Matt Simmons – The Narwhal, Local Journalism Initiative reporte
The British Columbia government gave a green light to an 800-kilometre natural gas pipeline on Thursday, paving the way for construction to start this summer — and setting the stage for what one First Nations leader warns could be a “long, hot summer” of conflict.
Continue reading ‘A long, hot summer’: B.C.’s approval of PRGT pipeline sets stage for conflict, First Nations leader saysMatt Simmons – The Narwhal, Local Journalism Initiative reporter
A cold spring rain spatters the deck outside a small coffee shop in Smithers, B.C., as Kevin Kriese explains why he believes people need to change how they think about wildfire.
A former assistant deputy minister with the provincial government and recently retired chair of the B.C. Forest Practices Board, Kriese is now a senior wildfire analyst with the POLIS wildfire resilience project. He’s tall and athletic (an avid skier) and a passionate advocate for land-based solutions to ecological challenges. He speaks with the confidence of someone who has spent his entire career navigating seemingly intractable problems — but admits getting people on board with the idea of living with more fire on the land is no easy task.
Continue reading In a world on fire, making the case for burning more
By Matt Simmons, The Narwhal, Local Journalism Initiative reporters
One of British Columbia’s government agencies is poised to get a lot more power.
Premier David Eby’s NDP government has just introduced legislation to give new responsibilities to the BC Energy Regulator (BCER), which oversees the province’s growing oil and gas sector and other energy projects.
The changes will put the regulator — largely funded by the oil and gas industry — in charge of fast-tracking renewable energy projects like wind and solar, along with the $3-billion North Coast transmission line that will power liquefied natural gas (LNG), mining and other industrial projects.
Continue reading The B.C. agency overseeing oil and gas is about to get more powerful. Here’s why you should careBy Carl Meyer & Matt Simmons, The Narwhal, Local Journalism Initiative reporters
Edward Burrier chuckled as he told his colleagues what he thought about an academic paper written by a prominent U.S. climate scientist.
Burrier, a director of public policy at Canadian fossil fuel giant TC Energy, said the study was largely to blame for public skepticism about whether liquefied natural gas (LNG) is as environmentally friendly as the oil and gas industry claims.
“One quoted study that drove a lot of this initial activism … said that LNG is worse than coal,” Burrier said.
Continue reading The feds raised doubts about a climate scientist’s LNG research; He says they sounded like fossil fuel lobbyistsEditor’s note: A Natural Resources Canada news release from September 18, 2020 stated “There are 25,000 oil and gas well sites in B.C., of which approximately 770 are considered orphan. In addition, there are currently 7,933 dormant well sites in the province.”
By Matt Simmons, The Narwhal, Local Journalism Initiative reporter
This investigation is a collaboration between The Narwhal and the Investigative Journalism Foundation.
Oil and gas companies operating in British Columbia have reported 44 “serious” leaks at wellsites over the past year, according to publicly available BC Energy Regulator records.
Continue reading 44 ‘serious’ leaks reported at B.C. oil and gas sites in the past year
