Brace yourselves. After three long years, the National Energy Board will issue its recommendation on the Kinder Morgan pipeline later this week. Since the regulator has rubber stamped every oil pipeline it has ever assessed, the NEB is widely expected to recommend a ‘yes’ on Kinder Morgan, with a laundry list of conditions attached. Before … Continue reading
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Is BC’s new spill response law really world-leading?
The provincial government’s new and long-awaited oil spill preparedness bill will soon be debated in the legislature for the first time. The bill is an important step forward, promising new provisions aimed at reducing the tremendous gaps in B.C.’s ability to respond to spills. Although this is good, and much-needed in our province, the bill … Continue reading
Read more »Ribbon fades on BC’s climate leadership
How long can you still crow about the ribbon you got for the science fair project in grade school? It’s a question that kept going through my mind as I stared into the BC government’s budget documents at the briefing on Tuesday. In the Finance Minister’s speech, the Ministerial Services plan, in the strategic plan … Continue reading
Read more »Pipeline review overhaul: what does it mean for Kinder Morgan?
This week the federal government announced an extension to its review of the Kinder Morgan project, which we have all been calling for since the election. The extra steps imposed will include assessing direct and upstream greenhouse gas emissions from the proposed pipeline expansion, talking to affected communities, and carrying out additional consultation with First … Continue reading
Read more »Kinder Morgan hearings: showdown in Burnaby
After two years and thousands of pages of evidence, the final stage of the National Energy Board review of the Kinder Morgan pipeline has arrived, with oral hearings taking place in Burnaby and Calgary this month. It’s a chance for intervenors like GSA to make our case directly to the panel as to why this project should … Continue reading
Read more »All we want for Christmas is… a fair Kinder Morgan hearing
Our new federal government has been sending some mixed signals about what it plans to do about the Kinder Morgan pipeline review. On the campaign trail, Prime Minister Trudeau promised to fix the broken pipeline review process, and redo the Kinder Morgan hearings. Now, on the one hand, Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr is saying that the project won’t have … Continue reading
Read more »The power of hope
It feels just a little bit brighter. The elections results of October 19th have brought to an end a period of great darkness for civil society. If that sounds melodramatic, I can tell you from direct experience it is not. Deemed enemies of the state, attacked, tied up in administrative burdens so we could be … Continue reading
Read more »A big win for stronger local spill preparedness
Today was a good day. Local government leaders from big cities, small towns and regional districts across BC voted unanimously in favour of strengthening community oil spill preparedness. In a giant meeting room at the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) Convention, hundreds of our local elected representatives raised their hands and endorsed Resolution A4, calling … Continue reading
Read more »Oil spills update
It’s been a busy few weeks on the oil spill front. So busy, in fact, that I’ve put together a round-up of new developments related to oil spills, impacts and response on BC’s south coast. May 27th was the deadline for intervenors in the NEB’s Kinder Morgan review to submit evidence to the panel, and … Continue reading
Read more »Momentum builds for stronger community oil spill response
Great news! This week local government leaders from across the Lower Mainland unanimously voted in favour of better local oil spill response, and a stronger voice for communities in oil spill planning. Motion R13 – which GSA worked with the City of Vancouver to put forward – was passed at the annual conference of the Lower … Continue reading
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