More on Tom Sampson: longtime chairman of South Island Tribal Council, founder of Salish Sea Council, longtime director of Georgia Strait Alliance, First Nations Summit: (page 9)
http://www.bctreaty.ca/sites/default/files/092192_bc-treaty-commission-a...
Canada should rethink unproven, dangerous chemical ‘cleanup’ of marine oil spills
The Husky Energy oil spill in Newfoundland is a wake-up call for British Columbians as the National Energy Board conducts yet another review of the Trans Mountain expansion project.
The east coast spill brings into sharp focus significant questions regarding the limitations of oil spill cleanup and recovery. It’s also a reminder of the very real possibility that an oil spill in a marine environment off the coast would be treated with Corexit, a chemical dispersant that would make a real-time experiment of us all — humans and non-humans alike.
In June 2016 the federal government quietly approved the use of Corexit 9500, a substance which Trans Mountain indicated in their submission to the National Energy Board they would consider using in the event of a marine oil spill off the B.C. coast.
The intended purpose of dispersants like Corexit 9500 is to break up oil slicks on the water’s surface by increasing the rate at which oil droplets form and move into the water column.
Chemical dispersion does not reduce the amount of oil entering the marine environment; rather, it aims to change where the oil goes and how quickly it gets there.
The idea is to turn the oil into small droplets which are more easily degraded by naturally occurring microbes, but it turns out that this plan may backfire.
In research conducted following the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, Corexit was found not only to be toxic to naturally occurring microbes that can degrade oil, but to actually suppress their oil-degrading ability.
Efficacy of Corexit on diluted bitumen unproven
There are significant concerns about the use of Corexit on a spill of diluted bitumen (dilbit), a blend of bitumen and chemicals, which would be carried by the expanded Trans Mountain pipeline.
Corexit’s effectiveness in dispersing dilbit is unproven at best, and a growing body of research indicates that Corexit is toxic to fish, wildlife, and humans.
Past experience on the B.C. coast has taught us that the rough conditions commonly encountered can render traditional oil spill cleanup methods — booms and skimmers — not just ineffective, but unusable.
Further, in their application to the National Energy Board, Trans Mountain noted that diluted bitumen can submerge in the water column and sink, thereby “reducing the effectiveness of a conventional spill response.”.....
In the Blink of An Eye, a Hunt for Oil Threatens Pristeen Alaska
https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/1069652663455879168
"Despite a domestic oil glut, the Trump Interior Dept is rushing through permits to allow destructive oil drilling in the Arctic refuge because the lobbyists and executives from the company that will most profit runs the Department. That's the Swamp."
Well pondering, we shall let the future unfold. Woodfibre LNG just announced approval of its project by the Squamish nation, crude by rail is ramping up to considerably more volume, smaller producers are using truck/ rail combinations to access higher market prices in niche markets. Enbridge Line 3, KXL and Trans Mountain will all go ahead. You cant stop progress and you do not have the will of the majority to even try.Even oil people know oil's future is limited which is why they are all trying to sell theirs as fast as possible. KXL may go through. As I have said before that is between Alberta and the US. So far, US courts are saying no. We can't win every battle so seems like the LNG thing is going forward. It is not as great a threat to the immediate environment so the opposition is not as strong.
The courts have stopped TM and cited the acknowledged risks to the ocean. Even if the courts eventually approve it there will still be a "how far will you go" showdown between the government and protesters.
As to the rail and trucks, you have a solution so use it and lay off with the histronics. The log jam is neither new nor unpredictable. Does Alberta's oil industry not plan in advance?
The buying rail cars thing is just another bluff. Either that or it is sheer stupidity. If it were economically profitable the oil industry would have done it already.
Even oil companies want limits on production. In my opinion Alberta is mismanaging its oil industry due to free market ideology. A shame the free market ideology does not extend to pipelines. If you can't sell something it doesn't get built. Alberta has been unable to sell its pipelines.
In today's world progress is defined as moving away from fossil fuels. I am experiencing climate change. The predictions of more extreme weather are coming true. The economic costs are rising. Deaths from pollution as well as climate change are being registered. Concerns over plastic are ever rising.
The truth is green technologies from geo-thermal to solar to wind and even hydro are more than cost effective if you take into account the economic cost of the damage to human and planetary health.
I'm sure it was cheaper to toss garbage out the window than to collect it yet still we started collecting it because the cost to human health and the discomfort of living in it was greater.
People are placing a high value on protecting themselves and their children from pollutants. Sustainable living isn't a fad. It is the wave of the present as well as the future and you can't stop progress.
Alberta is embarassing itself with the victim posturing. If Alberta does poorly enough it can become a have-not province and recieve funds from the federal government. That should alliviate some of the bitterness from the suffering Alberta is experiencing.
One has to wonder about the good nature of Albertans when in the face of this second attempt to transfer western wealth to the east, Albertans are still not considering their options about leaving Canada. So far.
Oh my, the arrogance in your post is exceeded only by your ignorance of the oil economy and its importance to Canada as a whole. One has to wonder about the good nature of Albertans when in the face of this second attempt to transfer western wealth to the east, Albertans are still not considering their options about leaving Canada. So far.
If anyone here is arrogant it is you. Rejecting a pipeline is not a transfer of wealth. I absolutely respect the right of Alberta to separate if it so chooses. I would regret it but I won't sacrifice my own province. If Alberta gets XL you won't find many Canadians opposing it. We are not trying to hurt Alberta we are trying to protect ourselves.
The Trudeau government's Trans Mountain purchase has triggered staggering interest expenses
The Trans Mountain oil pipeline is costing a Canadian Crown corporation some staggering interest expenses that cast doubt on strong revenues from the infrastructure touted in the federal government's recent economic update.
