Tag Archives: BC Oil Pipelines and Supertankers

New Animated Film Highlights Threat to B.C. Wildlife from Oil Supertankers

April 13, 2011Energy and Resources, Pipelines and SupertankersBC Oil Pipelines and SupertankersDamien Gillis

From the Times-Colonist – April 13, 2011

by Judith Lavoie

An evocative animated video showing the silent, underwater world of
whales and dolphins that live near the Great Bear Rainforest is about to
become a weapon in the federal election campaign.

Copies of the
video, created by Simon Game of Victoria-based Picture Cloud Animation
for the wildlife conservation group Pacific Wild, will be given to
federal candidates and leaders of all parties, to illustrate potential
problems if the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline is approved.

“It will help people visualize what could happen,” Game said.

The
video has also been posted on YouTube and Pacific Wild will host a film
tour along the pipeline route, from the Alberta oil sands to Kitimat.

Showings will also be held in coastal communities, said Ian McAllister, Pacific Wild spokesman.

The
film, Cetaceans of the Great Bear Rainforest, focuses on the noise that
would be created by oil supertankers taking bitumen from Kitimat to
Asia.

“There are many reasons to oppose oil tankers on our coast,
but few people consider acoustic pollution as being one of them,”
McAllister said. “One cannot simply turn down the volume of an oil
tanker and we have fewer and fewer quiet refuges left on our coast.”

Hermann
Meuter of Cetacealab, who has spent a decade studying whale acoustics
in northern B.C. waters, around Gil Island, Douglas Channel and Caamano
Sound, is alarmed by the prospect of a procession of oil tankers. The
film will help people think about the serious consequences for whales,
he said.

“It would certainly destroy one of the last remaining silent underwater worlds,” he said.

Whales depend on a quiet, underwater environment to hunt, communicate and navigate, Meuter said.

“What we use our eyes for, is what the whales use their ears for.”

In
addition to the threatened population of northern resident killer
whales, humpbacks are returning to the area and there is an increasing
population of fin whales — the second largest creatures on Earth.

The
area, on the route that would be used by tankers, appears to have
special significance for the songs of humpback whales, Meuter said.

“We think they practise their songs here before heading to Hawaii or Mexico where they present the final version,” he said.

Supertankers
create a noise underwater similar to a jet engine revving up beside a
person and the number of whales would certainly decline, Meuter said.

“People
living on this coast have to realize what is at stake. If anything
happens here it will affect cetaceans of the whole coast and the million
dollar whale-watching industry.”

The $5.5-billion,
1,170-kilometre pipeline is under review by a federal panel made up of
the National Energy Board and Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency. A
decision is expected by late 2012.

Enbridge has also been pushing
the pipeline as an election issue. Patrick Daniel, the company’s chief
executive, has told business audiences that the pipeline is needed to
diversify Canada’s oil markets, so the country is not so reliant on the
U.S. as a customer.

The Conservatives will not back a tanker ban in northern B.C. waters, but opposition parties have called for a ban.

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Risking it All – Oil on our Coast

April 11, 2011Energy and Resources, Pipelines and SupertankersBC Oil Pipelines and Supertankers, Enbridge, VideoDamien Gillis

Watch this new 13 min short documentary from BC filmmaker Twyla Roscovich and CallingFromTheCoast.com on the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline and oil supertankers on BC’s coast.

From CallingFromTheCoast.com: “The north and central coast of British Columbia is one of last great wilderness areas that still supports a vibrant & productive ecosystem. Home to thousands of runs of salmon, steelhead, grizzlies, wolves, orca, rare white bears, dolphins, porpoises and hundreds of other species, the coast is a natural spring of wealth & wonder. The plan to build the Enbridge pipeline, with ensuing tanker traffic, threatens all of this- the coastal ecosystem, the coastal economies and local food security.

