..yes this year.
BC LNG export plans: the ongoing struggle.
Mon, 2016-02-08 15:00
#52
Mon, 2016-02-08 15:22
#53
Thanks epaulo I just shared it on FB.
Sat, 2016-02-13 10:40
#54
John Horgan’s Throne Speech Response | TWO
Speaking about Christy Clark’s Rag-Tag comment and relations with indigenous people in BC
Tue, 2016-02-23 16:52
#55
MP’s Woodfibre LNG meetings to focus on climate…what about fish, tanker and health risks?
Well, there’s great excitement in the federal constituency of West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country – Liberal MP Pamela Goldsmith-Jones is having not one, not two, but count ’em, three public hearings on the proposed Woodfibre LNG plant, far and away the most contentious issue in this neck of the woods.
Sticking to climate change
No, that’s not quite accurate because the public hearings are billed to be just about greenhouse gases and climate change, not about such things as the emissions that would come from the plant, the dangers to the newly-revived sea life, nor, of critical importance, the narrowness of Howe Sound, making it totally unsuitable to LNG tankers. There is another issue which no one in government talks about, it evidently not being polite to say anything – Woodfibre LNG is run by a tax-cheating crook best known in Indonesia for burning down jungles.
A welcome change from Harper days
Now, I am writing this before the first meeting and my firm suspicion is that the above issues will be raised, thank God, even though they are distinctly not on the agenda.
It is, however, quite an exciting time because we’re not used to members of Parliament talking to us, except to tell us what government thinks we should be thinking. Indeed, when it was brought to our new MP’s attention that the folks back home were very restless about this issue and actively planning ways and means to make nuisances of themselves, within hours she had scheduled these meetings.
quote:
Publicity exercise?
Not everybody thinks these are a wonderful happening. I am not alone in believing it’s all a crock of crap and a political publicity exercise by the government.
The federal government obviously doesn’t give a rat’s ass about global warming or climate change.
Why do I say that?
Well, the issue was great for giving the rookie Justin Trudeau a stage for an early dog and pony show before the world in Paris, and it certainly looked promising when Canada decided we’d wean ourselves off fossil fuels.
Then Mr. Trudeau came home and the next thing we knew, pipelines were being built as usual, new ones approved, fossil fuels coming out of the ground in ever increasing amounts, then shipped to countries that couldn’t wait to send gunk into the atmosphere. Fossil fuel companies are acting as if the Paris conference didn’t happen and, for all intents and purposes, it didn’t. The fossil fuel companies not only control our newspapers but our governments too.
Thu, 2016-03-03 15:47
#56
Three Wacky Accounting Numbers for LNG and Shale Gas
Three things don't add up in the British Columbia budget when it comes to declining revenues from the battered shale gas industry and its non-existent cousin, the province's liquefied natural gas fantasy.
The first concerns revenue. Premier Christy Clark promised in 2013 that profits from the LNG industry would pour like manna into a $100-billion provincial prosperity fund.
In the months before the election that year, the government persuaded citizens that a complex, high-cost and foreign-owned industry, tied to a volatile greenhouse gas, could somehow make the province debt-free and bless it with Alberta-like prosperity.
Twenty LNG proponents all lined up at the government trough, expecting low royalties and taxes. But not one of the 20 proponents has committed to go ahead with a LNG project, because the economic justification has vanished in a sea of volatility. Many are folding, such as the Douglas Channel LNG project, because of what industry calls "unfavourable market conditions."
quote:
Most citizens will be surprised to learn that the province actually doesn't make much money from mining shale gas because it continues to subsidize the industry with among the lowest royalties in North America (more on that later).
But the province did make cash from selling off shale gas real estate in the boom years. From 2006 to 2015, shale gas leases accounted for between 29 and 68 per cent of the province's total income from oil and gas.
These one-time windfalls reflected a crazy resource boom driven by the brute force technology of hydraulic fracturing.
