British Columbia

As Trump takes the wheel, U.S. thermal coal is looking for a way off the continent

The denial of a key permit by the State of Washington has left the largest proposed coal facility on the West Coast of North America high and dry. The proponents of the export terminal in Longview, Washington failed to obtain an aquatic lands sublease permit, dealing a major blow to an industry already struggling to transport U.S. thermal coal to markets in Asia.

Several of the New Democratic Party’s political anxieties were placed on the public record Thursday, thanks to a leaked copy of the planning document for Opposition leader John Horgan’s promise to increase the carbon tax starting in 2020.

The “not for circulation draft” of the NDP communications plan was obtained by the B.C. Liberals and released to the news media 90 minutes before the Opposition party’s own news conference on the subject.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s November proposal to ban oil tanker traffic from B.C.’s north coast received kind reception on the west coast of Canada where the Heiltusk First Nation was still busy responding to a 

As one Kinder Morgan crew worked on stemming an oil leak from its Trans Mountain pipeline in British Columbia on Thursday, another worked on winning over the province’s reluctant public for a major expansion of the line.

For the second time in as many weeks the company was forced to shut down the only pipeline linking the Alberta oil fields with a westcoast shipping port because of a leak, this one about 40 kilometres east of Hope, B.C.

A group of more than 20 hereditary chiefs and matriarchs in the Lax Kw’alaams First Nation is crying foul over an aboriginal leader whose battle against a B.C. liquefied natural gas project includes a lawsuit.

The group belonging to the Gitwilgyoots tribe of the Lax Kw’alaams is upset at Donald (Donnie) Wesley, alleging he doesn’t have the authority to act on behalf of the tribe.

VANCOUVER — The British Columbia Supreme Court is being asked to reverse the provincial government’s decision to approve a pipeline proposal over an alleged conflict of interest between the premier and the project’s proponents.

Democracy Watch and PIPE UP Network have applied for a judicial review of the environmental assessment certificate granted earlier this year by the province for Kinder Morgan Canada’s $6.8-billion project.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Tuesday, January 31, 2017

OTTAWA – Today, Democracy Watch and the PIPE UP Network applied to the B.C. Supreme Court for an order quashing the approval of the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline approval on the basis that more than $550,000 in donations to the B.C. Liberal Party by Kinder Morgan and pipeline-connected companies created an apparent conflict of interest that prohibited Premier Christy Clark, Environment Minister Mary Polak and Natural Gas Development Minister Rich Coleman from deciding the pipeline approval.

VICTORIA — The Globe and Mail

The Tsilhqot’in First Nation played host to federal Indigenous and Northern Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett on Friday, wrapping up her visit to their territory in B.C.’s Interior with a signing ceremony committing the two governments to reconciliation. It’s a well-timed pact, as both sides will be in court together on Monday, fighting the latest effort by Taseko Mines Ltd. to revive its proposed $1.5-billion New Prosperity open-pit gold and copper mine project.

Until the mid-twentieth century, much of British Columbia lacked reliable and affordable electricity. To resolve the privation, W.A.C. Bennett created BC Hydro, a publicly owned utility. The province’s leader acted because the private sector had refused to meet growing needs for electricity. Unlike less effective successors, Premier Bennett was a pragmatist, not an ideologue.