Keystone XL is Rejected Energy East to Follow

TransCanada's tar sands pipelines are being thwarted at every turn. US President Barack Obama has officially rejected the Keystone XL and the new Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to cancel the Energy East.

President Obama rejected the Keystone citing the economics associated with low oil prices. He also said that building the KXL would be inconsistent with US leadership on climate change. The $7 billion dollar, 1,179 mile long KXL would have ferried 800,000 barrels a day of heavy crude oil from the tar sand pits in Alberta Canada to refineries on the Gulf of Mexico.

Last week TransCanada announced a new route for the Energy East pipeline that excluded an oil export terminal in Cacouna northeast of Quebec city. The terminal was abandoned 6 months ago due to a public outcry over the impact the project would have on the habitat of beluga whales.

The $12 billion, 4,600-kilometre Energy East pipeline would transport 1.1 million barrels of crude each day. from Alberta to Canada's east coast. It is scheduled to be completed in 2020 the year that a hoped for global climate agreement would come into effect.

The change comes a matter of days after TransCanada requested a pause in the US State Department's consideration of the Keystone XL pipeline. The request was subsequently denied and then on November 6th the KXL pipeline was cancelled outright after many years of wrangling.

In response to the news, TransCanada said that the fight for the Keystone XL is not over. They are also working on ways of keeping the Energy East afloat. They have submitted new plans for the Energy East to Canada's National Energy Board. The revised route for Energy East pipeline excludes a port in Quebec and goes directly to Irving Oil's massive refinery in Saint John, New Brunswick.

While the company is trying to put a brave face on the cancellation of the Keystone XL and the rerouting of the Energy East, they are having an increasingly difficult time moving forward with their pipedreams.

The situation is destined to get worse for TransCanada as the new Liberal government has promised to prevent oil shipping along Canada's west coast and cancel the Energy East outright. TransCanada explained the rerouting indicated that their decision was made after "conducting thorough studies and consulting with many local communities," Energy East president John Soini said.

Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard has questioned the economic, employment and environmental benefits of the Energy East and he said that his province will not just be a passageway for the pipeline. Citing climate and other concerns, environmental groups oppose the building of the pipeline altogether.

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Belugas Slow Energy East Pipeline Project
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Cities In Ontario and Quebec Opposing Energy East
Video - Stop the Energy East Pipeline
Ahead of Obama's Rejection TransCanada Fails to Suspend the KXL
Why the Keystone XL Pipedream Must Die
Reasons Why the Keystone XL is a Pipedream
Keystone XL will Emit 4 Times More Pollution than Originally Thought
The Fate of the Keystone XL: The Ball is in Your Court Mr President
Refuting the Rationale for Approving the Keystone XL
Comparison of the Keystone XL and Renewable Energy
How Come the Keystone XL is so Hard to Kill
The Politics of the Obama Administration's Keystone Delay

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Video - Stop the Energy East Pipeline

TransCanada is moving forward with the Energy East pipeline, one of the largest pipeline projects ever conceived. In addition to causing massive amounts of greenhouse gases, the plan imperils Canadian waterways. Find out more by clicking the links below.

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Environmental Leaders Comment on the Energy East Pipeline

Environmental organizations in Canada and the United States, First Nations and community organizers are resolute in their opposition to TransCanada's Energy East pipeline. Here are some of the comments made by their leaders.

"It's not going to happen, Energy East would negate all the good work on climate that has been done at the provincial level, pose a major threat to millions of people's drinking water and disrespect Canadians in Eastern Canada, who care as much as any other Canadian about oil spills contaminating their homes, waterways and livelihoods."

- Patrick Bonin of Greenpeace Canada.

"TransCanada entered my territory, Kanehsatàke, like a slick snake oil salesman with promises of jobs and economic benefits. The company's unscrupulous manner to impress upon our community that Energy East is a 'done deal' is unethical and coercive. In the absence of our free prior and informed consent, it would be illegal for the National Energy Board to grant TransCanada an application for Energy East,"

- Ellen Gabriel of Kanehsatàke, a Mohawk community in Quebec.

