The NEB has approved the repurposing of aging Line 9 pipeline. Its flow is to be reversed and it will be carrying highly toxic and corrosive dilbit (diluted bitumen), a product it was never engineered to carry. Background:
http://rabble.ca/news/2014/03/risky-business-harper-government-set-to-an...
BC Budget a work of fiction: Economist
The crafting of a government budget is always fictional because it comes from the minds of politicians who are universally optimistic about the future. All that needs doing is to determine if the exaggerations will be tolerable or drive us all into a deepening fiscal hole for no good purpose.
BC’s resource revenues have tumbled from $4.527 billion in 2006 to $2.473 in 2013.
Exaggerating GDP
The first question we should ask is whether the BC Liberal government’s record of estimating the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has been reasonably accurate. Unfortunately, this has not been the case. It has consistently expected greater growth than realized for at least 8 years running and is keeping with that narrative this year. Real GDP growth has been about 1.4% or less. Following the established pattern of exaggeration, this year and next year the government is looking for 2 and 2.3%, respectively. Switching to “Nominal GDP Growth”, the increases are 3.6 and 4.3%.
So where is the risk in this bullish outlook? It is, as always, in a false sense of future financial well being that it creates. If one wants to borrow and spend without inhibition, it becomes easier to do so when one self-deludes that there are better times ahead....
http://commonsensecanadian.ca/bc-budget-work-fiction-economist/
quote:
It is looking to make a “Hail Mary Pass” – and the only thing it has to offer is its LNG pipe dream, which is more about selling hot air than natural gas.
This video presentation addresses the impact of the Federal government’s energy policy. It exposes how a handful of multinational corporations and state-owned national oil companies from foreign countries plan to exploit our energy resources. It reveals how heavy oil pipeline projects—along with the tanker traffic they trigger—promise economic, social, cultural and environmental harm.
http://www.robynallan.com/2013/12/09/pipelines-and-oil-tankers/
Canada's "commodity based" economy plunges into crisis
As they furiously lobbied the government, the oilmen/farmers/loggers, forgot that there are only 3 fragile railways through the steep B.C. Mts., and that huge increases in production, just cannot, be brought through these mountains
Analysis: 3 major factors have now plunged the Conservative governments' super high risky, policy-foolish "commodity based" China-focussed Canadian trade economy, into crisis. The simple reality that was forgotten, is that there are only 3 fragile single-tracked railways through the four mountain ranges that must be crossed in B.C., where steep grades, and year round, continuous landslide/avalanches locations, will always endanger and limit the length of trains, especially in the long mountain winter, AND SUDDENLY NOW:....
http://www.burnabypipelinewatch.ca/content/canadas-commodity-based-econo...
Harper's "Hail Mary"
quote:
Steve Williams, CEO of Enbridge’s partner Suncor, said the companies are “keen to listen and open up further dialogue with Aboriginal communities.”
But Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, head of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC), isn’t buying it.
“I’m not the least bit impressed that the Harper government has appointed Jim Prentice to this file,” he said, adding that the attempt to reach out to BC First Nations now is too little too late.
“If they would have been sincere in engaging in dialogue, that should have happened several years ago when this project was at its earliest stages of conception. And of course, the Harper government did not do that, rather they were very arrogant and just proceeded with their plans, completely ignored and dismissed Aboriginal title and rights issues of First Nations people, completely dismissed the concerns of the environmental movement.” First Nations and those working in the environmental movement have been engaged on this issue for years, but have been constantly vilified by the federal government, he added.
As for the feasibility of Enbridge’s goal of “resuscitating” negotiations, Phillip is skeptical.
“I think they collapse long ago,” he said. “My point is that I don’t think this grandiose announcement, Mr. Prentice being appointed, is going to have any dramatic impact on changing the perspective of First Nation leaders along the pipeline route or along the coast.”
It’s not the first instance of Prentice “cheerleading” for the oil and gas industry, Phillip added, recalling Prentice’s speech at last summer’s Assembly of First Nations General Assembly in Whitehorse in which he focused on economic development instead of issues more pressing to the delegates, such as health and safety and Aboriginal rights and title.
“I think Enbridge has pretty much exhausted any notion of credibility with the general public, and certainly with First Nations,” he said. “I think as we move forward down this path, at some point in time Enbridge will feel the full weight of their litany of shortcomings and failures.”
http://www.vancouverobserver.com/news/bc-grand-chief-phillip-stewart-den...
I'm guessing that Prentice coming in is because the govt has two seperate problems.
1.] Getting First Nations approval in general / overall.
2.] That Enbridge and the Harper Crew without Prentice's credibility cannot even manage to get the agreement of SOME First Nations at least potentially ready to split off and sign a deal with some benefits for them.
Publicly, overtly, its all about #1. But everyone, Prentice included, without saying it sees getting unanimous approval as essentially impossible.
So the real strategy is to rescue the potentially achievable divide and conquer #2. Which Enbridge and its govt enablers wants to do, but is running out of time to pull off.
Make sense? Or are they really hoping to buy off all or most First Nations? [Or subform of that: bring in Prentice so they can say they really tried? Which I can see them easily being cynical enough for. But how much hope does "we tried" have of standing up in court? While buying off some First Nations, can allow them in court to portray the holdouts as not negotiating in good faith. ???]
..i'm thinking that prentice represents the serious trouble the tarsands project is in. also that cibc investments in the project must be substantial. so yes maybe throw some money around and a continued attempt to divide communities. with opposition growing to the kinder morgan pipeline (ie the city of burnaby where the pipeline is marked to end) and the hesitation (which can only be coming because of resistance to it) by obama in approving the kxl..investment that is already taking a hit by selling the dirty oil below cost will not hang around indefinitely. the first pipeline to be built will be pacific trail that will run pretty well the same path as enbridge in bc. this process will give us a better idea how things are to unfold re the resistance, courts and enforcement.
