Canadian aboriginal groups and their allies said on Friday they have the power to block proposed oil pipelines on land where they have proven title, dismissing comments by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau who said no community has a veto.
Trudeau told Reuters on Thursday that unanimous consent is not needed for the government to approve pipeline projects to bring Canadian oil to market, even as he pledged consultation with aboriginals and environmentalists who oppose projects.
For all the political noise coming from municipalities and provinces in opposition to various pipeline projects, in reality they may lack any legal leverage to stop the projects or insist on conditions.
Globally, it appears we’ve just been through a record hot April. It followed a record hot March. Which followed a record hot February, after a record hot January, and so on for the last year.
Not only did these months shatter temperature records – they broke them by the biggest margin ever.
Renewable energy companies see tremendous opportunity in Ontario’s climate-change plan, though skeptics question whether the proposed incentives and regulations will achieve the government’s goals and will impose costs that are unacceptable to voters.
The Ontario government will spend more than $7-billion over four years on a sweeping climate change plan that will affect every aspect of life – from what people drive to how they heat their homes and workplaces – in a bid to slash the province’s carbon footprint.
In the immediate aftermath of the Fort McMurray fire, it was considered to be in bad taste to associate the event with climate change. Worse was to suggest that karma had come back to bite the oil sands city in the behind.
If you’re trying to figure out how Alberta’s already hurting budget is going to get battered by the Fort McMurray wildfires, don’t get too bogged down in the reports of massive losses in oil production shutdowns. You’re better off keeping an eye on the way the oil price responds to the drama playing out in the Alberta oil patch.
Blazes in Fort McMurray, Alberta. Video still from Youtube footage posted by Jason Edmondson.
Some time ago, the environmentalist “Break Free” movement planned a number of protest actions around the world during the first two weeks of May. The protests have a simple and basic message: burning fossil fuels is unsafe and those resources must be left in the ground.
The federal government is coming up on what will be a litmus test of its commitment to nation-to-nation relations with First Nations and to the environment, say those advocating for the shutdown of the massive BC Hydro development known as Site C in northeastern British Columbia.