"At a time when we're already seeing impacts of climate change in Canada, it's ludicrous the federal government thinks it can review Energy East with no consideration of how this project will impact the climate,"

- Cameron Fenton of 350.org.

"There is no way Quebecers are going to allow what Canadians in the west and Americans to the south don't want, and that is unacceptable water and climate risks from an export pipeline that benefits the bottom line of one pipeline company,"

- Steven Guilbeault of Equiterre.

"We believe the proposal should be rejected. From what we've been hearing from people, water ranks very high, if not at the top of the list of concerns regarding the risks of this particular pipeline."

- Andrea Harden-Donahue, a contributing author to a recent Council of Canadians report on the pipeline titled "Energy East: Where Oil Meets Water."

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Cities In Ontario and Quebec Opposing Energy East

 Municipalities situated near the proposed corridor are opposing the Energy East Pipeline. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his minions at the National Energy Board (NEB) have been doing everything they can to fast track tar sands development. This includes preventing communities from contributing to the review.

The only exception is the Northern Ontario town of Mattawa which signed what amounts to a gag order in 2012. TransCanada Corp, the builders of the Energy East pipeline, gave the town of Mattawa a $30,000 rescue vehicle on the condition that they take a vow of silence.

One of the clauses in the agreement reads as follows:

“The Town of Mattawa will not publicly comment on TransCanada’s operations or business projects.”

Other cities are not so easily bribed. Municipalities, like Kenora, North Bay, Thunder Bay, Saint-Sulpice, L'Assomption, Tadoussac and some other mayors of towns in the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region of Quebec are all opposing the pipeline.

"The Energy East pipeline would be a direct threat to Kenora's water supply and, as North America's premier boating destination, that's a major problem," said Teika Newton, a Kenora community organizer, adding the pipeline would jeopardize the half a billion dollar regional tourism industry in Northwestern Ontario.

Voters in Kenora, North Bay and Thunder Bay elected city councils with strong mandates to oppose Energy East. Thunder Bay re-elected Mayor Keith Hobbs who is a vocal opponent of the pipeline. In Ottawa, a majority on city council have expressed concerns about Energy East alongside more than 50,000 Canadians who have signed petitions opposing the pipeline.

A recent report by the Goodman Group showed Quebec would receive almost no economic value from the project. The absence of economic benefit and concerns associated with environmental impacts have spurred resolutions against the pipeline.Including Quebec, at least a dozen municipal resolutions have been filed against the pipeline.

“Water is our life. And I have serious concerns about what this project will mean for our local economy,” said Hugues Tremblay, mayor of Tadoussac, a village that is a whale watching Mecca. “Those accidents in the Gulf of Mexico and with Japan’s nuclear reactors weren’t supposed to happen but they did. We’re not insulated from a mishap either.”

Some of the opposition in Quebec suggests some of the tension that divides the two solitudes. “We’re on our knees for what probably amounts to about 20 or so jobs,” said Sylvain Tremblay, the mayor of Saint-Siméon who also represents the larger regional county municipality of Charlevoix Est. “We’re being asked to pay the price so people somewhere in the rest of Canada might make more money.”

Fifty thousand people in Quebec municipalities and elsewhere in the province, have signed petitions asking the federal government to forbid TransCanada from drilling in endangered beluga habitat.

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Environmental Action Opposing the Energy East Pipeline

People from across the continent were already actively engaged in protest even before the application for the Energy East pipeline was submitted by TransCanada on October 30th. According to the National Energy Board's (NEB) rules there will be a 15 month period for review.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has excluded climate science and communities from contributing to the pipeline review process in an effort to fast track tar sands development. However, this has only emboldened opposition to the pipeline. When the NEB announced that it will not consider the climate impacts or community voices in its assessment more than 50,000 people sent letters of protest.

