All posts by Common Sense Canadian

“Adversaries” and “Allies” of Tar Sands Named in Harper Government Strategy Documents

January 31, 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 report from CBC.ca on federal government documents recently obtained by Greenpeace that show the Harper Government listing off “allies” and “adversaries” to the Tar Sands. (Jan. 31, 2012)

The federal government considers the media, the biodiesel industry and environmental and aboriginal groups “adversaries” in its attempt to advocate for Alberta’s oilsands, according to documents obtained under access to information legislation.

Energy companies, the National Energy Board, Environment Canada, business and industry associations, meanwhile, are listed as “allies” in a public relations plan called the “Pan-European Oil Sands Advocacy Strategy.” It is dated March 2011.

The documents were obtained by Greenpeace Canada and Climate Action Network and released to the media on Thursday. The groups say Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government is working hand-in-hand with the oil industry to silence critics.

Kinder Morgan’s Latest Oil Spill in Abbotsford Raises Concerns About the Company’s Planned Pipeline Expansion

January 25, 2012Energy and Resources, Oil&Gas, Pipelines and SupertankersBC Oil Pipelines and Supertankers, Health and Environment, KinderMorgan, Oil and gasCommon Sense Canadian

Read this story from The Vancouver Sun on the recent oil spill at Kinder Morgan’s Abbotsford tank farm and why it rasises concerns about the company’s planned pipeline and tanker expansion in the Lower Mainland. (Jan. 25, 2012)

ABBOTSFORD — A crude oil spill at Kinder Morgan’s Abbotsford facility on Tuesday should serve as a wake-up call about the inherent risks associated with the energy company’s proposed expansion of its Trans Mountain pipeline, according to a national environmental group.

“This should be a reminder to people that there is a very serious risk of oil spills when you’ve got oil pipelines and oil tankers,” said Ben West, a Vancouver-based healthy communities campaigner for the Wilderness Committee.

Abbotsford residents first reported to police and fire service a strong oil smell as early as 4:30 a.m., according to Abbotsford police spokesman Const. Ian MacDonald.

Police investigated and determined it was coming from Kinder Morgan’s Sumas terminal site, in the 4100-block of Upper Sumas Mountain Road.

The spill was in a “containment area” and the only threat to residents was that of “nuisance odours,” said Kinder Morgan spokeswoman Lexa Hobenshield.

“We have placed foam on the oil, which should dissipate the odours significantly,” she said. The cleanup is expected to be completed sometime today, Hobenshield said. It is not known how much oil was released.

Whistleblower’s Open Letter to Canadians re: Harper’s ENGO Intimidation Over Enbridge

January 25, 2012UncategorizedCommon Sense Canadian

Read this open letter from Andrew Frank – the recently fired ForestEthics campaigner who has gone public about the Harper Government’s alleged threats to prominent environmental and charitable organizations over their work opposing the controversial Enbridge pipeline through BC. (Jan. 24, 2012)

My name is Andrew Frank. I grew up in a small town in the Okanagan valley of BritishColumbia. My granddad taught me how to fish. My father was a well‐respected lawyerknown for his unwavering integrity, and my mother was a favourite kindergarten teacher.Both have always impressed upon me the importance of telling the truth.

Today, I am taking the extraordinary step of risking my career, my reputation and mypersonal friendships, to act as a whistleblower and expose the undemocratic andpotentially illegal pressure the Harper government has apparently applied to silence criticsof the Enbridge Northern Gateway oil tanker/pipeline plan.

As I have detailed in a sworn affidavit, no less than three senior managers with TidesCanada and ForestEthics (a charitable project of Tides Canada), have informed me, as theSenior Communications Manager for ForestEthics, that Tides Canada CEO, Ross McMillan,was informed by the Prime Minister’s Office, that ForestEthics is considered an “Enemy of the Government of Canada,” and an “Enemy of the people of Canada.”

Read open letter: http://www.scribd.com/doc/79228736/Whistleblower-s-Open-Letter-to-Canadians

Harper Govt Recieves Funding From Same US Foundations That Fund Enbridge Opposition

January 25, 2012Canada, Energy and Resources, Pipelines and Supertankers, PoliticsBC Oil Pipelines and Supertankers, Enbridge, PoliticsCommon Sense Canadian

Watch this video from CTV News reporting that several federal government programs receive charitable funds from some of the same US Foundations who support of Canadian anti-Enbridge campaigns. (Jan. 24, 2012)

OTTAWA — Rich American foundations are not only footing the bill for opposition to Canada’s oilsands.

