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The Oil and Gas lobby has made it clear that unless government agrees to give 30% capital cost allowances - meaning they want a 30% subsidy on the money spent building facilities, like what happens in Australia - then thanks but no thanks to this LNG scheme.
There are no LNG facilities built as yet, nor will there be unless government pays their capital costs and even then I predict we’ll never see a single plant, let alone the 5 or more proposed. Christy Clark's vaunted "Prosperity Fund" will never receive one penny. The Speech from the Throne and the Prosperity Fund - and the Budget - are barnyard droppings and Premier Clark is trusting that a disreputable, ongoing lie will fool the public.
Should Malaysian energy giant Petronas' $11 Billion proposed Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) plant in Prince Rupert on BC's north coast undergo a federal environmental assessment? The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency is seeking public input on this decision until March 11. One of five or more major proposed LNG plants for Prince Rupert and Kitimat, Petronas' plant fits into the BC Liberal government's vision to open up new, more lucrative markets in Asia for natural gas from northeast BC. But these plants have enormous energy requirements and would boost BC's carbon emissions and local air pollution dramatically.
The Common Sense Canadian's Damien Gillis and Vancouver Co-op Radio's Imtiaz Popat discuss a range of topics relating to water and energy in advance of BC's provincial election, scheduled for May 14. From the economic and environmental consequences of the Liberals' private river power scheme to new plans to turn "fracked" natural gas into liquid to access new markets in Asia, Gillis raises questions that need to be addressed by both parties in the upcoming campaign.
Pliny the Elder and his nephew Pliny the Younger both bared witness to the cataclysmic eruption of Mount Vesuvius on August 24th, 79 CE. Their writings on the subject are now a part of history, a personal and vivid account of a tragedy they both witnessed and recorded with the objectivity of a modern scientist. In a sad and tragic parallel, many scientists and environmentalists feel they are observing and documenting a corresponding disaster today, witnesses to an ecological catastrophe that may not be as immediate and lethal as the one that befell Pompeii but which may be even more significant because it is global rather than local.
The BC Liberal Government's speech from the throne on February 12 - which hinged on promises of a $100 Billion windfall from BC's heretofore nonexistent Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) industry - was an appalling attempt to divert attention away from reality. This gas comes largely from fracking. What are the environmental and health consequences of this practice? How can we be sure our new Chinese customers won't develop their own shale gas, or that the international price for the commodity will remain this high indefinitely? This is the bunch that wants to be re-elected on May 14. This is their blueprint. Not only have they done nothing to relieve our financial woes they have taken us for fools by feeding us a load of unattainable and inedible pie in the sky.
The BC NDP may finally coming to their senses on Site C Dam. On the heels of the release of new documents from BC Hydro in recent weeks, the Official Opposition is calling into question the crown corporation's proposed 1,100 Megawatt hydropower project. And so it should...With BC Hydro in virtual bankruptcy, skyrocketing hydro bills for consumers and businesses, a massive and escalating provincial debt and $80 Billion in additional contractual obligations for which taxpayers are on the hook, pushing ahead with Site C would be the height of fiscal recklessness for BC.
MP John Weston's office responds to Rafe Mair's recent column on the Harper Government's sham environmental "process". "Regrettably, [Rafe] has adopted an extremist position, rejecting a Northern Pipeline in principle, no matter what the cost to the community, to jobs, to our country, or to our economy. When asked at a gathering in North Vancouver where heard him speak, he rejected out of hand that a Northern Pipeline should be built, under any circumstance. For my part, I maintain an open mind..." Read Weston's letter and Rafe's subsequent response here.
Ray Grigg discusses the parallels between a deadly fungus wiping our the world's frogs and lethal salmon viruses - both incubated in industrial farming operations. "Somewhere in a frog farm, two related species of this Batrachochytrium dentrobatidis (Bd) fungus combined to form a new and lethal variant. It was then distributed around the world with the farmed frogs...This scenario should be familiar because it corresponds exactly to net-pen salmon farming in BC's West Coast where viruses have been brewing for years in crowded “feedlot” conditions."
In a recent column, the Vancouver Sun's Vaughn Palmer defends gross overpayments to IPPs on the grounds that the contracts were granted at a time when electricity prices were much higher, which ignores the standard practice of tying contracts to prices at the time of sale. He also ignores the huge debt to IPPs by reason of these shameful overpriced contracts, which stand at over $50 BILLION and rising. It doesn’t seem to bother "Poodle Palmer" that if in the private sector BC Hydro would be in bankruptcy protection at best and that as of now BC residents owe about $16,000 per man, woman and child because of Hydro’s massive $70 BILLION in debt and contractual obligations.
