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Michael Bloomberg, Hank Paulson tally cost of climate change

Michael Bloomberg, Hank Paulson tally cost of climate change

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Michael Bloomberg, Hank Paulson tally cost of climate change
Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg (left) and former US Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson

By Jonathan Fahey, The Associated Press

NEW YORK – Climate change is likely to exact enormous costs on U.S. regional economies in the form of lost property, reduced industrial output and more deaths, according to a report backed by a trio of men with vast business experience.

The report, released Tuesday, is designed to convince businesses to factor in the cost of climate change in their long-term decisions and to push for reductions in emissions blamed for heating the planet.

It was commissioned by the Risky Business Project, which describes itself as nonpartisan and is chaired by former New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, former Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. and Thomas F. Steyer, a former hedge fund manager.

Among the predictions: Between $66 billion and $106 billion in coastal property will likely be below sea level by 2050, labour productivity of outdoor workers could be reduced by 3 per cent because extremely hot days will be far more frequent, and demand for electricity to power air conditioners will require the construction of more power plants that will cost electricity customers up to $12 billion per year.

“Every year that goes by without a comprehensive public and private sector response to climate change is a year that locks in future climate events that will have a far more devastating effect on our local, regional, and national economies,” warn the report’s authors.

The analysis and calculations in the report were performed by the Rhodium Group, an economic research firm, and Risk Management Solutions, a catastrophe-modeling company that works for insurance companies and other businesses. It was paid for by the philanthropic foundations of Bloomberg, Paulson and Steyer, among others.

The report analyzes impacts of climate change by region to better show how climate change affects the businesses and industries that drive each region’s economy.

  • The Northeast will likely be most affected by sea level rise, which will cost an additional $6 billion to $9 billion in property loss each year.
  • The Southeast will likely be affected both by sea-level rise and extreme temperatures. The region, which has averaged eight days of temperatures over 95 degrees each year, will likely see an additional 17 to 52 of these days by midcentury and up to four months of them by the end of the century. This could lead to 11,000 to 36,000 additional deaths per year.
  • Higher temperatures will reduce Midwest crop yields by 19 per cent by midcentury and by 63 per cent by the end of the century.
  • The Southwest will see an extra month of temperatures above 95 degrees by 2050, which will lead to more frequent droughts and wildfires.

The report does not calculate the cost of these droughts or wildfires, or many other possible costs such as the loss of unique ecosystems and species and the possible compounding effects of extreme weather conditions. Nor does it calculate some of the ways economies could adapt to the changing climate and reduce the costs of climate change.

“There’s a whole litany of things not calculated in the assessment,” said Gary Yohe, an economics and environmental studies at Wesleyan University and vice chair of the National Climate Assessment, a U.S. government project set up to study the effects of climate change. Yohe was not part of the Risky Business Project report, but he was asked to review it.

Still, he said, “The general conclusions are right on the money.”

And he said that while other groups have also attempted to calculate the financial impacts of climate change around the world, this report is notable because of the business and financial experience of the people behind it. Beyond the three co-chairs, the members of the group’s risk committee include Former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, former Cargill CEO Gregory Page, and George Shultz, former treasury secretary and secretary of state.

“These are people who have managed risk all their lives and have made an enormous amount of money doing so,” Yohe said.

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Gitga'at women erect symbolic blockade of Enbridge tanker route

Gitga’at women erect symbolic blockade of Enbridge tanker route

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Gitga'at women erect symbolic blockade of Enbridge tanker route
Photo: Andrew Frank/Flickr

By The Canadian Press

HARTLEY BAY, B.C. – The women of the Gitga’at Nation of British Columbia planned to erect a symbolic blockade made of yarn across the Douglas Channel on Friday to protest the federal government’s approval of the Northern Gateway pipeline.

The crochet chain was expected to stretch 2.5 nautical miles, or about 4.5 kilometres, across the opening of the narrow channel tankers will have to navigate to a marine export terminal set to be located in Kitimat, on the north coast.

“It’s to show that we’re prepared to do what it takes to stop them because we can’t let it happen. It’s the death of our community, our culture,” said Lynne Hill, who came up with the crochet blockade.

[quote]And if there was an oil spill there would be nothing left.

[/quote]

Members of the community in Hartley Bay — best known for rescuing passengers from the Queen of the North ferry as it sank in 2006 — initially planned to set out at 6:30 am to string the crochet chain across the water.