The interest expenses were $20 million over a single month in September, right after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government purchased the pipeline and related assets from Texas energy company Kinder Morgan for $4.5 billion.
As part of the purchase, the government also had to set aside an additional $500 million as a security deposit in case of environmental damage, and this appears to be part of the interest expenses.
If the interest expenses continue to pile up at that rate over the year, they will come to represent a larger sum than the amount of money that the government has said the pipeline is on track to raise this year primarily from toll charges.
quote:
Morneau economic update questioned
In light of the new figures from CDEV, Morneau’s fiscal update is misleading, argued economist Robyn Allan, a former chief executive officer of the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia.
“This is designed to not address the issue, and suggests that there is no expectation that the interest charges in full or the principal repayment will be made,” said Allan. “Given what Canadians were told, anything short of full recovery on a commercial basis is a subsidy.”
Tom Sanzillo, director of finance at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, co-authored a report in June with Kathy Hipple, a financial analyst at the institute and corporate finance lecturer at Bard College, stating that the Canadian government was facing at least $11.6 billion in costs to complete the pipeline.
“This transaction and the cost of further planning and construction could add a $6.5 billion unplanned expenditure to Canada’s budget during FY 2019,” the report states, boosting Canada’s projected deficit by 36 per cent.
Sanzillo told National Observer that while it is not uncommon for a government economic development transaction to keep revenues, capital costs and operational expenses separate, the interest expenses and fiscal update numbers represent an incomplete picture.
“For a project of this size and importance,” said Sanzillo, “the executive has a responsibility to also produce an all-in-one, true and accurate inclusive project accounting that answers the question: 'How much is this costing the Canadian taxpayer?' These financial disclosures are partial, and absent a full accounting, are irrelevant. Because it is only a partial explanation, it says nothing about the financial viability of the project."
National Observer asked Morneau’s office why Trans Mountain appeared to be on track to incur more interest expenses than earnings, whether the minister knew about the interest expenses reported by CDEV at the time the fall fiscal update was presented, and if so, whether he deliberately withheld that information from the public.
“The interest payments are not considered as a loss to the government as they represent money flowing between Crown corporations,” said Jack Aubry, director of media relations and consultations for Finance Canada, who responded to the questions. The EBITDA figure cited in the fiscal update, he said, “is a better indicator of performance.”
..trudeau doesn't answer the question.
Trudeau urges First Nation chief to respect Trans Mountain supporters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau publicly warned a First Nations leader against disparaging communities that have agreed to allow the Trans Mountain pipeline across their land in exchange for economic benefits.
The remarkable exchange took place when Judy Wilson, who is chief of the Neskonlith Band and secretary treasurer of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, confronted Trudeau at a gathering of First Nations leaders in Ottawa.
Wilson has been outspoken in her opposition to the proposed Alberta-B.C. pipeline. She was the first to question Trudeau after he finished a speech in a packed room at the Westin hotel, where the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) was holding its 2018 special chiefs assembly.
During his remarks, Trudeau had stated his government’s commitment to introducing two pieces of federal legislation, on child welfare and on Indigenous languages, when Parliament returns from winter break. He also spoke about his vision of a “new relationship” with Indigenous peoples “guided by recognition of rights” and decolonization of laws.
Wilson praised that work, but then raised the issue of Trudeau’s 2017 speech to the United Nations — which AFN National Chief Perry Bellegarde mentioned positively when he introduced Trudeau. Wilson contrasted the speech to his government’s actions on Trans Mountain.
“I applaud the work we’re doing on children and families, and languages,” Wilson said, “but, Prime Minister, when you’re talking about the United Nations, and you’re going to go along with self-determination and consent, why wasn’t that applied with the Trans Mountain pipeline that’s going through 413 kilometres of our territory?”
The crowd broke into applause as Wilson continued, appearing to question the signing of some impact benefit agreements (IBAs) in some communities along the pipeline route.
“There was no consent on that, and you can’t count a few IBAs that you’ve done with some of the communities as consent, because it’s the proper title-holders of those nations that hold the title, and it’s the bands that might have been under duress — or whatever reasons they did that — but it’s not a proper process at all.”
'We should respect people's choices': Trudeau
Standing on stage, Trudeau replied, “I appreciate those words very much, Judy, thank you.” Then he did something unusual: he questioned the questioner.
“I would be careful about minimizing or ascribing reasons for people who take positions that disagree with you,” he said to Wilson.
“I think there are lots of reasons, and I think we should respect people’s choices to support or not support different projects, and I don’t think we should be criticizing them, just because they disagree with you, Judy.”
The fight to save the critically endangered orcas of the Salish Sea is the latest in a sequence of campaigns led by Northwest Tribes to protect natural and cultural heritage from fossil fuel and industrial threats, with great benefits resonating far beyond Native communities. These struggles have brought tribes together with unusual allies, including fishers, farmers, ranchers, faith-based communities, and most recently, natural history museums.
The Salish Sea–one of the world’s largest and biologically rich seas spanning the waters of northwest Washington and southwest British Columbia–is in the crosshairs of the fossil fuel industry, which wants to get coal, oil and gas from the interior of North America to markets in Asia as cheaply as possible. At least 20 proposed fossil fuel infrastructure projects have been soundly defeated by coalitions led by the region’s Native Nations in recent years.
Tribal sovereignty and treaty rights have played a central role in these victories, as have traditional art and storytelling. Since 2002, the House of Tears Carvers of the Lummi Nation in northwest Washington has transported hand-carved totem poles thousands of miles across North America to raise awareness, build alliances, and unite communities around issues of concern. For the last 6 years the annual “totem pole journeys” have dealt with the threats posed to water and wildlife from fossil fuels.