Environmental groups opposing the Energy East include Greenpeace Canada, Equiterre, Environmental Defence, Ecology Ottawa, Council of Canadians, NRDC, New Brunswick Conservation Council, AQLPA, 350 Maine, Nature Quebec, Ecology Action Centre and the Coule pas chez nous!, as well as land and homeowners living near the proposed route and concerned municipalities, like North Bay, Saint-Sulpice and L'Assomption.

Greenpeace has launched a petition calling for a review and Environmental Defense has launched a campaign called Our Risk Their Reward. The biggest protest in Quebec against the Energy East pipeline took place on October 11.

The organization 350.org is behind a number of actions including a Halloween protest. They have also organized what they are calling "The People's Intervention Campaign." The plan is to deliver tens of thousands of messages to the National Energy Board (NEB) calling for a climate review of Energy East. Over 50,000 Canadians from across the country have already added their message. Another nationwide action from 350.org involves the creation of the Energy East Action Network which provides kits to help community organizers plan and launch actions to stop the pipeline. This network will stage nationwide actions at key moments.

An action that includes protest against Energy East is planed for today (November 7th). Students from across the country are coming together in Montreal for the first Student Divestment Convergence in Canada. It kicks off on Friday, November 7th, at 7:00 PM at the Hall Building of Concordia University, 1455 De Maisonneuve Blvd, room H110.

The event will include discussions, stories, and plans for action to stop pipeline and tar sands expansion in Quebec and beyond. Featured voices from across the climate justice movement in Canada & Quebec, include:

- Crystal Lameman. A member of the Beaver Lake Cree Nation, Crystal focuses her work on fighting to oppose the tar sands, whilst addressing the environmental racism the Government of Canada imposes on First Nations people in the name of resource extraction.

- Denise Jourdain. Denise is a member of the Innu community of Uashat mak Mani-utenam, on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River. She is actively working to oppose the Plan Nord forestry and mining industry in Northern Quebec.

- Alyssa Symons-Belanger. An anti-pipeline activist and organizer in Quebec, Alyssa has played a key role in organizing the Marche des Peuples pour la Terre Mere & the recent Line 9 Action Camp.

- Heather Milton-Lightening. Heather is an Indigenous organizer with 17 years of experience in organizing local and international campaigns, including dozens of campaigns and actions to stop tar sands expansion.

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The Energy East Pipedream

If it is built the Energy East pipeline would be the largest fossil fuel pipeline in North America. This monster pipeline would snake 4,000 km from terminals at Hardisty, Alta. and Moosomin, Sask. to refineries in Montreal, the Quebec City region and Saint John, N.B. In addition to posing local risks to drinking water, ecosystems and toursim Energy East would spur further tar sands development and lead to a major increase in greenhouse gas emissions.

The Energy East pipeline would cross six Canadian provinces from Alberta to New Brunswick transporting 30 per cent more oil than Keystone XL and twice the amount of the Northern Gateway. Energy East would move 1.1 million barrels of tar sands (cut with toxic natural gas condensate) each day and produce up to 32 million tonnes of carbon emissions each year. This is more emissions than produced by any Atlantic province. It is comparable to adding 7 million new cars to Canadian roads each year.

According to a review from the Pembina Institute the Energy East pipeline would significantly increase Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions, making it difficult to meet our national climate targets.  Environmental groups, scientists, economists and citizens have repeatedly said that we simply cannot afford to ramp up tar sands development and combat climate change.

The proposed Energy East pipeline would convert 3,000 km of 55 year old natural gas pipeline to transport crude oil, and build over 1,400 km of new pipeline. TransCanada filed its official application with the National Energy Board on October 30th. 