That departure was delayed by weather, and a flotilla of boats planned to set out by noon to drape the multi-coloured yarn, decorated with community memorabilia and messages of hope, between buoys across the ocean. The slender chain is more than six kilometres long to ensure it will reach from one side of the narrows to the other.

[signoff3]

Hill, 70, said the protest began in Hartley Bay and spread, with supporters sending in crochet links from all over Canada. One woman knit an entire kilometre-long link by herself, she said.

On Tuesday, the federal government granted final approval to the pipeline that will bring oil from Alberta to the B.C. coast for export, with 209 conditions. Hill said it was a devastating day for the Gitga’at.

She said community members will see the tankers from the project pass right in front of the remote community at the mouth of the channel, about 630 kilometres north of Vancouver. The village is reachable only by boat or plane.

“We thought right down the line that somebody that cared would be listening to what we were saying. Not just us — to what lots of people were saying,” she says.

[quote]When the joint review panel was here we thought they were listening. We thought they heard what we had to say.[/quote]

Hill says the crochet chain is a warning that the Gitga’at will do what it takes to stop the pipeline.

“We get our food from the sea. We travel on the sea,” she says.

Check out Gitga’at Chain of Hope Flickr photostream by Andrew Frank

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Financial analysts: First Nations, law suits will block Enbridge for years

CIBC: First Nations, lawsuits will block Enbridge for years

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Enbridge battle just getting started
A Vancouver rally against proposed pipelines earlier this year (Damien Gillis)

By Dene Moore, The Canadian Press

VANCOUVER – One of the biggest hurdles for the Northern Gateway project is one the company has never had the means to address.

Now that the project has received federal approval, the next phase of the pipeline fight will not focus on the Calgary pipeline company but on the government that many B.C. First Nations ultimately blame for the dispute.

More than a pipeline issue

Said Peter Lantin, president of the Haida Nation, Wednesday:

[quote]For us, it’s a rights and title discussion. It’s not necessarily about a pipeline.[/quote]

The Crown has failed to resolve aboriginal rights and title in B.C. for generations, he said. Now, native communities are united for a sweeping legal challenge against the federal government approval, he said.

The expected legal challenge involves a coalition that includes all three major aboriginal organizations in the province: the pro-treaty First Nations Summit, the anti-treaty Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs and the regional branch of the Assembly of First Nations, as well as dozens of individual bands.

They will meet in the coming weeks to decide on the course their case will take, Lantin said.

Lantin said the Haida recognize the importance of natural resource projects and the national interest, and he said they would be happy to have that conversation — about another project.

“There is no compromise. There is no mitigating measures that we could talk about that would satisfy or change the Haida position,” he said.

[quote]I don’t believe that after the fact we can somehow hit a reset button…The damage is done.[/quote]

Enbridge: ‘We believe that we can move past this’

The company said it will continue trying to engage aboriginal and other communities.

Janet Holder, vice-president of western access for Northern Gateway Pipelines, said there have been some discussions and more are planned.

Enbridge (TSX:ENB) and its partners remain committed to the project, she said.

“We believe that we can move past this,” Holder said. “I don’t think we’ll get 100 per cent support. There’s never anything, any significant issue, that’s ever been dealt with in Canada that has ever had 100 per cent support.”

But the project is worth working on, she said. Canadians are losing billions of dollars a year in revenue without access to the coast for export, she said, and Enbridge and its 10 partners will push forward and find a way to make it work.

“They truly understood before and understand now what the issues are, what needs to be done to move forward, and they’re still willing to fund the project,” she said.

Enrbidge shares dip amid analysts’ pessimism

Analysts and shareholders appeared less optimistic. Shares in Enbridge dropped slightly the morning after the federal announcement.

Said an analysis by CIBC World Markets:

[quote]All told, we see the federal government’s approval largely as academic at this point, with B.C. provincial, environmental and First Nations challenges likely stalling further progress, potentially for years. We do not believe it likely that a consensus can be reached on the project; the environmental and First Nations groups have become entrenched in their positions.[/quote]

In announcing approval, Natural Resources Minister Greg Rickford said the company has more work to do to engage aboriginal groups and local communities.

Onus on federal government to deal with First Nations

But it’s not necessarily the company that has work to do, said one legal expert.