The BC coast supports many economies through commercial fishing, sport fishing & tourism, as well as providing massive natural food sources that feed thousands of people- serving up salmon, crab, halibut, clams, cockles, oolichan, herring, sea cucumbers, urchins, rockfish, lingcod, geoduck, seaweed, etc. A natural resource that just keeps giving. Enbridge plans to risk all of this to transport the dirtiest oil in the world to market. It’s your coast, province, and country. This short video outlines the plans for the pipeline and tanker route, the company behind this proposal, and what it means for our beautiful coast. Oil on our Coast was produced with Hartley Bay & the Gitga’at Nation with the goal of inspiring & educating in order to help save what sustains us.”

New Enbridge Film: Risking it All – Oil on our Coast

April 11, 2011Energy and Resources, Pipelines and SupertankersBC Oil Pipelines and Supertankers, EnbridgeDamien Gillis

Watch this new 13 min short documentary from BC filmmaker Twyla Roscovich and CallingFromTheCoast.com on the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline and oil supertankers on BC’s coast.

Enbridge CEO Pattrick Daniel: “Northern Gateway: Energy Crossroads”

April 8, 2011Energy and Resources, Pipelines and SupertankersBC Oil Pipelines and Supertankers, EnbridgeDamien Gillis

From The Vancouver Sun – April 7, 2011

by Patrick Daniel – Enbridge CEO

With the second-largest proven petroleum reserves in the world,
Canada may like to flatter itself that it is a global energy superpower.
This may surprise you – coming from a Canadian energy industry CEO –
but I’m afraid it’s not true.

Canada could be. One day we might be. But we are not an energy superpower yet.

Our
energy reserves are a tremendous strategic advantage but they will
deliver true value to Canada only if we choose to develop and make them
available to the world.

The Northern Gateway pipeline project is
Canada’s energy crossroads. With Northern Gateway we will safely move
energy to the West Coast, open new markets for Canadian petroleum and
create thousands of construction and supplier jobs -and significant
permanent employment right across Canada. We will generate millions of
dollars in direct, lasting and meaningful benefits for the first nations
and other communities involved and hundreds of billions of dollars for a
generation of Canadians.

An economic superpower is a country with
the influence, impact and standing on the world stage, and that only
comes from delivering to partners across the globe.

Right now we don’t -and can’t -do that with Canadian energy.

Our
proximity to the world’s largest energy consumer is a unique advantage,
one all our competitors would love to have. But our unparalleled
integration with the U.S. market is also a problem: It makes us
complacent, and it makes us a captive supplier. We only have one
customer for our energy, the United States.

There is a second problem with our dependence on energy trade with the U.S.

American markets are projected to remain flat for the foreseeable
future. So with one stagnating market, Canada’s energy future will
flatline as well. Make no mistake, the U.S is, and will remain, Canada’s
most important market and our closest trading partner. The
interdependence of our economies is a huge permanent advantage for
Canadians and Americans.

But Canada’s energy relationship with the
U.S. can more accurately be described as “dependent” not
“interdependent.” Today, virtually all of Canada’s oil exports go to the
United States. At about two million barrels per day, they make up one
out of every five barrels imported by the U.S.

Canada is the
United States’ most important trade partner when it comes to
carbon-based fuels. No competitor can trump our advantage of geography,
capacity and a trading partnership built on shared values on the
environment, human rights, the rule of law and democracy.

We might
be the most important energy supplier to them, but the United States
has other options available for energy trade partners.

Canada doesn’t. But Northern Gateway will change that.

For
too long, Canada has been a price taker in North American oil markets.
Gateway liberates Canadian oil producers from that straitjacket.
Canadian oil will move closer to world oil price levels, from its
current position about $2 to $3 less than that. This transformation will
mean hundreds of billions of dollars flowing into Canadians’ hands, for
generations. Reliable independent estimates of the project’s impact
over 30 years say it will deliver to all Canadians an additional $270
billion increase in Canada’s GDP.

Can Canada be a leader in the
world energy market? Of course we can. But only if we make the smart,
strategic moves, and take the sustainable steps to make it happen, now.

To
succeed in the 21st century and beyond, Canada needs to look west,
across the international date line, to the vast, growing economies and
huge markets of the Pacific Rim nations.

Northern Gateway is a
smart, strategic and sustainable way for Canada to connect our most
important and valuable export commodity to the markets that need it.

