Read this Nov. 19 opinion column from the health blog Natural Society on socially-conscious rocker Neil Young’s decision to publicly boycott Starbucks over its support of GMO products. I used to line up and get my latte everyday, but yesterday was my last one. ~ Neil Young I, like Neil, have lined up
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The Common Sense Canadian: Global gas glut threatens future LNG exporters…like Canada
LNG tankers undergoing maintenance near Ras Laffan in Qatar Read this October 21 Foreign Policy story on the looming global gas glut that calls into question the business case for would-be LNG developers like Canada. Companies around the world are spending billions of dollars in a scramble to start exporting ever-greater amounts
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Kinder Morgan pulling out of Burnaby Mountain with work unfinished
Photo: Jonathan Hayward/CP Read this Nov. 28 story from The Vancouver Sun on Kinder Morgan’s decision to pull its drilling equipment off of Burnaby Mountain one day after losing its bid to extend the injunction it had in place against protestors. VANCOUVER — Kinder Morgan has stopped drilling on Burnaby Mountain and
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Kinder Morgan loses on injunction extension, civil contempt charges
Burnaby Mountain Caretakers locked to Supreme Court doors in Vancouver today (Burnaby Mountain Updates) Read this Nov. 27 story from CBC.ca on American pipeline giant Kinder Morgan’s rough day in court. An application by Kinder Morgan to extend an injunction keeping protesters away from two drilling sites on Burnaby Mountain was
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: BC approves Petronas LNG plant and 2 more gas pipelines
Petronas CEO Shamsul Abbas shakes hands with BC Premier Christy Clark Read this Nov. 26 Reuters story on the BC Liberal government’s approval of multiple LNG infrastructure applications. VANCOUVER — British Columbia has approved a liquefied natural gas export terminal being developed by Malaysia’s Petronas, along with two pipelines to service
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: LNG, fracking and BC’s Energy future: Victoria multimedia discussion
Join The Common Sense Canadian’s Damien Gillis and Council of Canadians’ Leila Darwish for a multimedia discussion about BC’s energy future – this Wednesday evening in Victoria. Gillis, who is also co-directing the documentary film Fractured Land, will tackle the economic and environmental myths and realities of the proposed LNG industry –
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: IPPs an even worse rip-off than Site C Dam, SFU economist warns
Construction of a private power project on the Ashlu River (Photo: Range Life) The following article by renknowned energy expert and SFU economist Dr. Marvin Shaffer is republished from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives’ Policy Note You would think that the fiasco of the government forcing BC Hydro in recent
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Arrests begin on Burnaby Mountain in Kinder Morgan standoff
One of the first arrests made on Burnaby Mountain (Photo: Brad Hornick/facebook) Read this Nov. 20 story from CBC.ca reporting on the first round of arrests at Burnaby Mountain since an injunction was issued last week to remove Kinder Morgan protesters. A 10 AM update posted on a facebook page
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Economist catches Kinder Morgan skimping on Canadian taxes
Kinder Morgan Canada President Ian Anderson talks a good game on Canadian benefits from his company’s proposed pipeline – but economist Robyn Allan disagrees (photo: Kinder Morgan) The following is an open letter to Premier Christy Clark from economist and former ICBC CEO Robyn Allan November 19, 2014 Dear Premier
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Keystone XL bill narrowly fails in Senate
Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (right) failed to get the Keystone XL passed Read this Nov. 18 Reuters story on the Keystone XL bill’s narrow defeat by the US Senate. (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate on Tuesday narrowly failed to pass a bill that would have approved construction of
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Burnaby will stop Kinder Morgan pipeline in court, re-elected Burnaby Mayor Corrigan vows
Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan continues his tough stand against Kinder Morgan (Photo: Vimeo) Read this Nov. 18 story from The Vancouver Sun on newly re-elected Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan’s vow to stop Kinder Morgan’s pipeline expansion proposal through the courts – urging citizens not to get arrested in defiance of a recent injunction.
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Bloomberg: Russia-China gas deals spell big trouble for Canadian LNG
Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping may be putting Canada’s LNG industry out of business before it’s even built Read this Nov. 10 story from business news leader Bloomberg on the increased pressure deals between Russia and China for natural gas are placing on would-be LNG exporters – especially Canada. Based
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Ernst wins right to sue Alberta govt over fracking water contamination
Environmental consultant Jessica Ernst on her land in Alberta (Colin Smith photo) An Alberta woman has the right to sue the provincial environment ministry for allegedly failing to properly investigate water contamination she says Encana’s hydraulic fracturing caused on her property, a Calgary judge has ruled. Jessica Ernst launched a
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Nisga’a Nation community members protest LNG deal
Petronas’ proposed Pacific Northwest LNG project – the source of partnership talks with the Nisga’a Nation Read this Nov. 10 Tyee story by Wawmeesh G. Hamilton on the grassroots cracks forming in a proposed deal between a Nisga’a Nation elected leaders, TransCanada Pipelines and Pacific Northwest LNG – the $11 Billion project planned for
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Former Hydro head pulls out of NEB’s “farcical” Kinder Morgan hearings
Read this Nov. 3 story from CBC.ca on former BC Hydro boss Mark Eliesen’s decision to drop out of the Kinder Morgan The former head of BC Hydro, Marc Eliesen, has pulled out of the federal hearings on the proposed Kinder Morgan pipeline project. In a scathing letter to the
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: BC LNG takes another hit as UK gas giant BG Group gets cold feet
An open house for BG Group’s proposed Prince Rupert LNG project (princerupertgas.com) Read this Oct. 29 Globe and Mail story on BG Group’s decision to reconsider its investment in BC’s LNG industry – the latest in a series of companies to get cold feet, including Encana, EOG, and Apache Corp. BG Group PLC
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: No surprise: Liberals slash public revenues from BC LNG
Premier Christy Clark’s election promise of big public revenues from BC LNG are evaporating (Canadian Press) Read this Oct. 21 story from Justine Hunter at the Globe and Mail on the Liberals’s slashing of once-promised windfall tax revenues from the proposed BC LNG industry – just as The Common Sense Canadian has been predicting for
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Bank of England’s Mark Carney: Most fossil fuel reserves shouldn’t be burned
Mark Carney in Davos, Switzerland, 2010 (Photo: Wikipedia) Read this Oct. 13 story in The Guardian about Bank of England Governor Mark Carney’s decision to join a growing list of global economic leaders suggesting that the world needs to transition away from fossil fuels in order to mitigate the effects of climate
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Harper govt joins BC in backing Site C, despite “significant adverse environmental effects”
Bear Flat in northeast BC’s Peace Valley – which would be flooded by Site C Dam (Damien Gillis) Read this October 14 story from Larry Pynn in the Vancouver Sun on the Harper Cabinet’s conditional approval of the controversial, proposed Site C Dam in BC. B.C. Hydro’s planned $7.9-billion Site C dam
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Site C gets BC certificate; Feds, First Nations leave project in doubt
Location of proposed Site C Dam (photo: Damien Gillis) Read this Oct. 14 story by William Stodalka in the Alaska Highway News on the BC Liberal government’s decision to issue its environmental certificate for the highly controversial proposed Site C Dam. The B.C. Ministry of Environment has approved an environmental assessment certificate
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