Thu, 2016-03-03 19:36
#57
Just to prove the NDP is clueless on LNG we get Nathan Cullins with this latest idiocy. Apparently the only problem with LNG is where the terminals are placed.
Skeena NDP MP Nathan Cullen said he thinks there is a deal to be made which could end opposition and controversy surrounding the proposed Lelu Island location for the planned Pacific NorthWest LNG project.
And that would be for the company to move to another location.
Cullen has another location in mind – the one on Ridley Island selected by BG Canada for its Prince Rupert LNG project.
http://www.thenorthernview.com/news/370671261.html
Fri, 2016-03-11 14:19
#58
krop..i think the ndp does get it but want to place themselves at a mushy middle..trying to mediate between the resistance and corps. this space no longer exists as communities take on the role of defending themselves. and this defensive posture comes after years of having very little or even zero representation in canadian parliments. what the ndp doesn't have is transformational alternatives to the economic statis quo so they fall back to their mediation position.
Politicians shouldn’t be cowed into keeping mum on Saanich LNG project, says eminent lawyer
A battle is brewing in Saanich Inlet over a proposed floating LNG terminal – long before the proponent, Steelhead LNG, has even filed its formal application. In recent weeks, an increasingly bizarre controversy has erupted over whether or not elected Cowichan Valley Regional District (CVRD) directors have the right to express their opinion on the project at this early stage. The controversy was boiled over last month after the CVRD unanimously passed a motion put forth by district director Lori Iannidinardo to oppose the project, citing concerns surrounding air quality and shipping lanes near the region’s population (see video of motion and vote).
Keep your opinions yourselves, directors warned
The vote was met with warnings from Ross Blackwell, General Manager of the CVRD Planning and Development Department, as documented by the local blog Cowichan Conversations. Mr. Blackwell appears to have drawn his position from an internal legal opinion issued by CVRD Legal Counsel Peter Johnson. On this basis, Blackwell cautioned elected directors not take a public position on the project before reviewing a formal application by the proponent – or they could face legal challenges down the road....
Sun, 2016-03-13 17:40
#59
Malaysia’s Petronas threatening to abandon B.C. LNG project over new climate change rules
Malaysia’s Petronas is frustrated that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s climate-change priorities are introducing new uncertainty for its proposed $36 billion Pacific NorthWest LNG project in northern British Columbia and has threatened to walk away if it doesn’t get federal approval by March 31, according to a source close to the project.
quote:
After spending an estimated $12 billion to get the project to this stage, and having suffered multiple delays and setbacks, including aboriginal and environmental movement opposition, Petronas has conveyed to federal cabinet ministers it won’t accept additional hurdles.
“They have given Trudeau to March 31 to either approve it as it stands now or they are going to leave,” the source told the Financial Post. “They started off with the Conservatives, and the (environmental) standards are very high. They said OK we will meet those standards and they did in all the engineering and design of the project. This last greenhouse gas thing that Trudeau came up with really threw them for a loop.”
The big worry is that the cabinet, which has final say, will keep stalling instead of handing down a decision while the project continues to burn cash, the source said.
Sun, 2016-03-13 17:43
#60
Scientists want federal environment minister to reject 'flawed' B.C. LNG report (with video)
More than 100 Canadian and U.S. scientists have concluded a federal environmental assessment of the $12-billion Pacific NorthWest LNG terminal is "scientifically flawed" and represents an "insufficient base for a decision."
The scientists, in a letter dated March 9, are urging Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal government to reject a Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency draft report released last month that found the project would not adversely affect aquatic life, including salmon. The project has an estimated cost of $36 billion if development to extract gas in northeast B.C. and a pipeline to the coast are included....
Thu, 2016-03-17 12:59
#61
Four More Whoppers about LNG in British Columbia
quote:
Whopper #1: Vastly less gas to sell than claimed
Let's begin with the government claim that British Columbia "has more than an estimated 2,900 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of marketable shale gas reserves," or more methane in the ground than the entire United States.
Last year David Hughes, a former analyst with Natural Resources Canada who mapped much of the nation's coal and gas supplies, took a hard look at real reserves and found that the government claim had no basis in reality.
