscar coal mine has been operating in the region for more than 30 years, and officials of nearby parks have never reported any ecological or environmental problems resulting from the mine. Environmental planning and protection of natural resources will be as important at Cheviot as they now are at Luscar, which is nearly depleted. Cheviot is part of a historic mining region that has brought significant economic benefits to local communities, as well as to the province.

We, like the mine’s owners, would never diminish the importance of high environmental standards. But what happened at Cheviot goes beyond the environment. The mine owners did more than what was required under law and received the necessary permits to begin development, only to be blindsided by elitist environmentalists and a court too willing to intervene in matters outside its jurisdiction.

Where are the labour unions in all of this? Where is Buzz Hargove? Where is common sense? Are 1,000 good-paying jobs no longer worth anything?