Indigenous groups oppose the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion over concerns it will spill oil in their communities and erode their sovereignty. CBC News: The National / YouTube
The lead insurer of Canada's Trans Mountain pipeline has dropped out.
<p><br/></p>
<p><br>A spokesperson for the Trans Mountain <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/pipelines" target="_self">pipeline</a>, which is planning a controversial expansion opposed by environmental groups and some <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/indigenous" target="_self">Indigenous</a> communities, said that Zurich would not renew its insurance coverage, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-canada-pipeline-climate-insurance/zurich-insurance-drops-cover-for-trans-mountain-oil-pipeline-idUSKCN24N2MU?fbclid=IwAR0u7hsm8ITIgZuj3t_CmznqRrHgAfk1QAdcglc8vWRI4SpyRtkGnf0BN04" target="_blank">Reuters reported Wednesday</a>. Zurich's decision comes as environmental groups have put pressure on insurers to abandon the pipeline and other <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" target="_self">fossil fuel</a> projects over their contribution to the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-crisis" target="_self">climate crisis</a>.</p>
<p>"This project is never getting built," advocacy group <a href="https://www.stand.earth/" target="_blank">Stand.earth</a> tweeted in response to the news.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">BREAKING: Trans Mountain's biggest insurer <a href="https://twitter.com/Zurich?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Zurich</a> has dropped the pipeline! This project is never 👏 getting 👏 built. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/StopTMX?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#StopTMX</a> <a href="https://t.co/KkRXx9aUsu">https://t.co/KkRXx9aUsu</a></p>— Stand.earth (@standearth) <a href="https://twitter.com/standearth/status/1286033844991193088?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 22, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p>Stand.earth is one of 32 environmental groups behind a petition urging Trans Mountain's 26 insurers to cease covering the project by Aug. 31, <a href="https://www.burnabynow.com/news/insurance-company-drops-trans-mountain-policy-citing-climate-change-1.24164551" target="_blank">according to Burnaby Now</a>. Zurich is the third insurer to do so in the last two months, <a href="https://twitter.com/standearth/status/1286056235775795211" target="_blank">Stand.earth said</a>.</p><p>"If you needed proof that petitions, emails, and calls work – this is it," the group wrote on Facebook.</p>
<div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="2b8505bb16a40d9d6520ef536a043491"><div class="fb-post" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/standearth/photos/a.415188889220/10157890450789221?type=3"></div></div>
<p>The Trans Mountain pipeline expansion <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trans-mountain-pipeline-expansion-2645043384.html" target="_self">would nearly triple</a> the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/oil" target="_self">oil</a> flowing along its 715-mile route from Alberta's tar sands to the coast of British Columbia from 300,000 barrels a day to 890,000. Its opponents have faced legal setbacks in recent months. In February, the Canadian Federal Court of Appeals ruled that the government had adequately consulted with First Nations groups when approving the project. Then, in July, the Supreme Court of Canada opted not to hear an appeal of that decision from the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, the Squamish Nation and the Coldwater Indian Band, according to Burnaby Now.</p><p>Indigenous groups oppose the pipeline expansion over concerns it will <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trans-mountain-pipeline-oil-spill-british-columbia-2646173087.html" target="_self">spill oil</a> in their communities and erode their sovereignty.</p><p>"What is happening is about more than just a risky pipeline and tanker project. We see this as a major setback for reconciliation," Chief Leah George-Wilson of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation told <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/first-nations-disappointed-trans-mountain-supreme-court-1.5635479" target="_blank">CBC News</a> following the Supreme Court's decision not to hear the appeal.</p>
<p>Pressuring the project's financial backers is another means of blocking it.</p><p>Trans Mountain's current insurance contract runs out in August of this year, according to Reuters. For now, the company says it still has enough insurers to cover its regular operations and the expansion.</p><p>"There remains adequate capacity in the market to meet Trans Mountain's insurance needs and our renewal," a pipeline spokesperson told Reuters in an email.</p><p>Zurich did not comment on its reasons for abandoning the project.</p><p>Other insurers who covered the project this year include Munich Re, Lloyd's of London, Liberty Mutual and Chubb. Munich Re said it would review the contract based on its new policies on covering oil sands. The others declined to comment.</p><p>One insurer who dropped out in July, Talanx, based its decision on climate concerns.</p><p>"As a matter of principle, Talanx no longer invests in companies that derive more than 25% of their revenue or generate more than 25% of their power from coal. In addition, oil sands have been added to the list of exclusion criteria for both investments and underwriting," the company wrote, as Burnaby Now reported.</p>
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The entrance to the Kinder Morgan Westridge Marine Tanker Terminal is pictured adjacent to the Burrard Inlet in Burnaby, British Columbia on June 20, 2019. JASON REDMOND / AFP via Getty Images
The Federal Court of Appeals in Canada ruled against its First Nations tribes in a unanimous decision, allowing expansion of the controversial Trans Mountain pipeline to proceed. The expansion will triple the amount of oil flowing from the Alberta tar sands to the Pacific coast in British Columbia, as the AP reported.