The
economic impact of the project on Canada will be significant and
sustained. The hundreds of billions of dollars in increased GDP will be
felt across the nation, in steel mills and manufacturing centres, from
heavy industry to high finance, for a long, long time.

Northern
Gateway is a great Canadian project. It is being reviewed and assessed
by our tough and professional regulators to determine if it is in our
nation’s best interest and if it can be built and operated to Canada’s
world-class environmental and safety standards -I know it can.

Opponents
of energy development go so far as to suggest that Canada should be
ashamed of our country’s abundant energy resources -the oilsands, in
particular. I think this is nonsense. Canada is a leader in the world
energy industry in safety, reliability, environmental performance,
respect for human rights, regulatory oversight and technological
innovation.

Our energy sector employs hundreds of thousands of
Canadian men and women from coast to coast. They work within a strict
regulatory regime. And every day they do their best -and their best
keeps getting better -to provide sustainable and responsibly developed
energy to all our communities.

As Canadians, we need to better
understand the connection between what the energy industry does and the
lives we all lead. There is a direct connection between your car’s gas
pedal, and your house thermostat and Canadian oil and gas.

Some of
those same critics say we are too small to be a global player in any
sector; that we should be grateful for our access to the United States;
that we can’t compete as an equal on a global stage.

Can we be
more than that? Yes, with politicians who are far-sighted, courageous,
strategy-driven nation builders. The world is clamouring for energy, and
will continue to require all sources of energy over the coming decades
as we make the transition to renewables.

We could choose to keep
Canada’s vast supply of oil, which we have developed ethically and
responsibly, landlocked in North America. We could continue to sell it
at a discount, while other nations create the energy supply lines and
energy market access for the rest of the world.

Or we can take the
steps required to bring Canadian oil to markets around the planet. We
can responsibly, sustainably and safely construct and operate
nation-building projects like Northern Gateway. We can make the most of
the opportunities available to us and build on our strategic advantages
as a responsible, democratic trading nation. We can build an even
stronger Canada for future generations. The crossroads lie right before
us. The choice is Canada’s to make.

Patrick Daniel is president and chief executive officer of Enbridge Inc.

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Enbridge turns a deaf ear to Ta’Kaiya’s song

March 28, 2011Energy and Resources, Pipelines and SupertankersBC Oil Pipelines and SupertankersDamien Gillis

From the Province – March 25, 2011

by Suzanne Fournier

Ta’Kaiya Blaney is only 10 years old, but she has a heartfelt song
and a tough message to the Enbridge pipeline people that she wanted to
deliver in person on Thursday.

But Ta’Kaiya, who had a
carefullyrehearsed talk on coloured cards and a video of her song, was
halted in the lobby by security guards who said they had “locked down”
the sixth-floor offices of Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipelines.

“I wanted to sing my song and I didn’t think I was scary,” said Ta’Kaiya.

Headquartered in Calgary, the company, which has proposed twin
pipelines and oil tanker traffic down the B.C. coast, has a few
technical staff in the Bentall building in Vancouver but had no one
available to meet Ta’Kaiya.

A member of the Sliammon First Nation,
Ta’Kaiya is home-schooled in North Vancouver by her mom, Anne, who
accompanied her daughter Thursday. Ta’Kaiya said she did a lot of
research for her environmental issues unit.

“It’s true that the
oil pipelines and the tankers will give people jobs, but if there is an
oil spill like the Exxon Valdez or the Gulf of Mexico, that will take
other people’s jobs and the wildlife will die,” said Ta’Kaiya.

“This is the 22nd anniversary of the Exxon Valdez and there is still oil in the water, that can’t ever be cleaned up.”

Ta’Kaiya’s
message and song, which she co-wrote, was sent far and wide by
Greenpeace, which emailed her video and statement to all provincial and
federal politicians.

Greenpeace B.C. director Stephanie Goodwin called Enbridge “contradictory.”

“They
say they want public input, but won’t even hear the concerns of a
10-year-old First Nations girl who presented her views respectfully.”

After
Ta’Kaiya and her mom were sent out to the sidewalk, B.C. Premier
Christy Clark sent the girl an email, saying she had “watched your
YouTube video and commend you for your talent. Your message is very
clear -we must be concerned about the environment.”