The Energy East pipeline will cross at least 90 watersheds and 961 waterways. This includes the Rideau River, the Ottawa River, the St Lawrence River and the Bay of Fundy and Shoal Lake, which supplies water to Winnipeg. The pipeline jeopardizes the drinking water of millions of people

According to the Council of Canadians, the Energy East pipeline poses too much risk to waterways to be approved. There is no way to make a pipeline that is spill-proof. Even in the pipeline capitol of Canada, oil spills are common, in fact they are statistically inevitable.

A disastrous pipeline spill in Kalamazoo, Michigan in 2010, spilled more than 3.8 million litres of diluted oil-sands bitumen, contaminating a 48-km stretch of the Kalamazoo River which is still contaminated, even after “clean-up” of the spill.

Concerns about a pipeline spill are compounded by the fact that the waterways it would traverse are covered by ice for almost half of the year making any clean-up effort that much more difficult.

In addition to threatening drinking water, a spill could do irreversible damage to sensitive aquatic ecosystems. The proposed pipeline would follow the shores of the St. Lawrence River, a critical habitat for 13 species of whales including, sperm whales, Blue Whales, Fins, Greys, threatened Belugas, and others. Beluga whales in particular have become a key symbol for those opposing the pipeline.

The pipeline would link to a newly planned marine export terminal and storage facility at the port of Gros-Cacouna near Rivière-du-Loup Quebec. The site is just across the river from the Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park, a national marine conservation area known for its colony of beluga whales.

Ecologists warn TransCanada’s work disturbs the habitat and calving locations of belugas. There are now less than 900 Belugas in the St-Lawrence representing a 12 percent decline in the last decade.

Tourism, and the big business of whale watching in particular, would also be hit hard by a spill. Even one small spill from the pipeline or one of the tanker ships slated to carry the crude for export could be catastrophic to tourism not to mention fish and wildlife habitats. 

Energy East would also threaten the Baie de l’Isle-Verte wetlands and their teeming waterfowl populations. Other sensitive ecosystems that would be threatened include the Kennebecasis river system in New Brunswick, (its tidal and its freshwater marsh is one of the largest and most diverse of its kind) and the Musquash Tidal Wetland, also in New Brunswick. The terminus in Saint John would see hundreds of massive tankers laden with tar sands crude that would threaten the rich fishing grounds of the Bay of Fundy.

A host of other important rivers and streams would be threatened by the building of the new section of the proposed pipeline. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans is no longer responsible for protecting our fisheries from pipeline projects. According to a memorandum of understanding signed on December 16, 2013 the fox is now guarding the henhouse. The National Energy Board (NEB) is now responsible for assessing the potential impacts to fisheries from pipelines. The NEB said that it will not consider the climate impacts of the pipeline in its assessment.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has been doing everything he can to fast track tar sands development. He has ignored climate science in the pipeline review process and he has prevented communities for formally commenting.

Harper can be expected to ignore protestors but he cannot ignore Quebec's National Assembly. On November 6th, the National Assembly of Quebec unanimously demanded a full review of Energy East, including its climate impacts. In 2013, the government of BC stood up and opposed the Northern Gateway project.

Harper hopes that he can increase current tar sands oil capacity from its current levels of just under 2 million barrels a day to 6 million barrels a day within the next decade. However, if we factor a science based approach to assess the climate impacts of the Energy East the project is dead in the water.

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Halloween Campaign Opposing the Energy East Pipeline

The Energy East pipeline is a climate nightmare. A Halloween campaign from 350.org is protesting the pipeline project. As they explain, "climate change is scary -- and so is the largest tar sands pipeline ever proposed. What's even scarier is that this monster of a tar sands pipeline, TransCanada's Energy East project, wont receive a climate review."

If it is allowed to go forward, it will have a climate impact equivalent to over 7 million cars. That is why 350.org is shining a light on the Energy East climate nightmare this Halloween.

This Halloween, 350.org is encouraging people to carve "#NoEnergyEast Jack-O-Lanterns." They suggest that people deliver these pumpkins to their local elected offical's office or home.

They also suggest that people take pictures and post them on their social media portals and send them to news outlets. The goal is to build a national narrative showing that the Energy East pipeline is a climate nightmare.