Hughes pointed out in a report for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives that the BC Oil and Gas Commission estimated that B.C. only had 376 tcf of marketable shale resources. (Hughes added 40 tcf to this number for good measure, for a total of 416 tcf, to account for possible resources in developing plays.)
But proven reserves, or what industry can extract with existing technology, were only 44.4 tcf. That's one sixty-fifth of the government's inflated figure of 2,900 tcf. When Hughes noted that the emperor was wearing no clothes, the emperor (Minister of Natural Gas Development Rich Coleman) accused Hughes of misrepresenting the facts....
Fri, 2016-03-18 20:53
#62
BC LNG exports look highly unlikely. Even the Wall Street Journal thinks so.
As Premier Christy Clark marks her fifth year in office, U.S. regulators have served up some discouraging news about the current prospects for selling North American liquefied natural gas in Asian markets.
The latest setback happened Friday when the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) turned thumbs down to an estimated $9.5 billion LNG project in Oregon for lack of evidence of any overseas market for the stuff.
“A decision that stunned supporters and critics alike,” as the Portland-based Oregonian newspaper reported in a story by Ted Sickinger.
Still the 21-page rationale posted at ferc.gov, the commission website, provided a good understanding of why the regulator balked at the proposed Jordan Cove terminal and accompanying pipeline.
Four times commission staff requested details from the would-be developers — including Calgary-based Veresen Inc. — about potential buyers for the estimated annual output of six million tonnes of LNG.
In the most recent response, delivered late last year, the commission was told only that negotiations with prospective customers were “active and ongoing” and partners were “confident that these customers will enter into long-term agreements.”
Nor did the would-be developers take the strong hint from the commission and tentatively sound out potential buyers via the informal process known as an “open season.” ...
The Wall Street Journal noted as much last month when Cheniere Energy began shipping LNG from the first of two major export terminals on the U.S. Gulf Coast.
“The world’s appetite for North American LNG will be limited to about 6.5 billion cubic feet a day in the next eight years,” the newspaper reported, citing analyses by the U.S. department of energy and Canada’s own CIBC bank.
“Cheniere has regulatory approval for nearly all of that volume, 6.3 billion cubic feet, from a pair of export terminals. That suggests trouble for dozens of other LNG projects, from Maryland to Oregon,” the paper continued.
It also suggests potential trouble for projects on this side of the border, because the Americans — thanks to Cheniere’s first terminal in Louisiana and the second one under construction in Texas — have got the product to market ahead of us. ...
The proposal put forward by Malaysia-government owned Petronas for a site near Port Edward on the Northwest Coast of B.C. is priced at $36 billion including terminal, port and pipeline. At peak, Pacific NorthWest LNG would produce up to three times as much product as Jordan Cove would have done.
Granted some B.C.-based proponents have done a better job lining up potential buyers. But the environmental and regulatory obstacles are no less onerous on this side of the border and our equivalent of the landholder issue — aboriginal title — has been a greater cause for delay.
All of which tends to suggest that B.C. is still a long way from delivering homegrown LNG to world markets.
In her first year as premier back in 2011, Premier Clark suggested that the first terminal would be operational by now. But even if she manages to secure re-election next year, she’s more likely to be in her 10th year in office before the first LNG shipment is at hand.
http://www.vancouversun.com/Vaughn+Palmer+prospects+continue+fade/117847...
Sun, 2016-03-20 00:58
#63
The scraping of plans for a Saint John LNG export terminal provides further evidence that a global glut of LNG leaves Christy's trillion dollar LNG fantasy perilously close to death.
Unfortunately there is a world glut of LNG, these energy companies and investors only have themselves to blame, these greedy entities swooped in like vultures on Asia(Japan) and figured they could make $billions providing natural gas..
They created a massive glut...With new gas discoveries in nearly every country, with renewable energy leapfrogging fossil fuel investment, with a warming planet along with an economic stall in China...These companies and shareholders are not prepared to lose $billions...
