A natural gas drilling rig near Fort St. John, BC (image: Damien Gillis/Fractured Land) An opportunity for the East Van community and beyond to learn the latest details and share their views on BC’s rush to frack for gas, and the LNG proposals driving it. Featuring Eoin Madden of the
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The Common Sense Canadian: The End of Coal?
China is coal’s last great hope – but even that may be changing by Jonathan Fahey NEW YORK – The future of coal is getting darker. Economic forces, pollution concerns and competition from cleaner fuels are slowly nudging nations around the globe away from the fuel that made the industrial
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: First Nation says CNRL up to 6 leaks in Cold Lake, Alberta
One of 6 leaks believed to be coming from CNRL’s Cold Lake operation (Chester Dawson/WSJ) COLD LAKE , Alta. – A First Nation says it is concerned about two other leaks at an oilsands project in northeastern Alberta, bringing the total in recent months to six. Chief Bernice Martial of
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Colorado flood raises fears of fracking chemical spill – new photos
St. Vrain River – Weld, Colorado (all photos courtesy of East Boulder County United) A Colorado citizens’ group is raising alarm bells about the possible release of toxic chemicals into local rivers from flood-stricken fracking operations. The group, East Boulder County United – which aims to keep the controversial practice of hydraulic
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Harper Govt coming to BC to push pipelines on First Nations
Read this Sept. 12 story from CBC.ca on the caravan of federal ministers and bureaucrats aimed at convincing BC’s Forst Nations to back down on their opposition to the proposed Enbridge and Kinder Morgan pipelines to the province’s coast. A parade of cabinet ministers and senior bureaucrats will head to
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Alberta’s pipeline safety faces auditor review after series of spills
2011 Rainbow Pipeline leak in Alberta (Rogu Collecti/Greenpeace) EDMONTON – Alberta’s auditor general is going to take a deeper look at the safety of oil and natural gas pipelines in the province. Merwan Saher said his audit will examine pipeline inspections and will look at how well companies are following
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Suzuki: Incinerating trash is a waste of resources
A German waste-to-energy plant, built in 2005 Many urban areas have built or are considering building waste-incineration facilities to generate energy. At first glance, it seems like a win-win. You get rid of “garbage” and acquire a new energy source with fuel that’s almost free. But it’s a problematic solution,
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Whales thriving on coast, threatened by oil tankers: study
VANCOUVER – The number of humpback whales on the northern coast of British Columbia nearly doubled in eight years, but possible oil spills could seriously hamper recovery efforts involving the threatened mammals, a new study suggests. The acoustic animals known for their songs on breeding and feeding grounds were photographed
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Japan’s Fukushima radiation crisis: a Good News/Bad News story
Fukushima’s crippled Reactor 4, which contains 1,500 precariously-perched, radioactive fuel rods Addiction experts say the first step toward recovery is recognizing you have a problem. In that sense, perhaps we’re finally making some progress on what may be the greatest single threat humanity has ever faced: the nuclear catastrophe at
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Rafe: Union bosses fall for Clark’s LNG pipe dream
BC Premier Christy Clark and BC Fed President Jim Sinclair (photos: CP, Glen Baglo/PNG) When I read that BC Federation of Labour President Jim Sinclair and Tom Sigurdson, head of the BC-Yukon Building Trades Council, had arrived at a deal with Premier Clark on training workers for the liquefied natural gas (LNG)
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Neil Young: ‘Fort McMurray is a wasteland’
Singer comes out swinging against Keystone Pipeline. OTTAWA – Neil Young is singing a new tune, claiming he’s seen the pipeline and the damage done. The Canadian music legend has waded into the debate over the Keystone XL pipeline with inflammatory comments that compare Fort McMurray, Alta., to the scene
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: With all this Oil and ‘Energy Security’, where’s the Money?
Prime Minister Stephen Harper, discussing trade on a visit to China (Sean Kilpatrick/CP) Ask yourself this: why, if Canada has the third largest proven oil reserves in the world, is our country in such massive debt? Why do post-secondary education prices continue to soar for our youth? Why is our health care
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Union leaders support BC Liberal LNG program
Read this Sept. 9 story fromt he Canadian Press on the decision made by several prominent BC union leaders to work with the BC Liberal Government on developing a liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry. The Common Sense Canadian has written a great deal about the flawed economics of LNG. VICTORIA – Some
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Enbridge Kalamazoo spill still not cleaned up – 3 years later
The burst pipeline that caused Enbridge’s 2010 Michigan spill Read this Sept. 6 story from CBC on the lingering mess from Enbridge’s 3-year-old spill of 4 million barrels of diluted bitumen into Michigan’s Kalamazoo River. Three years after an Enbridge pipeline ruptured and spilled 3.3 million litres of oil into
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Proposed gas pipeline threatens vital Khutzeymateen Grizzly sanctuary
photo: Ian McAllister/Pacific Wild Read this Sept. 7 Vancouver Sun story on the risks to critical bear habitat from a proposed gas pipeline to future LNG terminals in Prince Rupert. The company proposing to build a liquefied natural gas pipeline through a grizzly bear sanctuary near Prince Rupert has already
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Harper caught helping Enbridge while wooing Obama on climate
Photo: Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press While Stephen Harper was busy trying to green-wash his image with Barack Obama – acquiescing to climate targets to improve prospects for the Keystone XL pipeline – Green Party Leader Elizabeth May dropped a bombshell: the suggestion that the Conservative Government is spending $120 million in
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