I took the above photo a long time ago and it reminds me of things that I dearly love that are now gone. God, how I loved that dog. After yesterday’s announcement by Brian Jean about the rescinding of all Ministerial Orders on coal mining, one can assume he clearly means that the Eastern Slopes are open for business. I can’t look at this photo and not feel the pain of yet another thing that I dearly love being gone.
In thinking about the AER hearing, AER staff asked Lorne Fitch questions about what conditions of mitigation he might recommend that could be attached to the coal exploration application, if it were to be approved. Isn’t it somewhat ironic to be asked those questions after presenting evidence that the mitigation of impacts won’t work and the application should be denied? If it’s a bad idea and an inappropriate response, no amount of mitigation will change that.
It seemed an odd question and I’m sure anyone watching and having heard Lorne’s testimony of evidence was probably scratching their head just like me. In response I recall him saying something to the effect of JUST DON’T DO IT.
The following is a piece that Lorne wrote a while back on mitigation.
Mitigation Tonic
Lorne Fitch, P. Biol.
A tonic is a nostrum, something that is purported to be good for all that ails you (and if nothing ails you it’s good for that too). Like the elixir that “takes hold of the vitals and elevates the soul; it opens the faculties, clears the canals of the heart and improves the feeling of contentedness— 5 cents a glass.” It’s cheaper than real medicine, avoids all that contradictory science and allows one to continue a lifestyle with habits of excess. It is really liberating to not be burdened with insight and knowledge, to simply blindly trust that something works as stated.
Tonics are like patent medicines, promoted and sold as medical cures, which do not work as advertised. In ancient times these were called nostrum remedium (“our remedy” in Latin). Today’s penchant for mitigation, an unrealistic remedy for our development fever, fits the same mould.
The elixirs and tonics of the patent medicine era had high purchase costs even though they were concocted of cheap materials. The ingredients included turpentine, camphor, grain alcohol, cocaine and opium. Alcohol and opiates dulled the senses giving the impression the medicine was working. Turpentine and camphor probably covered the smell of deception. Mitigation similarly blinds us to loss, refocuses our attention and whips up zeal for unsatisfactory substitutes.
The remedies proved inadequate to cover the bewildering array of medical conditions, diseases, afflictions and symptoms. Given the slow state of evidence-based research into real cures and preventatives many early pharmacists and charlatans (the term “snake oil salesman” comes from this period) put together concoctions of substances to meet patient demands for “something to take.” With mitigation, and the many salesmen of the product, we may not be so far removed from the era of patent medicine.
A mitigation tonic promotes the advantages of a compensatory mechanism for a loss of ecosystem services, functions, habitat or biodiversity. It’s a panacea shielding us from the grim reality and pain of loss. Mitigation tonic is the one stop, one size cure for land use ailments. It’s supposedly able to cure just about everything. When the accepted answer to development isn’t no, all that’s required is to have faith and blindly apply mitigation as necessary to the affected parts of the landscape.
The tonic is supposed to compensate for the exponential overconsumption of natural resources by an increasing human population with machine slaves fueled by the fire of petroleum and other commodities. At the same time primary systems that provide ecosystem services like air, water and food are all going downhill. Applying a mitigation tonic means we can continue to do everything, everywhere, all the time, any time at a revved-up pace and never have to worry about the consequences.
There should be a warning label, or at least a full disclosure of the contents. It’s suggested that any mitigation effort or project have the following attached in recognition of honesty, accuracy and fairness.
Caution: Techno-fix Mitigation Tonic
Always seek the advice of a competent, objective professional before starting treatment. Extended use may be damaging and permanent. Stop treatment if symptoms of excessive and cumulative land use effects persist. Always evaluate before repeating treatment. This product may not be right for every situation.
May contain: spin, hype, empty hyperbole, platitudes, political meddling, corporate pressure, cosmetic solutions, false advertising, false optimism, baseless hope, empty promises, faith-based solutions, unproven technology, inadequate evaluation, no biological benchmarks, junk science, inequities in compensation, public naivety, hidden costs, partial truths, half truths, lies.
Side effects: blindness to impacts, self deception, unrealistic expectations, unrealized costs, unrecognized effects, unintended consequences, unfulfilled plans, failure to implement, inadequate measurement, lack of avoidance strategies, increased human footprint, biodiversity declines, species loss, fragmented landscapes, incremental losses, cumulative impacts, lost future opportunity, reputational failure, repetitive use without effect, suspension of reality.
As Tom Waits, American singer-songwriter said, “You get it buddy; the large print giveth; the small print taketh away.” And I’ll bet Tom never realized he was speaking of mitigation.
The real medicine isn’t an ineffective tonic, doesn’t act as a sedative, is not a panacea and can’t be a substitute for thought, responsibility and change. If taken, and it will taste bad, it will clear our vision, opening the faculties for information, balance, restraint and consequences. That will help us connect the dots between us, land use pressures and the essentials of the landscape disappearing quickly under the footprint of economic development. It will rock us out of symptoms of complacency, false optimism and defensive apathy towards unrestrained development.
Mostly it will put mitigation into its proper role of a last ditch, cosmetic and ineffectual attempt to rationalize our inability to say no. Mitigation has become the triumph of hope over experience. The process inevitably starts with brave words and positive intent which then slip, inexorably into fudging and equivocating about the outcomes. Instead of that slide down a slippery slope of compromise we need first to employ the precautionary principle, judged in part by cumulative effects analysis.
We need to stop the seductive delusion that all our land use issues have solutions, that our pace of development can continue, and we can salvage ecosystems and, that the industrial/urban footprint can be restored or compensated for in some inexplicable fashion. The greatest of delusions is we can have it all. The optimism that comes with mitigation is akin to having a bad cold— if you wait long enough the feeling will end. Mitigation might be viewed as the cure-all for what ails you, when what ails you cannot be cured.
Lorne Fitch is a Professional Biologist, a retired Fish and Wildlife Biologist and an Adjunct Professor with the University of Calgary.
Bit of a moot point with Brian Jeans' latest cuckold announcement, eh? Now we have to put boots on the ground and start demonstrations in earnest. One for Edmonton is getting planned.