Boaters raise the alarm over plans to re-industrialize Howe Sound (Future of Howe Sound Society) Howe Sound needs the help of all British Columbians and it needs it now. The proposed Woodfibre LNG plant in Squamish has got some very powerful allies. Both governments support it. That means that there’s
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The Common Sense Canadian: Last day for public comments on Woodfibre LNG proposal
Rendering of proposed Woodfibre LNG project near Squamish, BC Citizens have until Midnight Monday to submit their comments to the current phase of environmental assessment into the controversial Woodfibre LNG proposal, near Squamish. The project and its Indonesian billionaire proponent Sukanto Tanoto have garnered intense scrutiny from citizen groups, First Nations
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: A PR Flack’s Guide to LNG: Dream Team tries to repair industry’s image
Clockwise from top left: Teck’s Doug Horswill, Stewart Muir, former A-G Geoff Plant, and Lyn Anglin It’s an axiom of debate that if you don’t like the argument you’re in, find one that you’re more comfortable with. Barristers use this technique before juries all the time and that’s precisely the
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Joe Oliver says fracking is safe, so it must be
Finance Minister Joe Oliver (Adrian Wyld/CP) I must apologize for being an alarmist. I now discover there is no reason for concern about hydraulic fracturing, commonly called “fracking”. I have been alleging that this process of “mining” natural gas is dangerous not only to the atmosphere and the people around
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Harper slashes federal taxes for BC LNG industry
Stephen Harper announces the Government’s intent to support the creation of BC’s LNG industry in Surrey, BC (PMO) Prime Minister Stephen Harper jumped on the BC LNG ship this week with the announcement of federal support for the embattled industry during a speech in Surrey, BC. A PMO press release trumpeting
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Asian LNG prices take record 60% plunge from last year
Asian spot market prices for liquefied natural gas (LNG) have plunged by a single year record of 61.7% since February 2014, according to Platts JKM (Japan/Korea Marker) – a leading source of benchmark prices for the industry. Average prices for March delivery peaked at a historic high of $20.20 per million British thermal units (MMBtu)
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Fossil fuel era drawing to a close…except in Canada
Adrian Wyld/CP The following is the sequel to an earlier story by Will Dubitsky on the growing green economy and Canada’s failure to take advantage of it. In the first part of this story, I discussed how Canadian and Quebec leaders are largely ignoring the potential of high job creation, high
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Chevron pulls back on BC LNG work amid slumping energy prices
Artist’s rendering of proposed Kitimat LNG project Read this Jan. 30 story from Bloomberg on Chevron, the latest would-be LNG investor in BC to get cold feet amid slumping oil and Asian LNG prices. (Bloomberg) — Chevron Corp. is significantly slowing spending on the Kitimat liquefied natural gas project in
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Transition away from fossil fuels needs to take care of workers
Gas workers in BC’s Horn River Basin (Photo: Damien Gillis) By Karen Cooling, Marc Lee and Shannon Daub The steady stream of bad news from Alberta’s oilpatch is a potent reminder of the boom-and-bust nature of being a resource-commodity exporter. It’s a story deeply understood in resource communities, as decisions
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Ease radioactive waste dumping restrictions, say North Dakota shale oil producers
Trucking costs for radioactive waste in North Dakota’s Bakken oil field are too high, says the industry Read this eye-opening Jan. 28 Reuters story on the push from North Dakota shale oil producers to loosen restrictions around the dumping of radioactive waste – a cost-cutting measure as prices for their
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: LNG, Fracking and BC’s Energy Future: Nanaimo event
BG Group’s Methane Lydon Volney tanker (Photo: BG Group) The Common Sense Canadian’s Damien Gillis and retired KPMG partner and chemistry Ph.D Eoin Finn will be in Nanaimo Wednesday night to discuss the province’s energy vision. Finn has been a leading voice on the economic and safety risks of the proposed
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Republicans fail to get 60 Senate votes for Keystone XL bill
Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell fell short of the 60 votes he hoped to get for Keystone XL Read this Jan. 26 story from The Washington Post on the setback suffered by Senate Republicans, falling short of the 60 votes they were seeking to move the Keystone XL pipeline forward
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: LNG shocker: Squamish rejects pipeline builder’s drilling permit
Squamish council rejects Fortis BC application for test drilling (Instagram/ Dan Prisk) In a surprising show of municipal political power – even in a region that has demonstrated strong misgivings regarding proposed LNG development – Squamish council has rejected Fortis BC’s controversial permit application for test drilling in a Wildlife Management
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Harper govt tries to block NAFTA from investigating leaking tailing ponds
Syncrude tailings pond (David Dodge, Pembina Institute) Read this Jan. 12 story from CBC.ca on the Harper government’s efforts to block an investigation by NAFTA’s environmental watchdog of oil sands tailing ponds leaking into the Athabasca River. Canada is trying to stop NAFTA’s environmental watchdog from taking a closer look at
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Woodfibre LNG proponent has history of fraud, tax evasion
Sukanto Tanoto (right), the man behind the proposed Woodfibre LNG project Permit me to make some observations about the LNG situation in Squamish. What the people of Howe Sound do is their affair. I can only give them the benefit, if any, of my experience over the years. We are
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Squamish Council faces lawsuits from both sides in LNG pipeline dispute
Citizens line the Sea to Sky Highway to protest Woodfibre LNG (My Sea to Sky) Former District of Squamish Councillor Meg Fellowes addresses current mayor and council over Fortis BC’s controversial application to conduct test drilling in a wildlife management area. The drilling is in connection to a planned pipeline
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: West, Weyler team up to battle Kinder Morgan
Ben West addressing a Vancouver crowd about Kinder Morgan in 2012 (Damien Gillis) There’s big news on the environmental front! Ben West, the eminent young environmentalist until now with Forest Ethics and, before that, the Wilderness Committee, has joined Rex Weyler fighting tanker traffic on the BC coast through Tanker Free
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: “The environment IS the economy” says Tory MP Weston…Really?
Tory MP John Weston (from his annual Christmas video message/Youtube) There is surely nothing quite as ridiculous as a Tory pretending that he cares. Money and rich friends they understand but when it comes to the values that ordinary people revere they’re at sea. In fact they’re bewildered by those
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Oilmart: Low, low prices!
By Lorne Craig Cartoonist Lorne Craig’s take on plunging oil prices and what they mean for Canada’s one-track economy. The post Oilmart: Low, low prices! appeared first on The Common Sense Canadian.
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Petronas would import foreign workers to build LNG project
Read this Dec. 9 story from the Globe and Mail on Malaysian energy giant Petronas’ announcement that if it does wind up proceeding with a proposed pipeline and LNG plant near Prince Rupert, it will import much of the workforce from Malaysia. The story comes after agreements signed between the BC government
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