. . The decision prompted one Tsilhqot'in tribal leader to say Northern Gateway is dead, while another said Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) proposals may be sorely affected too.
. . But drama over the pipelines obscures a larger problem — a broken policy process. Both Canada and the United States treat oil-sands production, transportation, climate and environmental policies as separate issues, assessing each new proposal in isolation. A more coherent approach, one that evaluates all oil-sands projects in the context of broader, integrated energy and climate strategies, is sorely needed.
. . . I believe, and the federal government fears, that given the opportunity the public of British Columbia will massively reject this insult to their province. We have one of the most beautiful jurisdictions in the entire world. Once we get started on pipelines other similar projects will follow. We will become an industrial jurisdiction and the term "Beautiful British Columbia" will be a joke...
Twenty-eight individual First Nation bands and three Aboriginal organizations have signed to a letter announcing its intention to fight the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline proposal through legal battles. The federal government approved the project today, despite heavy opposition from BC.
"I've never seen a list of First Nations like that," Haida Nation president Peter Lantin (Kil tlaats’gaa) said, speaking of the number of First Nations signed on to challenge the Northern Gateway pipeline in court.
Imagine a world where the Northern Gateway pipeline doesn’t get built. With the federal government’s curiously tepid approval in hand, Enbridge Inc. sets to work trying to chip away at the dozens of conditions it must meet before it is allowed to fire up its trenching equipment. First Nations opposed to the project dig in for lengthy court battles and noisy demonstrations, arguing that an oil sands pipeline threatens long-held rights and title to their lands and that they were inadequately consulted.
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.”