Supply and demand, a massive supply glut AND LITTLE DEMAND...It really is that simple. ...Spanish energy giant Repsol has halted plans to add liquefied natural gas export facilities at its existing Canaport LNG import terminal in Saint John, Canada.“The Saint John LNG liquefaction project has been placed on hold,” Brent Anderson, a spokesman for Repsol Canada told LNG World News in an emailed statement.
Repsol joins a growing number of companies that are delaying or cancelling their LNG developments due to market volatility and low oil and gas prices.
http://powellriverpersuader.blogspot.ca
Sun, 2016-03-20 15:48
#64
Woodfibre LNG gets environmental stamp of approval from Ottawa
The federal department, Environment and Climate Change Canada, has given the green light to the controversial Woodfibre LNG project, ruling on Friday that the proposal is "not likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects."
In an Environmental Assessment Decision Statement, department Minister Catherine McKenna established more than a dozen legally binding conditions for the $1.6-billion processing and export facility, scheduled for construction at the former Woodfibre pulp mill site roughly seven kilometres southwest of Squamish, B.C.
quote:
"One of the first things they do is approve a brand new fossil fuel export industry for Canada," the group's research director, Eoin Finn, told National Observer. "I find that shocking, disappointing and alarming."
According to My Sea to Sky, the science for the project was entirely provided by the proponent, and the public had no opportunity to cross-examine it. The organization will continue to oppose Woodfibre LNG, as its proponents seek regulatory authorizations from Fisheries and Oceans Canada and Transport Canada.
"We have a prime minister who stood... here in B.C., and said 'Governments grant permits, but only communities grant permission,'" Finn explained. "This judgment, and the unanimous declaration by all of the major communities around Howe Sound and their elected representatives to oppose this, were ignored.
"Disappointment is the big word."
Mon, 2016-03-21 01:15
#65
While BC pursues LNG, the rest of the world is shifting toward renewables, especially wind.
According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance’s latest energy investment report, China led as the world’s largest investor in renewables, with the U.S. coming in second place.
Worldwide, around 100 gigawatts (GW) of solar and wind power capacity were built in 2014—up from 74 GW in 2013—and nearly during every month the headlines were filled with record generation in cities and countries across the world.
As we kick off 2015—with hopes for an even bigger year for renewable energy—here’s five records that were broken in 2014.
1. Denmark sets world record for wind
Denmark set a new world record for wind production in 2014, getting 39.1 percent of its overall electricity from the clean energy source. The latest figures put the country well on track to meet its 2020 goal of getting 50 percent of its power from renewables. ...
Last year, onshore wind was also declared the cheapest form of energy in the country.
2. UK wind power smashes annual records
In the UK, wind power also smashed records in 2014, as generation rose 15 percent from 24.5 terawatt-hours (TWh) hours to 28.1 TWh. ...
3. Renewables provide biggest contribution to Germany’s electricity
Renewable energy was the biggest contributor to Germany’s electricity supply in 2014, with nearly 26 percent of the country’s power generation coming from clean sources. Electricity output from renewables has grown eightfold in Germany since 1990, and the latest data further highlights the dramatic shift towards clean energy taking place in Europe’s largest economy.
4. Scotland sees “massive year” for renewables
The latest figures further highlight the record year seen for renewables in Scotland, with wind turbines providing an average 746, 510 MWh each month—enough to supply 98 percent of Scottish households electricity needs. ...
With figures like these it is no wonder new research out this week said the country’s power grid could be 100 percent renewable by 2030.
5. Ireland hits new record for wind energy
Windy conditions in Ireland meant the country saw not one but two wind energy records set already this year. According to figures record by EirGrid on Wednesday (Jan. 7), wind energy had created 1,942 MW of energy, enough to power more than 1.26 million homes.
http://ecowatch.com/2015/01/09/countries-leading-way-renewable-energy/
Mon, 2016-03-21 01:25
#66
With a population not much different than BC's, Uruguay is already generating 94.5% of its electrical energy from renewables and 55% of all its energy needs from renewables. We are in danger of being in the same position as the buggy whip industry as cars came on the scene.