In this edition we put a growing resistance movement InFocus.
Clans within the Wet’suwet’en Nation have united and vowed to stop multiple pipeline projects from boring through their territory.
One of those clans, the Unist’ot’en, have set up camp right on the path of the proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline.
Freda Huson and Hereditary Chief Toghestiy are part of the Unist’ot’en Camp and were in Winnipeg for a strategic meeting.
It involved people from other parts of the country who are opposing pipelines in thier regions.
Here now is our exclusive interview, on how one Nation in BC is protecting their land for future generations.
Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion application incomplete and unfit for hearings: Burnaby mayor
The City of Burnaby made a formal request to the National Energy Board to reject Texas-based oil giant Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion project application on the basis that it is incomplete, and doesn't contain enough information for either the Board or the public to make an informed decision.
“We are extremely concerned about multiple aspects of this proposal that we know will have very negative impacts on our City,” Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan said in a news release.
“This concern is compounded by the fact that Kinder Morgan’s application is incomplete, which makes it impossible to know the extent of the impacts the pipeline would have on our City.”....
http://www.vancouverobserver.com/news/kinder-morgan-pipeline-expansion-a...
From Pipelines to Peladeauo - Canadian Report
video & transcript
Yves Engler and Linda Solomon Wood discuss native resistance to tarsands pipline and media mogul Pierre Karl Péladeauo running as canidate for the PQ
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&I...
Burnaby Mayor says he’ll stand in front of a bulldozer to stop Kinder Morgan expansion
WATCH (above): The Mayor of Burnaby has taken a stand against Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain Pipeline. Jas Johal explains why.
The Mayor of Burnaby says that if Kinder Morgan’s application to expand their pipeline is approved without amendments, he’d stand in front of a bulldozer.
“I know I’m [ready], I know that residents will stand there with me. I’m prepared to fight this out to the bitter end. I’m incensed with how we’ve been treated,” says Derek Corrigan, one day after Burnaby formally requested the National Energy Board reject the proposed expansion due to a lack of sufficient information.
http://globalnews.ca/news/1216463/burnaby-mayor-says-hell-stand-in-front...
Kinder Morgan's 2nd pipeline route concerns Surrey residents
Planners for the proposed Trans Mountain Pipeline are trying to reassure residents of a Surrey, B.C., neighbourhood they don't have any plans yet to dig up their yards and lay down a crude oil pipeline.
It was about six weeks ago that land agents showed up in North Surrey, asking residents if they could take soil samples.
A short while later, residents were given maps that showed a second option for the pipeline route. The residents were told Kinder Morgan is considering an alternate route for the pipeline that would run right through their properties.....
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/kinder-morgan-s-2nd-pipel...
TRNN: NASA Climate Predictions Show Serious Threat to Humanity (and vid)
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&I...
"...Look, if we continue, if we extract all of the tarsands oil from Canada and burn that and emit that into the atmosphere, we are absolutely at game over with climate change.
There's nothing we'll be able to do...And yet you have Obama contemplating passing, making allowable the Keystone XL pipeline, which, really frankly, it's going to be very, very surprising if he doesn't allow it to increase, and it certainly looks like he's positioning himself to allow it."
BC voters will punish Harper if Enbridge pipeline approved: Nathan Cullen
Standing in front of a drawing of Prime Minister Stephen Harper shredding up a document, NDP Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Nathan Cullen assured that the Tories would pay a heavy price for supporting the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline.
"The path to majority for the Conservatives is gone without this province," Cullen said.
"Imagine if in 18 months this issue is on the ballot. Imagine if people go to the polls thinking about how this government that has done everything to facilitate and encourage this [Enbridge] pipeline... I think we can take back our coast, I think we can take back our country," he said, to cheers and applause.
Energy East: a thorny issue
One question that lingered throughout the successful event was why the federal NDP was opposed to the controversial Northern Gateway, yet supportive of a larger pipeline project to carry oil to eastern Canada. One audience member grilled Cullen about NDP leader Thomas Mulcair's support of Energy East, the proposed $12 billion pipeline to bring bitumen from Alberta to Quebec.
"The NDP supports the dirty, toxic tar sands, and the pipeline (Energy East) that goes all across Canada from west to east," a man with grey, long, curly hair said loudly at one point, disrupting Cullen's presentation.
As audience members tried to quiet him down and accused him of derailing the conversation, he shot back defensively at the crowd:
"It's all connected -- it's about tar sands expansion. Do you all know about the (Energy East) pipeline?"....
http://www.vancouverobserver.com/news/bc-voters-will-punish-harper-if-en...
Bill 4 Passes, opens B.C. parks to industry
A little-known Bill, the Park Amendment Act, that will drastically alter the management of B.C. parks is set to become law today, creating controversy among the province’s most prominent environmental and conservation organizations. The passage of Bill 4 will make way for industrial incursions into provincial parklands including energy extraction, construction of pipelines and industry-led research.
The Bill, quietly introduced in mid-February, has already met significant resistance in B.C. where the Minister of Environment received “thousands of letters” of opposition, according to Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society’s Peter Wood. “There has been absolutely zero public consultation, and the pace at which this was pushed through suggests this was never a consideration,” he said in a press release.