Tax returns show the Canadian government has also been the beneficiary of millions of dollars in largesse from some of the wealthiest private organizations in the United States.

And some of that money came from the same U.S. groups that helped fund Canadian environmentalists.

The grants to the federal government come to light as Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservatives and the pro-oilsands website EthicalOil.org take Canadian environmental groups to task for accepting money from big American foundations to finance their campaigns against the oilsands.

Read story and watch video: http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20120122/canadian-government-received-us-foundation-grants-120122/

Whistleblower’s Affidavit Says Harper Govt. Threatened Tides Foudation and ForestEthics Over Enbridge Opposition

January 25, 2012Canada, Energy and Resources, Pipelines and Supertankers, PoliticsBC Oil Pipelines and Supertankers, Enbridge, PoliticsCommon Sense Canadian

Read this story from The Winnipeg Free Press on the case of a recently fired whistleblower’s contention that the Harper Government threatened Vancouver-based charitable organization the Tides Foundation with shutting down all its charitable operations if it didn’t cut off funding to ForestEthics – for its work opposing the Enbridge pipeline. (Jan 24, 2012)

A former employee of an environmental group critical of a proposed oilsands pipeline says the Prime Minister’s Office threatened a funding agency if it didn’t pull its support for the group.

A spokesman for Prime Minister Stephen Harper denies the allegations.

In a sworn affidavit released Tuesday to The Canadian Press, Andrew Frank says he was told by his supervisor at ForestEthics that a PMO official had referred to their organization as an “enemy of the state.” The affidavit describes how staff were told their jobs were at risk after the official told Tides Canada, which supports the work of ForestEthics, that the government would “take down” all of the agency’s projects unless it cut ForestEthics loose.

Tides gets most of its money from private foundations and funds a wide array of social and environmental charities in Canada — from Big Brothers and Big Sisters to the World Wildlife Fund. It also partners with major corporations and governments, including federal government agencies.

Frank was fired from his job as communications adviser at ForestEthics on Monday over his plans to go public.

Enbridge sustainable alternative

January 21, 2012Energy and Resources, Pipelines and SupertankersBC Oil Pipelines and Supertankers, EnbridgeCommon Sense Canadian

The sustainable alternative to the proposed Enbridge pipeline is not twinning the Trans-Mountain pipeline and increasing tanker traffic in Burrard Inlet. With decentralized energy systems we no longer need to pay the greatest part of the cost (economic, ecological and ethical) of centralized energy: transmission and distribution.

On-site solar, wind and geothermal systems, added to energy-efficient buildings and technologies, can supply all sectors: industrial, commercial, government, and residential. Added to the electricity grid, renewables stabilize it, reduce risk of rolling blackouts, and add energy when the owners have what they need. With renewable energy available at every location—including home charging for your electric car—we can save oil for lubrication, and leave tar in the ground.

A pipeline and more tar sands would cost trillions of shareholder and taxpayer dollars. Investing these in efficiency (we waste more than half of the electricity we generate) and renewables instead, can supply on-site heat and electricity across the country, while creating countless jobs and industries in every local economy.

Instead of wasting resources on the old errors, we can renew local economies here and in Asia. Now is the moment to start on the win-win path that also leaves something for future generations.

Breaking: Obama to Reject Keystone XL Pipeline Today (But Will Allow TCP to Re-apply with Different Route)

January 18, 2012Canada, Energy and Resources, Oil&Gas, Politics, Tar SandsAlberta Tar Sands, Keystone XL, Oil and gas, PoliticsCommon Sense Canadian

Read this story form the Washington Post, which reports that Obama is expected to reject the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline today. (Jan. 18, 2012)

The Obama administration will announce this afternoon it is rejecting a Canadian firm’s application for a permit to build and operate a massive oil pipeline across the U.S.-Canada border, according to sources who have been briefed on the matter.

However the administration will allow TransCanada to reapply after it develops an alternate route through the sensitive habitat of Nebraska’s Sandhills. Deputy Secretary of State William J. Burns will make the announcement, which comes in response to a congressionally-mandated deadline of Feb. 21 for action on the proposed Keystone pipeline.

Read original post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/2012/01/18/gIQAwoVE8P_story.html

Must-Read! Fracking Linked to Oil Spill on Alberta Farm

January 18, 2012Energy and Resources, Fracking, Oil&Gasfracking, Oil and gasCommon Sense Canadian

Read this report from the Calgary Herald on a recent incident in Alberta which has focused even more scrutiny on hydraulic fracturing operations. (Jan. 17. 2012)

CALGARY – Hydraulic fracturing of an oil well in southern Alberta could have caused an oil well blowout a kilometre away, according to provincial regulators.