The latest totem, carved into the shape of a killer whale (or orca), will enter a museum for the first time this December when a new touring exhibition and corresponding multi-channel film debuts at the Florida Museum of Natural History. Created by Lummi Nation and The Natural History Museum (a pop-up museum that highlights the “socio-political forces that shape nature”), Whale People: Protectors of the Sea narrates the plight of the orcas from an Indigenous perspective.
For the Lummi, orcas are kin. Qw’e lh’ol mechen, the Lummi word for killer whale, translates to “our people that live under the sea.” The Salish Sea orcas are a sort of “miner’s canary” for the health of the sea and the wider ecosystem. Critically endangered, the threats they face range from climate change, starvation, toxic and sound pollution, oil pipelines and tanker traffic. The proposed Trans Mountain Pipeline, which would bring 800 new oil tankers annually to the Salish Sea, would mean game-over for the 74 remaining resident orcas.....
Trudeau Called ‘Sexist’ by Union of BC Indian Chiefs
Dear Prime Minister Trudeau:
We are writing to convey our absolute condemnation of your condescending and sexist response to UBCIC Secretary-Treasurer Kukpi7 Judy Wilson yesterday afternoon during the Assembly of First Nations meeting in Ottawa, Ontario.
Following your speech to the Assembly, Kukpi7 Wilson questioned you on Canada’s decision to proceed with the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion (TMX) despite a lack of consent from all impacted communities. Her question was clear, simple and entirely respectful.
In stark contrast, your comments were patronizing and offensive, as well as threatening. You responded by using her first name, which was completely disrespectful and ignored protocol. You stated, “I would be careful about minimizing or ascribing reasons for people who take positions that disagree with you… I don’t think we should be criticizing them, just because they disagree with you, Judy.” You completely minimized the legitimate concerns that she was addressing around the lack of Indigenous consent and instead indicated that her concerns were personal in nature, an overtly sexist approach that attempted to normalize your dismissiveness.
In contrast, when you responded to Chief Lee Spahan’s comments on the flawed Trans Mountain consultation process, you apologized and said, “We didn’t do a good enough job.” You also chose to follow protocol with him, and concluded your response with “Thank you, Chief,” a title, you refused to recognize in your response to Kukpi7 Wilson.
Before colonization, Indigenous women in Canada were not thought of or treated as worth less than men. Sexual violence and harassment of Indigenous women was addressed through traditional laws and systems, and not accepted or expected at a societal level. Indigenous nations were forced to go through a cultural and family breakdown as a result of colonization, including a brutally repressive and genocidal system which created historical and ongoing trauma, with direct impacts to Indigenous women’s safety and value in society as communities struggled to survive. Today, Indigenous women still face barriers to having their voices heard, still must ask to be included in political discussions that they should be part of, and still must ask for apologies.
Prime Minister Trudeau, we understand you call yourself a feminist and that you claim to be committed to reconciliation, and we question how you could treat Kukpi7 Wilson in such a dismissive, disdainful and arrogant manner. Your response to her yesterday, from the highest elected office in the country, runs the risk of sending a message to Canadians that it’s OK to belittle, berate and lecture female Indigenous leaders. It sends a message that it’s OK to continue these attacks towards our Indigenous women whether it is in the boardroom, meetings or dealing with issues on the land, and it runs the grave risk of discouraging Indigenous women to stand up to defend themselves.
In the wake of your comments, many people have contacted Kukpi7 Wilson to offer their support including Senators, Chiefs, Advisors and Policy Staff, who witnessed in person or on-line, and who took offence to her treatment. We are grateful and inspired by this support.
If your standard for moving forward is the “least, worst way” as you stated yesterday, then we do not think that you have achieved even that in your treatment of Kukpi7 Wilson.
We demand a full and immediate apology.
EDMONTON – In response to an industry-wide glut caused by an inability to get its oil to Pacific tankers, the Notley government has decreed that every Albertan travelling to the West Coast will be required to take at least one barrel of Western Canadian Select with them.
“Our current shipping capacity falls short by over a hundred thousand barrels a day,” Notley said in a press conference announcing the new legislation. “We’ve set the minimum at one but we know true Albertans will show their loyalty to the province and to the industry by taking five or hopefully ten barrels with them on their trip to visit Grandma in Vancouver.”
Airports and airlines have stated that Albertans will be allowed to carry the required 158 litres of oil with them when they fly, but checked oil barrels will be subject to the standard luggage fees and for safety purposes carry-on bitumen must be portioned out into individual 100ml bottles.
“The fossil fuel industry asks so little of Albertans,” Notley says. “Having to lug around hundreds of pounds of toxic sludge is the least we as individuals can do for an industry that has given us so much.”
“Given us so much metaphorically speaking. Our royalty rate will remain competitively, or as some call it, criminally, low,” she added.
Other provinces have been inspired by Alberta’s new law, with Quebec turning its vacationers into international maple syrup smugglers and Newfoundland requiring all citizens returning from trips to Europe to bring back one live cod.
See More: bitumen, Cod, fossil fuel, Maple Syrup, Quebec, Rachel Notley, Vancouver
https://www.thebeaverton.com/2018/11/new-law-forces-albertans-to-carry-a...
