Oil - Pipelines

Canada's National Energy Board (NEB) on Thursday approved two applications for 25 year natural gas export licences. A licence was approved for Aurora Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd (Aurora LNG) to export liquefied natural gas (LNG), for a maximum term amount of 849.82 109m3. The export point would be in the vicinity of Prince Rupert, British Columbia at the outlet of the loading arm of a proposed liquefaction terminal.

“Pipeline spills can have both positive and negative effects on local and regional economies, both in the short- and long-term,” the company states in its submission to the National Energy Board, the federal government’s Calgary-based regulatory agency. “Spill response and cleanup creates business and employment opportunities for affected communities, regions, and cleanup service providers.”

District of Kitimat Council voted four to one Monday night to officially oppose the Northern Gateway pipeline, terminal and tanker project. After a lengthy debate, Mayor Joanne Monaghan, Councillors Phil Germuth, Mario Feldhoff and Rob Goffinet voted in favour of the motion. Councillor Edwin Empinado voted against the motion. Councillors Mary Murphy and Corrine Scott were absent due to illness.

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The decision removes a major legal hurdle that the environmental group Ecojustice said stood in the way of the $7.9-billion Northern Gateway pipeline project that would bring 550,000 barrels of diluted bitumen crude from Alberta to Kitimat.

WASHINGTON — Ten Nobel Peace Prize winners from as far afield as Yemen, South Africa and Argentina have signed a letter asking U.S. President Barack Obama to deny a permit for the Keystone XL pipeline that would transport oilsands bitumen to Texas Gulf Coast refineries.

The laureates, who include former U.S. president Jimmy Carter and Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, argue that denial of a permit would send a strong signal to the world that the U.S. is rejecting a fossil fuels future.

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration on Friday extended the review period on the Keystone XL pipeline, perhaps pushing back a final decision on the disputed project until after the Nov. 4 congressional elections.

'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

As the climate crisis intensifies it is getting harder for those who benefit from fossil fuels to shirk any and all responsibility for the climate damage that results. The greater the climate damage the more extreme the measures are becoming to avoid taking any responsibility. Such is the case with Kinder Morgan's recent push to build a gigantic new Trans Mountain XL (TMX) pipeline from the tar sands of Alberta to the Pacific Ocean shoreline at the Port of Vancouver.

On Saturday, April 12, a number of VESG members participated in the walk, rally and flotilla opposed to Kinder Morgan’s plans to expand the Trans Mountain pipeline carrying tar sands bitumen to the Burrard Inlet. The day was organized by the Burnaby Residents Opposing Kinder Morgan Pipeline Expansion (BROKE) and North Shore NOPE. Below is a collection of news stories related to the event.

On Saturday, April 12, a number of VESG members participated in the walk, rally and flotilla opposed to Kinder Morgan’s plans to expand the Trans Mountain pipeline carrying tar sands bitumen to the Burrard Inlet. The day was organized by the Burnaby Residents Opposing Kinder Morgan Pipeline Expansion (BROKE) and North Shore NOPE. Below is a collection of news stories related to the event.