Click here to sign up to lead an action! After signing up you will have access to printable Jack-O-Lantern templates and a full action kit.

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Quebecers Protest Energy East Pipeline and Terminal

On October 11, People came together to protest against TransCanada's proposed Energy East pipeline and the international oil port that they want to build in Cacouna, near Rivière-du-Loup, Quebec. This was the largest protest ever staged in Cacouna. There were more than 2000 people present for the protest which is more than the entire population of the small village.

If it is built, the Energy East pipeline would carry 1.1 million barrels of tar sands crude each day from Alberta to terminals in Quebec and the Maritimes. TransCanada has recently been granted permission to resume preparatory work on the port after a court-ordered suspension.

Ecologists warn TransCanada’s work disturbs the habitat and calving period of belugas, whose numbers have dropped by 12 percent in the last decade and they now number fewer than 900 in the St-Lawrence.

The protest is in addition to the 30,000 people who have signed an online petition calling for a permanent ban on "all work in critical habitat for beluga." The Council of Canadians has called on the Harper government to respect the Species at Risk Act and declare the St. Lawrence Estuary a protected zone.

On Thursday (October 9) the federal NDP - which holds 56 of the 75 federal ridings in Quebec - introduced a motion that states, "the proposed Port of Gros-Cacouna oil terminal, which will be used for the sole purpose of exporting unprocessed Canadian oil, will have a negative impact on the Canadian economy through the loss of well-paid jobs, will constitute an unacceptable environmental threat to the St. Lawrence ecosystem, including the beluga whale population, and therefore, is not consistent with the principle of sustainable development, and must be rejected."

The day before the protest (October 10), the environment ministry issued a warning to TransCanada for making too much noise and using too many boats to transport workers.

Although the project could be worth up to 6 billion for the province, many believe the terminal and pipeline are not worth the environmental damage they will cause.

The protest was held four days before the expiry of a Quebec Superior Court injunction on TransCanada’s exploratory drilling in Cacouna.

On Thursday (October 16) a temporary injunction against TransCanada drilling in the St. Lawrence River is set to expire. TransCanada has indicated it will resume exploratory work for the terminal at that time. The following Monday (October 20) the House of Commons is expected to vote on the NDP motion against the terminal. On October 30th, TransCanada filed its application for the pipeline with the National Energy Board.

From October 26 to November 6, the Council of Canadians and local partners will visit communities in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick to talk about why TransCanada’s proposed Energy East pipeline is all risk and little reward for Atlantic Canada. Our tour will include public forums in Halifax (October 26), Cornwallis (October 27), Saint John (October 29), Fredericton (November 4), and Edmunston (November 6).

For more on the Council of Canadians campaign against the Energy East pipeline, please click here.

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Canada's Provincial and Territorial Governments Draft Principles for a Clean Energy Strategy

Canada's provincial and territorial governments have come together and agreed on an energy strategy grounded in clean energy and climate action. At the conclusion of the Council of the Federation meeting in Prince Edward Island on Friday August 29th they released an updated set of principles intended to guide their work on a Canadian energy strategy.

This agreement cites a number of climate friendly initiatives including carbon pricing. The measures were agreed upon by all the provincial and territorial governments including the newly-elected majority governments in Quebec and Ontario.

The principles will serve as the foundation of a strategy that emphasizes cutting carbon pollution and growing Canada’s clean-energy economy.

The climate-friendly energy efforts of provincial and territorial governments are in stark contrast to the ruling federal Conservatives who have been unrelenting supporters of expanded fossil fuel extraction including the tar sands one of the dirtiest forms of energy on earth.

Under Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the Conservatives have amassed a lamentable rap sheet of climate crimes. They have abandoned Kyoto, reneged on the nation's carbon emission reduction pledges, shut down public debates on fossil fuel projects, and prevented scientists from reporting their climate findings. 

