Whitehorse residents slam LNG generator proposal

The Yukon Utilities Board is holding hearings into Yukon Energy's plan to replace two aging diesel generators with units that run on liquefiednatural gas.

Last night the board held a session to hear from the public, and of the eighteen speakers to address the board, not one was in favour of the LNG plan.

Their reasons ranged from safety, to uncertainty about the costs and sustainability of LNG and fears about hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking.

Colleen James came to the meeting from her home in Carcross.She says climate change is enough reason to consider alternate energy sources.

"And if that's the canary in the coal mine, it's time to shut the coal mine."

The utilities board says it will present the Yukon government with its recommendations on the project by May.

Bob Jickling, of Whitehorse, says it's a pivotal decision.

"When it comes right down to it, you are not making a technical decision, you are making a moral decision."

Right now the LNG plan is also going through its environmental screening process.