All posts by Common Sense Canadian

Enbridge CEO Whines About Environmental Groups “Seizing Control” of Pipeline Debate

August 16, 2012Energy and Resources, Oil&Gas, Pipelines and SupertankersBC Oil Pipelines and Supertankers, Enbridge, Oil and gasCommon Sense Canadian

Read this story from the Edmonton Journal detailing the whining of Enbridge CEO Patrick Daniel about environmental groups seizing control of the pipeline debate. (Aug. 13, 2012)

EDMONTON – Environmental groups opposed to the Northern Gateway pipeline have seized control of the public debate, Enbridge Inc. CEO Patrick Daniel told a radio audience Monday.

“Everything that we say sounds defensive and self-interested, and on the other side, everything they say … is really taken as gospel — and it isn’t,” Daniel said on the Rutherford Show.

“I think we’re facing a very strong, almost revolutionary movement to try to get off oil worldwide, and it creates a lot of passion and drive in those revolutionaries that are trying to change the environment in which we work.

“They know that going after the end user, going after you and I when we drive our cars, … won’t work. So they’re coming after what they consider to be the weak link in the whole process, and that’s the infrastructure part of it.”

Calgary-based Enbridge wants to build the pipeline to the B.C. coast to export Alberta’s oilsands products to booming Asian countries.

The company is mounting its own public relations offensive, taking out newspaper advertisements and pressing its leaders into the public spotlight, highlighting the company’s long safety record and decades of “dependable service” to Canadians.

Harper Backtracks on Enbridge Review Panel – Says He’ll Listen to Science

August 7, 2012Canada, Energy and Resources, Oil&Gas, Pipelines and Supertankers, Politics, Western CanadaBC Oil Pipelines and Supertankers, Enbridge, KinderMorgan, Oil and gas, Politics, Stephen HarperCommon Sense Canadian

Read this story from CBC.ca on Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s visit to BC amid his government’s apparent shifting stance on its favoured Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline. Contrary to previous assertions that he would push the pipeline through regardless of the Joint Review Panel’s findings, the PM is now assuring British Columbians that he will listen to science and maintains the panel’s independence. (August 7, 2012)

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is defending the independence of the environmental review process underway for Enbridge’s Northern Gateway pipeline, telling reporters in Vancouver the project will be evaluated scientifically and a green light to proceed would not be based on politics.

“Decisions on these kinds of projects are made through an independent evaluation conducted by scientists into the economic costs and risks that are associated with the project. And that’s how we conduct our business,” Harper said.

“The only way that governments can handle controversial projects of this manner is to ensure that things are evaluated on an independent basis scientifically and not simply on political criteria,” the prime minister added.

On Friday, the federal government announced a firm deadline to ensure the joint review panel charged with evaluating the pipeline completes its work by the end of 2013, without further delays. But Harper’s cabinet will have the final say on the project.

“The government does not pick and choose particular projects,” Harper said, “the projects have to be evaluated on their own merits.”

Enbridge’s proposed pipeline, to move bitumen from Alberta’s oilsands across B.C. to a new marine terminal in Kitimat, B.C., for export to Asia, has been identified by the Harper government as beneficial to its international trade strategy.

The prime minister reiterated his government’s position that trade with the Asia-Pacific region is of “vital interest” to Canada and British Columbia, as the country’s Asia-Pacific Gateway.

Harper also reminded reporters of investments in last spring’s budget to bolster federal government inspection and monitoring for resource development projects such as this one.

Harper was in Vancouver Tuesday to announce a new type of employment insurance benefits for parents of seriously ill children.

Journalists in B.C. were keen to get questions to the prime minister after sharp criticism of Enbridge from the prime minister’s senior cabinet minister for B.C., James Moore, last week. Harper did not contradict Moore directly, but appeared to offer a somewhat softened version of the government’s previous position on the pipeline.

Reporters were kept well back from Harper and Moore on Monday when they attended Conservative Senator Gerry St. Germain’s annual summer barbecue.

Public Opinion Set Against Pipeline

Harper’s stops on the West Coast this week come at a challenging time for supporters of the pipeline.

Public opinion polls suggest the majority in B.C. is against the Northern Gateway pipeline project. Some First Nations along the route are determined to block it.

Enbridge’s efforts to garner approval for the project have been set back by recent oil spills along other Enbridge pipelines, including damaging revelations about the way Enbridge handled its 2010 spill in Michigan.

Last spring’s budget implementation bill streamlined the regulatory approval process for major natural resources development projects like Gateway. A firm deadline has now been set to ensure the joint review panel charged with evaluating the pipeline completes its work by the end of 2013, without further delays.