Press Conference: Trans Mountain NEB Flawed Process
LIVE from the Press Conference of the failures of the National Energy Board to assess Trans Mountain, featuring
Khelsilem, co-speaker of the Squamish Nation, Kukpi7 Judy Wilson of the Neskonlith, Grand Chief Serge "Otsi" Simon, Mohawk Council of Kanesatake, Chief Lee Spahan, Coldwater, Denise Cole, Labrador Land Protectors, and Andrea Batien, Indigenous Climate Action.
Thousands take part in Montreal climate march opposing Trans Mountain pipeline
Thousands gathered at Place du Canada in downtown Montreal on Saturday to sound the alarm on climate change.
The event was scheduled to take place during COP24, the United Nations Climate Change Conference being held in Poland from Dec. 2 to Dec. 14, with similar marches being held around the world.
In Montreal, the rally attracted concerned citizens and Indigenous leaders from British Columbia and Quebec who are opposed to the Trans Mountain expansion pipeline.
“We are fighting for our lives against an oil pipeline project that would expand and go into our territory and be shipped off overseas,” said Khelsilem, a Squamish Nation councillor and spokesperson.
quote:
For Khelsilem, Saturday’s march was about building bridges and a better future.
“Participating today is really about building those linkages in our country with all the people, all Canadians, all people of the world who care about the future of our climate and standing together to make sure that we fight for the future that we want,” the councillor said.
Pointing to similar goals, Nathalie Roy, spokesperson for The Planet Goes to Parliament, said the citizen-led group was marching in solidarity with Indigenous leaders.
“One of our fundamental demands is that any new oil and gas plans be halted, that fossil fuels be left in the ground,” she said.
'I Am Not Mischief. I Am Secwepemc!' (and vid)
https://twitter.com/KanahusFreedom/status/1072298108464361474
"Three Indigenous Land Defenders with the Tiny House Warriors were arrested today during a highly controversial meeting called by federally-appointed official Frank Iacobucci...The Land Defenders arrested were Mayuk Manuel, Snutetkwe Manuel and Isha Jules. Mayuk Manuel and Snutetkwe Manuel are daughters of the late Arthur Manuel, a renowned Secwepemc Indigenous leader on the world stage and a strong advocate for self determination.
The Tiny House Warriors are opposed to closed-door meetings by federal bands that turn away proper and rightful title holders. In the Secwepemc Nation, consent is exercised collectively. Federally recognized bands are part of the system enforced by the ongoing colonial administration and they do not hold title over the majority of our lands, which are unceded and not governed by treaties. We oppose the use of private security firms and the RCMP along with aggressive techniques such as those used during the arrest..."
No Secwepemc Consent (and vid)
https://www.instagram.com/p/BrNyvscFfDx/
"Words from my twin sister speaking on the #TMX pipeline and their fed appointed retired SCC justice [Iacobucci] hired to push through a fraudulent 'Phase III consultation' for TMX Pipeline. The feds also gave these same so-called 'Indigenous groups' $65 million as bribe money to sign deals with the pipeline company which is their own self - dirty government of Canada.
We don't give our consent."
More on Canada's go-to broker of sellouts:
"...The lead federal negotiator of the [T&R] settlement contract was Frank Iacobucci of the Torys Law Firm that specializes in serving blue chip corporate clients whose business interest is diametrically opposed to the truth concerning the genocidally unconstitutional invasion of the Indian territories for commercial purposes.
Iacobucci was appointed Deputy Minister of Justice and Deputy AG of Canada. In September 1988 he was appointed Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Canada. He was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of Canada on January 7, 1991. He joined the Torys Firm in 2004 after he had retired from the Supreme Court. In all those capacities he committed and is committing genocide willfully by blindsiding and suppressing constitutional and international law..."
https://dissidentvoice.org/2008/11/a-critique-of-the-indian-residential-...
Justin Trudeau's 'Meaningful Consultation with First Nations' via Frank Iacobucci. Who better?
Torys LLP
'The Honourable Frank Iacobucci, CC, QC, LLD'
https://www.torys.com/people/iacobucci-the-honourable-frank
Torys LLP Representative Work
https://www.torys.com/expertise/industries/oil-and-gas/?ExperiencePageNu...
"Royal Bank, as administrative agent and a 24-bank lending syndicate in the C $5.5 billion in senior secured credit facilities provided to Kinder Morgan Ltd in connection with the expansion of the Trans Mountain Pipeline system."
Conflict of Interest? There's no conflict. That IS the interest...
Start @ #114
Conflict Mars First Day of Trudeau Govt Consultation on Trans Mountain Pipeline (and vid)
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's new round of consultations with First Nation communities over the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project got off to a rocky start Monday. Outside the hearing in Kamloops organized by Natural Resources Canada (NRC), three members of Tiny House Warriors - an Indigneous anti-pipeline group - were arrested after a noisy demonstration.
APTN News has confirmed Justice Frank Iacobucci chaired the meeting at Thompson Rivers University..."
For more on Iacobucci see upthread from #114 down.
Pipelines Will Not Solve the Big Problems With Alberta Oil
"Overlooked are the problems with bitumen itself..."
Ottawa To Announce $1.6 Billion Boost Tuesday For Battered Energy Sector
https://www.nationalnewswatch.com/2018/12/18/ottawa-to-announce-1-6-bill...
"Natural Resources Minister Amarjeet Sohil and International Trade Diversification Minister Jim Carr will be at an Edmonton college campus to unveil a support package for oil and gas companies, which are reeling from record low prices. It is a package based in some ways on those offered to softwood, steel and aluminum producers after the United States dealt them direct blows with import tariffs. Canada's oil patch isn't facing that kind of pressure, but it is still the US behind much of its pain..."
Jaw-dropping.
