Concerned residents continued to denounce the prospect of fracking in the territory Saturday, relying on everything from economic analysis to biblical authorities to a full-body elk costume to make their pitches to the legislative committee on hydraulic fracturing.

The afternoon hearing took place at the Kwanlin Dun Cultural Centre.

Ted MacDonald, in a departure from typical climate change-based arguments, offered a thesis rooted in economics, and suggested the government look more closely at renewable energy.

“With wind speeds increasing and wind technologies improving, it makes sense to invest in wind power now,” he said.

MacDonald speculated that the value of oil and gas — finite resources — could well increase in the future as supply diminishes.

“Leaving these petroleum products in the ground now is akin to letting money in the bank earn interest,” he stated. “The gas isn’t going anywhere.”

An existing territorial energy rebate program could also be amended to include wind turbine and photovoltaic solar technologies, MacDonald proposed. That, in turn, could galvanize local energy entrepreneurs and foster new ones, creating jobs and wealth in the process.

He also pointed to British Columbia as a test case to learn from — and avoid.

In that province, the natural gas industry generates just 0.1 per cent of the government’s revenue, according to B.C. government figures.

“Only about 3,000 people are directly employed in oil and gas extraction,” MacDonald added, quoting an online publication, The Common Sense Canadian.

Last February, the Yukon signed a co-operative regulatory agreement with B.C. on oil and gas.

The deal commits both parties to sharing information freely and working together on projects of common interest.

The Yukon NDP has spoken out against the agreement. When it was announced, official Opposition Leader Liz Hanson suggested the deal circumvented “due process” by partnering with B.C. before public discussion could take place.

Since June, the Select Committee on the Risks and Benefits of Hydraulic Fracturing has met 13 times in 12 communities, including twice last week in Whitehorse.

Saturday afternoon saw nearly 100 attendees, including 30 registered speakers, assemble in the cultural centre’s longhouse — nearly half the number at the public hearing last Thursday evening.

The committee is scheduled to make its report to the legislative assembly later this year.

Judy Lalonde drew on Christian notions of environmental conservation, quoting the Bible and using Abraham as her authoritative source.

“God has made us stewards of the land to protect it,” she said.

Richard Mueller tapped into a well-worn gendered metaphor about the land as inviolate and virtuous. “It’s almost a virgin. We can still decide whether or not to do it.”

Annete Belke trotted out her elk costume for a second time, while Gerald Brisson expressed his anger more vocally than any other speaker, at times virtually shouting into the microphone as he addressed the panel.

“Just because we can do something doesn’t mean we should,” he said.

Brisson highlighted the risk to clean air and water posed by radon, a radioactive element that can be released during fracking. “(T)emporary jobs and temporary money — is that an acceptable risk?”

Hydraulic fracturing involves pumping pressurized water, sand and chemicals underground to release natural gas trapped within the shale rock.

Since 2011, several major studies have suggested that over its entire life cycle, shale gas production is dirtier than coal because of the oversized greenhouse gas footprint left by leaking methane.

Others argue that fracking is a much cleaner process than coal mining due to shale gas extraction’s lower CO2 emissions.

Populist rhetoric sprung up periodically in the longhouse on Saturday.

Sabine Almstrom called out politicians for “rubbing shoulders with the high and mighty (and) captains of industry ... in the so-called halls of power.”

Sharon Wisemyn stressed the “greed of the corporations” while Anna Weiers warned about “smoke and mirror presentations” and “the awesome power of the multinationals.”

Spence Hill pointed to her daughter and newly arrived granddaughter, both present at the hearing, “because they represent the future of our territory.”

Fracking has proved one of the most controversial issues in local and global discussions around resource development, water contamination and climate change.

Earlier this month, Nova Scotia announced it would ban hydraulic fracturing techniques in the province. The Energy minister cited numerous uncertainties around health and environmental impacts listed in a report by an expert panel.

France and Bulgaria, which have the largest shale-gas reserves in Europe, have outlawed fracking.

See letter.