A culturally modified tree tagged by LNG contractors (Graeme Pole) By Graeme Pole Thoreau said, among other things, “…beware of all enterprises that require new clothes.” Aboard the BC Ferry Northern Adventure, departing Prince Rupert and bound for Haida Gwaii, I trained my camera on the southern tip of Digby
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The Common Sense Canadian: To the Ends of the Earth: Filmmaker One-on-One
David Lavallee talks with fellow filmmaker and Common Sense Canadian publisher Damien Gillis about the former’s project, “To the Ends of the Earth”, which connects the dots between society’s hunger for energy and the new wave of extreme fossil fuel projects wreaking havoc around the world. The two discuss the
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: BC govt hires accounting firm to give fracking a green stamp
A storage pond in northeast BC containing fracking fluids (Image: Two Island Films) Republished with permission from the ECOreport There are credible experts who believe that, with proper regulation and enforcement, it is possible to have a trustworthy fracking industry. They also say this does not yet exist in North
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Postmedia partners with LNG lobby to sell Woodfibre LNG – latest lapse in journalistic integrity
Resource Works ED and ex-Vancouver Sun deputy editor Stewart Muir (Resource Works – Flickr CC licence) I am, as readers well know, a babe in the woods when it comes to matters of journalism. Ever naive, I read the papers in awe and know that all times they have my better understanding of
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Exxon disses paltry clean tech subsidies while oil industry takes Trillions from taxpayers
Digital composite by AZRainman (Flickr CC licence) A recent article quoting executives from Exxon is an incredible example of the misinformation, half-truths and contempt for solutions to climate change that we continue to see from the oil and gas industry. In response to a question about subsidies for renewables, Theodore Pirog
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Enbridge let off the hook in paltry Kalamazoo oil spill settlement
OIl lingering on the Kalamazoo River long after Enbridge’s 2010 spill (Jason W Lacey/Flickr) Read this May 13 story by Nancy Kaffer in the Detroit Free Press on the paltry settlement between Enbridge and the State of Michigan for the company’s 2010 oil spill, the effects of which linger in the
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Richmond Council, Delta MLA question Fraser River LNG tankers
Harold Steves and fellow Richmond councillors voted unanimously for a public review of LNG tankers (Damien Gillis) Richmond Council yesterday unanimously passed a motion calling for a full environmental review on plans to run over 200 LNG vessels a year up the Fraser River. The move comes in reaction to attempts by
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Shell-led LNG project for Kitimat gets conditional approval from BC
Workers on LNG Canada project (Source: Kitimat LNG) Read this June 17 story from The Globe and Mail on the conditional approval awarded to Shell-led consortium LNG Canada’s proposed terminal for Kitimat. The B.C. government has conditionally approved a liquefied natural gas project led by Royal Dutch Shell PLC. Environment Minister Mary
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Harper says LNG tankers too dangerous for East Coast, but OK for BC?
I live on Howe Sound in lovely Lions Bay. I have lived my entire life in British Columbia, growing up in Vancouver and spending much of my boyhood on this lovely fjord. Howe Sound belongs to all of us. It had been all but destroyed by industry until 20 years
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Canadian oil industry slashes production forecast by 1.1 million barrels/day due to price slump
Enbridge tank farm at “Refinery Row” in Sherwood Park, Alberta (Damien Gillis) Read this June 10 Calgary Herald story by Stephen Ewart on the Canadian oil industry’s diminished projections for daily production, amidst $50 oil: Well, there’s a quick 1.1 million barrels a day towards the no-carbon economy. Day One of the 85-year
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: BC not ready for major oil spill, minister admits after Vancouver diesel spill
Minster Mary Polak Announces BC will move ahead on world-leading spill response team (BC govt) Republished with permission from the ECOreport. Within hours of Vancouver’s second oil spill of the year, BC Environment Minister Mary Polak was reassuring the public that the province will move ahead on a “world-leading” spill response team.
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Has fracking peaked?
Bloomberg graph shows cresting of production at major US shale oil plays Read this June 9 EcoWatch story by Aanastasia Pantsias on the declining production at the big US shale oil plays. Since fracking began its boom period in the last decade, its supporters have promoted it as the answer to all
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Petronas’ LNG project gets ‘conditional approval’, despite First Nations opposition
Ex-Petronas CEO Shamsul Abbas shaking hands with BC Premier Christy Clark in 2014 Read this June 11 Globe and Mail story by Brent Jang on the “conditional approval” given by Malaysian energy giant Petronas and its partners to their Pacific Northwest LNG project. An international consortium has committed to building a
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Rafe Mair: Civil disobedience against LNG plans is a must
Citizens line the Sea to Sky Highway to protest Woodfibre LNG (My Sea to Sky) It’s time to fish or cut bait, folks. We’ve learned that some 200 LNG tankers and barges are slated to use the lower Fraser River and the company, WesPac, doesn’t even feel the public deserves a
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Fraser River LNG tankers carry explosive risk – Last chance for public comment
How LNG Tankers would turn from from WesPac Tilbury Marine Jetty (Project Description – CEAA Summary) This article is republished with permission from The ECOreport. Building a major LNG terminal in Delta would have a big impact on the mouth of the Fraser River. The diagram at the top of this
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Fracking industry stonewalled EPA on data for safety assessment
Chemical and water mixing for hydraulic fracturing (Joshua Doubek/Creative Commons) Republished with permission from The ECOreport. After five years of research, the EPA’s painfully inadequate fracking assessment has been released. “It’s a bit underwhelming,” said Amanda Frank, from the Center for Effective Government. Dr Allan Hoffman, a retired senior analyst
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: LNG tankers in Fraser River? Brief chance to comment on sneaky project
Fortis LNG compression station near Fraser River (beige tank) – courtesy of Eoghan Moriarty/RealHearings.org The following is republished with permission from The ECOReport. by Roy Hales Major energy project slipping past the public The National Energy Board has already granted an export license, to US based WesPac Midstream, for a facility
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Major energy worker union opposes Kinder Morgan pipeline
Artist’s rendering of proposed Kinder Morgan pipeline and tanker expansion Read this May 28 Burnaby Now story by Jennifer Moreau on Unifor’s decision to oppose the proposed Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion through its submission to the ongoing National Energy Board Hearings. One of Canada’s largest unions for energy workers has come
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Geologist: Minister inflating shale gas, LNG potential by 6 fold – threatening BC’s energy security
BC Minister of Natural Gas Rich Coleman The following rebuttal from geoscientist David Hughes to BC Minister of Natural Gas Rich Coleman is republished with permission from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. The minister has been vocal about Mr. Hughes’ recent report on LNG, published by the CCPA. After a
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: How Alberta NDP can get r done with green energy…seriously
Alberta Prermier Rachel Notley (Alberta NDP/facebook) In her speech on election night, Rachel Notley spoke of her ambition to diversify the economy of Alberta – including the energy sector – and partner with the energy industry and federal government for a national strategy on the environment. Is all this possible? The answer is
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