Why we
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- Published on Wednesday, 12 August 2015 12:15
- Written by editor
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Hi PAOV,
I remember the effort it took to register the Wilderness Committee as an intervenor in the National Energy Board’s (NEB) hearings on the proposed Kinder Morgan tar sands pipeline. Proving that we were “directly affected” by the project involved completing a difficult eight-page application, and showing what expertise we could bring to the process.
We knew that the federal government’s changes to the rules were likely to result in an unfair process, but we didn’t foresee just how badly these hearings would be handled.
Today we are joining the BC Chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS BC) and 33 individual participants in withdrawing from the NEB hearings.
Since being accepted as an intervenor last year, we have watched with dismay as the NEB has repeatedly biased itself in favour of Kinder Morgan. From the numerous questions that have not been answered to depriving the BC government of critical oil spill response information, the NEB has repeatedly allowed Kinder Morgan to skirt its responsibilities.
The blame doesn’t lie completely with the NEB – they are operating within the laws set out by Canada’s federal government. Sadly, these rules were designed to shut out Canadians.
Before withdrawing, the Wilderness Committee made an important submission to the pipeline review. We supported the City of Vancouver’s application to have climate change considered in the hearings. Unbelievably, a project that could send over 100 million tonnes of climate-changing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere each year is being discussed without addressing its massive climate impacts.
The NEB ruled against the request, so climate change has been officially shut out of the pipeline review – just like the hundreds of people and groups who were rejected as commenters and intervenors.
We feel that to continue to participate in the hearings is to validate a broken process. We hope that by taking this step in a public way, we can bring attention to the fact that our federal government has stripped us of our say over major projects that affect our environment, climate and communities.
You can read our official letter of withdrawal here.
Thanks for your support on this – we will continue to fight this dangerous project in every way we can.
Eoin Madden | Climate Campaigner
Wilderness Committee
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