In less than 10 years, Uruguay has slashed its carbon footprint without government subsidies or higher consumer costs, according to the country’s head of climate change policy, Ramón Méndez.
In fact, he says that now that renewables provide 94.5% of the country’s electricity, prices are lower than in the past relative to inflation. There are also fewer power cuts because a diverse energy mix means greater resilience to droughts.
It was a very different story just 15 years ago. Back at the turn of the century oil accounted for 27% of Uruguay’s imports and a new pipeline was just about to begin supplying gas from Argentina. ...
Now the biggest item on import balance sheet is wind turbines, which fill the country’s ports on their way to installation.
Biomass and solar power have also been ramped up. Adding to existing hydropower, this means that renewables now account for 55% of the country’s overall energy mix (including transport fuel) compared with a global average share of 12%.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/dec/03/uruguay-makes-dramati...
Mon, 2016-03-21 01:30
#67
Another sign that LNG and fossil fuels in general are sunset industries comes from the fact that in January 2015, 90% of new electrical energy in the US came from renewables.
Based on data from FERC and educated “other solar” (essentially rooftop solar) estimates from CleanTechnica, we’ve found that 90% of new electricity generation capacity added in the United States in January 2015 came from renewable energy sources. To be more precise, 90% came from solar and wind energy.
The largest source of new capacity came from wind energy (54.7%), rooftop solar was second (26.7%), natural gas was third (10.5%), and utility-scale solar PV brought the rest (8.1%).
http://cleantechnica.com/2015/03/10/renewable-energy-90-of-new-us-electr...
Mon, 2016-03-21 14:42
#68
But the dumb sheep that pass for voters in BC will still buy her BS for the next election.
Mon, 2016-03-21 14:42
#69
But the dumb sheep that pass for voters in BC will still buy her BS for the next election.
Tue, 2016-03-22 11:18
#70
..soft pedaling the lies they tell folks in bc. and a whole 3 months review in the face of that totally corrupt petronas who will rob us blind. the liberal battle plan unfolding.
B.C. LNG decision faces three-month delay to review project details for environmental review
Federal Environment Minister Catherine McKenna says the creation of a liquefied natural gas industry offers a significant economic opportunity for British Columbia and Canada, which is why more time is needed to get it right.
McKenna has granted the federal environmental review agency an extra three months to review pollution-prevention plans for the proposed $36-billion Pacific NorthWest LNG export facility in northern B.C.
McKenna says in a statement today she wants to give the project developers, who are backed by Malaysian state-owned energy giant Petronas, more time to clarify its pollution-reduction and construction plans before she presents the project to the federal cabinet for approval....
Thu, 2016-03-24 15:35
#71
The cancellation of a $40 billion LNG plant in Australian this week is another sign that a LNG glut is making Christy's LNG dream less and less likely.
The crash in LNG prices has claimed a major victim. Woodside Petroleum and its partners, which include Royal Dutch Shell, BP, and PetroChina have decided to cancel a massive LNG project in Australia because the economics no longer work. ...
The Browse LNG project was planned for Western Australia, a $40 billion floating LNG export facility that would have sent Australian natural gas abroad. Citing the “extremely challenging” market, the project was scrapped on March 22. “It’s very, very difficult for us to invest in this price environment,” Woodside’s CEO Peter Coleman said.
“We’ve got a glut of LNG at the moment and a large number of potential projects out there,” Neil Beveridge, a Hong Kong-based analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., told Bloomberg in an interview.
http://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/40-Billion-LNG-Project-In-Aust...
