Northern Gateway pipeline opposed by 50% in B.C

Cliffy

Standing Member
Nov 19, 2008
44,850
193
63
Nakusp, BC
Oh Boy! Oh Boy! Looks like we have us a bonerfied war betwixed the Green Bolsheviks and the Free Market Fascists brewing this mornin'. Martha, put on a big batch o' pop corn!
 

shadowshiv

Dark Overlord
May 29, 2007
17,545
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Everyone needs to stop bashing other members while attempting to get their "points" across.
 

taxslave

Hall of Fame Member
Nov 25, 2008
36,362
4,340
113
Vancouver Island
Northern Gateway pipeline joint review loses First Nations tribe

The Nuxalk First Nation of Bella Coola have withdrawn as interveners from the joint review process for Enbridge Inc.’s controversial Northern Gateway pipeline project.

The Nuxalk said they are pulling out because they said the federal government has already predetermined the outcome of the $5.5-billion project, which proposes to transport crude oil from Alberta’s tarsands to Kitimat for shipment to Asia via supertanker.

They said the government’s plan to retroactively change the rules for the hearings will also compromise the review. And they also frowned on the way the review panel delayed the hearings in Bella Bella last week in response to a peaceful protest.

“There is no honour in the federal Crown’s approach to consulting with First Nations on the Enbridge project,” said elected Chief Andrew Andy in a statement. “Recent statements make it clear that the Prime Minister has already decided to approve the super-tanker project.”

Hereditary Chief Charlie Nelson also took issue with recent comments made by Natural Resource Minister Joe Oliver.

“How can we participate in a process driven by a government that has labelled us ‘socially dysfunctional?’” Nelson said in a statement.

Andy said the Nuxalk entered the process in “good faith,” but that the government’s “disrespectful behaviour makes [it] clear that our good faith is not being returned.”

The hearings are set to resume April 11 in the coastal community of Klemtu.
Has anyone besides me ever been to Bella Bella? Or anywhere else in the mid coast.
 

JLM

Hall of Fame Member
Nov 27, 2008
75,301
548
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Vernon, B.C.
Has anyone besides me ever been to Bella Bella? Or anywhere else in the mid coast.

Not quite, made it into Bella Coola, years ago, the wife was on the floor boards of the truck going down "the hill". :lol: I think when we took the ferry from Port Hardy to Prince Rupert the boat stopped at Ocean Falls (but I was drunk by then)
 

Highball

Council Member
Jan 28, 2010
1,170
1
38
Did you know Canada has the production process for all of this Sand oil product? The pipe line is a smooth way for the Us oil processors to pipe it down. process it in antiquated refineries and then sell it all off on the foreign market? They call it "creating jobs." I call it corportate greed. Right now Canada processes about 67% of all petroleum products consumed on the North American continent. Look out for US greed in their corporate structure! They are not friends with Canada.
 

MHz

Time Out
Mar 16, 2007
41,030
43
48
Red Deer AB
The ones complaining should look at how it would be done in other nations and thank themselves that we do have the regs that are in place. Whatever port they used they should get rid or all the obstacles that can cause problem, of that us a rock then remove it to a certain depth and using the same stuff ant decent sized airport uses the command and control could be done from the shipping terminal and handed off only when at the 12 mile limit (or whatever). Wouldn't loading at Stewart (rather than Van help the ships use a Northern route to China To follow the current we should also be shipping south from there, California or Australia, South and Central America already have oil and money, they need some manufactured goods such as could be made by having Canada do it at the same price, be it done in Alberta and shipped through BC of BC build the facilities to replace a crashed fishing industry to the standards that would still help the fish recover. So clean that the empty tankers could be dropping off fish-food. Van is already set up to handle finished goods in containers. Petroleum made goods could be loaded from further up the coast. (raw plastic pellets over liquid goods)

We still need to find a way to utilize all the clean sand. Sand and peat used to be used as a base for topsoil in places where clay was almost to ground level.

opposed by 50% of BC residents.. which 50%.. I'm a BC resident and they didn't as me.. I'm for it..

I assume you would want it at Syn-crude standards rather than Brazil when Texaco first operated there.
 

L Gilbert

Winterized
Nov 30, 2006
23,738
107
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50 acres in Kootenays BC
the-brights.net
Has anyone besides me ever been to Bella Bella? Or anywhere else in the mid coast.
Yep. A few places on the coast actually; Namu, Waglisla, etc. Even Ocean Falls before the population dropped from almost 2000 to less than 100. hehe It was a while ago.

Greed is too powerful to stop the pipeline. Best just deal with it and accept the resulting inevitable pollution.
 

mentalfloss

Prickly Curmudgeon Smiter
Jun 28, 2010
39,817
471
83
It's time for an oil change, Canada

Over the past decade, rising crude oil prices and strong foreign demand have combined to generate significant resource wealth in Canada and Saskatchewan, but this bonanza also contributed to economic challenges. While several studies released during the past two years extol the economic benefits of continued rapid expansion and export of Canada's crude oil resources, one leading economist is questioning whether the benefit numbers actually make sense.

