Of Climate Change and Relationships: Federal Approval of Kinder Morgan and Line 3 a Total Betrayal
(Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver, B.C. – November 29, 2016) Today, Canada approved the Kinder Morgan Trans-Mountain Expansion (TMX) pipeline and Enbridge’s Line 3 pipeline, while dismissing the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline and committing to advance a tanker moratorium on the north coast of British Columbia.
The mayors of Victoria and Edmonton view the Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion plans very differently – in ways the prime minister may not be able to reconcile.
Every month, five marine tankers laden with crude oil depart from Kinder Morgan’s Westridge Marine Terminal in Burnaby, wending their way through the Salish Sea and rounding the southern tip of Vancouver Island to the open Pacific Ocean.
[Editor's note: Line 3 is Enbridge's largest project ever with 1600 km of pipeline which would double the existing aging pipeline's capacity to 760,000 barrels a day! Watch video below.]
$7.9B project would carry diluted bitumen from Alberta's oilsands to Kitimat, B.C.
The federal cabinet has delivered its decision on the Enbridge-backed Northern Gateway pipeline after years of delays and false starts. But it will be days before the public knows the fate of the controversial project.
TO PRIME MINISTER THE RIGHT HONOURABLE JUSTIN TRUDEAU
Mr. Prime Minister, as you contemplate approving pipelines in our province, I respectfully suggest you ask yourself a couple of questions.
How come Donald Trump, a Republican, could say the most outrageous things about Hillary Clinton a Democrat, supported by a very popular presidential couple, yet voters elect him anyway? The polls had Clinton from wire to wire - yet she lost.
[Website editor's note: What is notable in this article by an industry 'insider' is the prediction of approval of the Kinder Morgan pipeline but with conditions that will delay it for many years.]
Anti-pipeline activists are starting to lose their common sense.
In early October, a group calling itself Climate Direct Action shut valves on five pipelines carrying crude from Canada into the U.S. market, risking a major rupture to make a point.
"Now is the time to stand beside Indigenous people in support of our timeless struggle to defend Mother Earth.
There is a battle being waged across the globe by Indigenous Peoples and their allies demanding a safe, healthy world for future generations. This is about water versus oil and life versus death, and ultimately, survival versus extinction."
Protesters say increased tanker traffic could harm marine life
About 300 people gathered in Squamish, B.C., Sunday to protest a planned liquefied natural gas terminal in Howe Sound.
The protesters described the gathering as a prayer service for the area waterways, which they say could be harmed by the $1.6-billion Woodfibre LNG project.
None should be in the slightest surprised at the anti-British Columbia stance of Justin Trudeau and the Liberals. As Talleyrand famously noted when, after the fall of Napoleon the Bourbons were restored, “they learned nothing and forgot nothing”.
Thus it is with the Liberals who, once safely back in power, turn their attention to repaying supporters, namely Ontario financiers and the oil industry, often the same people. This ancient Liberal policy never fails.
At a projected cost of $8.8 billon, the approved but yet-to-be-built Site C dam is the single most expensive public infrastructure project in B.C.’s history.
However, far more is at stake than just our pocketbooks when assessing the costs of Site C. So before returning to the appalling economics behind the project, consider the following:
PROTECTORS