First Nations have legal rights, but in the absence of treaties in B.C., it’s not clear just what those rights entail, said Gordon Christie, an expert in aboriginal law at the University of British Columbia.

“The federal government has the responsibilities to First Nations, not the company,” he said. “This is all about the government making a decision to allow the pipeline to be built.”

Legal challenges could take up to two or three years to resolve, he said.

The Conservative government already faces another challenge in Federal Court that could affect the approval.

The Mikisew Cree and Frog Lake nations in Alberta have filed for a judicial review of changes to the federal environmental assessment rules and the Fisheries and Indian acts included in the Tories’ omnibus budget bill two years ago.

They argue the changes undermine environmental protections and the Crown’s duty to consult aboriginals.

[signoff3]

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Elon Musk buys solar company to build large-scale panel factories

Elon Musk buys solar company to build large-scale panel factories

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Elon Musk buys solar panel maker
SolarCity Chairman founder Elon Musk

By Jonathan Fahey, The Associated Press

NEW YORK – The energy world is not keeping up with Elon Musk, so he’s trying to take matters into his own hands.

Musk, chairman of the solar installer SolarCity, announced Tuesday that the company would acquire a solar panel maker and build factories “an order of magnitude” bigger than the plants that currently churn out panels.

“If we don’t do this we felt there was a risk of not being able to have the solar panels we need to expand the business in the long term,” Musk said Tuesday in a conference call.

Musk is also a founder and the CEO of the electric vehicle maker Tesla Motors, which is planning what it calls a “gigafactory” to supply batteries for its cars.

In both cases, Musk’s goal is to make sure that the components critical to his vision of the future — electric cars and solar energy — are available and cheap enough to beat fossil fuels.

Musk’s future customer could ignore traditional energy companies completely. They’d have SolarCity panels on their roof that would generate enough power to also charge up a Tesla in the garage. A Tesla battery could then power the home at night with stored solar power.

It’s a far-off vision — solar power is still much more expensive than conventional power, even before the enormous cost of a battery backup. And electric cars are just a fraction of the total auto market. But Musk has made a career of thinking far into the future. He is also the CEO of SpaceX, the rocket company with an ultimate goal of enabling people to live on other planets.

SolarCity, based in San Mateo, Calif. is one of the nation’s largest installers of rooftop solar systems. It was founded and is now run by Musk’s cousins, CEO Lyndon Rive and Chief Technology Officer Peter Rive. The company also offers financing for solar systems, and last year it bought a manufacturer of mounting systems used to hold panels in place.

The acquisition of Silevo is a risk for Musk and SolarCity because it gets the company into panel manufacturing at a time when a global glut of panels has decimated the profits of panel makers. Some, including onetime industry leader Suntech Power, were forced into bankruptcy. Others were forced into solar development and installations, the kinds of things SolarCity already excels at.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. SolarCity shares were up almost 14 per cent in midday trading Tuesday.

SolarCity says it won’t try to turn out more of the garden-variety panels now clogging the market. Instead, it wants to make panels that are more efficient, and make them at a low cost in huge factories in order to reduce the overall cost of solar electricity. Silevo’s relatively complex panels generate more power per square foot than typical panels.

SolarCity said it is negotiating with the state of New York to build what would be among the biggest factories in the world in the next two years. It would manufacture enough panels each year to produce 1 gigawatt of peak power — roughly enough panels to outfit 200,000 homes with a typical-sized rooftop system.

That would be “just a start,” Musk said. Future factories would produce 10 gigawatts worth of panels.

And these panels wouldn’t even look like typical solar panels, he said. Just as he drew customers to electric vehicles by making sleek, fast sports cars, Musk wants to attract homeowners to solar with pretty panels.

“We want to have a cool-looking esthetically pleasing solar system on your roof,” he said.

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Enbridge battle far from over, even if Harper approves pipeline

Enbridge battle far from over, even if Harper approves pipeline

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Harper's Enbridge decision looms

By Dene Moore, The Canadian Press

VANCOUVER – Some time in the next 10 days, the federal government is supposed to announce its final decision on the Northern Gateway pipeline — the multibillion-dollar political minefield dividing the West.

Even detractors expect the federal government to give the $7-billion project the go-ahead.

