PHOTOS: Protesters opposed to expansion of the Kinder Morgan Pipeline in Vancouver last fall. (Photo: William Chen, Creative Commons.) Below: Police and protesters square off in Burnaby, near Vancouver, where the terminus of the existing KM Pipeline is located. (Photo: Mark Klotz, Creative Commons). It sure looks as if we
Continue readingTag: Trans Mountain Pipeline
Alberta Politics: The Alberta NDP’s Sour Grapes Strategy will only strengthen Coastal B.C.’s nearly universal opposition to pipelines
PHOTOS: Grape vines grow in B.C.’s beautiful Okanagan Valley, one of the prime wine producing regions of the world (Photo: Kelowna Wine & Cuisine Flickr, Creative Commons). Below: Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, B.C. Premier John Horgan, and Alberta Opposition Leader Jason Kenney. With Alberta’s Sour Grapes Strategy, the official boycott
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Huffing and Puffing “Leadership”
Last week BC Premier John Horgan said BC would ban any increase in shipments of diluted bitumen (dilbit) to BC until a scientific advisory panel determined whether shippers can adequately prevent and clean up dilbit spills. If the panel decides this isn’t possible, the ban on increased dilbit shipments will
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Politics and the Debate Club
I know, I know, you’d rather watch the Grey Cup game, so I’ll make this quick. Yesterday, Ms Soapbox and a friend judged the final round in the Sir Winston Churchill High School Debate Competition. The competition was hosted by the Alberta Debate and Speech Association and The Winston Churchill
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Question Period? Really?
How much longer do we have to put up with this nonsense? The Alberta Legislature has been in session for eight days and the UCP is using Question Period to test-drive political slogans. Jason Kenney UCP leader Ms Soapbox’s personal favourite is the UCP’s claim: “We lead, they follow”. The
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Guest Post: In a democracy, quiet is rarely a good sign, and Alberta’s relationship with Big Oil is very quiet indeed
PHOTOS: Part of the Jackpine Oilsands Mine north of Fort McMurray, formerly owned by Shell and now operated by Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. (Photo: Pembina Institute.) Below: Author Kevin Taft. Guest Post by Kevin Taft Kevin Taft is a best-selling author, well-known speaker, and former provincial politician in Alberta. He
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Approval of Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline was based on faulty assumptions
One of the key faulty assumptions underlying Canada’s approval of Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline is that Alberta’s bitumen is being unfairly discounted by U.S. buyers and that its price can be maximized by getting it to Asian markets. The post Approval of Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline was based
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Environmentalist Tzeporah Berman, who gave as good as she got, leaves Alberta oilsands advisory role
PHOTOS: Former Oil Sands Advisory Group member Tzeporah Berman. Below: Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, Progressive Conservative Legislative Caucus Leader Ric McIver, and Environment Minister Shannon Phillips. Tzeporah Berman, the high-profile environmentalist who became a lightning rod for right-wing fury at Alberta’s NDP, is no longer advising Premier Rachel Notley’s Government.
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Report questioning tidewater premium for Alberta petroleum undermines a powerful narrative … expect fireworks
PHOTOS: No Smoking … no kidding! An oil tanker sits in a Spanish port. B.C. environmentalists don’t want to see scenes like this on their coast. (Photo: Wikipedia Commons) A lot of Albertans believe they’re going to have to. Below: Report Author David Hughes and Alberta Premier Rachel Notley. Whether
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Kinder Morgan’s IPO: Risk > Reward
Thursday, June 1, 2017 Kinder Morgan’s risky Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion just got a whole lot riskier, just as the company was taking steps to offload some of that risk onto Canadian investors. That is why this week, we released a new legal brief outlining the legal risk for the
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Genial and in control, Alberta premier fields questions about B.C. politics with aplomb at hospital announcement
PHOTOS: Alberta Premier Rachel Notley and Health Minister and Deputy Premier Sarah Hoffman announce a new hospital on Edmonton’s south side. Alberta Health services CEO Verna Yiu is visible on the right. Below: Infrastructure Minister Brian Mason, controversial B.C. environmentalist Tzeporah Berman and some of the crowd at the hospital
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Rachel Notley’s tough talk on pipelines evokes the Peter Lougheed Era of energy policy confrontation
PHOTOS: Alberta Premier Rachel Notley at yesterday’s news conference in Edmonton. (Photo: Chris Schwarz, Government of Alberta) Below: Earth scientist David Hughes (Post Carbon Institute photo), B.C. Premier Christy Clark (B.C. Government photo), and B.C. NDP Leader John Horgan. Using language that, intentionally or not, evoked the Peter Lougheed Era
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Donald Trump helps build the case for Rachel Notley’s social license policy on energy exports
PHOTOS: U.S. President Donald Trump – he’s lookin’ at you, Canada. (Photo by Gage Skidmore, Flickr.) Below: Alberta Premier Rachel Notley. If Alberta’s conservatives imagined U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision immediately after his election last November to push the Keystone XL Pipeline project forward would provide an opening for them
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: A Kinder Morgan snapshot
Tuesday, March 14, 2017 It’s been a while since we’ve updated you about Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline and tanker expansion project (KMX). A lot has happened in the past few months, so here’s a snapshot of where we’re at. It’s been a while since we’ve updated you about Kinder
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Shoreline, True Grit, photo-bombing, certainty and the Deity: random observations from Alberta’s Throne Speech
PHOTOS: Alberta Lieutenant Governor Lois Mitchell, clad in a purple official gown, reads the NDP Government’s third Speech from the Throne in the Legislature in Edmonton yesterday afternoon. Below: Party crasher Jason Kenney, Labour Minister Christina Gray (Dave Cournoyer photo) and Opposition Leader Brian Jean. Alberta’s New Democratic Party Government
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Former B.C. NDP premier’s pro-pipeline sentiments boost Rachel Notley’s ‘social license’ strategy
PHOTOS: One of the few photos your blogger could find of Dan Miller (found on the Internet, original source unknown). Below: Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, B.C. NDP Leader John Horgan and B.C. Premier Christy Clark (from the Canadian Encyclopedia). There’s more evidence out of British Columbia this week that Rachel
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Trudeau’s approval of Kinder Morgan pipeline a call for Standing Rock-style intervention
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s approval of the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project spurred anger. We need strategy to stop the project. The post Trudeau’s approval of Kinder Morgan pipeline a call for Standing Rock-style intervention appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Field notes: A week of pipeline action and cross-Canada solidarity
Tuesday, December 6, 2016 Staff Counsel Eugene Kung recounts an action-packed week preparing for – and responding to – the federal government's approval of the Kinder Morgan tar sands pipeline and tankers proposal. This is your friend Eugene, blogging from 9,753 metres in the sky. I’m writing on my way
Continue readingAlberta Politics: The Pipeline File: NDP’s ‘social license’ approach worked where Conservative shouting failed, it’s that simple
PHOTOS: Alberta Premier Rachel Notley and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Kananaskis, Alberta, in April 2016 (photo by Chris Schwarz, Government of Alberta). Below: Anti-pipeline demonstrators in British Columbia (Rabble photo by Alyse Kotyk). They may not find it reassuring that Alberta conservatives are praying for their success. Without
Continue readingBigCityLib Strikes Back: On Those Pipeline Decisions
Here is one of what will be many stories. So, start with some facts and probabilities. Northern Gateway is dead. That’s a piece of good news. Line 3 nobody heard of until today, so who knows? Also, who knows about Keystone. That decision is not really in Canadian hands.
Continue reading