Lilac time. My favorite time of year (I don’t have allergies). My cat is enjoying his first lilac time, too. I have an arrangement of lilacs on the coffee table and he sticks his head through the blossoms and drinks the water.
READ MORE: Lilac Festival celebrates Williams Lake’s official flower
He hasn’t done that with other flowers.
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Those of us who are often labelled eco freaks have been warning about climate change for years, but a recent report surprised even some of us. The U.S.-based National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported that April was the 400th consecutive month of warmer-than-average global temperatures.
READ MORE: Global warming cooks up ‘a different world’ over 3 decades
This year is already odd for us with flood and fire seasons overlapping. Insurance companies are getting antsy. Wildfire experts are hoping for rain.
On another controversial subject, the Horgan government has appointed a scientific panel to look into natural gas fracking operations, but a coalition of 17 B.C. groups is calling for a full public inquiry to do research and call witnesses before proceeding with any natural gas fracking operations. Oil and gas drilling techniques known as hydraulic fracking have been around since the 1950s but, in the early 90s, George Mitchell, boss of Texas-based Mitchell Energy & Development, found the procedure effective in breaking natural gas free from impermeable shale.
This started the shale drilling process that spread throughout the world. In an interview with Forbes magazine in July, 2012, Mitchell, known as the “Father of fracking” said if the procedure wasn’t done right there could be serious problems.
He said there are good techniques to make it safe but they aren’t always followed, and strong government regulations were needed to control the process. Given the reports of sour gas, water contamination, and earthquakes from B.C.’s fracking areas, our government should make sure fracking is not only done right, but properly monitored.
Diana French is a freelance columnist for the Tribune. She is a former Tribune editor, retired teacher, historian and book author.
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