LNG - Fracking

Does Alberta's oil and gas regulator owe a "duty of care" to Alberta landowners affected by the growing industrial footprint of hydraulic fracturing operations? Or can a regulator refuse to listen to the concerns of landowners and citizens, possibly violating their Charter rights? These are the questions facing a panel of three Alberta appeal court justices tomorrow in Calgary as Jessica Ernst's lawsuit slowly marches its way through Canada's legal system.

The B.C. government and Malaysia’s state-owned Petronas have reached a deal designed to provide lift-off to a liquefied natural gas project. B.C. Premier Christy Clark and Petronas chief executive officer Shamsul Azhar Abbas signed the letter of intent Monday as a B.C. delegation led by Ms. Clark launched an Asian trade mission with the first stop in Malaysia. Petronas has asked the province to hammer out details of a tax to be levied against proposed B.C. LNG export terminals while the government has requested that the Malaysian firm ramp up efforts in the race to export B.C. LNG.

A new study on what B.C.‘s LNG revenues could add up to reinforces what many thinking citizens have already surmised — that the provincial government’s optimistic projections are far from a sure thing, and maybe just pie in the sky.

Canadians face a Pandora’s box of potential environmental and health risks as the oil industry charges forward with hydraulic fracturing techniques that are needed to unlock vast natural gas and oil deposits across the country, says a new report for the federal government.

An Alberta government lawyer argued in court this week that Jessica Ernst's lawsuit on hydraulic fracturing and groundwater contamination should be struck down on the grounds that it would open a floodgate of litigation against the province. "There could be millions or billions of dollars worth of damages," argued Crown counsel Neil Boyle.

The actions of a young, tough-talking First Nations leader in northeast B.C. last week, that sparked the embarrassing reversal of a cabinet decision to fast-track natural gas plants, appears to be rallying province-wide Aboriginal opposition to Liquified Natural Gas plans. On April 16, 33-year-old Fort Nelson Chief Sharleen Gail held up an eagle feather at an LNG industry summit in her territory as she emotionally ordered B.C. government officials to exit the conference, to the sound of Dene drummers.

'Oil, tar sands, coal, natural gas: What's behind the expansion drive of Canada's and North America's fossil fuel industries?' talk by Roger Annis of Vancouver Ecosocialist Group, at University of California Santa Barbara, April 11, 2014

Members of the Fort Nelson First Nation, led by the strong words of their chief councillor, Sharleen Gale, literally drummed out government and industry representatives from a conference the band was hosting on liquefied natural gas (LNG), Wednesday afternoon. The 3-day conference, titled “Striking the Balance”, was designed to discuss both the economic opportunities and potential environmental impacts of increased fracking in the nation’s territory to supply a gas-hungry, proposed BC LNG industry.

Fort Nelson First Nation drums government, industry reps out of LNG conference, outraged over lack of consultation on surprise gutting of environmental reviews for gas plants.