Oil megaprojects have no place in our territories – no matter who proposes them
As Chief of Saik’uz First Nation, I have spent many years working to defend our territory and future generations from the risks posed by oil pipelines. That’s why I was so dismayed to see recent media coverage of the proposed Eagle Spirit oil project, suggesting broad First Nations support for the proposal.
The Eagle Spirit initiative is a business seeking to make money. It does not speak for our communities, and it certainly does not speak for Saik’uz First Nation.
"We need to know our great grandchildren will look back, when they are elders, and feel grateful that we always made decisions with them in mind, decisions that support healthy lands, waters and the long-term well-being of our communities."
Saik’uz First Nation spent a decade working with the Yinka Dene Alliance – an alliance of First Nations representing 25 per cent of the proposed route of the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline – to uphold the decision made according to our laws that oil pipelines would not be allowed in our territories.
In this work, I and other Yinka Dene Alliance leaders have supported Coastal First Nations leaders in calling for federal oil tanker ban legislation. In 2016, I travelled to Ottawa to meet with federal ministers and urge them to pass a law banning oil tankers on the Pacific north coast – a law that would finally take this toxic issue off the table.
quote:
A legislated oil tanker ban on the Pacific north coast is about more than protecting the ocean. It is also a recognition that the Yinka Dene Alliance and many other First Nations worked long and hard to ensure that our territories would be protected from unwanted oil pipelines like Enbridge’s Northern Gateway project.
In this light, I was frankly outraged to see Eagle Spirit’s chief executive publicly claim that Indigenous leaders supporting the federal Oil Tanker Moratorium Act are “puppets and props” of foreign interests. This is profoundly disrespectful, and it sounds unfortunately identical to the dismissive language that the federal government directed at our communities when we opposed Enbridge.
A submerged oil pipeline triggers a winter of frigid protest
By midafternoon the snow had picked up — tiny, innocuous flecks becoming heavy, wet drops — but no one at Camp Anishinaabek seemed to notice. There were logs to split and shelters to insulate. A supply tent was still down after collapsing two weeks earlier during a storm.
“We’ve got a long winter ahead of us,” a woman said as she spread a sawdust path, “so we’re just trying to prepare as best we can.”
The modest camp in the woods of northern Michigan is the symbolic base for protesters battling an aging oil pipeline that crosses one of the most environmentally critical locations in the country. A short drive up the highway, some 23 million gallons of oil flow daily through the Straits of Mackinac, an iconic waterway that connects Lake Michigan and Lake Huron and the state’s two peninsulas.
Line 5, operated by the Canadian multinational company Enbridge, has been enveloped in controversy for months. And even as calls for a shutdown have increased, Michigan’s outgoing governor has pressed for a new agreement to ensure it continues.
The “water protectors,” as those at the camp call themselves, vow to stay until the pipeline is decommissioned.
“I’m doing it for my people,” said Patrick Deverney, a 39-year-old member of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians. “Without that water, we’re going to die.”
quote:
A spill at the Straits, perhaps the only place in the world where an oil pipeline travels through several miles of freshwater, could be unprecedented. Computer models predict a major rupture would release tens of thousands of barrels of oil, potentially contaminating more than 1,000 square miles of water and hundreds of miles of shoreline. The area has strong and frequently shifting currents. In winter, the lakes often freeze, which would dramatically complicate any cleanup effort.
quote:
Michigan remains scarred from one Enbridge disaster. In 2010, a different pipeline burst in the southern part of the state, ultimately releasing more than 1 million gallons of tar-like diluted bitumen into the Kalamazoo River watershed — one of the largest inland oil spills in U.S. history. More than two dozen spills have also occurred since Line 5 opened.
More recent revelations about its condition through the Straits, from the disintegration of protective coating to insufficient anchor supports, have inflamed the years-long debate. In April, a tugboat’s anchor collided with the pipe, denting it in three places. State officials have repeatedly faulted Enbridge for failing to communicate about problems.
“I am no longer satisfied with the operational activities and public information tactics that have become status quo for Enbridge,” Gov. Rick Snyder (R) said in a November 2017 statement after the company, which months earlier had denied a report that cited coating gaps, disclosed the discovery of dozens more.
Drawing a Line in the Oilsands
https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/longform/drawing-a-line-in-the-oilsands-...
"...the same chief who shared the stage with [Neil] Young as he blasted the oilsands as a 'disaster area from war', has signed an agreement in support of the most massive and expensive oilsands mine project ever proposed - to be built in his community's own backyard."
If you can't beat them...
'We Will Never Surrender or Compromise!'
https://twitter.com/KanahusFreedom/status/1081038412432502785
"Tiny House Warriors village in Blue River Unceded Secwepemc Territory stopping TMX pipeline and man camps! Man Camps = Violence Against Women. There is no Secwepemc consent for this dirty bitumen pipeline to pass unceded Secwepemcul'ewcl. We will never Surrender or Compromise!"
Trans Mountain advancing pipeline expansion without permission: City of Burnaby
Trans Mountain is going ahead with its pipeline expansion project without permission and should be stopped, according to the City of Burnaby.
The city’s lawyer, Gregory McDade, sent a letter to the National Energy Board on Dec. 21 accusing the company of “unpermitted activities related to the TMEP (Trans Mountain Expansion Project).”
But Trans Mountain maintains all work ongoing at the tank farm is related to permitted pipe relocation and decommission work – not the expansion project that was halted following a Federal Court of Appeal ruling in August, 2018.
Mayor Mike Hurley told the NOW he wasn’t convinced Trans Mountain is playing by the rules.
“It seems to be that they're preparing for the pipeline to move ahead as planned,” he said.