Cabinet will have the final say on the project. A statement from Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver’s office Friday continued to emphasize its potential to create jobs and economic growth.

But last Wednesday, Harper’s senior minister in B.C. James Moore told a private radio program in Vancouver that Enbridge had put a “sour taste in the mouth” with its past actions and wasn’t doing enough to win the confidence of British Columbians generally, and its First Nations specifically.

Moore said doubts about the Enbridge pipeline were “widespread” and repeatedly denied the Harper government would simply ram through approval for the pipeline, despite recent changes to streamline the approval process.

It was not immediately clear from Moore’s remarks whether he was speaking only for himself as a senior minister representing the province’s concerns, or whether his dressing down of Enbridge was an early signal of a still-evolving position from the federal government.

Did Obama’s Rejection of Keystone XL Push Canada into China’s Arms?

August 7, 2012Canada, Energy and Resources, Oil&Gas, Pipelines and Supertankers, Politics, Western CanadaBC Oil Pipelines and Supertankers, Enbridge, Keystone XL, KinderMorgan, Oil and gas, PoliticsCommon Sense Canadian

Read this story from Yahoo News on the ramifications for Canada and the Alberta Tar Sands of the Obama Administration’s obstruction of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline from Alberta to Texas. (July 25)

China is in the process of acquiring a stake in Canada’s valuable Alberta oil sands, months after Obama suspended a plan to invest in the region.

Has China swooped in to claim a prize the U.S. forfeited? This week, China’s state-run energy giant CNOOC announced that it was buying Canadian oil producer Nexen for $15 billion, the largest-ever acquisition by a Chinese company. The deal would give China control over Nexen’s oil sands operations in the Canadian province of Alberta (among other Nexen oil properties around the world), a huge win for the energy-hungry nation. The purchase still needs to be approved by Canada’s parliament, which has blocked foreign takeovers of domestic businesses in the past. However, analysts say the odds look good, partly because oil-rich Canada has been forced to turn to other investors after President Obama suspended the Keystone Pipeline, a massive project that would have delivered oil from Alberta to the Gulf Coast, over environmental concerns. Did Obama push Canada into China’s arms?

Yes. Canada has to sell its oil to someone: When Obama stalled the Keystone Pipeline, “it spurred Canada to look to China as a new partner,” says Nathan Vardi at Forbes, and now “Canada’s vital oil industry appears to be drifting to China.” Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper responded to Obama’s “snub” by immediately “heading to China to start negotiating energy deals.” If Canada continues “to diversify its economic dependence away from the U.S.,” it could be a “strategic setback for the U.S., which has been searching for years for secure sources of oil that are free from the political uncertainty that exists in Venezuela and the Middle East.”

“CNOOC’s Nexen deal shows how Obama pushed Canada toward China”

And Obama’s environmental objections are now moot: “The lesson for America, and especially Democrats, is that Canada’s oil sands will be [further] developed,” despite objections over the environmental impact, says The Wall Street Journal in an editorial. “If the U.S. doesn’t want the oil, China and the rest of Asia will gladly take it.” China is trying to “replace the U.S. as Canada’s biggest energy investor and market,” and Obama is letting it happen over the most meaningless of objections.
“China’s Canadian energy play”

Let’s not get carried away. Nexen’s Canadian presence is small: While CNOOC will win a stake in the Alberta oil sands, Nexen’s holdings in Canada are relatively small, say Lee Chyen Yee and Jeffrey Jones at Reuters. Canadian lawmakers are hardly enthusiastic about having their natural resources owned by communist China, but “most of Nexen’s assets lie outside Canada, making it less likely that it would be seen as a national champion falling into Chinese hands.” The deal is unlikely to spark a wave of Chinese acquisitions in the U.S.’s backyard, and the U.S. still enjoys a healthy advantage in its trade relations with Canada.

“China’s CNOOC scoped Nexen, partnered, then pounced”

Harper Govt. Sets Deadline for Enbridge Panel Review Amid Serious Concerns About the Company, Project

August 5, 2012Canada, Energy and Resources, Oil&Gas, Pipelines and Supertankers, Politics, Western CanadaBC Oil Pipelines and Supertankers, Enbridge, Oil and gas, PoliticsCommon Sense Canadian

Read this story from CBC.ca on the Harper’s Government’s new deadline for the completion of the ongoing Joint Review Panel into the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline, amid concerns raised about the proponent and the project raised by BC Conservative MP James Moore. (Aug. 3, 2012)

The federal government has set a firm deadline of Dec. 31, 2013, for the review panel deciding the future of the Northern Gateway pipeline, shutting down the possibility of further extensions and putting into place the expedited assessment process pledged in its budget implementation bill.

