Dear Editor,

Renewable clean energy projects not only boost British Columbia’s ability to generate electricity sustainably, they also provide vital and long overdue economic opportunities for the province’s First Nations.

That’s why I am concerned that the province is considering policy changes that would effectively derail such an obvious win-win proposition.

One simply has to look at the considerable amount of industrial expansion set to take place in this province as the result of increasing trade with Asia to see that we are going to need far more electricity than is currently projected by B.C. Hydro and far more electricity than the province can currently generate.

Yes, we could simply import the electricity we need to power this industrial expansion from other provinces and states.

But why should we export jobs and take economic opportunities away from First Nations and other communities throughout the province? These jobs and opportunities should stay within our borders.

And sticking with the policy of energy self-sufficiency already in place will help keep them here.

Sandra Robinson, Maple Ridge