LNG - Fracking

The closing remarks to a federal-provincial panel examining BC Hydro’s Site C proposal were made by a grey-haired native leader who said bands in the area are determined not to let the dam get built. Treaty 8 Tribal Chief Liz Logan told the Joint Review Panel, which wrapped up five weeks of public hearings on Friday, that Peace River native communities hope a treaty they signed over 100 years ago to protect their way of life will be honoured and the dam, which would flood more than 5,000 hectares in the valley, will not be allowed.

In Alberta, Ronalie and Shawn Campbell’s previously excellent well water is now saturated with methane, ethane, propane, butane and isobutane.  The trees flanking their well – which is surrounded by over 50 energy wells within a one mile radius  – have died.  Jessica Ernst is heavy-lifting a $33 million lawsuit against Encana /Alberta Environment / and the Energy Resources Conservation Board.  Her skin burns and develops rash when she showers.  Not that she can do that anymore.  But she can light her water on fire.

California Governor Jerry Brown declared a drought emergency on Friday, a move that will allow the parched state to seek federal aid as it grapples with what could turn out to be the driest year in recorded state history for many areas.

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"As we see other sectors, like agriculture, struggling, what water rights do oil companies have to engage in fracking? The case can be made to place a moratorium on fracking just in the interests of conserving water," said California Assembly member Mark Levine.

"Water is our most precious commodity, not oil," he said.

This month, provincial MLAs are preparing for the upcoming legislative session, in which they will debate rules for carbon pollution and taxes for liquefied natural gas (LNG) development. The connection between LNG development and carbon pollution is significant. And just how the government chooses to manage both issues will have serious long-term implications, for the province and the country. Last year, Minister of Natural Gas Development Rich Coleman was asked on CBC's Early Edition what B.C.'s LNG plans could mean for the province's climate targets.

Existing in an almost tranquil atmosphere compared with the uproar surrounding plans to build crude bitumen pipelines to the Pacific Coast, British Columbia’s LNG sector may be in for a jolt. A small aboriginal community, with only 800 residents, is locking horns with the British Columbia government and the industry over the use of water for hydraulic fracturing.

As far back as October 2012, the B.C. Liberals knew that ambitious plans to develop natural-gas reserves could push greenhouse-gas emissions past the government’s reduction targets for 2020.

The admission comes in the form of a B.C. Ministry of Environment “information note” obtained through a freedom-of-information request filed by NDP environment critic Spencer Chandra Herbert.

A new law set to be introduced in the spring would, for the first time in B.C., impose fees for the use of groundwater and allow for government to restrict water use in times of scarcity. But it’s not likely to rein in the practise of hydraulic fracturing, which is critical to the development of LNG.

In the lifespan of multibillion dollar projects, five years is a relative blink. It’s why committing to big infrastructure projects is so nerve-wracking–the world can change in a hurry. Consider that only five years ago, plans were in place to build a terminal outside Quebec City to receive liquefied natural gas from Russia. At the time, natural gas prices were close to double digits and the skies ahead looked clear and profitable. The shale gas revolution, of course, changed that essentially overnight.

By the time Bob Ackley crossed the Harlem River into Manhattan he’d been up for nearly four hours. It was still dark, not yet seven on a Sunday morning: the best time of the week to go sniffing for gas. The back seat of his hatchback was littered with hi-tech equipment. Plastic hoses and cables connected a web of instruments: a laser spectrometer, a computer, GPS equipment, a pump, and a fan. The jumble of gadgets purred reassuringly as he drove.

VANCOUVER, COAST SALISH TERRITORIES – This morning, activists with Rising Tide-Vancouver, Coast Salish Territories dropped a banner reading “Coal, Oil, Gas: None Shall Pass” outside Port Metro Vancouver’s head office at Canada Place, in opposition to the proposed Fraser Surrey Docks coal terminal. “This coal export project is part of a push to make BC a gateway to profits for the fossil fuel industry.