“This Bill undermines the very definition of what a ‘park’ is,” Gwen Barlee from the Wilderness Committee said in the same statement, “given that our protected areas will now be open to industrial activity.”....
http://www.vancouverobserver.com/news/bill-4-passes-opens-bc-parks-industry
Surreal Enbridge political campaign underway to sway Kitimat to "vote yes" to oil pipeline
With a deeply unpopular $6.5 billion Northern Gateway project at risk, Enbridge is betting heavily on ads and a door-to-door corporate campaign to sway residents in a small northern coastal B.C. community to "vote yes" for its oil sands pipeline project.
"It’s mind boggling how they’re pouring so much into [the Enbridge campaign]... trying to influence a plebiscite here in little Kitimat on the north coast of B.C.,” said Murray Minchin of Douglas Channel Watch.
The company's blue and white "vote yes" political signs are up, local TV and radio and newspaper ads have been bought, and doors are being knocked on by corporate canvassers.
“It’s very much feels like a municipal election and everybody has the right to do what they want to promote their cause," said Kitimat's Mayor Joanne Monaghan on Monday.
"That's democracy."
But surreal though it may seem, there are no political parties in this electoral race. On one side, there's Enbridge, financed by oil sands developers and Chinese-state oil giants Sinopec and Nexen. And on the other side, there's thinly-budgeted-volunteer groups, meeting in living rooms to strategize and make road signs.
"And as quickly as we put up signs, Enbridge started putting up their signs, right besides us," said Lucy McRae, with Douglas Channel Watch on Tuesday.....
http://www.vancouverobserver.com/news/surreal-enbridge-political-campaig...
Exxon Valdez lawyer recounts ongoing horrors of oil spill
As the Exxon Valdez oil tanker bled 750,000 barrels of crude into Prince William Sound, a child was about to be born into a very chaotic world. That child belonged to William Bixby, a local attorney in the town of Valdez, Alaska.
As he’s watched his daughter grow up over the past 23 years, Bixby has also watched local communities transform, families break apart, litigations drag on, and hopeless workers turn to drugs and alcohol.
When the ship ran aground, people around the world followed the progress on their TV screens, terrified at the images of environmental destruction. They saw the oil-soaked birds and animals, the frantic cleanup efforts and the hasty retreat of Exxon executives who assured the world that they would make it right.
But they haven’t.
Bixby participated in the spill’s legal aftermath, representing about 1,200 commercial fishermen from communities around the affected area.
“The appeal just ended a year ago,” he said, recalling his experience during an interview with the Vancouver Observer.
“I could tell how long this case was by looking at my daughter…she’s a young lady now.”...
http://www.vancouverobserver.com/blogs/earthmatters/exxon-valdez-lawyer-...
Wall of Women stands opposed to Kinder Morgan in West Vancouver
Protesters gathered in West Vancouver Saturday to take a stance on Kinder Morgan’s proposed expansion of its Trans Mountain pipeline.
Around 15 women, including representatives from the Tsleil-Waututh, Squamish and Musqueam First Nations, as well as Greenpeace campaigners, gathered for the Wall of Woman in the cold and rain by The Welcome Figure at Ambleside Beach to send a message to Kinder Morgan that a pipeline expansion was not welcome.
Shanentsut (Mandy Nahanee), a climate and energy outreach campaigner for Greenpeace BC and organizer of the event, said it was an opportunity to bring women together and strengthen their voices.
“We’re standing here together to link arms to build the wall of women to say no, we do not want that in our communities, we will not accept this in our communities, we want better,” said Nahanee. “Canada has a responsibility to protect their communities, we have the right to live in healthy environments— healthy environments to raise our children, to take care of our grandparents, to drink healthy water, to eat healthy food. It's basic human rights.”
Kinder Morgan has applied to the National Energy Board to expand its pipeline from its current 300,000 barrels of diluted bitumen per day to 890,000 barrels, increasing tanker traffic in Burrard Inlet from five tankers to around 34 tankers each month.
Tantoo Cardinal, who co-starred with Kevin Costner in Dances with Wolves, was also present for the protest. Cardinal said she has a lot of respect for the indigenous people on the West Coast doing their best to protect the water and marine life....
http://www.nsnews.com/news/wall-of-women-stands-opposed-to-kinder-morgan...
Student Activists to Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick: Say No to New Fossil Fuel Construction
This open letter addressed to Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick was originally posted by Students for a Just and Stable Future and is re-posted here with permission.
Dear Governor Patrick,
We write to you today as students and youth of Massachusetts concerned about our futures. On Monday, March 31, we will be walking out of class to call for a ban on new fossil fuel infrastructure in the Commonwealth. We request that you meet us that day at a public rally on the Boston Common at 11:00 am to answer our call. The energy infrastructure built today will affect our entire lives, and we insist that these decisions not be made without our involvement.
We are driven to this action by the desperation we feel as we see the impacts of political inaction on the climate crisis. Climate change is already turning western states into dustbowls while strengthening the devastating power of storms. Drinking water supplies are shrinking while sea levels are rising. Continued inaction robs more and more of our generation of the chance to survive.
There is still time to avoid the most catastrophic impacts of the climate crisis, but this window of opportunity is rapidly shrinking. The International Energy Agency has determined that we only have until 2017 to stop building new coal, oil and gas infrastructure before we are “locked in” by the lifetime emissions of these projects to extremely dangerous levels of warming.
We must draw the line against new fossil fuels. Your climate initiatives, while stronger than those of most politicians, are not enough. Building more power plants, pipelines and export terminals in Massachusetts will result in either billions of dollars of stranded assets or the creation of a society destabilized by unpredictable weather, food and water shortages, and extreme climate disasters. In either case, our generation will pay a heavy price.
