British Columbia

CONDITION 2 : World-leading marine oil-spill response, prevention and recovery systems for B.C.'s coastline and ocean to manage and mitigate the risks and costs of heavy-oil pipelines and shipments.

A new map (scroll down to view) reveals the full scope of oil and gas pipelines proposed to criss-cross BC. Compiled by Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition and Skeena Wild, the graphic depicts the planned routes for a staggering six new pipelines – five designed to carry natural gas to proposed liquefaction (LNG) plants in Kitimat and Prince Rupert, plus the twin bitumen and condensate Northern Gateway pipeline proposed by Enbridge. Plans for an additional six gas pipelines have yet to be formalized.

Premier Christy Clark is calling British Columbia's proposed liquefied natural-gas plants worldwide pollution-fighting machines, despite concerns by climate scientists and environmental groups that they will belch millions of tonnes of harmful greenhouse gas emissions into the sky. Clark says B.C. should sell natural gas in China and Japan because natural gas is cleaner than China's coal and safer than Japan's nuclear power. "We are doing the world a favour," she said.

Internal B.C. government documents warn that the pursuit of a liquefied natural gas industry could double the province’s entire output of greenhouse-gas emissions – at a time that it’s struggling to meet its legislated targets to dramatically reduce GHGs. A cabinet document prepared for Environment Minister Mary Polak in June calculates the LNG sector could increase emissions by 16 per cent at a minimum, and as much as “a doubling of B.C.’s total emissions, depending on the number of plants and the technology and energy options chosen,” the document states.

VICTORIA – Like the underground shale gas that Premier Christy Clark says will pave the way to a debt-free future, British Columbia appears caught between a rock and a hard place in balancing its hunger for a burgeoning liquefied natural gas industry and meeting its ambitious 2007 greenhouse gas pollution-reduction targets.

The B.C. government is sitting on a report commissioned by its climate-action secretariat that measures the greenhouse-gas emissions associated with developing a liquefied natural-gas industry. The pursuit of LNG is Christy Clark’s central ambition as Premier but it is one that is widely expected to collide with the province’s legislated requirement to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. So far, her government has sidestepped questions about how former premier Gordon Campbell’s legacy on climate change will be reshaped to accommodate Ms. Clark’s agenda around resource development.

Study finds all but one of 44 projects is on fish habitat, including salmon, trout and char. Almost 100 per cent of private run-of-river power projects studied in B.C. are located on streams where they could affect fish, an interim study for the Pacific Salmon Foundation has found. Foundation president and CEO Brian Riddell said in an interview that while “most people sort of assume” that these hydro projects are located in stretches of river away from fish habitat, the reality is quite different.

Yesterday I met with the premier of Alberta, Alison Redford. I am happy to report that in the course of our brief chat we were able to reach a historic accord in support of the Northern Gateway pipeline. It is possible you may be wondering what on earth any of this has to do with me, and why my support should make any difference to the pipeline's chances one way or the other. You might well ask. Indeed, you might well ask the premier the same question. While you're at it, you might ask the premier of British Columbia.

British Columbia’s “sacrosanct” Agricultural Land Commission will be effectively dismantled and the B.C. Oil and Gas Commission will assume new responsibilities for land use decisions if a proposal prepared for cabinet is adopted, according to confidential government documents. Information obtained by The Globe and Mail shows that B.C. Agriculture Minister Pat Pimm is preparing to ask cabinet to endorse a plan to “modernize” the ALC, an independent Crown agency, which has overseen and protected about four million hectares of farmland for 40 years.

According to lobbyist registry data, there are currently 57 lobbyists representing the natural gas industry to elected officials and government agencies in the province of British Columbia. This is a pretty astounding number when you consider that the provincial government only consists of 85 elected representatives. British Columbia, Canada is where I grew up and it is a place of natural beauty, in fact the main city of Vancouver is commonly cited as one of the most liveable cities in the world.