Ignoring Geology 101, governments (including Canada’s) have been pushing hard for many years to establish "Deep Ground Repositories" (GDRs) as a "final solution" to the growing problem of nuclear waste. So far, none have succeeded, although one is currently under construction in Finland...The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) estimates that the volume of radioactive waste on the planet already exceeds 345,000 tonnes – 50,000 tonnes in Canada alone. We’ve created this disaster and, of course, we have to deal with it.
The seemingly straightforward question, “What are we having for dinner?” may get trickier to answer, due to a revolution in science. Many people call it "frankenfood" when the answer to the dinner question could be, "Salmon with a dash of eel genes"! This genetic manipulation isn't some pie-in-the-sky notion. In December, the US Food and Drug Administration moved one step closer to approving Massachusetts-based AquaBounty's application to sell genetically modified (GM) salmon. Now the agency is accepting public comments until February 25, after which it will render its pivotal decision of whether or not to approve the production and sale of this GM fish.
Rafe welcomes Postmedia's new publisher for The Sun and Province, Gordon Fisher. For the past decade, Postmedia's coverage of important environmental and economic matters for BC - private power projects, fish farms, pipelines and tankers - has been pathetic and journalistic critique, let alone criticism, has been nonexistent. I invite you to look at your columnists' work over the past 5 years and try to find a discouraging word about private power. There have been the occasional, very occasional, news story but your political columnists are and have been silent. I ask you, are you content to let this continue?’
Ray Grigg discusses revealing insights from a former senior Harper advisor into the way the PM thinks - and how the Idle No More movement, which sprang up in reaction to Harper's policies, will prove challenging for him to deal with. "The Idle No More movement is so diverse and amorphous that it will be difficult to control by the Prime Minister and his powerful PMO. Such a vague and unfocused opponent will be an elusive target for Stephen Harper's vindictiveness. A restless and evolving movement with a wide range of demands will be impossible to manipulate with his secretive strategies."
In a recent "State of the Province" televised address, Alberta Premier Alison Redford outlined a "once in a generation" re-engineering of the province's fiscal framework. Suddenly, her constituents' long-cherished "Alberta Advantage" - a no provincial tax policy which has defined its sense of "self-reliance" - is on the chopping block. Yet little known to Albertans is the man behind the curtain, pulling the strings on an energy policy which favours largely-foreign corporate interests over the citizens who will be left holding the bag. Former Harper Trade Minister and Senior Chinese Government Advisor David Emerson is the chief architect of Canada-China trade and reshaping of Canada's resource economy.
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Eco-Footprint Founder Dr. Bill Rees on Resources, the 7 Billion and You
With human population exploding and demand for resources fast outstripping supply, Dr. Bill Rees, founder of the "eco-footprint" concept, calls for "a new cultural narrative that shifts the values of society from growth (getting bigger) to development (getting better) - from competitive individualism, greed and narrow self-interest toward community, cooperation and our collective interests in repairing the earth for survival."
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Five Oil Spills in One Week: 'Accidents' or Business as Usual?
What do ExxonMobil, Enbridge, Suncor, CP Rail and a Michigan Utility have in common? They've all spilled oil within the past week. This latest round of disasters should give Canadian and US lawmakers pause as they contemplate new pipelines.
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All Candidates Dialogue Wednesday Promises "Real Talk on Climate Change"
An all candidates dialogue on April 3 at the Rio Theatre in Vancouver - featuring representatives from four different political parties and one independent candidate vying for office in the May 14 provincial election - will focus on solutions to climate change.
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Salmon Confidential
Anyone who has been following the sorry saga of inexplicable diseases and unusual mortality in BC's wild salmon will not be surprised that the information in Twyla Roscovich's documentary, Salmon Confidential, links the source of this trouble to the salmon farming industry. The surprise, however, is the impact of such information when its complexity is condensed to an intense 70 minutes.
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Mother Nature, US Govt Chase Shell Out of Arctic
Shell Oil, the first energy company granted coveted Arctic drilling permits by the US Government, is shutting down operations for all of 2013, nearly as quickly as they began. Shell's hand is being forced by the Interior Department, following a scathing report which castigated the company for a series of misadventures in 2012 and early 2013.
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Paul Simon Lends Song to Coastal First Nations' Anti-Tanker Video
A 2-minute video produced by Coastal First Nations - a group representing nine different aboriginal communities on BC's north and central coast - is underscored by the famous Simon and Garfunkel song, "The Sound of Silence." The video, which harkens back to the Exxon Valdez oil spill in nearby Alaskan waters, was released around the 24th anniversary of that disaster, in order to voice opposition to the new threat from proposed tanker traffic on BC's coast.