There is an alternative. We can choose to meet all new energy demand through a combination of renewables, energy efficiency and conservation. Reinvesting in sustainable solutions, from public transit to distributed solar power, will create thousands of local jobs, produce healthier communities, and, in turn, more equitably distribute resources in our society. This is the future, full of hope and possibility, that we would like to build—and we are determined to do whatever we can to achieve this vision.
Your legacy is our future, Governor Patrick, because the energy choices that you make determine the future that our generation will inherit. You should not make these decisions without us. Your actions today will be remembered tomorrow. For the sake of our generation and those to follow, we call on you to immediately ban new fossil fuel infrastructure in Massachusetts.
We will walk out of class on March 31 because we are determined to fight for our futures. Will you acknowledge your generational responsibility and meet us in public on that day?
Sincerely,
Students for a Just and Stable Future
South Portland moves to block Alberta bitumen from reaching its port
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/south-portland-moves-block-alberta-bitumen-reac...
[i] “We have no interest in having the world’s dirtiest oil come through our community," said Blake, who currently sits on city council.[/i]
To All Boaters
Join the April 12th Floatilla!
Come in your canoe, kayak, sail or motor boat to oppose the proposed Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline.
Kinder Morgan has applied to build a new pipeline to carry diluted bitumen from Alberta’s tar sands to Burnaby for export to Asia and elsewhere. The increased capacity will be from 300,000 barrels to 890,000 barrels per day. Westridge Marine Terminal will be expanded to three berths. This will result in over 400 tankers per year in Burrard Inlet- eight times more than current tanker traffic.
Floatilla Schedule
SATURDAY, APRIL 12th, 2014
2:00pm Those with canoes and kayaks will gather at Whey-ah-Whichen (Cates Park) boat launch
2:30pm Tsleil Waututh Nation ocean going canoes will launch and will lead all the canoes and kayaks paddling towards Westridge Terminal.
2:00 pm All other boats meet in the area at the foot of Cliff Ave. near Westridge Terminal.
3:00pm Boaters in the flotilla can watch and greet the People's Procession as they walk down Cliff Ave.
3:15pm Welcome ceremony by a Representative of Tsleil Waututh First Nation
3:30pm Speakers on the Floatilla lead boat will talk about the pipeline, the tankers, & the risks involved.
* If you’d like to rent a canoe or kayak on the 12th, Deep Cove Kayak and Canoe is offering 50% off rentals for Flotilla participants: www.deepcovekayak.com
** All boaters must follow Transport Canada Safe Boating Regulations
North Shore NOPE, No Oil Pipeline Expansion http://NSNOPE.org/, will be partnering with the Tsleil-Waututh Nation Sacred Trust Initiative, http://twnsacredtrust.ca/, to raise awareness about the environmental, economic, health and safety risks of the proposed increased tanker traffic in Burrard Inlet. A tanker spill will be devastating to our community. Recent government studies have shown that our current emergency response is inadequate, and that the clean up of the diluted bitumen could be limited to 5-15% of the total spill.
Burnaby Residents Opposing the Kinder Morgan Pipeline Expansion (BROKE) www.BurnabyPipelineWatch.ca have organized the People’s Procession and Rally against the Pipelines. They will walk along the proposed pipeline route and gather for a rally at Westridge Park. Our Floatilla will 'meet' the People’s Procession at the foot of Cliff Ave.
Christy Clark partnered in Enbridge lobbying firm before becoming BC premier
Documents leaked to the Vancouver Observer show that Clark was a partner in a lobbying firm contracted by Enbridge Inc. that operated from her former residential address.
quote:
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Clark said, when presented with the documents from Burrard Communications listing her name. Clark faced questions about her past work with Burrard Communications while she was in Ottawa to promote B.C.’s Liquid Natural Resources on Monday.
"(Clark) never worked for Enbridge and by the time she briefly worked at Burrard, Enbridge was no longer a client," her press secretary Sam Oliphant said today.
Clark's ties to the lobbying firm for Enbridge appeared to have ended entirely when she became Premier, but she later raised eyebrows by appointing Ken Boessenkool, a former Enbridge lobbyist and advisor to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, as her chief of staff in 2012.
http://www.vancouverobserver.com/news/premier-christy-clark-partnered-en...
Haisla First Nation Chief Councillor says Enbridge trying to buy Kitimat vote
This late in the day, a poll of its residents has no binding effect on the project. Next week, the District of Kitimat will seek the views of its residents on Enbridge’s Northern Gateway Pipeline Project. But to what end? If anything, it will lead to further uncertainty.
Deciding to hold a referendum at this late date is a slap in the face to all the work done by the Haisla Nation on this project. The Haisla Nation dedicated time and money toward testing Northern Gateway’s evidence and claims about safety and environmental protection, while the District stood by and did nothing.
The review process for this project has already left town, with the District taking no position on the project. Still undecided on what its views are on the project, the District now proposes to conduct a poll, instead of examining the facts in the JRP process. A poll to vote on a JRP report that we view as wrong to begin with including the flawed process itself.....
http://www.vancouverobserver.com/politics/commentary/haisla-first-nation...
Kinder Morgan hearing denies or downgrades nearly half of applicants
Nearly a thousand people and organizations that applied to speak out at the upcoming federal review of the proposed Kinder Morgan oil sands pipeline expansion project will literally not have their voices heard.
That's because on Wednesday, the National Energy Board said it downgraded or rejected nearly half of the applicants who applied to the upcoming hearing to review the Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion project from Edmonton-to-Burnaby.
“It’s a sad day for democracy in Canada, when nearly a thousand people who stepped up to take part in a complex regulatory process to have their say about a project of national significance are shut out of the hearings," wrote Christianne Wilhelmson with the Georgia Strait Alliance in a statement....
http://www.vancouverobserver.com/news/kinder-morgan-hearing-denies-or-do...
