In late June, the federal government announced Enbridge’s $7.9-billion Northern Gateway Pipeline can proceed if it meets the National Energy Board’s 209 conditions. That’s indicative of a multiplicity of concerns around a project that includes a 1,200-kilometre pipeline that would traverse some of the most wild and spectacular terrain in Canada, and the shipping of […]
Comment: Jeff Immelt is the right guy to make changes in the oil sands
General Electric Co. chairman and chief executive officer Jeff Immelt is just what Canada needs to develop its oil sands — an American leader with stature in Washington, on Wall Street, in the oil patch and in Silicon Valley. He said this week that GE will help companies clean up the oil sands so that […]
Comment: Trains to transport oil a good option
The militant takeover at Iraq’s largest refinery and ongoing instability in other oil-producing areas in Russia and Venezuela illustrate the importance of developing domestic sources of crude oil to move the U.S. toward energy independence. A proposed energy distribution terminal for Vancouver, Wash., would provide essential infrastructure to make this happen. North American crude would […]
Comment: Pipeline east little benefit for Ontario
The Northern Gateway Project, promises to keep British Columbia mired in debate for years to come. Despite the National Energy Board’s recent approval, staunch opposition from First Nations groups and environmentalists looks set to suspend the pipeline in a state of legal limbo. Across the border, meanwhile, the high-stakes world of pipeline politics means U.S. […]
Comment: Let’s make use of our natural resources
I am appalled by the many frivolous lawsuits filed against the Northern Gateway pipeline project by various interest groups. If these groups had lived in the 1880s, when the Canadian Pacific Railway tunnels were chiseled through the Rocky Mountains, or in the 1950s and 1960s, when the Trans-Canada Highway, the longest in the world today, […]
Poll: Canadians think oil sands more important to economy than they actually are
A new poll by an environmental group indicates Canadians, may overestimate the economic benefits from the oil sands. Statistics Canada reports that production from oil sands accounts for no more than 2 percent of the country’s gross domestic product. Yet the survey by Environmental Defense said 57 percent of respondents overrated that value, including 41 […]
First Nations rights vs national interest
The federal government may have to get more involved in oil and gas development in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling giving title to aboriginals in B.C. That’s the result of a new study done by the Fraser Institute. The court’s unanimous landmark ruling last month brought an end to a thirty year long […]
Comment: Climate plans amount to ‘wishful thinking’
Alberta’s strategy to address climate change has proven to be little more than “wishful thinking.” When the Alberta government introduced its Climate Change Strategy in 2008, the document was branded with the words “Responsibility, Leadership and Action” but eight years later – with greenhouse gas emissions nowhere close to meeting the provincial target – there’s […]
Plan to ship from the oil sands to the east coast runs into a snag
Oil-sands opponents rallied in Bretton Woods, N.H., where New England governors held their annual meeting with eastern Canadian premiers. On the table – energy trade and innovation. “We are calling on Northeast leaders to oppose projects that would bring more tar sands oil into the region, and to implement a regional clean fuel standard along […]
First Nations companies competitive in battle for oil sands jobs
When it comes to landing contracts in Alberta’s oil sands, First Nations groups are no longer the beneficiaries of easy deals. Chief financial officer of Fort McKay Group of Companies, Marguerite MacDonald says, “Four years ago, we didn’t have to bid on a lot of the work that we now bid for. It is no […]