Friday afternoon, a landowner in the Garrington area west of Innisfail spotted a pumpjack spewing what appeared to be oil and chemicals onto his neighbour’s field.

Black fluid from the well sprayed 15 metres in the air until the man was able to alert a hydraulic fracturing crew working on a nearby well for Midway Energy.

They halted operations at the site, then shut down the Wild Stream Exploration pumpjack.

The Energy Resource Conservation Board was alerted about 5: 30 p.m. Friday by the Alberta Surface Rights Group at the behest of the landowner.

“We don’t know the details yet . . . but my understanding is that it appears the fracturing process affected the other well,” said an ERCB spokeswoman, Cara Tobin.

The incident could have repercussions around North America as the industry grapples with rising public discontent over rapidly increasing use of the technology to unlock shale gas and oil reserves.

Read story: http://www.calgaryherald.com/business/Hydraulic%20fracturing%20have%20caused%20well%20blowout%20near%20Innisfail/6003589/story.html?cid=megadrop_story&mid=58033

100% Opposition to Enbridge from NEB Hearings in Smithers

January 18, 2012Energy and Resources, Oil&Gas, Pipelines and SupertankersBC Oil Pipelines and Supertankers, Enbridge, Oil and gasCommon Sense Canadian

Read this story from the Vancouver Observer, reporting that every speaker at the recent National Energy Board-led hearings in Smithers into the proposed Enbridge pipeline spoke out against the project. (Jan 17, 2012)

It’s unanimous: all of the interveners who gave testimony to the Northern Gateway Joint Review Panel in Smithers oppose the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline. The Wet’suwet’en, BC Métis and Stikine MLA Doug Donaldson all asserted the Bulkley Valley is shared by different cultures which share a dependence on clean rivers for wild salmon.

Without salmon, none of the communities could thrive. The proposed pipeline puts the wild salmon and other wild food at risk.

The Wet’suwet’en have stood up for their heritage many times in the past.With the Gitxsan First Nation they blockaded logging in their traditional territory in the late 1980s, an action which culminated in the Delgamuukw decision of 1997. In that case, the Supreme Court of Canada held that aboriginal title is protected by the constitution and oral history can be presented as evidence of title.

Twenty two Wet’suwet’en spoke for about 15 minutes each. They identified themselves by chief status, house and clan, matrilineal lineage, patrilineal lineage, grandparents, mother, father, siblings, number of children and grandchildren.

Read story: http://www.vancouverobserver.com/sustainability/2012/01/17/enbridge-northern-gateway-joint-review-panel-smithers-finds-100-opposition

Tom Flethcher: Enbridge Gateway Won’t Happen (But Kinder-Morgan Expansion to Vancouver Will)

January 18, 2012Energy and Resources, Oil&Gas, Pipelines and SupertankersBC Oil Pipelines and Supertankers, Enbridge, KinderMorgan, Oil and gasCommon Sense Canadian

Read this column from Black Press’s Tom Fletcher, predicting that the controversial Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline won’t go ahead, while Kinder-Morgan’s plans to twin the Trans Mountain Pipeline to Vancouver will. (Jan. 17, 2012)

After following the opening phase of the National Energy Board’s hearings on the Northern Gateway oil pipeline proposal, I have a prediction.

B.C. will never see this pipeline. And that’s probably the best outcome.

The first reason is the nearly unanimous opposition of informed Kitimat-area residents, led by Haisla Nation Chief Councillor Ellis Ross and skilled local volunteers who described the marine environment of the Kitimat estuary…

…B.C.’s likeliest alternative for oilsands crude is the existing Trans Mountain pipeline, which has been pumping Alberta oil and refined products to the West Coast at Burrard Inlet for nearly 60 years. Port Moody’s Ioco refinery is gone, but Chevron’s Burnaby plant remains, and some crude goes out by tanker or pipeline to refineries south of B.C.

The current owner of Trans Mountain, Kinder Morgan Canada, is naturally watching the Enbridge battle closely. A Kinder Morgan representative provided the following information about tanker traffic from their Westridge Marine Terminal in Burnaby.

Read column: http://www.bclocalnews.com/opinion/137496303.html?fb_comment_id=fbc_10150478275935773_19919729_10150478902555773#f1c0962d74c6416

The Common Sense Canadian

Critical discussion of key issues shaping our economy and environment.