Enbridge spokesman Paul Stanway said the company had no one available to greet Ta’Kaiya, but “will be responding” to her letter.

Stanway
noted that the Northern Gateway pipeline project is undergoing a
comprehensive, rigorous review by an independent panel under the
auspices of the National Energy Board and the Canadian Environment
Assessment Agency.

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Enbridge: When Intentions Are Not Offers

March 24, 2011Energy and Resources, Pipelines and SupertankersBC Oil Pipelines and Supertankers, Ray Grigg, Shades of GreenRay Grigg

The response of Enbridge to its spill of over 3 millions litres of oil from its ruptured pipeline into Michigan’s Kalamazoo River in July, 2010, should serve as a cautionary tale for anyone who thinks assurances negotiated with corporations are of any durable substance. In the single-minded quest for winning prospective profits or avoiding public relations catastrophes, corporations will typically make promises that are eventually fulfilled only in their own interests. Enbridge’s current legal manoeuvrings are a model example.

Immediately following the spill that contaminated about 55 km of river, Enbridge said it would pay for all damages. While a serious environmental impact could not be avoided, at least the public outrage could be quelled by a promise of compensation. Enbridge is now retracting its promise and contesting the claims against it. The legal thinking employed in this evasion of responsibility is worth noting.

Enbridge is arguing that it is not responsible for all the assessed damages of the spill because the actions of government officials in declaring a state of emergency, in recommending evacuation, and in closing the river to all public activity, incurred costs for which the corporation should not be legally liable. In int own words, Enbridge’s defence is that “federal, state and/or local authorities and agencies have mandated, directed, approved and/or ratified the alleged actions or omissions” for which Enbridge is expected to pay. Had the various authorities not taken the actions they deemed necessary to safeguard the public, the costs to Enbridge would have been lower. An assessment of Enbridge’s financial obligations will be mired in litigation for years.

Given this protracted litigation, Enbridge’s soothing assurance that it “remains committed to paying all non-fraudulent claims that are directly related to the incident” appear to be another empty public relations promise. In the legal challenge Enbridge is undertaking, the meaning of “directly related” must now be determined. So, too, must “non-fraudulent claims”, a determination now complicated by the degree to which the “actions or omissions” of government officials de-legitimized such claims. Add more years to the litigation process.

The lesson to be learned from this particular event is that corporations will initially provide whatever assurances are necessary to advance their profit objectives or to avoid a public relations fiasco. However, when confronted with the actual social, economic and environmental costs of their actions or oversights, the well-being of their shareholders becomes paramount. While affable executives may present a positive public image of corporations, the profit imperative commonly dilutes any admirable principles. Corporations are not philanthropic organizations interested in either fairness or justice; they are amoral legal entities that will only pay what is in their own interests to pay. Their explicit and fiduciary duty is to their shareholders. And in the world of law, where sophisticated legal strategists can discover complexities that can stall settlements nearly indefinitely, the length of the delay is determined by the net benefit to the corporation. Victims are not a consideration ‹ if they ever were.

Examples abound beyond Enbridge and its oil spill in the Kalamazoo River. Biologists have noted that BP’s strategy of spraying an estimated 7.2 million litres of toxic dispersants on the estimated 700 million litres of oil that erupted for months from its Macondo drilling site in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 may have been far more environmentally damaging than letting the oil wash ashore where it could be collected for safe disposal. But the public relations image of such visible contamination was far worse for BP’s reputation than hiding the oil with dispersants. The implication is that the corporate interest superseded the environmental interest.

The 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska is a classic case of corporate litigation taking priority over fairness and justice. Exxon policy was to continually challenge the initial damage penalty of $5 billion, litigating details of the judgement until the human victims of the spill either died, were exhausted by the protracted court cases, or simply moved elsewhere to rebuild their shattered lives. After years of litigation, the US Supreme Court eventually reduced the damages to $507.5 million ‹ a profitable corporate strategy, despite the massive legal fees.