Thu, 2016-03-31 16:45
#72
The Petronas Project and the LNG Pipe Dream
Common sense suggests that any project which would devastate one of the largest and most fragile salmon estuaries in the world is short-sighted and ill-advised. However, the proposed Pacific Northwest Liquefied Natural Gas (PNW LNG) terminal would do just that. Instead of facing condemnation, it's being touted by the B.C. government as the province's most promising avenue towards economic success.
quote:
While claiming that LNG exports will improve the economy, the B.C. government is offering major tax breaks and incentives to corporations, seducing investors at the expense of taxpayers. In their Project Development Agreement, signed in July, 2015, B.C. promised to compensate Petronas for any taxes they raise on the industry for a 25-year period, including taxes related to the LNG Income Tax, the Natural Gas Tax Credit, the Carbon Tax, and environmental charges related to any new greenhouse gas emissions regulations. Some of these taxes, such as the Natural Gas Income Tax, have already been halved to a post-payout tax rate of 3.5% and offer a reduction in corporate income tax from 11% to 8%.
In February, 2015 the federal government granted federal tax breaks to the B.C. LNG sector, with subsidized tax relief in effect for the next ten years. Analysts predict this increase in capital allowance rates could translate into a $4-billion subsidy for LNG companies by Canadian taxpayers. While the federal Liberal Party had promised to end subsidies to the fossil fuel industry, after winning the election they have since assured the B.C. government that they will not remove this tax cut.
Fri, 2016-04-01 13:23
#73
We have been betrayed by our elected leader
First Nations leaders have rejected BC Minister of Natural Gas Development Rich Coleman’s recent comments that the BC Government has the full support of First Nations impacted by the Petronas LNG project proposed for Lelu Island.
Faced with a further three month delay mandated by Federal Environment Minister McKenna, BC government officials flew to Ottawa earlier this week in a desperate attempt to convince the Federal government to ignore the clear commitments Prime Minister Trudeau made to combat climate change, reduction of green house gas emissions, make decisions informed by credible science, and rebuild the fractured relationship with First Nations. In a misleading Facebook post referring to the Ottawa trip, Coleman stated that the project “has the backing of local communities and conditional support of First Nations along the entire natural gas pipeline route and at the terminal site.”
Coleman’s comment drew immediate criticism from local and regional First Nation leaders in BC.
“Our community voted unanimously to reject Petronas’s proposed LNG project on Lelu Island, inclusive of the $1 Billion attached offer. Clearly, the Hereditary Chiefs are the proper title holders to all parts of our territory such as Lelu Island. In this regard, Band Councils do not have any jurisdictional authority. Our Mayor, John Helin, never held a community-wide meeting to secure a proper political mandate to write the highly questionable letter to CEAA which purported to offer qualified conditional support for the LNG project on Lelu Island. We have been betrayed by our elected leader. ”
– Hereditary Chief Yahaan (Donald Wesley), of the Gitwilgyoots Tribe of the Lax Kw’alaams
“First Nations leaders from the entire Skeena river are standing together in opposition to this project. Upriver First Nations have been side-lined in the environmental assessment of this project all along, and we are standing firm against it. Over 130 of the most respected Canadian and International scientists said last week that this project poses grave risk to our wild salmon, and endorsed the independent science that was ignored in the CEAA process. We cannot allow this project to happen as it is proposed.”
– Chief Glen Williams, President of the Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs Office.....
Fri, 2016-04-01 13:28
#74
“The entire world, including Petronas and its international investors, the Malaysian Government, the BC Government, and Prime Minister Trudeau’s Liberal Government, are aware of the deeply entrenched, extensive and broad Indigenous opposition to the proposed PNW LNG project. These well briefed and extensively informed parties can no longer pretend that this is not a significant factor in deciding if the project goes ahead, in addition to the massive detrimental impacts to the environment, critically delicate salmon sustaining habitat and the undeniable fizzling market demand for LNG.”
– Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, President of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs
Wed, 2016-04-27 15:35
#75
Oil and gas land sale brings in $375,000
April's oil and gas land sale brought in $375,000—down from last month but up from February's historic zero-dollar auction.
Sixteen parcels sold at the April 20 sale, including subsurface leases and drilling rights, which provide exclusive rights to explore for natural gas and oil on three-to-five year terms.