City demands NEB stop work
McDade’s letter includes aerial photos supposedly showing work being done adjacent to the proposed sites of two new oil tanks – part of the expansion project.
“These pictures show what appear to be welding tents and pipeline sections laid out on the ground,” McDade wrote.
The photos also show the company clearing trees outside the scope of approved work, McDade said.
The city followed up its Dec. 21 letter with a correction on Dec. 28. Blaming “holiday staffing,” McDade said the initial filing referenced orders for the Westridge Line – the pipe carrying diluted bitumen from the tank farm to the Westridge Marine Terminal – when it should have addressed orders for piping relocation and decommissioning.
The thrust of the letter – that the NEB must stop Trans Mountain’s unpermitted work – remained the same....
After Wet'suwet'en Protest, When Might Trans Mountain Get Built? 'Not Anytime Soon' (and vid)
https://globalnews.ca/news/4839272/trans-mountain-construction-wetsuwete...
"Construction on the controversial Trans Mountain pipeline project is probably unlikely to begin anytime soon..."
How Public Funds Ended Up in Hands of Gitxsan Chiefs After Pipeline Nod
https://www.revealnews.org/article/deal-with-b-c-government-is-bribery-m...
"Secretly signed pipeline agreement involving public funds..." (2017)
Marine protection plan for Trans Mountain pipeline fails: enviro group
The National Energy Board’s draft recommendations for its reconsideration of the $9.3-billion Trans Mountain oil pipeline expansion falls short of protecting killer whales and Canada’s climate goals, says the environmental group Stand.earth.
Announced late last week, the National Energy Board would require the creation of a marine mammal protection program for the Trans Mountain pipeline in a series of draft conditions it has laid out before it considers the project.
The focus of the review is to apply the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act and the Species at Risk Act to project-related marine shipping, the board says in the document.
The conditions mitigate potential risks to the environment and protect the public, it says.
quote:
“The board’s bias toward the oil industry is on full display with its proposed new restrictions on whale watching and ferries, while at same time continuing to allow a massive sevenfold increase in oil tanker traffic in critical orca habitat in the Salish Sea,” said Steven Biggs, a climate and energy campaigner for Stand.earth.
The pipeline expansion would twin the existing 1,150-kilometre pipeline, built in 1953, and nearly triple capacity. Tanker traffic from the Burnaby terminal on the Burrard Inlet is estimated to increase from 60 tankers a year to more than 400.
Biggs said the NEB recommendations are also almost silent on climate change.
“It is outrageous that our country can perform an environmental assessment on a project that has the carbon footprint of 23 coal-fired power plants — without completing a full assessment of the climate impacts,” said Biggs.
More Than 100 FNs Could Purchase the Trans Mountain Pipeline
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/tmx-irc-indigenous-1.4975243
"Dozens of First Nations leaders are meeting this week to discuss a plan that could make them the next owners of the controversial Trans Mountain pipeline..."
Canada solves its pipeline perception problems and unloads a failed white elephant too.
Horgan Goes from Lion to Lamb on the Trans Mountain Pipeline
When the National Energy Board announced conditional approval for the Trans Mountain pipeline project in 2016, BC NDP leader John Horgan sent party members an important letter.
Horgan, then opposition leader, said Kinder Morgan’s proposed pipeline expansion and the resulting “seven-fold increase in tanker traffic” would put the interests of British Columbians, salmon and the coastal economy at risk.
Horgan offered the usual bromide about how “a strong economy goes hand-in-hand with a healthy environment.”
But then he made this promise.
“We need to have a credible process to evaluate the risks,” Horgan wrote. “We don’t know what level of risk we’re dealing with on Kinder Morgan because Stephen Harper tailored the NEB to approve pipelines — rather than test scientific evidence or gather public input. Why is [former premier] Christy Clark hiding behind a flawed process created by Stephen Harper?”
Two years later, another flawed hearing run by the same discredited National Energy Board is taking place on the same uneconomic pipeline expansion.
Yet Horgan seems to be in full retreat. The politician who once promised to use “every tool in the toolbox” to protect B.C.’s coastal economy and environment now appears mostly tool-less and toothless.
As premier, Horgan has championed a liquefied fracked gas export industry by showering its earthquake-making developers with tax breaks and royalty credits.
Horgan has also become “chummy” with the pipeline’s new owner, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, another business-as-usual politician....
'Indigenous Owners of the Trans Mountain Pipeline?'
https://twitter.com/IM_Secwepemc/status/1085980286838398976
"Don't be [a] fool to Canada's messed up plan of pawning their failing pipeline on you desperate hungry sellouts."
..this project is not even close to being serious.
More than 100 First Nations are considering a plan to buy the Trans Mountain pipeline, but not all Indigenous leaders affected by the expansion are convinced.
"For us, it doesn't change anything, who owns it," said Khelsilem, a Squamish Nation councillor.
"Whether it be a Texas-based oil company, whether it be the federal government or whether it be the Indian Resource Council, the issues on the ground remain," he told The Current's Anna Maria Tremonti.
'TMX Will Not Be Built!'
https://twitter.com/KanahusFreedom/status/1086860550951165952
"Firefighters scramble to fire burning near KinderMorgan storage facility on Burnaby Mountain."
Trudeau’s oilsands supply outlook reflects a future that doesn’t exist
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is relying on an aggressive and outdated Western Canadian crude oil supply outlook to re-approve Trans Mountain’s expansion. Trudeau’s outlook seriously contradicts the supply forecast oilsands producers support as commercially viable.
