Peace River South MLA Larry Neufeld’s enthusiasm for oil and gas is so infectious and captivating it almost makes you want to buy a big diesel truck, move north and become a roughneck.

He retired from a lifelong career in the field and left with a huge depth of knowledge.

Maybe a little too deep.

Because the further he got into his heartfelt admiration — dare we say, love — for the resource, the more uneasy I got about making the career change.

His remarks were compelling right off the top, because he may be the first B.C. politician in generations to talk about how beautiful Peace River oil is.

That’s right. “Beautiful.”

The resource has been demonized for generations now. The conventional thinking is that it is the root of all evil. Everyone in the industry is scum. Our need for it is going to burn the planet up. They teach this in schools now.

But Neufeld is an appealing guy and was genuinely moving about the oil in his riding.

“We have some of the most beautiful, stunning … I would love to show you........

© Times Colonist