The fossil fuel industry is aggressively pushing for a 700% increase in the amount of climate pollution flowing through BC's economy. Seven times more fossil carbon in just a single decade. As my chart below shows, eighteen fossil fuel mega-projects are currently proposed for BC. Twice as much coal. Ten times more fracked natural gas. Five times more tarsands. The resulting climate impact of this carbon tsunami could exceed 1,200 million tonnes of CO2 (MtCO2) per year.
The federal government has approved Enbridge's Northern Gateway pipeline, subject to 209 conditions recommended by the National Energy Board and more talks with aboriginal communities. Enbridge wants to build the pipeline from Bruderheim, Alta., to Kitimat, B.C. The federal approval is one more step in a long line of permits necessary for Enbridge to get access to the Pacific coast to ship crude to Asia. The federal regulatory process began in May 2010 when Enbridge submitted its application to the National Energy Board.
The Peoples for Mother Earth march is nearing the end of its 34 day cross-province journey through towns and cities in Québec which would be affected by prospective Tar Sands pipelines. In the past month, as the marchers have made their way from Cacouna towards their end-goal of Kanehsata:ke, they have taken actions and seen concrete effects beginning to emerge already.
Gina McCarthy, administrator of the U.S. Environment Protection Agency, stressed Monday that new regulations designed to cut greenhouse gas emissions from power plants 30 per cent by 2030 are “not just about disappearing polar bears or melting ice caps. This is about protecting our health and our homes.”
“(Burnaby mayor) Derek Corrigan and his council have taken the position that they won’t speak with us [Kinder Morgan], they won’t engage with us, they won’t co-operate in any way with what we are considering ... I’d much rather see a healthier relationship between us.” [says Kinder Morgan Canada president Ian Anderson]
But he noted the next step would be “us seeking an order of the board to gain access to do the necessary preliminary work” for the tunnel.
Hundreds of scientists have signed a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper that says the recent report on the Northern Gateway pipeline is so flawed, it's essentially useless. The scientists say the joint review panel (JRP) report has so many systemic errors and omissions that it can't be used to make decisions on whether the pipeline is beneficial to the public. Three hundred scientists from across Canada and around the world say the panel's recommendation to approve the proposed pipeline from the oilsands in Alberta to the north coast of B.C.
A majority of British Columbians want Prime Minister Stephen Harper to reject or delay Enbridge Inc. (ENB)’s Northern Gateway pipeline amid concern the project could lead to oil spills, a Bloomberg-Nanos poll shows. Thirty-four percent of respondents want the Canadian government to block the C$6.5 billion ($6 billion) project, which would ship crude from Alberta’s oil sands to the B.C. coast for export to Asia, and 33 percent want it delayed for further review. Twenty-nine percent say they want it approved, according to the poll.
A Japanese oil tanker has exploded off the country's south-west coast near Himeji port, leaving one of the eight people aboard missing, the country's coast guard has said. Four others were severely injured in the accident on Thursday.
Fire gutted the middle of the Shoko Maru – the 998-tonne tanker, based in the western city of Hiroshima, was left leaning over in the water after the accident and was being doused by firefighting ships.
First the Athabasca Chipewyan partnered with Canadian rocker Neil Young in a treaty-rights awareness tour. Then, this past weekend, the 1,100-person northern Alberta First Nation – whose members feel its land and water are being sacrificed for an estimated $200-billion in oil-sands investment over the next decade – hosted renowned human-rights leader Desmond Tutu, who toured the oil-sands region and, at a weekend conference on treaty rights and the environment, called Canada’s bitumen production “filth.”
There’s only one way in and out of a small Wet’suwet’en camp located in a remote part of British Columbia’s Interior – a logging road and a single lane bridge. Right now, though, a truck is parked in front of the bridge, blocking access to the rugged territory. The move is meant to keep out a host of unwanted visitors – including anyone who works for Enbridge Inc.