Business, of course, is always business. This is the heartless and amoral rationale that is supposed to comfort individuals, communities and environments that fall victim to corporate actions, omissions or oversights. Pulp mills open with lofty promises until they close with obligatory regrets. Lumber mills sustain families and towns until unfortunate necessity requires their demise. Salmon farms pledge risk-free ecological operations until biological reality collides with untenable assurances. Mines promise responsible operation until unforeseen circumstances create unmanageable problems.

Now Enbridge is proposing to build a 1,172 km Northern Gateway pipeline from Alberta to Kitimat through some of the most challenging and remote territory on the planet, a project that will expose rivers, landscapes and a pristine BC coast to inevitable oil spills. Enbridge is enticing reluctant First Nations with financial incentives approaching $1 billion. Its corporate machinery will comfort the public with the usual assurances of safety, precaution and reliability.

But the public should always be wary of corporations bearing promises. Witness the Kalamazoo River in Michigan, the Macondo site in the Gulf of Mexico and the Exxon Valdez in Alaska as three reminders that corporate promises can end in environmental disaster, personal grief and protracted litigation. The ingenuity that makes corporations so successful can also be turned against the society that is supposed to benefit from their existence. Forget ethics. Whether or not corporations keep their promises depends on the business of business.

B.C. shale gas holds promise of new era in resource investment

March 15, 2011Energy and Resources, Oil&Gas, Pipelines and Supertankers, WATER, Water and HydrocarbonsBC Oil Pipelines and Supertankers, Oil and gas, Water and EnergyDamien Gillis

From the Vancouver Sun – March 14, 2011

by Gordon Hamilton

METRO VANCOUVER – Locked within the shale deposits of northeastern
British Columbia lies a natural gas reserve of unparalleled wealth that
could push the province into a resource boom unrivalled since the
development 50 years ago of the pulp-and-paper industry.

This
resource is nothing more than individual, tiny bubbles of hydrocarbon,
all that remains of a single organism that lived and died in a
primordial sea and was buried in the mud millions of years ago.

But
the accumulation of billions of such organisms over time adds up to gas
deposits of 250 trillion cubic feet to 1,000 trillion cubic feet,
according to the provincial energy ministry.

How much of that is
recoverable is a work in progress as companies drill into it. But even
at today’s low price for natural gas of $3 per 1,000 cubic feet at the
wellhead, those reservoirs could have a value beginning at $750 billion.

And the more companies drill, the more gas they find.

“We
haven’t finalized booking the reserves in the shale gas plays,” said
Ken Paulson, chief engineer and deputy commissioner at the B.C. Oil and
Gas Commission. “We are still getting information from some of the plays
which allows us to refine our estimates as to how much hydrocarbon is
actually in these reservoirs. But it’s a lot.”

Energy Minister Steve Thomson said shale gas is becoming mainstream development for the petroleum industry in B.C.

“The
magnitude and nature of B.C.’s shale gas resources creates
opportunities for long-term development planning by both industry and
government,” he said in an email to The Sun.

Northeastern B.C.
contains four major gas formations: The Montney basin near Dawson Creek,
the Horn River and Liard basins northwest of Fort Nelson, and the
Cordova Embayment, east of Fort Nelson. But the promise of wealth that
they offer is tempered by several facts: They are far from North
American markets for gas; they are more costly to get out of the ground
than conventional reserves; and the way the gas is being extracted is
drawing growing public concern.

The shale gas deposits have
triggered a slew of deals worth billions of dollars as global companies
jockey to gain a foothold in this new resource gold rush. Petro China’s
$5.4-billion investment with Encana, for a 50-per-cent stake in one B.C.
gas deposit alone, is the largest, while South African synthetic fuel
producer Sasol’s $2-billion investment in two of Talisman Energy’s gas
holdings perhaps brings the most promise.

Sasol is a world-leader
in technology of converting natural gas to synthetic diesel, and it has
agreed with Talisman to conduct a feasibility study around the economic
viability of a facility in Western Canada to convert natural gas to
liquid fuels.

“It’s exciting, innovative stuff,” said Travis Davies of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers.

Development
of the shale gas deposits brings with it a whole new way of looking at
the province’s resource wealth. But it also brings questions on how the
gas is being extracted and whether it will trigger a round of
value-added investment similar to the sprouting of pulp and paper mills
that came when new provincial forest tenures and policies spurred
logging in Interior forests in the 1960s.

