LNG - Fracking

Native leaders of a protest camp are lashing out at the Port of Prince Rupert by unveiling plans to build a cultural centre on Lelu Island, the site of a proposed LNG terminal.

Two Lax Kw’alaams First Nation hereditary leaders have written a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, complaining about the federal port’s support for Pacific NorthWest LNG. The consortium, led by Malaysia’s state-owned Petronas, is seeking to construct the $11.4-billion terminal to export liquefied natural gas to Asia.

B.C. NDP Leader John Horgan met with his toughest critics on the party’s liquefied natural gas policies, and said his party’s official rejection of the Pacific Northwest LNG proposal could yet turn to Yes.

Mr. Horgan was speaking to the annual convention of the BC Building Trade unions in Victoria on Wednesday, where he sought to diffuse anger from his party’s labour allies over his decision to ask the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency to withhold approval for the proposed Pacific Northwest LNG plant near Prince Rupert.

It may scare some New Democrats, but this sketchy recipe for fighting climate change is not particularly left-wing.

The short document, available on-line, can arouse fierce passions.

Hereditary chiefs, Simoyget Yahaan (Donnie Wesley) and Gwishawaal (Ken Lawson) have officially responded to demands from the Port of Prince Rupert, that occupiers of Lelu Island in protest of the proposed Pacific NorthWest LNG terminal, halt construction activities. 

A letter signed by both chiefs is addressed to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould, Transport Minister Marc Garneau, and New Democrat Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Nathan Cullen. 

[Webpage: Note that this artticle refers to new investment.]

Wind and solar have grown seemingly unstoppable.

While two years of crashing prices for oil, natural gas, and coal triggered dramatic downsizing in those industries, renewables have been thriving. Clean energy investment broke new records in 2015 and is now seeing twice as much global funding as fossil fuels.

The Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition has paid for eye-catching billboards near Parliament Hill suggesting Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus image will be forever tainted if his government approves a project they say would be a climate disaster. Peter O'Neil / PNG

[Webpage editor's note: It has long been suspected that one motivation for the proposed 10 lane bridge to replace the currrent 4 lane Massey tunnel under the Fraser River in Metro Vancouver was to enable larger ships to sail up and down the river (the tunnel limits a deeper river channel). Steve Ree's blog provides some evidence regarding LNG carriers.]