Robyn Allan, a former CEO of the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia and now an independent economist, recently released an analysis of Canadian Oil Expansion Economics. Allan reviews the pro-development studies and examines whether or not the economic benefits forecast is reliable and useful. What her review revealed is that the reports that favour gung ho oil development in general, and the Northern Gateway pipeline in particular, "present a biased narrative where industry benefits are falsely estimated while economic, social and environmental costs are ignored."

Allan's critical analysis of four reports, including Enbridge's Application to the National Energy Board in support of the Northern Gateway pipeline, found that they suffer from serious weaknesses that render the results not only unreliable, but unusable."

She says the reports rely on the inappropriate use of an Input Output model that fails to take into account negative economic, social and environmental outputs; rely on a fixed and artificially low Canadian dollar over long time periods; and fail to recognize the negative impact higher oil prices have on the Canadian economy as a whole. I don't have room even to summarize her analysis here, but you may wish to read it at Allan's website (www. robynallan.com).

The key thing is that those making the case for rapid oil expansion are the oil companies themselves and their industry supporters. Good for them, but caveat emptor - government and the public should not accept their argument uncritically. Government exists to protect the public interest - not one privileged segment of it - and the public should wake up and make its interest known.

Government is very much in the thrall of the oil industry, which spends millions on political contributions and lobbying efforts to influence the political agenda in ways contrary to the long-term interest of the public and the planet. That's why the organization Oil Change International (OCI) (priceofoil.org) is calling for a "Separation of Oil and State." They suggest governments begin this separation by cutting perverse subsidies to the hugely profitable oil sector.

Global fossil fuel subsidies most likely total between $750 billion and $1 trillion per year - significantly more than the widely publicized estimate of $500 billion, according to OCI. Canada and the provinces spend close to $2 billion a year on fossil fuel subsidies that unfairly advantage polluting energy sources over renewable alternatives.

Reducing fossil fuel subsidies is required to make renewable energy resources more competitive. OCI argues that climate change is best tackled through structural changes like cutting subsidies rather than by focusing simply on emissions output.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates, for example, that if global fossil fuel consumption subsidies were phased out by 2020, carbon dioxide emissions could be reduced by as much as 4.7 per cent.

Beyond subsidies, there are many other hidden costs to our oil addiction. According to the National Academy of Sciences in the U.S., fossil fuel use in that country results in $120 billion in health care and pollution costs annually. And one study suggests that the United States spends at least $1.6 trillion annually on maintaining infrastructure for its current fossil fuel transportation regime, money that could otherwise be invested in cleaner transportation options such as high-speed rail.

It is not as if governments don't see this problem. In 2009, the G20 agreed to reduce global fossil fuel subsidies, a commitment also adopted by the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).

As of 2010, however, no country had reduced subsidies in response to the agreement. The language of the G20 statement remains weak, and many participating countries have under-reported the amount of subsidies they provide.

Why are governments taking action on their own commitment? Because they are married to big oil.

It's time for an oil change, Canada
 

Machjo

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 19, 2004
17,878
61
48
Ottawa, ON
Northern Gateway pipeline opposed by 50% in B.C

Opposition to Enbridge's proposed $5.5-billion Northern Gateway pipeline is growing and has topped 50% in British Columbia, according to an independent survey released Thursday.

Opposition to the project was 52% among 1,069 adults in a random telephone survey conducted on April 11 - up from 46% in January and 45% in December, according to the Forum Research Inc. poll.

Support for a law banning oil tanker traffic on the B.C. coast also has risen to 46 % from 40 % in January and December.

"It looks like the federal government has not been that successful in swaying public opinion on Northern Gateway," said Forum Research Inc. president Lorne Bozinoff.

Northern Gateway pipeline opposed by 50% in B.C

It does not matter what British Columbians think of it; I'd be more concenred with what locals think of it. If the local governents in those towns through which it cuts through each support it, then I'd say let it go through. If any local government does not agree, then it does not go through that town. It would seem simple enough. And to ensure local governments have access to all the facts, give them access to any information Environment Canada might have on the subject. But in the end, let the locals decide.

I would see though that governments need to sell non-renewable Crown resources to companies at a more reasonable price. Right now I get the impression that they're selling them off too cheaply.
 

mentalfloss

Prickly Curmudgeon Smiter
Jun 28, 2010
39,817
471
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It does not matter what British Columbians think of it; I'd be more concenred with what locals think of it. If the local governents in those towns through which it cuts through each support it, then I'd say let it go through. If any local government does not agree, then it does not go through that town. It would seem simple enough. And to ensure local governments have access to all the facts, give them access to any information Environment Canada might have on the subject. But in the end, let the locals decide.

I would see though that governments need to sell non-renewable Crown resources to companies at a more reasonable price. Right now I get the impression that they're selling them off too cheaply.

I personally think it should be a federal decision (perhaps a global one) considering the scope and breadth of the project, but Harper has now set up environmental assessments to be a choice between provincial or federal responsibility.

If it's a provincial decision and the NDP win the next election - don't expect this pipeline to go through.

Northern Gateway pipeline puts British Columbia at oil spill risk: New Democrats
 
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