British Columbia

Alberta Premier Alison Redford says she's optimistic her deal with B.C. Premier Christy Clark will increase the flow of oil west to the Pacific to diversify Canadian energy markets. She spoke Tuesday to the Vancouver Board of Trade after the two premiers unveiled what they called a framework agreement for cooperation on new heavy oil pipelines. "It makes it clear, officially, that Alberta's royalties are off the table," Redford said. "The economic benefit cannot be provided or guaranteed by the government of Alberta." While B.C.

VICTORIA ­ As political protests go, the anti-fracking display at Premier Christy Clark’s house on the weekend was small-scale and short-lived. A dozen or so protesters put up a mock drill rig on her front lawn on Sunday morning and removed it soon afterward when asked to do so by police. Still, the episode had larger implications for both of B.C.’s major political parties. For the B.C. Liberals, the ill-advised trespass on the premier’s home turf generated sympathy more than any backlash over the widespread use of fracking to unlock the province’s natural gas reserves.

Premier Christy Clark said she’s excited about a proposal to modernize and expand port facilities in Port Alberni, which could include a new deep sea shipping terminal and a liquefied natural gas facility.

Clark said there’s been significant international interest in a Port Alberni LNG facility, which could be a huge job generator for the community. The premier has invited Port Alberni Port Authority to accompany her on a trade mission to Asia next month.

VANCOUVER, UNCEDED COAST SALISH TERRITORY – On Sunday morning, activists with Rising Tide-Vancouver Coast Salish Territories set up a 15-foot mock fracking rig on Premier Christy Clark’s lawn and announced that “Because the Premier loves fracking, we figured we would save her the hassle of trying to take over other peoples’ homes and bring it right to her!” says Jacquelyn Fraser, an activist with the group. “We are just so worried about all the water that is being used and polluted in northeastern B.C. for fracking.

Carbon Talks brought together three experts at the lunch hour on Wednesday to discuss the business case for exporting LNG from B.C. Part of that business case is environmental: the assertion that LNG will be good for global emissions. Dr. Kathryn Harrison, professor of political science at UBC, suggested that climate change is an elephant in the room, a party animal when it suits industry needs or, perhaps, “a large beast with the potential to wreak havoc.”

By Roger Annis

Another oil train derailment and explosion in Canada has sent nearby residents fleeing from their homes in the middle of the night. It happened at 1 a.m. on Saturday, October 19 on a CN Rail line outside the hamlet of Gainford, Alberta, 85 km west of Edmonton. The accident coincides with new steps by the Canadian government to extend oil and other resource extraction into the Arctic.

The Calgary Herald

First Nations fear they are being cut out of a potential $2.5 billion windfall from the development of B.C.'s liquefied natural gas and mining sector and want the provincial government to mandate at least a quarter of those projects to use energy from B.C.'s independent power producers.

The British Columbia government is close to completing an accord for land needed by China Petrochemical Corp. for a proposed liquefied natural gas export project in Canada’s westernmost province.

Last week saw a remarkable shift in the pipeline standoff between B.C. and Alberta over the contentious problem of getting Alberta's oil to B.C. ports, for shipment to Asia.

Until recently, government officials on both sides of the Rockies had described this particular interprovincial relationship as "frosty." With neither side even willing to seriously discuss it.