© 2014, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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Tar Sands Pipeline in Great Lakes Region Challenged by NWF

Enbridge has quietly secured approval from the US State Department to significantly increase its transport of Canadian tar sands into the Great Lakes region.

Enbridge will almost double the flow of tar sands oil transported in its Clipper Pipeline (aka Line 67).Enbridge's Clipper pipeline serves as the corridor between Alberta's tar sands and Line 6A.

The amount of heavy oil that will flow through the pipeline by 2015 is equivalent to the Keystone XL.

A document posted by the US Department of State on August 18, 2014 refers to the proposed Enbridge Energy, Line 67 Capacity Expansion Project (2013 NOI). In this request the document notes Enbridge's intention to operate its existing Line 67, "at the pipeline’s full design capacity..."

The document goes on to say,

"Since that time, Enbridge has amended and supplemented its November 2012 application. In June 2014, Enbridge informed the Department that Enbridge intends to increase pumping capacity outside of the Line 67 ‘‘border segment’’ (the portion of Line 67 from the Canadian border to the first main line shut-off valve, which is the segment that would be covered by a Presidential Permit), and to interconnect Line 67 with another Enbridge line (Line 3) on either side of the border segment. Enbridge is proceeding with certain elements of these plans. Enbridge submitted documents for public release in July 2014 which can be found at http:// www.state.gov/e/enr/applicant/ applicants/c55571.htm.

The June 16, 2014 Enbridge application reads as follows:

"[T]he annual average capacity of Line 67 in the United States be increased up to 570,000 bpd by mid-2014 (referred to as “Phase I”), and up to 800,000 bpd by mid-2015"

The NWF has challenged the legality of such a scheme indicating that:

"Federal law requires the State Department to approve any such change only if the following requirements have been met: (1) public notice and involvement, (2) a detailed environmental review, and (3) a national interest determination. This is the process governing review of the Keystone XL pipeline. But here, none of these requirements have been followed."

The NWF article expresses concern that such an increase would present significant spill risks to wildlife and people as well as increasing climate change causing emissions. There is a recent example to support these concerns. The BP Whiting refinery in Indiana spilled between 470 and 1228 gallons of oil into Lake Michigan on March 24, 2014.

In light of these concerns and legal irregularities the NWF makes the following demand:

"The State Department must immediately correct this illegal mistake and stop Enbridge from any tar sands expansion along the Alberta Clipper line until the law has been followed. A failure to do so violates both the law and President Obama’s commitment to ensure that tar sands pipeline projects not exacerbate the problem of climate change."

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Canada's Ruling Conservatives Suppress Arctic Ice Loss Research

The ruling Conservative party of Canada under the leadership of Prime Minister Stephen Harper are well known for silencing scientists, cutting funding for environmental research, and gutting environmental oversight. However, their latest attempt to suppress government research on the rapid loss of sea ice in the Arctic has plunged them to a new low.

Conservative ministers are now prohibiting Canadian Ice Services (CIS) from disclosing their research findings. CIS scientists have been denied the right to hold a "strictly factual" press briefing on the catastrophic loss of northern ice. Under the Harper governments new rules CIS and other government researchers must secure nine levels of government approval. The latest attempt to share information paid for by the Canadian taxpayer has been vetoed at the sixth ministerial level.

The Ice loss in the Arctic has implications for global weather patterns. Most recently it has been linked to the drought in California.

The fact that a national government prevents its own scientists from reporting information that has grave global consequences is cynical politically motivated climate denial. The Conservative's goal is to withhold information that can impede their efforts to recklessly extract climate change causing fossil fuels, particularly the tar sands. 

As the temperature keeps climbing around and in the Arctic in particular the Harper government's actions are represent a danger to Canadians, and the whole of human civilization.

© 2014, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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Canadian Conservatives Undermine Democracy and Environmental Protections

Canada, once a laudable example of an open democracy is rapidly deteriorating under Harper's Conservatives. There is a long list of anti-democratic actions taken by Canada's ruling Conservatives.  One of those is Bill C-38 which weakened federal environmental laws and made it far more difficult for the public and scientists to weigh in on new projects.