Even the US Environmental Protection Agency got excluded from intervenor status at the Trans Mountain hearings.
Despite the exapansion being close to the border and the EPA purpose being to weigh the cumulative effect of all existing and proposed projects for Puget Sound, Juan de Fuca and Georgia Straight.
But then, that would be exactly why the Harper govt does not want them there. Talk about cumulative effects of projects, rather than each as an isolated one-off, hell no.
Renewables Is Creating Followers Worldwide
At first glance, the small Danish island of Samsø doesn´t look like a place that would attract international fame. With less than 4,000 inhabitants living on under 115 square kilometers of land, it's not exactly a geopolitical player. But a visit to Samsø reveals an island with outsized ambitions for moving into a clean energy future – and others around the world are starting to take notice.
Here, wind turbines are aligned in straight rows in the ocean that surrounds the island. Solar panels dot the roofs of houses and farms everywhere, as well as parks. Initiatives have involved the local population and private investors in helping Samsø realize its green, clean energy potential – and since 2005 it has been producing more electricity than it consumes, all from the sun and wind.
At the same time, Samsø gets more than 70 percent of its heating power from biomass, solar and high-efficient heating pumps that extract heat from the air. Wood chips, hay and other non-fossil fuel sources employed in central heating systems and energy efficient renovations have drastically reduced fossil fuel use across the island.
Meanwhile, other innovative projects like the extraction of natural gas from manure and garbage dumps have strengthened the island´s green credentials....
http://www.occupy.com/article/danish-island-powered-renewables-creating-...
Enbridge plans to re-export Canadian oil via United States
Enbridge Inc (ENB.TO) has obtained a license to re-export Canadian oil from the United States, becoming the first company to publicly confirm a move that could fuel debate over U.S. trade policy and oil sands pipelines.
U.S. subsidiary Tidal Energy Marketing has a license to export "limited quantities" of Canadian-origin oil from a U.S. port, Enbridge said, confirming weeks of market rumors and speculation about such shipments. Market sources say they expect the first cargoes to sail for Europe later in April....
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/04/us-usa-exports-oil-idUSBREA331...
Greenpeace asks Elections Canada to investigate Ethical Oil
quote:
"It's clear there's cooperation (between Ethical Oil and the Conservative Party) there," Greenpeace Canada energy policy analyst Keith Stewart said. "What we're asking Elections Canada to investigate is whether there's been collusion, which wouldbe illegal under the Elections Act."
He added that he hoped for increased scrutiny to happen before the 2015 election, rather than have people "complain about it in 2016".
"We're hoping the commissioner will investigate, and that we can get a pre-emptive ruling against an oil patch-financed ad campaign through Ethical Oil for the Conservative Party," he said.
Staff crossovers between Ethical Oil and the Conservative Party
Stewart said in a news release that Greenpeace compiled "troubling evidence" on the relationship between Ethical Oil and the federal Conservative Party. The connections, which are detailed in a letter on the Greenpeace website, outline a number of ties between the Conservatives and the institute, which has campaigned for the development of Canada's oil industry since 2011.
Ethical Oil Institute was founded in 2011 by Alykhan Velshi, former communications director for then-Immigration Minister Jason Kenney. A few months after setting up the organization, he returned to a senior position in the Prime Minister’s Office....
http://www.vancouverobserver.com/news/greenpeace-asks-elections-canada-i...
..here we go!
BC preparing injunction against Unist'ot'en pipeline resistance camp: Grassroots Wet'suwet'en and allies unite to say No Fracked Gas Pipelines!
(with video interview)
Leaders of the Unist'ot'en resistance camp held a press conference in Vancouver on April 7, 2014 in response to leaked information that the Provincial government is preparing an injunction against the camp. The camp is in Wet'suwet'en territory in northern BC on the route of the Pacific Trail fracked gas pipeline.
BC Premier Christie Clark has staked her political future on liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports, more accurately called liquefied fracked gas or LFG. But pipelines from the fracking fields in the province’s north-east must pass through unceded Indigenous territory on the way to the coast. They therefore require the free, prior and informed consent of the people of those lands; consent they do not have and will not receive from the Unist'ot'en and the other Wet'suwet'en hereditary clans....
http://vancouver.mediacoop.ca/video/bc-preparing-injunction-against-unis...
Gitxaala lawsuit claims process unlawful in JRP's Enbridge pipeline recommendation
quote:
Elmer Moody, Hereditary Chief of the Wolf Clan of the Gitxaala Nation, looks like a man who remains calm in the eye of a storm. And that may serve him well, as the Gitxaala are battling the government in a lawsuit in the Federal Court of Appeal, which pits them against the National Energy Board and the Joint Review Panel, and ultimately the federal government itself.
The Gitxaala allege that the National Energy Board's Joint Review Panel report on recommending in favour of building Enbridge's Northern Gateway pipeline made serious errors in law and reached a flawed conclusion.
The suit states that the JRP did not properly consider Aboriginal rights and title and did not weigh the public interest. It says concerns raised by the Gitxaala during the JRP hearings were dismissed or essentially ignored by the JRP in its report.....
http://www.vancouverobserver.com/news/gitxaala-versus-enbridge-battling-...
Dear Christy Clark – I have a new provincial slogan for you: Super, Fracktural BC
An open letter to BC Premier Christy Clark – April 7, 2014
Dear Christy
May I call you Christy? It seems appropriate, given your warm, woman-of-the-people style of governing. I’m a soccer parent too, so that puts us on the same sidelines, wouldn’t you say?
