GreenWatch

B. McPherson You can't drink or breathe oil. Stop the pipeline The standoff between BigOil and environmentalists continues on Burnaby Mountain. Pipeline company KinderMorgan wants to triple its petroleum carrying capacity to bring Alberta oil to the Pacific coast for shipping to the US and overseas. They have not received the go-ahead from the Canadian Energy Board, but they have done preliminary work to map a new route for the proposed pipelines. Part of that route would take them under Burnaby Mountain, much of which is dedicated parkland. The survey crews have been blocked from cutting more trees in the park by protesters. Some would call them protectors depending on one’s point of view. KinderMorgan obtained an injunction to remove the protesters who were blocking the route. This served to increase the number of people joining in the movement. Police were moved in to remove the people. Peaceful, non-violent arrests were made. To date over 100 people have allowed ...

By B. McPherson Hearings are scheduled to start in Kitimat, BC, to hear the public speak about their interest in the proposed Enbridge Gateway Pipeline that is proposed to dig its way through the Great Bear Rain Forest to bring crude oil from the Alberta oil sands to the BC coast at the end of Douglas Channel. The Calgary based company has proposed the construction of twin pipelines that would snake from outside of Edmonton to the village of Kitimat. One pipeline would carry crude oil west while the second pipeline would carry the solvent needed to make the crude flow, east for reuse. Enbridge is the same company that has its megaproject in the US stalled, the Keystone Pipeline. The proposed route through British Columbia is a poor choice because it targets the untouched temperate rain forest, it ends at the head of a tortuous fiord, and many of the native land claims involving this land have yet to be settled. Prime Minister Harper has stated that a pipeline ...