But the written notice issued by the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency Friday comes on the heels of comments from the senior Harper government minister in B.C., James Moore, who told a radio program in Vancouver on Wednesday that doubts about the Northern Gateway project are “widespread, given the behaviour of Enbridge recently.”

Moore denied repeatedly that the federal government’s goal is to “ram through the pipeline.” But he did not reply to interview requests Friday seeking clarification as to whether his comments reflected a possible change in direction or message for federal Conservatives.

In an emailed statement provided to CBC News in response to an interview request seeking clarification of the government’s position, Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver’s office repeated well-used lines about the federal government’s “critical strategic objective” of “diversification of our energy markets” in order to “create jobs and economic growth.”

“We will continue to work in partnership with the provincial governments to encourage achieving this objective,” the statement said. “In particular to the Northern Gateway project, it is currently before the Joint Review Panel who are reviewing all the environmental considerations to make sure it is safe for the environment and Canadians. We look forward to reviewing their report once it is completed.”

In an interview Friday on CBC News Network’s Power & Politics, Peter Julian, the NDP Natural Resources critic who represents the B.C. riding of Burnaby-New Westminster, said the federal government’s doublespeak just isn’t going to fly with Canadians.

“The Conservatives are playing this dangerous game where in B.C. they’re acknowledging the widespread negative reaction of the Northern Gateway proposal, and at the same time in Ottawa they’re trying to impose and move forward on something that British Columbians will simply not accept,” Julian told guest host Hannah Thibedeau.

Friday’s notice from the federal assessment agency confirmed the changes implemented in the government’s budget bill, which came into force on July 6. The changes to the joint review panel’s mandate set a maximum time limit for the panel’s work, concluding at the end of 2013 without further extensions.

Under the changes, the joint review panel can’t reject the pipeline project for only environmental reasons.

Once the review panel submits its report, the federal government will make the final decision on the pipeline within 180 days (approximately six months), before the end of June 2014.

Deadly IHN Salmon Virus Turns up at Fish Farm on Sunshine Coast

August 5, 2012Oceans, Salmon Farming and AquacultureAquaculture, SalmonCommon Sense Canadian

Watch this CTV video news report on the discovery of IHN virus, known to cause the deadly Heart and Skeletal Muscular Inflammation disease in farmed fish, a yet another fish farm – this time in Jervis Inlet on the Sunshine Coast. (Aug. 3, 2012)

Another salmon farm in British Columbia is dealing with an outbreak of IHN, a fatal virus that can devastate fish populations.

Greig Seafood says its farm on Culloden Point, in Jervis Inlet on the Sunshine Coast, north of Vancouver, has produced preliminary positive results for IHN, or infectious haematopoietic necrosis virus.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is doing more tests and final confirmation is expected over the weekend. In the meantime, the company has voluntarily quarantined the facility.

IHN was also detected on Monday at a Mainstream Canada facility north of Tofino, in Millar Channel. Mainstream has also isolated the site to try to limit the spread of the virus. It says there have been no mass fish die-offs at the farm since the discovery.

In May, the virus was detected at another Mainstream Canada farm in Tofino, this time at a fish farm in Dixon Bay. The company says that given the length of time between the cases, it doesn’t think the virus at Millar Channel came from the Dixon Bay farm.

“Migrating wild salmon, natural carriers of the virus, are a more likely source,” the company said in a news release.

IHN is a virus that causes fish bellies to swell and can quickly lead to death, especially in younger fish. The virus is considered endemic to the Pacific Coast and is transmitted in the water through infected fish feces, urine and external mucous.

It’s often fatal in farmed Atlantic salmon, because the fish are not native to the Pacific Ocean and do not have any natural resistance.

In-Depth CBC Report: Food Lobbies Have Been Controling Canada’s Food Guide, Nutritional Info for Years

August 2, 2012Farmland and Food Security, FoodFood Security, Health and EnvironmentCommon Sense Canadian

Check out this in-depth report from CBC on the history of manipulation of Canada’s Food Guide and nutritional recommendations for the public by power food lobbies. (July 30 ,2012)

The 1992 food guide marked “a new era in nutrition guidance in Canada,” according to Carmen Connolly, then the chief of the Nutrition Programs Unit at Health Canada.

The title changed to Canada’s Food Guide to Healthy Eating and the design changed to a rainbow graphic to display the four food groups. The major change was a shift in philosophy to a “total diet approach” for meeting both energy and nutrient requirements, replacing the minimum requirements approach of earlier guides.

