Coal mining at Grassy Mountain isn’t a simple decision, expert says [Video]

The potential resurrection of Crowsnest Pass coal mining should never pit the environment against the economy, said a community member and retired professor in the lead-up to a Nov. 25 vote of electors.

Herald Kane said he too often sees economic advantages like corporate investment, high-paying jobs and diversification of the municipal taxbase lined up against environmental concerns like watershed supply and quality, increased air particulate and the blockage of mountain wildlife corridors.

But the implications of mining Grassy Mountain are more momentous than side-by-side bullet points can explain, said Kane, a retired San Diego City College professor in organic chemistry who divides his time between the community of his childhood and the U.S.

“This might be the most important issue that’s come up for us in the past 50 or 60 years,” said Kane, a member of the Crowsnest Conservation Society. “That being the case, you try to learn …