We've taken the time here at the Daily News over the past two weeks to thoroughly interview each of the candidates representing the four major parties in Nanaimo's two federal ridings and all of them talked at length about all the green programs and projects that they would put in place if their party formed the next government.

I've covered a lot of federal elections over the years and in the past such talk came mainly from fringe parties and the NDP while the Liberals and Conservatives paid polite lip service to green initiatives to placate their more environmentally-sensitive supporters.

But now, due to the threats of global warming and skyrocketing oil and gas prices that have caught everyone's attention, all the parties have jumped on the green bandwagon with many promising a future where our dependence on fossil fuels and their harmful consequences to our environment will be a thing of the past.

Such Utopian visions are commendable but the devil will be in the details for whoever forms the next government; that is if the nation's new leadership actually intends to follow up on the promises made during this election.

Saying that wind, solar and tidal power will replace much of our dependence on oil and gas is one thing, getting the population on board to make this a reality is quite another.

One needs to look no further than B.C., the so-called bastion of green thinking in the country, to see what lays ahead if the full green agenda moves forward.

Just last year Ian McAllister, a founding member of the Raincoast Conservation Society, raised concerns about a proposal for what was billed as the world's largest wind farm, consisting of 234 wind turbines generating 700 megawatts of energy, with an expansion to 3,000 megawatts in the coming years, on Banks Island, located south of Port Rupert, which is part of an area known as the Great Bear Rainforest.

McAllister maintained such an operation would be in violation of the Great Bear Rainforest agreement that was signed by the province in 2006 to protect the conservation area because vast infrastructure, including roads and transmission lines, would be needed across it by the private producer to get their power to the electrical grid.

Then there's the proposal by Vancouver-based Sea Breeze Inc. in 2002 to build a number of offshore wind farms in a number of locations around Vancouver Island, including a $150-million project for up to 50 wind turbines on the Gabriola Reef off Gabriola Island which would have produced about 150 megawatts of electricity.

However, Sea Breeze decided to abandon its plans after surrounding residents near the proposed sites expressed concerns about the visibility of the turbines (which would have towered about 80 metres above the water), their property values and, surprisingly, the environment if the wind farms were built.

Gabriola Islanders expressed similar concerns but many were prepared to let Sea Breeze's project proceed off their shores if it provided another nail in the coffin of B.C. Hydro's proposed 275 megawatt gas-fired electrical generation plant at Duke Point, which was eventually cancelled.

If these examples are indicative of the next few years in Canada, green energy initiatives may be in for a rough ride.

Robert Barron's column runs regularly in this space. To comment on his opinion, send your letter to letters@nanaimodailynews.com.