Anyhow, it’s about this Bill 4 thing. You know, the amendment to the BC Parks act brought in by your government on March 24th, 2014. The one that now allows industrial activities within BC’s Provincial Parks.....
..a campaign to demonize or reasons to spy on, harass and crush.
Vancouver police fear troublemakers joining pipeline protests
Vancouver police are concerned about a small group of violent activists who attended an otherwise peaceful anti-pipeline blockade training event this past weekend.
Those hoping to stop or delay future pipeline construction met in Vancouver for the event: "No Pipelines: Action Training for Climate Justice," which was hosted by Rising Tide – Vancouver Coast Salish Territories.
A spokesperson for the event said most participants are focused on non-violent ways to get their message across.
But the movement is attracting those just hoping to cause mischief.
One attendee, who gave his name as James Moore, said he would go as far as setting a cop car on fire to escalate the situation.
"Sure I'll do it," he said. "I don't care about the pipeline."
Police said they have been monitoring these groups and most of their demonstrations are peaceful, adding there is a danger movements like these attract people who want to start trouble....
http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/2014/04/07/vancouver-police-fear-troublemakers...
quote:
"The recent Stanley Cup riots are the best comparison," said spokesperson Const. Brian Montague. Immediately following the riot, Mayor Gregor Robertson blamed the bedlam on a “small number of hooligans on the streets of Vancouver causing problems.”
Kitimat mayor flash mobbed by 'No Enbridge' protesters at Haisla basketball game (VIDEOS)
In an increasingly explosive political climate in the Kitimat area over a controversial vote on the Northern Gateway pipeline, the Mayor of Kitimat was flash mobbed by a group of mostly First Nations people, donning "No Enbridge" shirts at a Haisla girls basketball championship on Sunday.
"No Enbridge! No Enbridge! No Enbridge!" yelled the packed gymnasium crowd, nearly all wearing black protest shirts.
"When you're in politics for 36 years, I guess I kind of expected it," Mayor Joanne Monaghan told the Vancouver Observer Wednesday.
"You don't mix church and state, and don't mix recreation and politics," she added....
quote:
The plebiscite, to gauge district citizen's support for the project, is on Saturday. Haisla band members will not vote on the plebisicite, unless they are Kitimat citizens.
"The excitement in the room was inspiring," said former Haisla chief Gerald Amos.
"Even though they don't get to vote in the plebiscite, they were excited to have their say, one way or another."
http://www.vancouverobserver.com/news/kitimat-mayor-flash-mobbed-no-enbr...
Clark's Hidden Ties to Investment Bank RCI Revealed
The Vancouver businessman that named Christy Clark a founding director of a company he formed in 2007 claimed in a January interview that she was never connected to his company.
A story in the April 10 National Post, based on leaked documents, showed Clark was contracted as chair of an RCI Capital Group international education subsidiary in Sept. 2007, two years after she originally left the BC Liberal government and was hosting an afternoon talk show on CKNW AM 980....
Council for the City of Burnaby on the NEB Hearing
video
City of Burnaby Information session at the Forest Grove Elementary School on the NEB Hearing concerning TransMountain (Kinder Morgan) Application to dramatically expand the shipment of diluted bitumen from Alberta to Burrard Inlet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--H6-bRv8G0#t=691
..........
Town hall meeting turns into a call for action
CITY PLANNER SAYS SAFETY ISSUES ARE KEY REASON FOR OPPOSING PIPELINE
Close to 200 people packed a Burnaby elementary school gym Wednesday night for a meeting turned rallying cry against the proposed Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion.
The City of Burnaby, which on April 2 was granted official intervenor status for the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project, hosted the first of two town hall meetings at Forest Grove Elementary school on
Burnaby Mountain – an area set to be directly impacted by the proposed expansion.
Mayor Derek Corrigan, several Burnaby councillors and city staff were on hand to express their opposition to the pipeline and rally citizens to take action against it.
Corrigan showed graphics and photos of previous oil spills in the United States and Canada, including the 2007 Kinder Morgan spill in Burnaby that led to 250 residents being evacuated.
“I know there has been a lot of Kinder Morgan talk about operating pipelines safely for 60 years,” he said. “These oil spills happen frequently all over the world.”
Members of the Burnaby RCMP, including Chief Superintendent Dave Critchley, and fire department representatives were also present as a show of support for the city’s stand, but they referred media questions to city representatives.
In its application to the NEB, Kinder Morgan said it will turn to Burnaby’s first-responders in the event of a spill.
Community planner Zera Te cited fire and rescue concerns as one of the key reasons the city is opposing the pipeline.
“I have a first-hand account from the Burnaby fire department that if there was a major incident at the Burnaby Mountain terminal that it would deplete the entire city’s resources to respond to that fire and that any other emergency throughout the city, they would be unable to attend to it,” said Te.....
http://www.burnabynow.com/news/town-hall-meeting-turns-into-a-call-for-a...
FNLP Meeting in Moricetown Raised Tempers
Tempers flared as the Pacific Trails Pipeline was the subject of an information session held in Moricetown last night. Unis’tot’en Clan of the Wet’suwet’en Nation has set up a blockade last month to stop surveyors of the project to come through.
The information session was for the public to find out the potential benefits of the natural gas pipeline, but before the representatives on the First Nations Limited Partnership could finish, they were interrupted by protest. Members of the Unis'tot'en clan traveled from their blockade to say that no information session should be held, since they already said no. Dini Ze Toghestiy of the Unis'tot'en Clan “Attempting to disempower us as people in the decision making power, because they got up and said that 15 nations got up and signed up for the agreement, that it would be next to impossible for them to get out of the agreement, that this was going to happen whether we like it or not and it's not something that we are going to take.”....