When the draft guide was sent out to food industry groups for comment, they didn’t like what they saw.

The draft guide had a small, fifth food group in a corner, called “extras,” with this description:

There is no recommended number of servings for these foods since they have little nutritional value. They provide taste appeal but are often high in fat and calories. The less you eat of these foods, the better.

The Grocery Products Manufacturing Council found it disturbing “that ‘extras’ continue to be presented negatively and inappropriately, creating a good/bad food scenario.”

In the final version of the guide, “extras” was gone and that corner of the rainbow was white. Replacing it was a box on the second page of the two-page guide called “Other foods,” with this description:

Taste and enjoyment can also come from other foods and beverages that are not part of the other four food groups. Some of these foods are higher in fat or calories so use these foods in moderation.

Check out full report – including audio clip: http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2012/07/27/f-food-guide-70.html

Shell, Partners Apply to Export 24 Million Tonnes of LNG per Year from Kitimat

August 2, 2012Energy and Resources, Fracking, Oil&Gasfracking, LNG, Oil and gasCommon Sense Canadian

Read this story form Reuters on Royal Dutch Shell and its partners’ application for a license to export up to 24 million tonnes of Liquified Natural Gas, connected to the group’s proposed LNG plant in Kitimat. (July 27, 2012)

Royal Dutch Shell Plc and its partners in a planned Canadian liquefied natural gas project have applied for a license to export up to 24 million tonnes of the fuel over 24 years, the company said on Friday.

The gas would be exported from a liquefaction plant Shell has proposed to build at Kitimat, British Columbia, on the Pacific Coast to take advantage of lucrative Asian markets. It would initially have to LNG processing units with capacity of 6 million tonnes each.

Shell and its partners, PetroChina, Kogas and Mitsubishi Corp, revealed the details of the proposal in May.

They said the plant could be in service around the end of the decade, pending regulatory approvals.

The proposal follows others being considered for Kitimat, which looks set to become a major Pacific Rim export hub for gas produced from the massive Horn River and Montney shale gas formations in British Columbia.

Read original posting: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/27/shell-canada-lng-idUSL2E8IRCC720120727

NEB Approves Enbridge Proposal to Reverse Ontario Pipeline on Same Day Company Suffers Another Spill

August 1, 2012Energy and Resources, Oil&GasOil and gasCommon Sense Canadian

Read this story from iPolitics on the National Energy Board’s conditional approval this past Friday for Enbridge to reverse the flow of its Line 9, enabling the company to ship oil to customers in Eastern Canada and the US. The decision was announced on the same day Enbridge produced yet another pipeline leak, this time in Wisconsin. (July 27, 2012)

CALGARY — The National Energy Board said Friday it has approved Enbridge Inc.’s plan to reverse the flow of part of an oil pipeline in southern Ontario.

The federal watchdog says it has imposed 15 conditions on the $16.9-million project, mainly having to do with pipeline integrity.

Line 9 currently flows from Montreal to Sarnia, Ont., but Enbridge wants to reconfigure it so it flows from west to east. Refiners in central and eastern Canada want to use cheaper Canadian crude instead of pricier oil imported by tanker from overseas.

The NEB approval pertains to the section of pipe between Sarnia, Ont., and Westover, Ont., near Hamilton.

In May the board held hearings where it heard concerns from the public about possible spills from the pipeline.

Labour Minister Lisa Raitt, a former natural resources minister, said the NEB decision is “quite important” as it helps improve pipeline access to Canada’s coasts and customers in the U.S.

Raitt said the reversal reflects what customers want and need and keeps Canada’s oil flowing in a way that is most economic, adding that customers on the east coast will be able to receive cheaper crude from North America rather than have to import it from abroad.

“Energy is a matter of national importance and the government welcomes efforts to better utilize our energy assets for the benefit of Canadians from coast to coast to coast,” said Raitt. “So in this respect the expansion and the diversification of our energy markets is one of our priorities.”

Enbridge rival TransCanada Corp. is also working on a plan to ship western Canadian crude east. It’s looking at converting its gas mainline, which is running part-empty, to gas service. It could ship between 400,000 and 900,000 barrels per day of oil, depending on customer demand.

BC Liberal Envrironment Minister: Kinder Morgan Faces Same Hurdles as Enbridge

August 1, 2012Canada, Energy and Resources, Oil&Gas, Pipelines and Supertankers, Politics, Western CanadaBC Oil Pipelines and Supertankers, KinderMorgan, Oil and gas, PoliticsCommon Sense Canadian

Read this story from The Province on BC Liberal Environment Minister Terry Lake’s statement that American energy giant Kinder Morgan faces the same challenges over the proposed twinning of its existing Trans Mountain Pipeline to Vancouver as Lake’s government has recently outlined for the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline. (July 31, 2012)

B.C. Environment Minister Terry Lake says some of the conditions that the province has set out before approving the Northern Gateway project will also be applied to the proposed Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion.

