Should B.C. Put Moratorium on Fracking?
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- Published on Thursday, 31 March 2016 12:45
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Weaver Calls for B.C. Moratorium After Study Links Fracking, Earthquakes
The results of a new study linking hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, to induced earthquakes in B.C. and Alberta is reason to immediately halt the controversial extraction technique from being used in gas fields in B.C. according to Andrew Weaver, leader of the B.C. Green Party and MLA for Oak Bay-Gordon Head.
“I am calling on both the government and the official opposition to join me in supporting a moratorium on horizontal fracking in British Columbia,” Weaver said in a statement released Tuesday.
“Other jurisdictions, like Quebec, New York, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, have already suspended the practice and B.C. should follow suit.” Read more.
‘It’s No Longer About Saying No’: How B.C.’s First Nations Are Taking Charge With Tribal Parks
As the crow flies, the territory of the Tsilhqot’in Nation lies just 300 kilometres north of Vancouver — but, cut off by the coastal mountains, it feels like a world away.
By car it takes about nine hours to arrive in the heart of the territory from the Lower Mainland, including an hour or two down a dirt road. If you’re one of the lucky few to arrive here, you’ll be standing on the territory of the only First Nation in Canada to win legal title to its land.
Just months after its historic title win in 2014, the Tsilhqot’in National Government pushed forward with another statement of its sovereignty — the declaration of the Dasiqox Tribal Park.
“A tribal park recognizes the fact that you can still live on the land, and make a living from the land, and actually hunt and fish and trap and harvest those resources and it’s still there for the next generation," says aboriginal law expert Jack Woodward. Read more.
LNG Companies Lobby Federal Government 63 Times Since October
It’s been a rough start to 2016 for many companies hoping to build liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminals in Canada, with the price for the product continuing its freefall and many projects delayed due to onerous approval processes.
But LNG companies certainly aren’t letting the bad news dissuade them from pressuring the federal government: since the Liberals were elected in mid-October, LNG companies have lobbied federal officials in 63 different meetings.
Pacific NorthWest LNG — the company majority owned by Petronas that’s pushing to build a massive $11.4-billion LNG export terminal near Prince Rupert, B.C. — has led the pack, lobbying the federal government 21 times. Read more.
Federal Justice Minister Says Canada’s Reputation at Stake Over Site C Dam in Newly Surfaced Video
At a 2012 Paddle for the Peace event the new federal Justice Minister Judy Wilson-Raybould said the destruction of the Peace Valley for the contentious Site C dam threatens Canada’s reputation on the world stage.
In a video recently published on the Common Sense Canadian, Wilson-Raybould said Canada’s “reputation is at stake with approval of these projects like Site C, like the Enbridge pipeline.”
“Our reputation as a caring and considerate environmentally friendly nation internationally is going to be questioned,” she said. “Running roughshod over aboriginal treaty and rights, including treaty rights, is not the way to improve that reputation.” Read more.
Tapping Canada's Geothermal Potential
In the midst of controversy over B.C.’s Peace River Site C dam project, the Canadian Geothermal Energy Association released a study showing the province could get the same amount of energy more affordably from geothermal sources for about half the construction costs.
Unlike Site C, geothermal wouldn’t require massive transmission upgrades, would be less environmentally disruptive and would create more jobs throughout the province rather than just in one area.
Despite the many benefits of geothermal, Canada is the only “Pacific Ring of Fire” country that doesn’t use it for commercial-scale energy. Iceland heats up to 90 per cent of its homes, and supplies 25 per cent of its electricity, with geothermal.r0