..tremendous leadership and courage. and a process to amaze!
Yinka Dene pipeline communities ban Northern Gateway
The list of Aboriginal communities and municipalities opposed to Northern Gateway grew, with the addition of Yika Dene Alliance for First Nations, from north central B.C.
Two hundred people from four Yinka Dene communities packed a gymnasium in north central B.C. on Friday to give an emotional presentation to the federal government and Enbridge that their alliance formally opposes the Northern Gateway oil pipeline.
"It was amazing to finally tell the feds - this is our decision," Nak'azdli Hereditary Chief Pete Erickson, told the Vancouver Observer Saturday.
"It was amazing - just the amount of interest -- it was a very formal gesture among all the clans."
The Yinka Alliiance's decision to end negotiations is clearly a big blow for the project. Critically, the communities' ancestral territories represent one quarter of the pipeline's 1,177km length....
quote:
One by one, Elders, children and band members gave presentations at the gathering near Fort Saint James, B.C. Their reasons for opposing the oilsands pipeline range from earthquake concerns to aquatic impacts.
"I had the opportunity to talk to my son," said an emotional Saik'uz Chief Stan Thomas to the Friday crowd. "I want to make a difference for him."
Yinka Dene elders and dancers - Wallace Studios
http://www.vancouverobserver.com/news/yinka-dene-pipeline-communities-ba...
Yinka Dene youth presenting reasons for rejecting Northern Gateway - Wallace Studio
..awesome!
Enbridge loses the Kitimat plebiscite on Northern Gateway (BREAKING NEWS)
Can Northern Gateway continue without social license?
With a hushed crowd of about one hundred, the unofficial result of the Kitimat plebiscite was read aloud Saturday evening. Instantly, those gathered at the downtown park erupted into screams of joy.
Enbridge has lost the vote.
YES 1,278 (41.6%)
NO 1,793 (58.4%)
Total 3,071
quote:
Former Haisla chief Gerald Amos addressed the crowd with a megaphone.
"I think Enbridge and the government really don't understand what happened here tonight. But I think all of us [here in the crowd] do. Not just in this community of Kitimat, but in the entire northwest - Terrace, Prince Rupert, Smithers, all points east."
"What we witnessed was a community building exercise that should scare the shit out of them," said Amos, to huge applause and laughter.
Douglas Channel Watch was the main group organizing the "vote no" to Enbridge campaign. An emotional Murray Minchin - the spokesperson for DCW - gave thanks to the dances given by Haisla in the group's honour.
http://www.vancouverobserver.com/news/enbridge-loses-kitimat-plebiscite-...
........
Douglas Channel sea lions, killer whales and humpbacks - Marc Young
Beat The Pipelines May 1st
quote:
Grassroots Wet’suwet’en land defenders have taken the plunge! The Unist’ot’en Camp sits in the way of the Pacific Trails (fracked gas) and Enbridge (tar sands oil) Pipelines. Relying on their traditional knowledge, communities, and new found affinities with anarchists and other radicals, they are intent on defending their territories and they will allow no treaty or legal route to do it for them.
For this must be a diverse struggle including blockades, disruption and rebellion on the land, and in the city streets. We must declare that no law, no politician, and no sustainable business plan will beat these pipelines, but WE will beat these pipelines, just as WE will have to learn how to live without them.
Join us this mayday for the first in a series of demonstrations that celebrate the example of the Unist’ot’en, the resistance that pipelines have met so far, and the escalated fight they will meet in the future. This time on international workers day, because workers need clean water too, just as all human beings need a living planet.
Nobel Peace Prize Laureates call on Obama to reject Keystone XL
Ten Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and landmine activist Jody Williams, urged the White House to reject the Keystone XL pipeline, which would bring 830,000 barrels of tar sands bitumen per day from Alberta to refineries in the Gulf Coast.
“You stand on the brink of making a choice that will define your legacy on one of the greatest challenges humanity has ever faced – climate change,” the Nobel Laureates write in a letter sent to U.S. President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry.
“History will reflect on this moment and it will be clear to our children and grandchildren if you made the right choice.... We urge you to reject the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.”
The letter asserts that Keystone XL would push forward the rapid expansion of Alberta's tar sands, which would aggravate climate change. A recent Environment Canada report has found that the oil and gas industry is now the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, due in large part to tar sands expansion.....
http://www.vancouverobserver.com/news/nobel-peace-prize-laureates-call-o...
Oral Hearings Quietly Vanish From Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Pipeline Review
A lawyer representing the City of Burnaby says the National Energy Board (NEB) has turned its review of Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline into a “mere paperwork exercise” by cutting all cross-examination from the process.
“We were expecting that there would be public hearings and cross-examination of the evidence,” Gregory McDade said at a City of Burnaby information session last week. “There are no hearings … There will be no public examination of Kinder Morgan’s evidence whatsoever.”....
http://desmog.ca/2014/04/14/oral-hearings-quietly-vanish-kinder-morgan-t...
No compensation for Lemon Creek spill victims
More than eight months after a tanker truck spilled jet fuel into Lemon Creek, BC’s environment minister says no compensation is forthcoming from government for affected residents.
“We actually would not have the authority nor the ability to do anything more than recoup our reasonable response and cleanup costs,” Mary Polak said in response to questions from Kootenay West MLA Katrine Conroy during debate Tuesday. “We don't have the authority or the ability to collect in terms of compensation or, in fact, to provide compensation. It's not within our authority to do so.”
Conroy said Slocan Valley residents are still feeling the aftermath of the spill, which saw 33,000 litres of fuel pour into the creek and then flow into the Slocan and Kootenay rivers. Some people lost their livelihoods and others are still feeling health effects, she said....
