British Columbia

A Pan-Asian partnership, lead by the Malaysian government's Petronas corporation, is proposing to build a massive liquid natural gas (LNG) project on BC's north coast: Pacific NorthWest LNG.

The decision whether to approve or reject this proposal is now in the hands of Prime Minister Trudeau. It will be his first major climate-vs-fossil test. And it is a doozy.

An artistic rendering of Pacific NorthWest LNG’s proposed LNG export terminal on Lelu Island.

“The project would result in 5.28 million tonnes of CO2 per year … a marked increase of greenhouse gas emissions both at the provincial (8.5 per cent increase) and national (0.75 per cent increase) level,” 

When Premier Christy Clark dismissed opponents of resource developments in B.C. as the “forces of no,” she singled out for specific criticism those aligned against the proposed LNG facility at Lelu Island, near Prince Rupert.

The B.C. government decided in September 2013 to remove the George Massey tunnel and replace it with a $3.5-billion toll bridge

METRO VANCOUVER -- Richmond politicians want to know how a tunnel under the Fraser River that was deemed “good for 50 years” is to be filled in and replaced with a 10-lane bridge.

Coun. Harold Steves said council has sent a letter to the provincial government seeking all documentation around its September 2013 decision to remove the George Massey tunnel and replace it with a $3.5-billion toll bridge.

B.C. Premier Christy Clark arrives at an announcement about incentives for electric cars. (Glen Kugelstadt/CBC)

[Editor's note: you can listen to this episode here: http://www.cbc.ca/radio/the180/electric-cars-aren-t-green-pot-is-still-a-drug-and-we-need-to-rethink-the-canoe-1.3475291/electric-cars-aren-t-as-green-as-you-think-they-are-1.3475389 ]

CALGARY • Malaysia’s Petronas is frustrated that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s climate-change priorities are introducing new uncertainty for its proposed $36 billion Pacific NorthWest LNG project in northern British Columbia and has threatened to walk away if it doesn’t get federal approval by March 31, according to a source close to the project.

Companies are wiggling out of money-losing contracts to buy electricity from coal-fired power plants in Alberta as a result of the province’s new climate change policies, leaving a provincial agency to honour the agreements

FORT ST.  JOHN, B.C.—I continually see news stories concerning the multi-billion-dollar Site C dam project in northeastern British Columbia. There is growing opposition to this project.

But while our numbers grow every day, we go unheard. Our emails to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Environment Minister Catherine McKenna are ignored. Site C dam is touted as clean energy, but that is completely untrue. Hydro electric dams and their reservoirs pollute the atmosphere, the rivers, the surrounding land, and they poison fish and wildlife. The Site C dam will be no different.

Cartoon by Greg Perry.

Three things don't add up in the British Columbia budget when it comes to declining revenues from the battered shale gas industry and its non-existent cousin, the province's liquefied natural gas fantasy.

The first concerns revenue. Premier Christy Clark promised in 2013 that profits from the LNG industry would pour like manna into a $100-billion provincial prosperity fund.