Or, will the gas simply be exported as a raw commodity, the equivalent of exporting logs?

The
province has three options: Tap into new offshore markets where gas
prices are higher, add value by converting it to liquid fuels, or use it
to generate electricity.

“We need to find new markets. There are a
number of projects on the books right now … such as a liquefaction
plant and possible export terminal in the Kitimat area. These projects
have big implications for markets for gas, not just for B.C. gas but
North American gas, ” said Paulson.

The potential for a
petrochemical plant converting gas to liquid fuel in the province’s
northeast is particularly tantalizing, but B.C. has no policy framework
to encourage a petrochemical plant here. It could be built in Alberta.

The
third alternative, using gas to generate electrical energy, is far from
being a perfect solution. It’s cleaner than coal, but is still a fossil
fuel releasing greenhouse gases, even if only half those of coal. But
when the price of gas rises above the equivalent price of coal, power
producers can switch back to burning coal.

To access B.C. shale
gas, companies use a technique called hydro-fracturing, or fracking, to
release the trapped bubbles, which can be in shale deposits one to two
kilometres below the surface. The technique involves drilling a vertical
well about 18 centimetres wide until it reaches the shale layer. The
drill bore then is gradually curved to horizontal, where it can go for
another two kilometres through the shale.

Water, sand and a lubricating solution are then pumped at high pressure into the well.

The
water pressure fractures the shale into tiny pieces, creating millions
of surfaces, which release their gas. The sand keeps the pieces apart
and the gas within the shale is then forced to the well by the pressure
of the rock above.

But fracking is raising concerns over the
chemicals being used and the wisdom of fracturing part of the earth’s
crust. (Some are blaming it for a series of mini-earthquakes in
Arkansas, a region that is generally quake-free.)

Further, environmentalists fears of contamination of the aquifer if gases or chemicals escape.

Last
week, the province of Quebec placed a two-year moratorium on fracking
in shale gas deposits in that province while it develops regulations.

Energy minister Thomson said the situation in Quebec is far different than here.

“This
is a province where oil and gas exploration has been taking place for
decades. Quebec, on the other hand, is only beginning to establish an
oil and gas sector,” he said in the email. “It makes sense for Quebec to
take a prudent approach as they do not have the background and
regulatory structure in place like we do.”

Paulson said the province has kept abreast of technological change by expanding its regulatory regime to include fracking.

The
Oil and Gas Activities Act, which came into effect last October,
contains regulations that specifically address drilling of shale gas
wells and hydro-fracturing, Paulson said. Water stewardship is addressed
in regulations and companies are required to dispose of chemicals
safely.

Companies keep their chemical solutions secret, saying
they are proprietary. It amounts to less than one per cent of what is
injected, according to the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers.

The
commission does not require them to divulge their chemical mix, but
they must keep on-site a list of the chemicals they use in fracking. If
for example, cross-contamination by one fracture full of fluid extended
into an adjacent fracture created by another well, then the commission
would want to know what exactly is in the solution.

That has never happened, Paulson said.

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Tyee Special Report: In America’s Capital, a Fierce Fight over Oil Sands

March 14, 2011Energy and Resources, Oil&Gas, Pipelines and SupertankersBC Oil Pipelines and Supertankers, Oil and gas, The TyeeDamien Gillis

From TheTyee.ca – Match 14, 2011

by Geoff Dembicki

In the hallways and offices of America’s capital city, a
war is being quietly waged out of view of most Canadians and Americans.

The outcome will decide North America’s energy future and its impact on the planet’s climate.

The tactics are all the high pressure
persuasion and hard-ball politicking that tens of millions of dollars
can buy — many of those dollars contributed by Canadian taxpayers.

The war pits America’s largest
environmental groups against some of the world’s wealthiest corporations
and their “allies” in the Canadian and Albertan governments.

The battle line divides two viscerally
opposed camps: Those arguing that North America’s deepening dependence
on Alberta’s oil sands industry represents a pragmatic solution to
looming energy crises, and those who say relying on oil sands crude
marks an irreversible step closer to climate change catastrophe.