But the nod from Ottawa would not be the crest of the mountain Northern Gateway must climb before the oil — and the money — begin to flow. The path to the British Columbia coast has many hurdles left for Calgary-based Enbridge (TSX:ENB) and its partners.

Panel recommendation came with 209 conditions

A joint review panel of the National Energy Board and the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency recommended approval of the project six months ago, subject to 209 conditions.

“The bottom line is there are 113 conditions that need to be met before construction can begin. That’s going to take a lot of time,” said company spokesman Ivan Giesbrecht.

If approved, that would be merely one more step in an ongoing process, Giesbrecht said.

“We have a lot of work to be done before we would be able to begin construction.”

There are also the five applications before the Federal Court for judicial review of the federal panel recommendation, and further court challenges are likely.

Pipeline faces years of legal challenges

The opposition of environmental groups was always a given. Expansion of Alberta’s oil sands has become an international target for climate activists.

“Approval seems obvious. At the same time, opposition is so strong,” said Nikki Skuce, a resident of Smithers, B.C., and a campaigner for the environmental group Forest Ethics Advocacy.

[quote]It’s going to be caught up in the courts for years and it’s going to be ugly on the ground. People are willing to do what it takes.[/quote]

That is no idle threat in a province that saw a decade-long War in the Woods over logging of old growth forests, which ended with new government regulations.

And opposition is not limited to environmentalists and First Nations.

Kitimat showed resolve of communities to block Enbridge

Another crippling blow to the project came from the residents of Kitimat — the B.C. city with the most to gain as the pipeline terminus — when they voted to reject the project in a non-binding plebiscite.

Kitimat is no stranger to industry, born of an aluminum smelter in the 1950s, but for a majority of those who voted the risks outweigh the rewards.

Liberal govt flip-flops on pipeline

Even the provincial government officially opposed the project at review hearings.

Victoria appears poised to reverse itself, deploying key ministers to a flurry of recent federal announcements on marine and pipeline safety. But the Liberal government may be waiting to see which way the political wind is blowing before they change direction.

“There’s a question of whether going along with the approval of the Northern Gateway pipeline will make LNG development in B.C. more challenging by angering First Nations so adamantly opposed to the oil sands pipeline,” said George Hoberg, a professor at the University of British Columbia’s school of forestry and founder of UBCC350, a group pressing for action on greenhouse gas emissions.

There is deep resistance in B.C., he said.

[quote]I think it’s likely to be approved, but I would not be shocked if it was delayed or even denied.[/quote]

The product that the pipeline would carry is a hurdle.

The pipeline west would transport molasses-like diluted bitumen. Studies and previous spills have found that dilbit sinks in turbulent water conditions.

First Nations remain firmly opposed

Opponents like Art Sterritt, director of Coastal First Nations, have said a tanker spill is possible — even likely — and cannot be cleaned up. His coalition of nine aboriginal communities remains vehemently opposed.

The greatest obstacle is the unflagging opposition of First Nations. Hamstrung by the federal government’s failure to negotiate treaties in decades of talks, the company has been left in a legal limbo.

The company said the project has 26 aboriginal equity partners and consultations continue but Clarence Innis, acting chief of the Gitxaala Nation on the North Coast, said they haven’t heard from anyone and no talks are planned.

“We’re going to do whatever we need to do to protect our territory,” said Innis, whose community is located on an island at the mouth of the Douglas Channel.

The Gitxaala are already preparing a legal challenge.

“We played by the rules,” Innis said. “We’ve been ignored.”

The fight is far from over on either side. There are hundreds of billions of dollars at stake, the company has said.

“It’s in the national interest to be able to diversify the markets that we have for our most valuable natural resource,” Giesbrecht said.

“We believe the project is the right thing for Canada, we’ve felt that way right from the very beginning and that’s why we’ve pursued it.

 

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Obama-gets-tough-on-coal-plant-emissions-with-30-percent-reduction

Obama gets tough on coal plant emissions with 30% reduction goal

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Obama-gets-tough-on-coal-plant-emissions-with-30-percent-reduction
President Obama visits Copper Mountain solar plant (Photo: Sempra U.S. Gas & Power)

By Dina Cappiello, The Associated Press

WASHINGTON – The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday rolled out a plan to cut carbon dioxide emissions from power plants by 30 per cent by 2030, setting the first national limits on the chief gas linked to global warming.