Out of 95 countries surveyed by the Centre for Law and Democracy, Canada ranked 56th, which is one place ahead of Rwanda and behind Colombia, Mongolia and Russia.

When it comes to access to information laws, Canada is behind every country in the world, with the exception of Tajikistan, Australia, Iceland, China and Greece. When it comes to how often information is withheld Canada is the 16th-worst in the world, which is only slightly better than Israel, Pakistan, Portugal and Guyana.

© 2014, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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Canada's Conservatives Downgrade Humpback Protection to Move Forward with the Northern Gateway Pipeline

Canada's ruling Conservatives have bent every rule so that they can move forward with tar sands expansion. One of the most egregious and cynical moves involves the downgrading of the protections afforded the North Pacific humpback whales. They are doing this to make it easier to proceed with the $7.9 billion Northern Gateway pipeline project which would ferry tar sands bitumen to transpacific oil tankers off of Canada's ecologically sensitive West Coast.

If it goes forward, the pipeline will transport crude oil from Alberta to Kitimat in British Columbia where hundreds of oil tankers will transport the bitumen overseas.

The humpback whales status has been downgraded from "threatened" to a "species of special concern" under the Species At Risk Act (SARA). This means that the humpbacks, one of the world's largest mammals, are no longer afforded the protections that they had as a threatened species.

As a "threatened" species the humpback would have been a serious obstacle to the building of the pipeline project. As stated in the legislation, "no person shall destroy any part of the critical habitat of any ... listed threatened species".

The humpback is only one of many species at risk from the pipeline. However, whales are in greater danger because of the number of large vessels that could collide with the whales. Whales will also have to contend with oil spills and excessive noise.

© 2014, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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Good News for the Environment on Canada Day

The Canadian federal government led by Harper's Conservatives may be notorious for their utter contempt for the environment and unflinching support for fossil fuels, but Canadian provinces and municipalities are putting forth initiatives to meet the challenge of climate change and environmental degradation.

In addition to carbon pricing schemes in some provinces, municipal governments are leading regional efforts to combat climate change in the country. Hundreds of communities across our country are coming together to oppose Harper and protect the people and places that make Canada one of the world's great nations.

In addition to being the first place in North America to completely eliminate coal fired power generation, Ontario has high hopes for environmental legislation with the re-election of the provincial liberals. 

The Quebec government announced that it will be investing $12-million in a pilot project aimed at putting electric buses on Montreal streets. In October 2013, the Parti Québécois announced that it would invest $516-million to develop an electric vehicle industry in the province that will build electric cars, electric railways, and related infrastructure. The initiative is part of the City Of Montreal’s goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020.

On the federal level the government is downsizing Canada Post. This is good news for the environment as less mail means less emissions associated with transport and fewer trees destroyed for paper. The need for traditional mail services is declining due to increasing use of electronic communications.

Although ignored by Stephen Harper, some 300 scientists urged the Prime Minister to reject a report that recommended approval of a major oil pipeline to the west coast of British Columbia. The scientists described the report approving the oil pipeline as a “flawed analysis” that downplayed key environmental impacts.

Despite the Harper government's effort to triple the expansion of the tar sands, market forces may also slow the growth of Canada's fossil fuel industry.  Investment in the oil sands have dropped off and there is shrinking foreign investment in Canada's oil patch.

One of the most important pieces of recent environmental news concerns a recent Supreme Court decision that requires approval from aboriginal communities for logging, fossil fuel and mining projects.

© 2014, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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Historic Canadian Supreme Court Ruling Dis-Empowers Fossil Fuel Industry

On Thursday June 26th, 2014, the Supreme Court of Canada rendered a ground-breaking decision that recognizes the land claim of a B.C. First Nation. This ruling has national implications and will most certainly impede the rush to exploit fossil fuels and extractive industries in general.