Keystone XL delay up ends pipeline politics forcing Harper into the "choose first" hot seat
Yet another procedural delay means US President Barack Obama won't have to decide on the controversial Keystone XL tar sands pipeline until sometime next year. Before then, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper must decide on one -- and possibly two -- bitterly-fought and politically-toxic tar sands pipelines in his own nation:
Back when Obama had to decide first, Harper famously chided the US President for delaying his own politically-toxic tar sands pipeline decision by calling it a "complete no-brainer". One has to wonder if Harper still feels that way now that he has to lead off?
The sudden role reversal leaves Harper in a much more difficult position. If Obama had decided on Keystone XL (KXL) first, Harper could have gained some welcome cover no matter which way the decision went....
http://www.vancouverobserver.com/blogs/climatesnapshot/keystone-xl-delay...
quote:
Sensing an epic disaster in the making, the normally pro-tar-sands Vancouver Sun just penned an editorial titled: "It’s time for sober second thought on megaproject." It is a plea for Harper to delay the decision:
"Northern Gateway, regardless of its strategic economic importance to Canada, simply does not have the social licence necessary to proceed, at least, not for now. Forcing the project through would only be a provocation, triggering legal action and possibly blockades and civil disobedience along the pipeline route."
... But why must the matter be decided by June?
... Better to delay than reject. Better to delay than confront.
Alise Mills works for British Columbians for Prosperity
Pipelines booster British Columbians for International Prosperity or BC4P, whose website DeSmogBlog noted 4 days ago "bears remarkable similarity to the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity", is "an independent group of concerned citizens looking to promote practical resource development" yadda yadda. They dropped the "International" from their brand name back in February :
http://creekside1.blogspot.ca/2014/04/alise-mills-works-for-british.html
Vancouver to call on federal government for open hearings in Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion review
The Mayor will be introducing a motion tomorrow to the City to ask Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the federal government to provide open public hearings and cross-examination of witnesses at the National Energy Board’s upcoming review of the proposed Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion.
“Vancouver has substantial concerns to express about the enormous risks posed to our local economy and environment by a seven-fold increase in oil tanker traffic in and around Vancouver’s harbour,” Mayor Gregor Robertson said in a press release. “Why is it that residents in BC’s north had the opportunity to take part in the Northern Gateway hearings, but when it comes to a pipeline in our own backyard, the Lower Mainland is shut out?”....
http://www.vancouverobserver.com/news/vancouver-call-federal-government-...
Poll: British Columbians ready to shift away from fossil fuels
New polling research reveals that British Columbians want the province to produce, use and export fewer fossil fuels and embrace cleaner sources of energy instead.
The poll found more than three quarters of British Columbians (78%) agree that B.C. should transition away from using fossil fuels to cleaner sources of energy to prevent climate change from getting worse. More than two thirds (67%) agree the province should decrease its reliance on fossil fuel exports to avoid future boom and bust economic cycles.
Another three quarters (74%) agree that the province has a good opportunity to create jobs and grow the economy by developing the solutions needed to transition away from fossil fuels.
“As climate science continues to demonstrate, climate change could have devastating impacts on both the environment and the economy,” said Kevin Sauve, spokesperson for the Pembina Institute in B.C. “It’s encouraging to see that British Columbians are on the same page. Not only do they understand the need to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels but see economic benefits in developing cleaner sources of energy as well.”....
http://www.pembina.org/media-release/2540
I'm in Michigan right now.
State officials of both parties have been pressing Enbridge for some time about all of its pipelines, not just the one that disastrously ruptured in Kalamazoo.
I see this also made the news in the Globe tonight... carrrying this story from the Free Press, which should include links to more articles.
Meanwhile, yet another crude oil train fireball- Virginia this time.
Tsleil-Waututh Nation Press Conference on Kinder Morgan Pipeline and Tankers Project
video
http://new.livestream.com/tsleilwaututh/kindermorgan/videos/49756380
...........
B.C. First Nation launches legal challenge over Kinder Morgan pipeline
A British Columbia First Nation is turning to the courts in an attempt to delay — and ultimately stop — a controversial pipeline project that will run through its traditional territory.
The Tsleil-Waututh Nation is targeting the National Energy Board's review of Kinder Morgan's proposed expansion of its Trans Mountain pipeline, which would nearly triple the capacity of an existing pipeline that runs to the Vancouver area from Alberta's oil sands.
The energy board plans to start its review of the project in August, hearing from more than 1,000 people, groups and communities, roughly 400 of which will be considered official interveners. The board is set to hear aboriginal evidence this fall, with wider hearings scheduled to begin next January.
But the Tsleil-Waututh's legal challenge, which was expected to be filed with the Federal Court of Appeal on Friday, alleges the federal government and the energy board both failed to adequately consult the band before setting the terms of the review.
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/b-c-first-nation-launches-legal-challenge-over...
Humpback Whale Removed From 'Threatened' Species List
The North Pacific humpback whale is no longer protected as a "threatened" species after the Canadian government quietly downgraded its classification earlier this month.
Despite objections from several groups, the Harper government declared the humpback a "species of special concern" under the Species at Risk Act (SARA). The whale population off the B.C. coast has increased "significantly" since it was first listed as threatened in 2005, so it is now at a point where it can be reclassified, according to a federal government notice in the Canadian Gazette.
The change is being made as two major pipeline projects are in the middle of regulatory applications. Approval would increase vessel traffic, which collides with humpbacks about three times a year in B.C. waters....
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/04/22/humpback-whale-threatened_n_5192...