The rule, expected to be final next year, is a centerpiece of President Barack Obama’s plans to reduce the pollution linked to global warming, a step that the administration hopes will get other countries to act when negotiations on a new international treaty resume next year.

Despite concluding in 2009 that greenhouse gases endanger human health and welfare, a finding that triggered their regulation under the 1970 Clean Air Act, it has taken years for the administration to take on the nation’s fleet of power plants. In December 2010, the Obama administration announced a “modest pace” for setting greenhouse gas standards for power plants, setting a May 2012 deadline.

Power plants are largest source of greenhouse gases

Obama put them on the fast track last summer when he announced his climate action plan and a renewed commitment to climate change after the issue went dormant during his re-election campaign.

Said Frances Beinecke, president of the Natural Resources Defence Council, which has drafted a plan that informed the EPA proposal:

[quote]The purpose of this rule is to really close the loophole on carbon pollution, reduce emissions as we’ve done with lead, arsenic and mercury and improve the health of the American people and unleash a new economic opportunity.[/quote]

Power plants are the largest source of greenhouse gases in the U.S., accounting for about a third of the annual emissions that make the U.S. the second largest contributor to global warming on the planet.

New rule tough on coal

Yet the rule carries significant political and legal risks, by further diminishing coal’s role in producing U.S. electricity and offering options for pollution reductions far afield from the power plant, such as increased efficiency. Once the dominant source of energy in the U.S., coal now supplies just under 40 per cent of the nation’s electricity, as it has been replaced by booming supplies of natural gas and renewable sources such as wind and solar.

“Today’s proposal from the EPA could singlehandedly eliminate this competitive advantage by removing reliable and abundant sources of energy from our nation’s energy mix,” Jay Timmons, president and CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers, said in a statement issued Sunday.

Partisan battle ahead

The White House said Obama called a group of Democrats from both the House and Senate on Sunday to thank them for their support in advance of the rule’s official release, which is expected to be rigorously attacked by Republicans and make Democrats up for re-election in energy-producing states nervous.

EPA data shows that the nation’s power plants have reduced carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 13 per cent since 2005, or about halfway to the goal the administration will set Monday. The agency is aiming to have about 26 per cent cut by 2020.

But with coal-fired power plants already beleaguered by cheap natural gas prices and other environmental regulations, experts said getting there won’t be easy. The EPA is expected to offer a range of options to states to meet targets that will be based on where they get their electricity and how much carbon dioxide they emit in the process.

Plan contains range of flexible solutions

While some states will be allowed to emit more and others less, overall the reduction will be 30 per cent nationwide.

The options include making power plants more efficient, reducing the frequency at which coal-fired power plants supply power to the grid, and investing in more renewable, low-carbon sources of energy. In addition, states could enhance programs aimed at reducing demand by making households and businesses more energy-efficient. Each of those categories will have a separate target tailor-made for each state.

Obama has already tackled the emissions from the nation’s cars and trucks, announcing rules to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by doubling fuel economy. That standard will reduce carbon dioxide by more than 2 billion tons over the life of vehicles made in model years 2012-25. The power plant proposal will prevent about 430 million tons of carbon dioxide from reaching the atmosphere, based on the 30 per cent figure and what power plants have already reduced since 2005.

The EPA refused to confirm the details of the proposal Sunday. People familiar with the proposal shared the details on condition of anonymity, since they have not been officially released.

Beinecke spoke Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” before details of the proposal became public.

The proposal was first reported Sunday by The Wall Street Journal.

__

Associated Press writer Josh Lederman contributed to this report.

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Quebec won't see job benefits from Line 9, Energy East-report

Quebec won’t see job benefits from Line 9, Energy East: report

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Quebec won't see job benefits from Line 9, Energy East-report
TransCanada CEO Russ Girling promoting Energy East (Canadian Press)

MONTREAL – A new report says proposals to pipe oilsands crude to Quebec refineries would only deliver negligible economic benefits to the province.

An economist who co-authored the study says job creation and spinoffs from several active pipeline-and-processing proposals would be insignificant to Quebec’s overall economy.

At the same time, Brigid Rowan says a pipeline accident could cost lives and put taxpayers on the hook for billions of dollars — particularly if a spill takes place in an urban area like Toronto or Montreal.

The report was conducted by California-based consulting firm The Goodman Group Ltd. at the request of the Greenpeace and Equiterre environmental organizations.

