Canada will not meet its emissions targets for 2020. There has been improvements since 2005, but the oil sector is expected to produce 28% more emissions by the end of this decade. Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he would like to regulate the oil sands, but that “would be crazy” in light of economic developments. Despite the global trend towards adopting renewable energy and smart technologies, the Canadian government continued to tie this nation’s economic future to the fossil fuel industry. So what is Canada missing?
Western Maryland sits on top one of the most controversial shale deposits in North America. There were 245 cases of water contamination in the neighbouring state of Pennsylvania and reports from West Virginia as well. Maryland’s Departments of Environment and Natural Resources have been studying fracking operations in these two states for over three years and just released a draft report (p 2 of attached) on how fracking “can be accomplished without unacceptable risks of adverse impacts to public health, safety, the environment, and natural resources.” These proposed rules are the strongest in the US and, using them as a criteria, I decided to grade the LNG development in my province. British Columbia gets a conditional “F” in Fracking.
Last week the Canadian Geothermal Energy Association (CanGEA) released a report stating BC could develop geothermal for half the cost of hydro. That’s only the first of a series of benefits, that include little environmental impact, more jobs and energy that costs less to produce. CanGEA claims there is a sufficient geothermal potential to meet all of British Columbia’s future power needs. (p 7) Geothermal could supply the 1,100 MW of capacity and 5,100 gigawatt hours per year (GWh/yr) of energy that the proposed Site C dam offers, but an officer of BC Hydro says it is not likely they will switch to Geothermal.
The Skeena River is one of the most productive salmon bearing rivers in British Columbia. Thousands of years before the first European colonists arrived, it was providing First Nations with food. A week ago, First Nations throughout the Skeena Watershed declared their opposition to the proposed LNG project on Lelu Island, grave lack of consultation and massive damage to salmon habitat.
Former BC Hyrdo CEO Marc Elieson claims the National Energy Board’s review of Kinder Morgan’s proposal to expand its pipeline calls the review a farce whose outcome was decided before the hearings began. In the interview that follows, he explains why he withdrew from the hearings. I combined it with clips from interviews with Greg McDade, lawyer for the City of Burnaby, and Andrew Weaver, MLA for Gordon Head in Victoria, for “Three Intervenors Speak Against Trans Mountain Pipeline Hearings.”