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'Heartwood' Explores Clash Between Different Visions for Future of Forestry
"Cortes is not just a bunch of crazy tree-huggers...We want to log our lands. We want a community forest," one of the subjects of the forthcoming documentary film Heartwood tells Vancouver-based director Daniel Pierce. The film explores the conflict over logging practices on a remote island on BC's south coast, which encapsulates a larger debate currently shaping the future of forestry in the province.
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Why the NDP Can and Should Say No to Site C Dam
The BC NDP may finally coming to their senses on Site C Dam. On the heels of the release of new documents from BC Hydro in recent weeks, the Official Opposition is calling into question the crown corporation's proposed 1,100 Megawatt hydropower project. And so it should...With BC Hydro in virtual bankruptcy, skyrocketing hydro bills for consumers and businesses, a massive and escalating provincial debt and $80 Billion in additional contractual obligations for which taxpayers are on the hook, pushing ahead with Site C would be the height of fiscal recklessness for BC.
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Working Together Through Idle No More - Ben West, Mandy Nahanee, Damien Gillis Web Chat
Damien Gillis hosts a google web video chat discussing how indigenous and non-indigenous peoples can work together through the growing Idle No More movement to address historical injustices and build a sustainable energy future. Featuring Squamish and Nisga'a First Nations member and protocol specialist Amanda Nahanee and Ben West, Tar Sands campaigner for ForestEthics.
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The Different Faces of Idle No More - Web Chat
Watch this 10 min web chat, in which two young, indigenous men discuss their different experiences across the country with the growing Idle No More Movement.
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Idle No More - Scenes from a Vancouver Train Station
On January 2, 2013, hundreds of First Nations and non-indigenous people converged on Vancouver's Waterfront Station for the latest Idle No More rally. The beating of drums and singing of traditional songs signaled this crowd's solidarity with the movement that is building across the country and beyond its borders.
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Travelling Canada's Carbon Corridor - the Making of Fractured Land
Watch this presentation by Damien Gillis, co-director of Fractured Land - a documentary in production which examines the industrialization of northern Canada through the eyes of a young indigenous man named Caleb Behn - at the Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival.
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Kinder Morgan Vancouver Pipeline, Tanker Debate
On Oct 30, the Board of Change hosted a debate in Vancouver on American energy pipeline giant Kinder Morgan's plans to turn Vancouver into a shipping port to access new foreign markets with Alberta Tar Sands bitumen. Hear both sides of the story as representatives of Kinder Morgan and the shipping industry square off against an environmental activist, lawyer and filmmaker over the future of the world's "Greenest City", the province of BC and the planet.
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Justice Cohen Gets Tough on Fish Farms - Inquiry Report Released
Video from the press conference on the release of the final report from the Cohen Commission into disappearing sockeye. Justice Bruce Cohen highlighted several key recommendations to protect wild salmon from open net pen aquaculture operations, including: removing the promotion of aquaculture from DFO's mandate, prioritizing the health of wild salmon over suitability for aquaculture when siting farms, and even removing some farms if more research into diseases shows they cannot safely coexist with wild fish.
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Video: Pipelines "Job Killers" - Energy Workers Union Leader @ Defend Our Coast
Watch this powerhouse speech from Dave Coles, president of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union at the Defend Our Coast rally in Victoria explaining why his members are "diametrically opposed" to Tar Sands pipelines to BC's coast.
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Video: Rafe Mair Honoured with Wilderness Committee's Eugene Rogers Award
The Wilderness Committee, Canada's largest member-based environmental organization, honoured hall of fame broadcaster and co-founder of The Common Sense Canadian Rafe Mair with its annual Eugene Rogers Award for outstanding contribution to environmental protection in BC at its AGM this past weekend.
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Video: Rafe Mair and Economist Erik Andersen, Pt. 2 - LNG, Site C Dam and the Global Economy
In Part 2 of Rafe Mair's July 2012 interview of economist Erik Andersen, the two cover the plan to build Liquefied Natural Gas plants on BC's west coast - to sell natural gas to Asia - and the proposed Site C Dam. Andersen raises real concerns about investing in new dams and electrical infrastructure to supply industries like mines and LNG.
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Video: Rafe Mair and Economist Erik Andersen, Pt. 1 - The 'Enronization' of BC Hydro
Part 1 of Rafe Mair's July 2012 interview with economist Andersen, delving deep into BC's troubled energy situation, including Hydro's broken forecasting model, rip-off private power projects, and massive debt and Enron-style accounting practices at our public utility - all driven by the shadowy private American corporation to which we've unwittingly handed over our energy sovereignty.
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