Tag Archives: BC Oil & Gas Commission

Energy

An invisible climate killer is lurking behind B.C.’s LNG boom

By Matt Simmons, The Narwhal, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

Invisible to the naked eye, undetectable by smell and 80 times more powerful than carbon dioxide for its  short-term warming impact on the climate, methane is explosive, toxic  and can make helicopters fall out of the sky. It’s like something out of a superhero movie — or a bad dream.

About half of Canada’s reported methane emissions  are produced by the oil and gas industry, both from regular operations  and leaks. But much of the climate damage caused by the sector’s methane  pollution goes undetected due to weak regulations.

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Energy

Coastal GasLink bill climbs to $14.5B amidst continued opposition and environmental woes

By Natasha Bulowski, Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Environmental and financial woes continue for another Canadian mega-project as TC Energy announces construction costs have ballooned to $14.5 billion for its natural gas pipeline in B.C.

The 670-kilometre Coastal GasLink pipeline originally had an estimated $6.6-billion price tag. The project — which has faced staunch opposition from Wet’suwet’en hereditary leadership and received three environmental fines to date — will transport natural gas from northeastern B.C. to the country’s first liquefied natural gas (LNG) processing and export facility in Kitimat, B.C.

Continue reading Coastal GasLink bill climbs to $14.5B amidst continued opposition and environmental woes →
Energy, Indigenous Nations

Blueberry River First Nations beat B.C. in court. Now everything’s changing

By Matt Simmons, The Narwhal, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

Apart from a little pocket of land on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains, Blueberry River First Nations territory is an industrial wasteland. At a walking pace, it only takes about three minutes to stumble onto some kind of development. It’s a land of pipelines, clearcuts and gas rigs. But things are about to change.

After winning a hard-fought case before the B.C. Supreme Court in 2021, the Treaty 8 nation reached a final agreement with the province on Jan. 18. The agreement charts a path forward from a past where the province excluded the community from resource decisions and infringed on the nation’s constitutionally protected rights. Two days later, B.C. signed agreements with four neighbouring nations: Doig River, Halfway River, Saulteau and Fort Nelson. Collectively, the agreements represent a way out of conflict and a shared goal to heal the land. 

Continue reading Blueberry River First Nations beat B.C. in court. Now everything’s changing →
Energy, Indigenous Nations, Rivers & Oceans

Tensions rise as Coastal GasLink blasts a creek near a Wet’suwet’en camp

By Matt Simmons, The Narwhal, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

Less than one kilometre from a Wet’suwet’en camp and village site, where cabins, tiny homes and a feast hall provide space for ceremony, cultural practices and opportunities to reconnect with the land, is a vast muddy clearing, guarded by private security workers. 

Here, the path of the Coastal GasLink pipeline crosses Ts’elkay Kwe (Lamprey Creek), a tributary of Wedzin Kwa (Morice River). This work requires digging a trench right through the creek to bury the pipe under it.

Ts’elkay Kwe is a known spawning channel for steelhead trout trout and other species, including coho salmon, according to a 2007 land-use plan. But steelhead and salmon throughout the watershed are in decline, in part due to widespread clearcut logging and climate change.

Continue reading Tensions rise as Coastal GasLink blasts a creek near a Wet’suwet’en camp →
Energy

The northern B.C. pipeline you’ve never heard of — Enbridge’s Westcoast Connector

By Matt Simmons, The Narwhal, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

The Coastal GasLink pipeline is currently B.C.’s most infamous — with the arrests of Indigenous land defenders and journalists, repeated environmental infractions and celebrity activism from the likes of Mark Ruffalo, Greta Thunberg and Leonardo DiCaprio. 

But the list of controversial pipeline projects in the province doesn’t stop there.  

Continue reading The northern B.C. pipeline you’ve never heard of — Enbridge’s Westcoast Connector →