The prize, at end of the day, will be votes cast by politicians.

Will Washington’s legislators pass laws
that have the effect of opening the oil sands spigots wider, assuring
that Alberta’s bitumen crude increasingly, and permanently, flows into
the U.S. market?

Or will they legislate against high carbon
emissions fuel sources as a measure to reduce climate change? That could
severely constrict the flow of oil sands’ output into the U.S., dashing
the profit dreams of corporations — and some Canadian officials — who
have already bet hugely on providing bitumen-derived crude for American
consumption.

The Tyee goes to the story

With so much on the line, there has been
surprisingly scant coverage of how this battle is being waged and by
whom. Until now. Beginning today, The Tyee is publishing The War for the
Oil Sands in Washington, an in-depth, multi-part series that begins
with three stories this week and many more in the coming weeks.

The reporting comes out of months of research capped by a week spent
in Washington late in February, during which I interviewed oil sands
lobbyists, environmental advocates and the congressional insiders either
side hopes to influence.

What I found was an intense lobbying
campaign being waged by each camp, both battling for the sympathies of
Congress and the White House administration. The odds are clearly in
favour of the oil sands coalition, which holds enormous political
influence and has won major legislative victories on several fronts. But
the green coalition, especially with Barack Obama in power, has more
clout than its limited resources might suggest.

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Rafe Mair Visits Williams Lake

March 13, 2011Energy and Resources, Pipelines and Supertankers, WATERBC Oil Pipelines and Supertankers, rafe mair, Take Back Our BC, Water and EnergyDamien Gillis

From the Williams Lake Tribune – March 11, 2011

Author and social commentator Rafe Mair and documentary film maker
Damien Gillis will be in Williams Lake March 25 for a town-hall style
presentation on their new online non-profit journal The Common Sense Canadian — a voice for the public and environment.

Mair and Gillis are touring 30 B.C. communities and
will make their presentation in the Williams Lake secondary commons
theatre from 7 to 9 p.m. on March 25.

The two-hour event will feature Gillis’ new short documentary on the proposed Enbridge pipeline to B.C.’s North Coast, called Oil in Eden, plus a keynote speech by Mair.

There will also be an opportunity for the audience to
ask questions and discuss issues with the speakers on topics such as
rivers, hydro bills, oil tankers and democracy.

“These aren’t matters of left and right, but of right and wrong,” Mair says.

“It’s time for common-sense Canadians to band together —
through our own media and community organizing — to address our
greatest challenges: protecting our environment and democracy.”

Mair adds: “We can be the generation that lost B.C., or together we can be the one that saved it.”

Mair is a former lawyer and minister responsible for constitutional affairs in the Bennett cabinet during the 1980s.

He went on to become a broadcaster and writer on public affairs.

His commentaries and books have been punctuated with what has been called his “wicked sense of humour.”

Books include The Last Cast about fly fishing; Canada: Is Anyone Listening?; Rants Raves and Recollections that made the B.C. best seller list; Still Ranting; and Rafe: A Memoir.

The event is co-presented by the Council of Canadians Williams Lake Chapter.

Admission is by donation.

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Enbridge Ready for its Close-up: Pipeline Sparks Creative & Cultural Movement

March 3, 2011Energy and Resources, Oil&Gas, Pipelines and SupertankersBC Oil Pipelines and Supertankers, Oil and gasDamien Gillis

If there’s one thing – and I do mean one – that we can thank Enbridge for, it’s the way the company’s plan to bulldoze a massive crude oil pipeline from the Alberta Tar Sands to BC’s spectacular and rugged coast has inspired an increasingly creative and vibrant cultural movement in opposition to the project. It seems the company is caught in a Chinese finger trap – the harder they sell their scheme, the stronger the resistance grows. Indeed, the usual inducements – temporary jobs, bonus payments, and the recent dangling of 10% profit sharing to First Nations along the pipeline and tanker route – don’t appear to be gaining any traction this time around.