The government wants the company to beef up oil-spill prevention and response before it will support the project, he said.

B.C. also wants a larger share of revenue from the company to offset the financial costs of an oil spill.

Kinder Morgan’s expansion of the Trans Mountain Pipeline, which runs from Alberta to Vancouver, would see an increase in the size and number of tankers passing through Vancouver’s harbour.

Last week, Premier Christy Clark called for more economic benefits from the Enbridge pipeline before it will be approved because B.C. would bear all the environmental risks.

Alberta Premier Alison Redford has rebuffed any suggestion of increased compensation for B.C.

Meanwhile, a group of Burnaby residents who live next to the Kinder Morgan pipeline want to ensure the company can afford to compensate them for the “inevitable leaks and ruptures” from a twinned pipeline.

The 12 residents plus a housing co-operative in the neighbourhood at the southeast end of Burnaby Mountain have applied for intervener status at a public hearing by the National Energy Board.

“As landowners who stand to be affected by leaks, ruptures or explosions along the pipeline right of way … they have a direct interest in the operation” of the pipeline, says a letter filed with the board by Ecojustice, a Vancouver environmental law group representing the group.

Burnaby-Douglas NDP MP Kennedy Stewart, who has also applied for intervener status, said he conducted a telephone poll of 35,000 Burnaby residents and 75 per cent were against expansion of the pipeline.

First Nations and Former Government Leaders: ‘BC is Not for Sale’

August 1, 2012Canada, Energy and Resources, First Nations, Oil&Gas, Pipelines and Supertankers, Politics, Western CanadaBC Oil Pipelines and Supertankers, Enbridge, Oil and gas, PoliticsCommon Sense Canadian

Read this story from The Vancouver Observer on Monday’s press conference hosted by the Union of BC Indian Chiefs and featuring former federal Environment Minister David Anderson, wherein he and prominent First Nations leaders delivered a strong message to the Clark and Harper Governments regarding the proposed Enbridge pipeline that “BC is not for sale.” (July 30, 2012)

The head of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs said that selling BC’s coast and rivers is not the way Premier Clark should be fighting against Alberta’s oil agenda. Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs spoke at a press conference today with leaders from BC’s municipal and environmental groups.

“Well, look who just caught up. Premier Clark is right that we need to stand up to Alberta’s aggressive oil agenda, but selling our coasts and rivers out from under us is not the way to do it,” Phillip said in a release.

“First Nations right across BC have vowed we will never allow Enbridge’s pipeline and tankers, and non-Natives are united with us in a growing groundswell of unity to protect all of us from oil spills.” Premier Clark should take “decisive action” in opposing heavy oil pipeline and tanker projects, he said.

Phillip was joined by former federal Minister of the Environment David Anderson and Prince Rupert City Councillor Jennifer Rice. They called for the rejection of Enbridge Inc.‘s Northern Gateway pipeline and tanker proposal following a US-Canada Enbridge pipeline oil leak of over 1,200 barrels (more than 190,000 litres) in Wisconsin over the weekend.

The Northern Gateway is a 1,177 km dual pipeline project transporting 525,000 barrels of heavy oil per day between Edmonton, AB to Kitimat, BC. The project is a proposal from Calgary-based Enbridge Inc., a company specializing in crude oil and liquids pipelines, natural gas transportation and distribution, and green energy.

Over 100 First Nations have banned tar sands pipelines and tankers from their traditional territories.

No amount of money can protect coast, cover damage of oil spill, says former federal environment minister.

“Protecting our salmon streams and our ocean coast from oil spills is not negotiable,” said former BC Liberal Leader and former federal Minister of the Environment David Anderson. “No amount of money can protect our coast, and no amount of money can repair the damage of a spill of heavy Alberta crude oil…Premier Clark should make that clear to the Alberta and federal governments, and then move on to negotiating a Canadian National Energy Strategy based not on increasing production and consumption, but on the fundamental need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from all Canadian sources.”

Anderson cited Enbridge’s poor record on environmental and worker safety as the main reason to reject the Northern Gateway project. The US National Transportation Safety Board released a scathing report in early July about Enbridge’s handling of a 2010 oil spill in Michigan, calling the company’s employees incompetent and stating that the company had a “deviant” culture around safety procedures.

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