Two pipelines planned from Alberta to Quebec

The study examined possible economic advantages of the Energy East pipeline project by TransCanada Corp. (TSX:TRP), a plan by Suncor Energy Inc. (TSX:SU) to enable its Montreal refinery to process thick oilsands bitumen and the Line 9 reversal by Enbridge (TSX:ENB).

Rowan argues that even if all of these projects moved forward, they would generate few long-term jobs in Quebec.

She also says while refiners would likely benefit from the lower-priced crude, the savings probably wouldn’t be passed on to consumers at the pump.

Controversial Line 9 already approved

Earlier this year, the National Energy Board approved Enbridge’s controversial plan to reverse the flow and increase the capacity of Line 9, a project that would transport crude eastward to refineries in Ontario and Montreal.

The board said its decision would allow Enbridge to “react to market forces and provide benefits to Canadians, while at the same time implementing the project in a safe and environmentally sensitive manner.”

The federal government welcomed the decision, saying the project would protect high-quality refining jobs in Quebec, open new markets for oil producers in Western Canada and replace more-expensive foreign crude.

Opponents of the Line 9 project often highlight Enbridge’s 2010 spill in Michigan, where 20,000 barrels of crude leaked into the Kalamazoo River.

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Kinder Morgan faces 10,000 questions on Vancouver pipeline

Kinder Morgan faces 10,000 questions on Vancouver pipeline

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Kinder Morgan faces 10,000 questions on Vancouver pipeline

By The Canadian Press

VANCOUVER – Kinder Morgan is asking for more time to respond to over 10,000 questions submitted to the National Energy Board about the proposed expansion of its Trans Mountain pipeline.

The company has until June 4 to respond to information requests from 117 of the 398 groups and individuals granted intervener status by the board for the application.

The company says it cannot meet that deadline with such a large number of requests, and it has asked for a delay until June 27.

Kinder Morgan’s Scott Stoness says questions cover everything from marine operations to finance and spill response, and the company is working around the clock to answer every one.

Under new rules introduced two years ago by the federal government, the regulatory process has strict time limits for hearings and a final decision, but Stoness says he’s hopeful the extension will not affect the overall timeline.

Like the Northern Gateway oil pipeline, the Trans Mountain expansion is controversial and has spurred opposition from environmental groups and several First Nations.

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Some local groups want new recycling program trashed

Some business groups want new recycling program trashed

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Some local groups want new recycling program trashed

By Steven Chua, The Canadian Press

VANCOUVER – The B.C. government’s controversial new recycling program took effect Monday, irking some local business owners who say that additional costs will drive up the price of consumer goods.

The new regulations require that all businesses that supply packaging and printed paper to B.C. residential customers be responsible for collecting and recycling the material once customers are done with it.

Anita Huberman, CEO of the Surrey Board of Trade, says this will create additional costs for businesses, which will pass the extra expenses onto consumers.

“Producers will be adding costs to food, newspapers, and other things distributed to retailers, then retailers will extend their traditional markup to consumers,” wrote Huberman in an email. “This additional cost will make them less competitive with competitors from other provinces and countries.”

[quote]In Ontario, cardboard is being charged at eight cents a kilogram while in B.C. this program is at 29 cents a kilogram — this is huge.[/quote]

Huberman says that B.C.’s recycling fees should be reduced to match those in Ontario.

MMBC says it’s addressing concerns

However, the director of the non-profit organization overseeing the new recycling program on behalf of 940 companies says the increased costs from the new rules would only hurt small businesses, who are generally exempt from the new regulations anyway.

“I think the exemptions that have been announced by the government address many of the concerns with respect to small business,” said Allan Langdon of Multi-Material BC in an interview.

He says businesses that either make less than $1 million in sales, produce less than 1,000 kilograms of print and packaging or businesses that do not operate as a chain or franchise are exempt from the new program.

“From our perspective that’s really taken away the impact on the kind of small businesses that maybe have had a problem with the administration or costs,” he said.

3,000 businesses affected

Langdon says up to 3,000 corporations are affected by the new regulations and those companies who are not signed onto Multi-Material BC will have to co-ordinate their own recycling efforts.

About 1.25 million households started receiving service from the non-profit organization as of Monday, he said.

In municipalities where there are already recycling trucks, Multi-Material BC has offered cash incentives to help foot the bill, while some areas that don’t have curbside service will be seeing pickups for the first time.