Income from the land sale, which is widely considered an indicator of future exploration activity, has dropped precipitously since late 2014 with the price of oil.
Last month's sale brought in $1,927,906 while the month before, B.C. recorded its first ever zero-dollar land sale.
2015 was one of the worst years for land sale incomes on record, bringing in just $18 million compared to $382 million the year before. Without a major uptick in exploration activity, 2016 is set to be a worse year for oil and gas exploration than 2015.
That's a worry for the provincial government, which relies on resource revenues to pay for healthcare, school and other social services. The land sale typically accounts for 30 to 70 per cent of B.C.'s oil and gas income, with the balance covered by resource royalties....
Thu, 2016-04-28 12:41
#76
BREAKING: Hemispheric Congress of Unions in São Paulo Urges Governments to Stop Fracking
More than 500 delegates representing unions in the Americas today adopted a ‘base document’ that included a call for governments in the hemisphere to issue a moratorium on fracking. Via the TUED-initiated Unions Against Fracking, five trade union centers in the Americas had earlier supported the call for a moratorium, namely CTA Argentina, CSN Quebec, the Canadian Labour Congress, CUT Brazil, and CUT Peru. A growing number of individual unions are also on board. The TUCA-CSA Congress document also declared, “We fight against the extractive model imposed by the business logic of large oil production and mining transnational corporations that do not foster development.”
Convened once every four years, the 3rd Congress of the Trade Union Confederation of the Americas is meeting at a time when unions in Brazil and across the region believe that a coup against president Dilma Rousseff is imminent. A right-wing government replacing the governing Workers Party is expected to push forward with an aggressive privatization agenda and a full-force attack on collective bargaining....
Mon, 2016-05-02 12:47
#77
Christy Clark’s LNG obsession is fracturing B.C.
This weekend, elected officials from all levels of government, academics and professionals from the U.S. and Canada convened at the 4th annual Rethinking the Region event, hosted in partnership between SFU and the City of New Westminster.
At my table were three other graduate students trying to multi-task as best we could, listening intently, jotting down notes, and frenetically tweeting quotes from the fascinating speakers and panels.
As the day progressed a theme became apparent before our lunch break had even arrived – over the past few years, the Clark government has turned its back on the region of the Lower Mainland, the largest concentration of people in the province. Whether it is the lack of commitment to regional transit or affordable housing needs, or the insistence on forcing through infrastructure projects that are at odds with our Regional Growth Strategy.
quote:
LNG terminals and the pipelines they connect to are short-term job creators but long-term sunk costs, even if the industry gets off the ground, even if this government’s wildest dreams come true, the gas will eventually run out, and B.C. will endure the same type of bust Alberta is currently suffering through. I repeat, if the LNG industry actually gets off the ground, because analysts now agree this government’s window of opportunity has closed.
The fact is, when we say “yes” to something, we say “no” to something else. Those of us in both rural and urban communities in B.C. know that saying "yes" to Christy Clark’s singular and obsessive vision of B.C. means saying "no" to a range of other better, more strategic, sustainable and sensible investments in our future.
The people who live in the Peace Region know that saying "yes" to site C dam is saying "no" to food security in British Columbia. This at a time when our biggest exporter of food to B.C. is succumbing to the new normal of permanent drought, and food prices continue to rise, as Richmond City Councillor Harold Steves addressed in detail when speaking at our event.
We are not two provinces, but Clark’s wedge politics works to fracture us in half.
Sun, 2016-12-04 15:39
#78
one year later...
Wed, 2016-12-07 20:09
#79
Kitimat LNG say they could be almost a decade away from production
A final investment decision for Kitimat LNG won't be coming anytime soon.
Kitimat council heard from the company at Monday's meeting who say they still need to meet their five condititons before an FID date is announced.
Commercial Manager Fred Eastwood says they aren't going anywhere and feel Kitimat is still the right place to be.
"When the market does recover, the current supply overhang is basically eaten into." says Eastwood.
"We believe BC LNG has an opportunity to fufill that demand gap. The mid 2020's is the time frame we are looking at."...