The outlook Trudeau is clinging to was prepared in early 2015 when Stephen Harper was still prime minister. It predicts that by 2035 there will be an increase in oilsands supply of more than two million barrels a day from its current level of three million barrels a day, taking total oilsands supply to five million barrels a day. Trudeau expects an increase in oilsands supply of almost 70 per cent in little more than 15 years. This is a future that no longer exists.
Ottawa seems not to have noticed that major multinationals have pulled out of the oilsands selling to mainly Canadian-based producers whose debt loads are too high to satisfy investors that it’s financially prudent for them to expand. Overpaying for reserves that are threatened to become stranded assets makes sophisticated investors skittish.
Statoil planned to invest $10 billion in oilsands expansion until it divested itself of future oilsands obligations in 2016. Marathon Oil and Royal Dutch Shell exited the oilsands shortly thereafter. As Shell CEO, Ben van Buerden, explained in early 2017 when the company shed its holdings, “societal acceptance of the energy system as we have it is just disappearing.” Then ConocoPhillips hit the road, selling to Cenovus, who is now in the weakest position of all the remaining major players.
So, what’s left? Oilsands producers may say a lot of things about their future expansion plans, but what matters is a final investment decision. What they are saying through those decisions is that only about 250,000 barrels a day of additional supply will become available in the foreseeable future. By 2022—which is the earliest date Trans Mountain could become operational—supply is expected to begin a gradual decline as oilsands extraction projects become depleted. This market driven outlook is based on operating, under construction and new projects green-lit by corporate boards, not political spin....
IPCC authors urge NEB to consider climate impacts of Trans Mountain pipeline expansion
A pair of experts on global warming have thrown their support behind a new legal motion urging the National Energy Board to consider all climate-related impacts from the proposed Trans Mountain oil pipeline and tanker expansion in its latest review of the project.
The motion was filed on Monday by environmental group Stand.earth. The two experts have contributed to major international scientific assessment reports about climate change. Both of them warned that Canada needs to do its part by stopping the growth of emissions from the country's oilsands deposits of northern Alberta. Oilsands companies would be able to expand well beyond current production levels if the project to ship more oil gets the green light.
The oilsands, bituminous heavy oil mixed with sand beneath the boreal forest, contain the world's third largest reserves of crude oil after Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, but they are also Canada's fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions.
"If we build new fossil fuel infrastructure now, which will lock us into carbon emissions for decades, it will make it very difficult, if not impossible, to keep warming below 1.5 degrees," said Kirsten Zickfeld, a Simon Fraser University associate professor of climate science, at a news conference in Vancouver.
Zickfeld and economist Mark Jaccard, who was also at the news conference, have both been lead authors of reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Zickfeld was a lead author of the IPCC's 2018 assessment last fall, which said the world had less than 12 years to take action to limit average global temperatures to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, in order to prevent the worst impacts of climate change, including extreme weather, floods and droughts....
A legal motion filed today, Monday, January 21, with the National Energy Board (NEB) on the Trans Mountain Pipeline reconsideration process, calls on the Board to expand its scope of review to include all upstream and downstream climate impacts for the project.
The deadline for intervenors to file final arguments is January 22, and the pipeline company, which is now owned by the Canadian federal government, must reply to the arguments by January 25. The NEB’s final report will be submitted to the federal government on February 22.
“Today we are filing a motion with the NEB asking them to simply apply the same standard to Trans Mountain that they applied to Energy East when it comes to the pressing issue of climate change. Anything short of that would be an abdication of the federal government's responsibility. There is not another form for these concerns about climate change to be heard — this is the last chance to do the right thing.” — Casey Leggett of Martin + Associates who is acting as legal counsel for Stand.earth in the NEB process.
NEB Decision Day of Action: No Trudeau Pipeline Expansion!
Friday, February 22, 2019 at 4:30 PM – 6:30 PM
800 Burrard St, Vancouver
..it just keeps getting worse and worse.
$2 billion oil industry subsidy in the making as Trans Mountain files Toll Application
Trans Mountain is on track to deliver Canadian oil producers a $2-billion taxpayer-funded toll subsidy for capacity on its existing pipeline and has asked the federal pipeline regulator, the National Energy Board (NEB) for permission.
If the NEB approves the toll application Trans Mountain has filed with it, it will shift the burden for the roughly $3 billion Ottawa paid to buy the regulated assets onto Canadians, rather than into tolls charged to shippers where the recovery of these costs belongs.
This unacceptable burden becomes apparent after combing through Trans Mountain's Incentive Toll Settlement application for 2019 to 2021, filed January 4 with the NEB. Trans Mountain requires NEB approval for the rates it charges shippers for capacity on its existing pipeline, which has been operating since 1953, because it’s an interprovincial facility.....
Indigenous-Led Energy Rally Revs Up in Northern Alberta
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/rally-lac-la-biche-1.5012585
"Canada Action, a non-partisan, pro-oil and gas activist group in partnership with ROABA to organize the rally."
https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=9Zz8aEAg7dI#
Orcas, Sea lions and seals: dispelling the disinformation on J Pod.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=9Zz8aEAg7dI#
Orcas, Sea lions and seals: dispelling the disinformation on J Pod.
It doesn't matter what the numbers were in 1960. What were they in 1920? How about 1860? Longterm the numbers are too low. Tanker accidents threaten the environment, not just whales.
How do you determine that " numbers are too low". Does your argument hold true for 'climate change as well or is it only trotted out selectively?https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=9Zz8aEAg7dI#
Orcas, Sea lions and seals: dispelling the disinformation on J Pod.
It doesn't matter what the numbers were in 1960. What were they in 1920? How about 1860? Longterm the numbers are too low. Tanker accidents threaten the environment, not just whales.