Collection services for the North Okanagan, the Trail area, Rossland, the Castlegar area, Coquitlam, Anmore, Prince George and Quesnel will be phased in during the next few months starting Monday, Langdon said.

For consumers who are already putting out their recycling bins, perhaps the most noticeable change will be that some municipalities will be asking their residents to separate glass from other recycled goods.

Langley, Richmond and possibly Burnaby will implement separate glass collection bins, Langdon said.

This will prevent glass from being shattered and contaminated, which ensures that it will get recycled, he said.

The change is being implemented because Multi-Material BC is required to measure how much material is recycled — not just how much is picked up, he said.

READ: Economist: BC’s private waste, recycling plan is garbage

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Spill liability changes could be paving way for Enbridge approval

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Pipeline safety changes could be paving way for Enbridge approval
An oil pipeline crossing the Tanana River in Alaska

By Dene Moore, The Canadian Press

VANCOUVER – The federal government announced new measures Wednesday to ensure pipeline companies pick up the tab for any spills, as cabinet prepares to announce its decision on the contentious Northern Gateway pipeline project.

Natural Resources Minister Greg Rickford said the new rules are not tied to any particular project but put in place an unmatched regime for pipeline safety.

“Even in the most extreme, rare or unlikely circumstances, the government will ensure that the environment, landowners and taxpayers are protected and the polluter pays,” he said in Vancouver.

“There is no country in the world that transports oil and gas as safely as Canada.”

“Absolute” liability

Under the new rules, pipeline companies will have absolute liability in the event of a spill. It means they will have to pay all costs and damages related to oil spills, without needing to be proven negligent or at fault.

Pipeline operators will also be required to have a minimum amount of cash available for cleanup costs. The National Energy Board will have the power to order reimbursement of spill costs and to take over spill response should the pipeline company be unable or unwilling to do so.

The federal government will cover any spill-related costs a company cannot pay, and the national energy regulator would recoup the money from industry.

Changes come amid pipeline debates

B.C. is in the midst of a divisive debate about two major pipeline proposals — Enbridge’s Northern Gateway and Kinder Morgan’s expansion of its Trans Mountain line — both of which would traverse the province with diluted bitumen from Alberta.

The changes, which have yet to be tabled in Parliament, are the latest in a slew of amendments aimed at appeasing public concerns over the two proposals.

Rickford said the federal government will also develop a strategy to increase First Nations’ participation in pipeline safety planning, monitoring and spill response.

“Working in full partnership with aboriginal communities, with our provincial and territorial counterparts and industry, Canada will become a supplier of energy to the world,” Rickford said.

A day earlier, the federal government announced changes to marine safety regulations affecting oil tankers.

Rickford was joined Wednesday by B.C. Transport Minister Todd Stone.

Provincial governments support changes

The B.C. government has set out five conditions for supporting any oil pipeline project, including an undefined “world-leading” oil-spill response and prevention on land and at sea.

Stone wouldn’t say whether the measures meet that criteria but called them “a step in the right direction.”

“Are we all the way there? I think there’s always more that can be done, but what I think is demonstrated by the federal government here today is a very strong commitment towards ensuring that the standards here in Canada will be world-leading,” he said.

Alberta Premier Dave Hancock said the new rules “strengthen the responsible development of energy resources.”

“Every Canadian, no matter what province or territory they call home, expects that energy development is done with a high degree of environmental safeguards,” he said in a statement.

Government claims companies “responsive” to spills

Natural Resources officials said there are 825,000 kilometres of pipelines throughout Canada — 73,000 of them are cross-border pipelines regulated by the National Energy Board.

There has never been an incident in Canada where a pipeline company was not responsive to a spill, they said.

And there has only ever been one pipeline spill that exceeded $1 billion to cleanup. That was a 2010 spill from an Enbridge pipeline into the Kalamazoo River in Michigan, which is still being cleaned up.

Ziad Saad, vice-president of safety for the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association, welcomed the changes. There are measures in place now for extreme circumstances, he said.

“We are clarifying and strengthening those provisions to ensure the public that they won’t be on the hook in case of a pipeline incident,” he said.

The federal government is expected to announce its final decision on the contentious Northern Gateway pipeline next month.

READ: Oil transport engineers say Enbridge tanker plan unsafe

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