Energy

Alberta’s slowing economy and climate change were at the top of the agenda as Premier Rachel Notley met with Prime Minister Stephen Harper in the first sit-down between the two leaders.

Some federal Conservatives have been openly critical of initial moves taken by the NDP government, including the elimination of the provincial flat tax on income, but Ms. Notley said both leaders stuck to areas of common ground.

A news release from the First Nation’s Leadership Council last week suggested July could be the month when push comes to shove in the debate over the construction of the Peace River Site C dam.

It said the Treaty 8 First Nations had received notice from BC Hydro that as early as July 6 — five days prior to the tenth annual Paddle for the Peace protest event — construction work could begin at the project site.

Opposition leader and NDP were supportive initially, but their concerns have increased as more details emerge.

VICTORIA — With the B.C. Liberals preparing to recall the legislature to approve a project development agreement for liquefied natural gas, Opposition leader John Horgan is signalling that the New Democrats will likely be voting no.

Photo: Kevin Washbrook of Votors Taking Action on Climate Change

Up to 120 LNG tankers a year could ply the south arm of the Fraser River after a U.S. company secured a licence to export LNG from a facility on Tilbury Island in Delta.

The National Energy Board of Canada approved the plan on May 7.

Five trillion US dollars annually – that’s how much is being lavished in various forms of subsidies on the global fossil fuel industry, according to a recent report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). US$10 million a minute – more than the health budgets of every country on earth combined.

We’re told that there’s not enough money for decent health care, education or welfare. But the equivalent of 6.5 percent of global GDP is being poured into an industry that’s driving the world to social and environmental catastrophe.

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A group of more than 100 leading scientists from both Canada and the United States called for a moratorium on new oil sands development at a June 10 telephone press conference.

The scientists laid out 10 reasons why continued expansion of the oil sands is incompatible with keeping climate change at a level that does not cause widespread harm.

Almost six months after the B.C. government approved construction of the Site C dam, BC Hydro is still waiting for the province to issue the dozens of permits needed before shovels can touch the ground.

The permits have been held up because the province needs to conduct “meaningful consultation” with the Treaty 8 Tribal Association on the hydroelectric project.

Last week, I held a press conference with Harold Steves, former NDP MLA and a founder of the Agricultural Land Reserve, speaking out against the B.C. Liberal Site C dam. This project is not only a human-rights violation—depriving people of the right to food and water—but breaks Treaty 8 itself and, if constructed, will also be a contravention of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

From the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, what unfolded in B.C. last week must have looked strange.

While the Lax Kw’alaams First Nation was voting against a $1.1 billion offer of cash and land to support Petronas’ $11 billion Pacific NorthWest LNG (PNW) project in Prince Rupert, some members were reportedly giving a tentative thumbs-up to the Eagle Spirit Energy refined oil pipeline proposal.

VANCOUVER —The province hopes to start construction of the $8.8-billion Site C dam this summer, but that might be optimistic, say academic experts following the project.

It all depends on whether a court-ordered injunction is imposed in either of two cases in B.C. Supreme Court involving the controversial hydroelectric megaproject.

“I think the chances are that Site C will see the light of day, with perhaps some delays,” said Werner Antweiler, an associate professor specializing in energy economics at the University of B.C.’s Sauder School of Business.