According to the Pacific Salmon Foundation and UBC, orca population numbers are stable while you speculate but attempt to state as fact that numbers are not stable.
Proof, please, not disinformation. And spare the tanker rhetoric, just facts on orca populations, please.
How do you determine that " numbers are too low". Does your argument hold true for 'climate change as well or is it only trotted out selectively?https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=9Zz8aEAg7dI#
Orcas, Sea lions and seals: dispelling the disinformation on J Pod.
It doesn't matter what the numbers were in 1960. What were they in 1920? How about 1860? Longterm the numbers are too low. Tanker accidents threaten the environment, not just whales.
According to the Pacific Salmon Foundation and UBC, orca population numbers are stable while you speculate but attempt to state as fact that numbers are not stable.
Proof, please, not disinformation. And spare the tanker rhetoric, just facts on orca populations, please.
I didn't say the numbers are not stable I said they aren't high enough. In my opinion 75 of anything is too low. Nor are we discussing stopping existing tanker traffic. The issue is radically increasing tanker traffic.
Ah! No need for scientific data then. Tankers bother whales but freighters, ferries, tugs and huge cruise ships don't. Thanks for your opinion but I prefer facts. I do hope that more ocean research is done on the interface between human activities and wildlife behaviour and a comprehensive science-based policy results.
dp
NEB Decision Day of Action: No Trudeau Pipeline Expansion!
Friday, February 22, 2019 at 4:30 PM – 6:30 PM
800 Burrard St, Vancouver
..reminder
Ah! No need for scientific data then. Tankers bother whales but freighters, ferries, tugs and huge cruise ships don't. Thanks for your opinion but I prefer facts. I do hope that more ocean research is done on the interface between human activities and wildlife behaviour and a comprehensive science-based policy results.
I didn't say they didn't bother whales. I am sure that at least some of them do harm marine wild life. I believe there have been laws enacted concerning how close they can get to whales but I am not certain on that. If there is a movement to also prevent that traffic or to stop existing tanker traffic I would hear them out.
Right now what I do know is that the trans mountain expansion is motivated by a desire to sell oil to China which would require a 7-fold increase in tanker traffic. I have read about enough oil "accidents" to have zero trust in the oil industry's ability to move large amounts of oil from one place to another. Saving money has always taken precedence over safety. Keystone just had another spill.
The issue is trust. Nothing a scientist paid by the oil industry claims can be trusted. That is the fault of the oil industry.
On another topic some Alberta producers are now saying the price of oil is too high. It has to be cheap to justify shipping by rail. There is outrage over using OPEC style caps to control pricing. It's the same attitude that objects to supply management. Alberta is ideologically opposed to using the tools it had to control pricing. The international oil companies want prices low to maximize the quantity of bitumen exported.
That is not a valid reason to impose pipelines on provinces that don't want them. Alberta has multiple solutions. It just doesn't want them because they don't adhere to free market ideology.
Regular citizens have long been sent the message by elites that we don't understand enough to have an opinion. We don't know enough of the science or economics or geopolitical facts. This has always been true. People vote based on who convinces them they can best manage the country. We only hope for some integrity we don't actually expect it.
That's why JWR resigning is so shocking. She is showing integrity where it is rare.
Ah! No need for scientific data then. Tankers bother whales but freighters, ferries, tugs and huge cruise ships don't. Thanks for your opinion but I prefer facts. I do hope that more ocean research is done on the interface between human activities and wildlife behaviour and a comprehensive science-based policy results.
I didn't say they didn't bother whales. I am sure that at least some of them do harm marine wild life. I believe there have been laws enacted concerning how close they can get to whales but I am not certain on that. If there is a movement to also prevent that traffic or to stop existing tanker traffic I would hear them out.
300 meters but high speed whale watching vessels routinely harass whales in the name of 'tourism'.
Right now what I do know is that the trans mountain expansion is motivated by a desire to sell oil to China which would require a 7-fold increase in tanker traffic. I have read about enough oil "accidents" to have zero trust in the oil industry's ability to move large amounts of oil from one place to another. Saving money has always taken precedence over safety. Keystone just had another spill.
TransMountain has shipped oil from Vancouver for ~ 65 years. How many spills have occurred? The reality is that the China trade is wishful thinking as almost all oil exported from Vancouver goes to California. Do you know why? Because there are no pipelines to California.
The issue is trust. Nothing a scientist paid by the oil industry claims can be trusted. That is the fault of the oil industry.
Well, the outright proven lies of the activist industry do not encourage any faith in their nightmares.
On another topic some Alberta producers are now saying the price of oil is too high. It has to be cheap to justify shipping by rail. There is outrage over using OPEC style caps to control pricing. It's the same attitude that objects to supply management. Alberta is ideologically opposed to using the tools it had to control pricing. The international oil companies want prices low to maximize the quantity of bitumen exported
The simple answer is that oil companies that own the entire value chain from explorer to refiner to marketer make a lot of money buying cheap oil from competitors and selling it at top dollar to consumers.
That is not a valid reason to impose pipelines on provinces that don't want them. Alberta has multiple solutions. It just doesn't want them because they don't adhere to free market ideology.
Canada has a Constitution Act. You don't get to ignore the bits you don't like.
Regular citizens have long been sent the message by elites that we don't understand enough to have an opinion. We don't know enough of the science or economics or geopolitical facts. This has always been true. People vote based on who convinces them they can best manage the country. We only hope for some integrity we don't actually expect it.
i expect it. Most Canadians expect it. The fact that Trudeau and his liberals do not have any does not mitigate integrity as a Canadian value.
That's why JWR resigning is so shocking. She is showing integrity where it is rare.
Hope springs eternal.
