Canada

"TransCanada's Energy East proposal is truly Keystone XL on steroids," says Natural Resources Defense Council

The pipeline giant TransCanada, stymied in its attempt to drive Keystone XL through America's heartland, is facing renewed opposition to its "new and equally misguided proposal" to build the Energy East pipeline across Canada and ship tar sands oil via tankers along the U.S. East Coast to refineries in the Gulf of Mexico. 

Juy 25, 2016 - Canada faces a gap of 200 megatonnes – or 38 per cent – between its greenhouse gas reduction target for 2030 and the level that would be reached through federal and provincial actions to slash emissions that have been announced so far, government sources say.

Ottawa is working with provinces and territories this summer on a plan that would include new regulations, subsidies and a national minimum carbon price – all aimed at closing that gap and meeting Canada’s commitment to reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs) by 30 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030.

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. — The sighting of an oily sheen on the North Saskatchewan River from last week’s Husky Energy pipeline leak has prompted the City of Prince Albert to shut down the intake at its water treatment plant.

City manager Jim Toye said the slick was spotted near the Saskatchewan community of more than 35,000 shortly after 6:00 a.m. Monday.

“Right now, we are not receiving any water into our plant from the North Saskatchewan River.”

July 14, 2016 - TransCanada Corp. joined hands with construction unions on Thursday to demonstrate support for its Energy East pipeline project, which goes to public hearings next month.

At a ceremony in a union training facility in Ottawa, TransCanada chief executive officer Russ Girling signed an agreement with four unions committing to employ their members in the $15.7-billion project – assuming that it receives federal approval two years from now.

The steady loss of the kelp removes an important habitat for other species and has a cascading effect through the marine environment, a Halifax marine biologist warns.

Once rich forests of willowy kelp that stretch along Nova Scotia’s coast have been decimated by warming water temperatures, says a marine biologist who warns that the loss could harm other species that rely on them for food.

[One webpage editor's note: Three items below - Tzeporah Berman's new position in Alberta, 'astroturfing'  by some US unions, and the promoters of a bitumen refinery who include the then-President of  the paperworkers union I was a member of for years.]

The surprising composition of Alberta’s new oilsands GHG advisory group

by JNW staff, jwenergy.com, July 14, 2016

Canada's oil sands production will grow by 1 million barrels daily in the next decade above the current output of about 2.75 million barrels, driven mostly by the expansion of existing facilities rather than new projects, a new reports shows.

According to global consulting firm IHS Energy, the roughly 42% production increase will help Canada remain among the world’s largest oil suppliers.

[Webpage editor's note: This serious escalation of military aggression against Russia should be actively opposed by the movement against climate change. For some background on NATO policy, see http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/06/30/why-is-nato-so-irrational-today/ . It increases the risk from other existential threat we face, along with climate change - nuclear war.

June 30, 2016 - The Federal Court of Appeal has quashed the federal government's Enbridge pipeline decision.