A sustainable environment is one that is in balance. Like two children of equal weight playing on a seesaw, a sustainable environment is in a state of dynamic equilibrium: it has its ups and downs but no one gets stuck in the mud or is left flailing in the air.

The earth's miraculously complex environment has remained in balance for thousands of years, allowing human beings to thrive. But as our technologies have become more powerful, people's role in the environment has increased dramatically and dangerously. It is as if a big kid has jumped on the seesaw and sent it madly pitching up and down. Our heads are either buried in the sand or lost in the clouds; or we are moving too fast to see a thing.

If we could get off the seesaw and look objectively at the world we would be horrified. We would see that human activity is so vast in scale it is threatening to knock the planet's environment off balance. It is not an exaggeration to say we are in grave danger of destroying the life support systems upon which we all depend.

Energy

One of our greatest challenges will be to revolutionize the way we power our economy. Currently we get most of our energy from burning fossil fuels. This, according to most scientists and the evidence of our own senses, is changing the climate. Thus we have the signing of the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, and worldwide growth - by 20 percent to 30 percent every year - in the renewable energy sector. Analysts predict the development of a diversified energy system, including wind and solar power, hydrogen fuel cells, biofuels, and the earth's own heat.

Fortunately, Saskatchewan is well equipped to participate in the coming revolution. Our province is blessed with both wind and sun. We have the potential to become environmental leaders by building wind farms and putting a solar panel - or a cluster of them - on every roof.

This is where having our energy sector controlled by crown corporations comes in handy. It gives the government - that is the people - the ability to manage its own resources. Rather than waiting for a private company to figure out how it could make a quick profit retrofitting Saskatchewan's energy system (which might never happen given our small widely dispersed population) our crowns can be part of a longterm strategy. In the same way that they have been able to provide electricity and phone/internet service to the entire province when it would be unprofitable for a private company to do so, crown corporations can help transform our energy sector into one which is based on renewable technologies and conservation, without skyrocketing utility costs or job losses.

In fact, there will be more jobs in an economy based on renewables. Employment relative to investment is not particularly plentiful in the fossil fuel sector, being just over seven jobs per million dollars invested. This compares with twelve jobs per million in the solar/wind sector and 36 jobs per million invested in energy efficiency, such as insulating buildings and installing new windows and furnaces.

Transportation

Another big change will be in transportation, which produces over a quarter of Canada's greenhouse gas emissions. Saskatchewan used to be a province full of railroads. There were trains to every little town, and 12 per day from Moose Jaw to Regina. Unfortunately we replaced this energy-efficient public transportation system with a heavily-subsidized private one. Road-based transport is an energy glutton both in its construction (building highways, manufacturing cars and trucks) and usage (propelling huge weights at high speeds for long distances, often to move one person). But it's not too late to resurrect our rail system, powering it with solar or wind based electricity, hydrogen fuel cells, or bio-fuel. We could travel more safely, help the environment, and catch up on our reading at the same time. And public transportation hires people: VIA Rail, for example, even with its very limited service, provides 49 full-time jobs in Saskatchewan on an investment of $3 million - over 16 jobs per million invested. A return to rail shipping would also be a happy event for our beleaguered farmers, who could return to trucking their crops just to the nearest town.

Agriculture and Rural Saskatchewan

Sadly, the state of Saskatchewan farmers is clearly unsustainable. In just one year, from 2000 to 2001, Saskatchewan lost 11,000 farm jobs. Figures for 2002 are not yet available but will likely be equally miserable. Those who speak of a "farm crisis" are not overstating the case. Farm communities are crumbling as families leave and corporations move in.

Probably the single best thing the government could do to promote sustainable farming would be to set up an Organics Transition Fund to help farmers make the switch to certified organic crops and livestock. It makes economic as well as environmental sense, since the market for organic crops is growing steadily, farmers get more for them, and input costs are considerably lower. But there is a three-year transition period when some kind of support is critical for farmers making the change.