The unanimous ruling granted B.C.'s Tsilhqot’in First Nation title to a 1,700-square-kilometre area of traditional land outside its reserve. However, the decision also sets a game-changing precedent. Going forward, logging, fossil fuel extraction and mining operations on or near aboriginal lands must have the consent from affected aboriginal groups. This has a direct bearing on projects like the Northern Gateway pipeline which crosses four territories with aboriginal claims.

The ruling will have implications that go far beyond B.C. and stretch all the way across the country to Quebec and the East Coast. It will even have repercussions in areas where there are no land treaties.

The Supreme Court decision states that the government has a duty to consult and accommodate First Nations even as the land claim is underway. If the First Nations group does not consent, the government can only go against its wishes if it proves it's justified under the Constitution.

© 2014, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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A Not So Happy Canada Day for the Environment

Under Harper's Conservatives, Canada has amassed a lamentable rap sheet of environmental abuses. In addition to failing to meet its GHG reduction commitments the ruling Canadian government has gutted environmental oversight, expanded dirty energy exploitation, killed environmental dissent, silenced climate scientists, withdrawn from the Kyoto protocol and from UN efforts to combat desertification. The Conservatives have even used Canada's intelligence services to spy on peaceful environmental groups.

A Washington-based group, the Center for Global Development, ranked Canada 27th on the environment out of the world's wealthiest 27 countries. Even China the world's largest carbon emitter is improving while Canada continues its downward spiral.

A 2013 national Environics Institute telephone poll in partnership with the David Suzuki Foundation found that public confidence in government as the lead actor in addressing climate change has declined from the 59 percent in 2012 to 53 percent in 2013.

Canada is as obstructionist on the world stage as the Republicans are in US domestic politics. Under the Conservatives Canada has ignored calls to develop a climate policy and accrued a woeful record on emissions per capita, and the development of renewable energy.

Canada has been warming at roughly double the global average over the last six decades and a bad situation is destined to get far worse. According to a Canadian government report, a wide range of flora and fauna have already been negatively affected by the warming trend in Canada.

A federal report submitted to the UN in December 2013 says that in the absence of oil sector regulation Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions will rise sharply after 2020. Canada’s emissions will be 734 megatonnes by 2020, a 5 percent increase from 2011 or 20 percent higher than the target of 612 megatonnes. By 2030 the nation is expected to emit 815 megatonnes, or 33 percent more than its current 2020 target. Emissions from the oil and gas sector will soar by 23 per cent between 2005 and 2020, and by 48 per cent by 2030. The growth of the tar sands are expected to grow Alberta’s emissions by 40 percent between 2005 and 2030, while almost every other province are predicted to see declining levels of emissions.

Carbon intensity has been steadily growing in the tar sands, since at least 2005. From 2005 to 2011, production of bitumen rose 64 percent and the associated emissions of CO2 went up 76 percent. Bitumen production is on course to rise by another 90 percent between 2011 and 2020, and its CO2 emissions will grow even faster, by 105 percent, it forecast. According to the IMF, the ruling Conservatives provide nearly $800 per Canadian in subsidies to the fossil fuel industry.

Canada, the seventh-largest emitter and per-capita emissions in the country are only exceeded by Australia, the US and Saudi Arabia among large polluters.

As reported by Foreign Policy in July last year: "Since the Conservative Party won a majority in Parliament in 2011, the federal government has eviscerated conservationists, indigenous nations, European commissioners, and just about anyone opposing unfettered oil production as unpatriotic radicals. It has muzzled climate change scientists, killed funding for environmental science of every stripe, and in a recent pair of unprecedented omnibus bills, systematically dismantled the country’s most significant long-cherished environmental laws."

It is important to note that Canadian Conservatives have not always been so belligerent and backwards on environmental policy. One Conservative Canadian government even led the world on the battle against acid rain.

© 2014, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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