Thu, 2016-12-15 14:23
#80
Obama Regulators Reject Fracked Gas Pipeline Across Oregon
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has conclusively rejected the only U.S. West Coast plan to ship liquefied natural gas from Canada and the Rockies to Asia. On December 9, FERC commissioners announced that they had again voted unanimously to refuse federal approval for the $7.6 billion Jordan Cove Energy Project export terminal and the Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline (PCGP)
FERC’s original ruling against this fracked-gas export project came March 11, 2016, and the December 9 decision denied requests to reopen the federal approval process. This is FERC’s first-ever liquefied natural gas (LNG) export rejection. The agency is funded through back-charging its costs as fees to the energy industry, so it is considered a zero-budget entity for the overstressed federal budget process. FERC is notorious for its easy approvals of dirty fossil fuel projects, making this two-part verdict all the more striking.
FERC’s unprecedented double denial needs to be seen through the frame of an 11-year coordinated grassroots campaign. Dozens of organizations, supporting hundreds of outraged landowners along the pipeline route, have brought together thousands of people all over Oregon to fight this LNG terminal and pipeline.
Mon, 2016-12-19 10:40
#81
First Nations pipeline revenue sharing deal falls through
MORE THAN 30 northern First Nations have failed to reach an agreement on how to divide $10 million a year for each of three planned pipelines that would carry natural gas to proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants.
The money, a form of a royalty described as an ongoing benefit once the pipelines are in operation, has been offered by the provincial government as part of its overall package of payments to First Nations stemming from the potential of a LNG industry.
But the leaders from the 32 First Nations who have traditional territory through which the pipelines would run from northeastern B.C. to one planned LNG facility at Kitimat and two in Prince Rupert failed to meet a deadline and then an extended deadline over the past 18 months to reach revenue sharing arrangements....
Mon, 2016-12-19 10:44
#82
ANBT drops all LNG sponsors for upcoming tournament
LNG sponsorships at the 2017 All native basketball tournament will be no longer.
The Board says in a facebook post that they passed a Motion in September to drop the sponsors citing too many contentious issues on both sides.
Participants from Massett, Bella Bella, Bella Coola, and Port Simpson sent an anti LNG message at the 2016 tournament wearing No-LNG t-shirts, and adding the phrase a clean environment equals a healthy community.
Sun, 2017-01-15 17:35
#83
Fox Creek fracking operation closed indefinitely after earthquake
A hydraulic fracturing operation near Fox Creek, Alta., has been shut down after an earthquake hit the area Tuesday.
The magnitude 4.8 quake was reported at 11:27 a.m., says Alberta Energy Regulator, which ordered the shutdown of the Repsol Oil & Gas site 35 kilometres north of Fox Creek.
quote:
Earthquake 'larger than normal'
Brillon added the quake was "quite large for the area, larger than normal." It was so strong that it was felt in St. Albert, 280 km away.
Jeffrey Gu, associate professor of geophysics at the University of Alberta, said the area surrounding Fox Creek has been experiencing a proliferation of quakes lately.
He estimates in the last six months there have been hundreds of quakes in the area ranging in magnitude from 2.0 to 3.0.
Tue, 2017-01-17 11:42
#84
U.S. energy market outlook a sobering read in gas country
Surging exports and a declining dependence on foreign oil are two trends the Canadian oil and gas industry would welcome—if they were happening here instead of next door.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s Annual Energy Outlook, released Jan. 5, instead presents a grim picture for Canadian oil and gas—one where producers are increasingly competing with their largest market.
The report, released Jan. 5, highlights declining foreign imports and steadily growing exports as two of the big trends in U.S. energy. A net importer of energy products since 1953, the U.S. is expected to become a net exporter of energy by 2026 thanks to a major ramp up in hydraulic fracturing.
The amount of oil and gas U.S. customers pipe in from Western Canada is expected to decline through 2040, while Eastern Canada is expected to buy more American natural gas due to its close proximity to the Marcellus Shale.....