Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson (photo: facebook) Read this Dec. 4 story from The Province on the City of Vancouver’s opposition to the proposed Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion. Vancouver will oppose Kinder Morgan’s plan to twin its Trans Mountain pipeline to the Lower Mainland. Saying the city has “grave concerns” about the
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The Common Sense Canadian: Misconceptions abound in Elsipogtog media coverage
Read this Nov. 14 opinion piece by Chelsea Vowel in the Toronto Star pointing out a number of often-ignored facts in the Elsipogtog First Nation protest of explorartory work for fracking in their New Brunswick territory. The Common Sense Canadian raised many of these issues in its first editorial on the issue,
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Kinder Morgan files plan to turn Vancouver into ‘Port McMurray’
Kinder Morgan Canada CEO Ian Anderson talks pipelines at the Vancouver Board of Trade in 2013 It’s official. Just days before the National Energy Board is expected to announce its findings on the controversial, proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline, US pipeline giant Kinder Morgan has filed its application to build
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: National Energy Board approves 4 LNG export licences for 25 years
Petronas/Progress’ proposed LNG project near Prince Rupert, BC obtained 1 of 4 25-yr export licences CALGARY – The National Energy Board has approved applications by four companies for 25-year licences to export liquid natural gas from the West Coast. Subject to final government review, the applications approved by NEB would
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Industry seeks right to release water from oilsands tailings ponds
Syncrude tailings pond (photo: David Dodge, Pembina Institute) EDMONTON – Oilsands producers are talking with the federal and Alberta governments about conditions under which water from the industry’s tailings ponds could be released into the environment. Officials say releases would only involve treated water and wouldn’t happen until the end
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Newfoundland national park, world heritage site spared from oil fracking
Newfoundland’s Gros Morne National Park (Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism) ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – An oil exploration company that set off intense debate with plans to frack near Gros Morne National Park in western Newfoundland says it will lose its licence next month to drill wells near the UNESCO world heritage
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: BC/Yukon First Nation bans fracking, finds impacts outweigh benefits
Fracking operation in northeast BC’s Horn River (Two Island Films, Ltd.) A First Nation with un-surrendered traditional territory in both northern BC and the Yukon passed a motion late last week banning fracking. On December 5, the Carcross/Tagish First Nation (C/TFN) General Council ratified an earlier motion from the nation’s Executive
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Harper Govt approves Shell’s Jackpine oilsands mine despite ‘significant adverse effects’
ACFN Chief Allan Adam outside an Alberta court in 2012, challenging Shell’s Jackpine development Shell Canada’s Jackpine oilsands mine expansion plan has received the go-ahead from Ottawa, despite the environment minister’s view that it’s “likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects.” In a statement late Friday, environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: American fracker wraps divisive seismic work in Elsipogtog territory
Members of the Elsipogtog Nation and RCMP clash at a recent protest over fracking in New Brunswick REXTON, N.B. – SWN Resources Canada says it has wrapped up seismic testing in New Brunswick. The company’s work has been subject to ongoing protest by opponents of shale gas development in the
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Engineers poke holes in Enbridge tanker safety plans
A group of professional engineers says the risk of a tanker spill is far greater than Enbridge suggests While the Harper Government reacts to this week’s release of a federal report containing 45 recommendations on improving oil spill response capabilities on BC’s coast, a group of professional engineers is launching a
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Ex-Harper advisor slams Canada’s Keystone XL pipeline promotion
WASHINGTON – A former Harper government appointee used a keynote speech at a Washington event Monday to trample Canadian authorities’ message on oil pipelines while describing the country as an environmental “rogue state.” Mark Jaccard became one of the first people nominated by the Conservatives to the environmental file when
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Germany shows a thriving green economy is possible
When Prime Minister Harper is challenged on his environmental record, one of his standard replies is that between economic development and sustainable development, he must give priority to the economy. While it suits Harper’s ideological agenda to imply that economic and environmental objectives are opposing forces, the facts suggest otherwise.
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Harper government spending $40 million to clean up Tar Sands’ image
Stephen Harper is trying hard to convince other nations not to shun Tar Sands bitumen (Adrian Wyld/CP) by Bruce Cheadle OTTAWA – The Conservative government is spending $40 million this year to advertise Canada’s natural resource sector — principally oil and gas — at home and abroad. Natural Resources Minister
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: MLA, Mayor turn up heat on Fraser River jet fuel, tanker plan
Fisheries expert Otto Langer and MLA Vicki Huntington take on Fraser River jet fuel plan (Brad Densmore) A group of BC politicians and community leaders held an emergency meeting yesterday near the mouth of the Fraser River, in the Richmond community of Steveston, to voice their concerns about the plan to build
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Greenpeace Arctic 30 arrests yet another attack on enviros
Friends of the Earth-UK shows its solidarity with the Arctic 30 Early November marked the 18th anniversary of the tragic murder of outspoken writer and environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight colleagues by the Nigerian government. Saro-Wiwa and the others had waged a long campaign to stop multinational oil company
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: BC slashing royalties, taxes for LNG in closed-door negotiations
BC Natural Gas Minister Rich Coleman (Damien Gillis) Read this Oct. 7 story from The Vancouver Sun on the BC Liberal government’s scheme to lower natural gas royalties and taxes in order to attract investment in a new liquefied natural gas industry. The move directly contradicts the government’s promise of $100 Billion
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: With LNG, Asian takeovers of Canadian energy assets still booming
Asian investment explodes in BC’s LNG market, rivalling the scale of resource development in the tarsands, as new trade deals threaten to entrench foreign state ownership of Canada’s key energy assets. “The relationship is suffering,” or so goes the mantra in our mainstream press. For the last number of months, politicians, media
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: The day I discovered the Harper Government spying on me
by Emma Gilchrist – cross-post from Desmog Canada Nov. 19th, 2013. A Tuesday. The day started out sunny, but hail fell out of the sky in the afternoon. It was a Victoria day like any other until I found out the Canadian government has been vigorously spying on several Canadian
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: US House passes bill to speed up oil and gas fracking
by Matthew Daly, The Associated Press WASHINGTON – The House approved a bill Wednesday aimed at speeding up drilling for oil and natural gas. The measure was one of three energy measures the House was considering this week as Republicans controlling the chamber push to expand an oil and gas
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: LNG in a Nutshell
Damien Gillis stitches together the big picture of the impacts of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and the fracking from which it would derive if the BC Liberal Government’s vision to build five plants on BC’s coast goes forward. From a Nov.18 discussion at Vancouver’s SFU Harbour Centre – alongside the
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