On the contrary, the project is awakening and drawing together coastal indigenous communities – celebrating their culture and connection to the land and water threatened by the proposal. It has attracted global focus from world-class photographers and major international media outlets. It’s helping to forge unprecedented close-knit relationships between First nations, conservation groups, and citizens around the province. And it’s spawned a boutique creative genre unto itself, characteristic of the new media era in which we live. That is, a plethora of films, photography, animation, music, and other artistic endeavours dedicated to showing Canadians and the world the incredible places and people at risk from the pipeline and associated supertankers.

In other words, this revolution is definitely being televised…and screened, streamed, podcast, social networked in powerful ways – and it’s only getting started. It has been my distinct privilege to be some small part of it.

This whole creative movement was on full display during a special event held as part of the Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival last month. A crowd of some 700 people crammed into the Centennial Theatre in North Vancouver to take part in “spOILed”, an evening filled with films, photography, and amazing guest speakers, each with an important story to tell (watch highlight video – story continues below).

Looking at the packed program (the event ran from 6:30 to nearly 11 o’clock) I wondered if it wouldn’t be a tad overwhelming for the audience – yet nearly everyone stayed to very end. And with good reason. They were treated to a veritable visual feast – juxtaposing spectacular natural images with the Tar Sands and myriad oil-related disasters of late that have only reinforced the concerns of Enbridge’s critics (three of these big spills from last year came from Enbridge itself, including the infamous disaster on Michigan’s Kalamazoo River).

The crowd also heard from some some terrific speakers throughout the evening, expertly emceed by one of the campaign’s tireless leaders, conservationist and photographer Ian McAllister of Pacific Wild. The event was co-sponsored by the International League of Conservation Photographers, a group of the world’s top photojournalists – many of them regular National Geographic Contributors – who journeyed to the Great Bear Rainforest last year. A sampling of their stunning work was on display throughout the evening.

Among the event’s highlights was renown photographer Garth Lenz – whose work Alberta bitumen cheerleader Ezra Levant has referred to as “Tar Sands Porn” (a high compliment, considering the source). Lenz has produced some of the most iconic images of the world’s largest industrial project, which he shared with the audience during a compelling presentation on the other end of the pipeline. An exhibition of Lenz’ work opened the day after this North Vancouver event at a major gallery in Los Angeles.

The audience was also treated to a presentation by enigmatic adventure filmmaker Frank Wolf on his 2,400 km journey from the Tar Sands along the proposed pipeline route to BC’s coast. Wolf previewed his upcoming feature documentary on the expedition – which he and a colleague made through a combination of hiking, paddling, and cycling over several months last summer.

Norm Hann, a veteran wilderness tourism guide in the Great Bear Rainforest, discussed his own unique journey by paddle board – a surf board-type device atop which he paddled 400 km along the the proposed pipeline route. He too is producing a documentary titled “Stand Up for the Great Bear Rainforest”.

Among the numerous other speakers throughout the evening was Marven Robinson – a spirit bear guide from Hartley Bay and impressive photographer in his own right. Robinson was instrumental in initiating the iLCP expedition to his traditional territory. He and Ian McAllister were the stars of the evening’s highlight – a new feature documentary by EP Films on the iLCP expedition and Enbridge issue. The film, SPOIL, claimed the environmental film prize at the Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival that week. SPOIL also features renowned Canadian photojournalist Paul Nicklen, who worked with Robinson on a forthcoming cover spread for National Geographic on the sprit bear.

South African photographer Thomas Peschak – one of the world’s top underwater cameramen and chief photographer for the Save Our Seas Foundation – reported in via video address from his latest shoot in the Middle East, highlighting some of the amazing work he did recently capturing the underwater life of the Great Bear Rainforest during the iLCP expedition.

Closing out the night was a stirring speech by Heiltsuk First Nation leader Frank Brown, thanking the above filmmakers and photographers for their work exposing the Enbridge battle to the world and calling on non-aboriginal people to join forces with First Nations to help protect the Great Bear Rainforest from oil tankers.

These films and projects are just a sampling of the creative bonanza Enbridge’s proposal has unleashed. And as the company, provincial and federal governments show no signs of throwing in the towel, one can only imagine the cultural connections and creative resistance they will continue to inspire.

So, smile, Enbridge: You’re on candid camera.