Exclusive: B.C. to Pay Millions to Subsidize Petronas Pollution
- Details
- Published on Friday, 24 July 2015 06:15
- Written by editor
Like 
Tweet 
Forward
Last week, a pipeline at Nexen Energy’s Long Lake oilsands facility southeast of Fort McMurray, Alberta, spilled about five million litres (32,000 barrels or some 1.32 million gallons) of emulsion, a mixture of bitumen, sand and water — marking one of the largest spills in Alberta history.
According to reports, the spill covered as much as 16,000 square meters (almost 4 acres). Nexen vice president of Canadian operations confirmed the double-layered pipeline is a part of Nexen's brand new system and that the line's emergency detection system failed to alert officials to the breach. Read More
The B.C. government plans to subsidize Malaysian gas giant Petronas to the tune of $16 million, in part due to a promise to exclude a significant chunk of the greenhouse gas emissions from the Pacific Northwest LNG project from compliance penalties, DeSmog Canada has learned.
British Columbia’s politicians are in a special summer sitting at the legislature right now to debate Bill 30, the Liquefied Natural Gas Project Agreements Act, which will allow the government to enter into a $36 billion agreement with Petronas and pave the way for B.C.’s first major liquefied natural gas export plant, located near Prince Rupert. Read More
It’s Time for an Adult Conversation About Canada’s Oilsands
In late May, Canada’s “energy leaders” met in Toronto for the Energy Council of Canada's Canadian Energy Summit.
The theme of the summit? “Telling the Energy Story.”
“The aim is to raise awareness and improve understanding of the many ways that the energy sector influences the economy, regional development, innovation and aboriginal partnerships across Canada,” a press release proclaimed. “We believe that improved understanding will lead to better-informed energy dialogue and energy decisions.”
Sounds nice and all, but there’s a catch: the various players in Canada’s energy debate are telling very different stories. Read More
'Grassroots’ Canada Action Carries Deep Ties to Conservative Party, Oil and Gas Industry
A whole host of 'citizen' campaigns designed to advance the agenda of the fossil fuel industry have cropped up in recent years: Resource Works, British Columbians for Prosperity, Energy Citizens, Coal Alliance, Canadian Natural Resources Alliance, Pipeline Action, and many others.
But no individual has mastered the art quite as effectively as the oil industry’s citizen activist Cody Battershill, founder of Canada Action.
Described as a “one-man oil sands advocate…in [a] PR war,” last year Battershill told the National Post he wants to create a more “balanced conversation” about the Alberta oilsands.
But DeSmog Canada’s research indicates Battershill and Canada Action appear to have close ties to the oil industry and to powerful campaigners associated with the Conservative Party of Canada. Read More
Will a Century-Old Treaty Protect Alaska's Salmon Rivers from B.C.'s Mining Boom?
Southeast Alaskans, anxious about B.C.'s mining boom along the Alaskan border, are pinning their hopes for stronger mine management on a treaty that dates back more than a century.
The International Joint Commission (IJC), operating under the Boundary Waters Treaty since 1909, is a body with six appointed members —three from Canada and three from the U.S. — used to resolve water or air conflicts between the two countries.
However, although the commission appears to be tailor-made to deal with the concern over B.C. mines in the headwaters of Southeast Alaska’s most important salmon rivers, politicians on both side of the border appear reluctant to hand over responsibility to a commission whose recommendations remain entirely independent of either party. r15 |r0