<p>In its 3-0 decision, the court rejected the claims of the First Nations, saying that the federal government engaged in "adequate and meaningful" consultations with <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/indigenous-peoples" target="_self">indigenous peoples</a>, as required by law, according to the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51317384" target="_blank">BBC</a>. It applauded the government's efforts, saying it was ""was anything but a rubber-stamping exercise," according to <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/02/indigenous-challenge-trans-mountain-pipeline-dismissed-200204182044889.html" target="_blank">Al Jazeera</a>.</p><p>"While the parties challenging the cabinet's decision are fully entitled to oppose the project, reconciliation and the duty to consult do not provide them with a veto over projects such as this one," reads Tuesday's court decision, as the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51317384" target="_blank">BBC</a> reported.</p>
<p>The legal challenge revolved around whether First Nations had been adequately consulted about the expansion of the 715-mile Trans Mountain route, which currently carries 300,000 barrels of crude oil per day. The government wants it to carry 890,000 barrels per day, according to the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51317384" target="_blank">BBC</a>. The Canadian government actually bought the pipeline in 2018 to ensure its success and survival.</p><p>One of the plaintiffs in the case, the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, said it is considering an appeal of the decision. The indigenous tribes have 60 days to appeal to the nation's Supreme Court, according to the <a href="https://apnews.com/28d118f4ab05da0c824a2fced52da7c6" target="_blank">AP</a>.</p><p>"This is not over," said Tsleil-Waututh Nation spokesperson, Reueben George, to the <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/6505980/tsleil-waututh-nation-to-appeal-federal-court-of-appeal-decision-on-trans-mountain-pipeline/" target="_blank">Global News</a> in Canada. "We are still trudging forward. We have always said we would do everything in our power to stop the pipeline. We have proven it's not in the best interest of our nation's standing here."</p>
<p>The Federal Appeals court heard from four different parties in the case: the Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh nations, the Coldwater Indian Band, and a coalition of smaller indigenous nations from the British Columbia interior. The groups claimed the government did not properly consider their concerns about the project's effects on their way of life and the environment, as <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/02/indigenous-challenge-trans-mountain-pipeline-dismissed-200204182044889.html" target="_blank">Al Jazeera</a> reported.</p><p>George claimed that the court violated the law because it did not allow the Tsleil-Waututh Nation to submit all the information they had, according to the <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/6505980/tsleil-waututh-nation-to-appeal-federal-court-of-appeal-decision-on-trans-mountain-pipeline/" target="_blank">Global News</a>.</p><p>However, while the court acknowledged that the indigenous people will be unhappy with the expansion, it felt the government had accommodated them properly.</p><p>"The evidentiary record shows a genuine effort in ascertaining and taking into account the key concerns of the applicants, considering them, engaging in two-way communication, and considering and sometimes agreeing to accommodations," the court said, as <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/02/indigenous-challenge-trans-mountain-pipeline-dismissed-200204182044889.html" target="_blank">Al Jazeera</a> reported. "It is true that the applicants are of the view that their concerns have not been fully met, but to insist on that happening is to impose a standard of perfection, a standard not required by law."</p><p>George, and representatives from the other nations, felt the court did not take a proper look at their evidence.</p><p>"We have done studies. Economical assessments. Studies on the orcas. These things were ignored today. Reconciliation stopped today," said George, as the <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/6505980/tsleil-waututh-nation-to-appeal-federal-court-of-appeal-decision-on-trans-mountain-pipeline/" target="_blank">Global News</a> reported. "This government is incapable of making sound decisions for our future generations. So we are and we will. Even for their children we will take those steps to make sure Canada stays the way it is."</p><p>Chief Lee Spahan of the Coldwater Indian Band, a Nlaka'pamux Nation community in the British Columbia interior spoke of Canada's consultation with his tribe.</p><p>"It wasn't meaningful. Canada had their mindset already on this decision," he said, as <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/02/indigenous-challenge-trans-mountain-pipeline-dismissed-200204182044889.html" target="_blank">Al Jazeera</a> reported. "We will continue to stand strong and do everything in our power to ensure our sole source of <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/drinking-water">drinking water</a> is protected."</p>
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Trudeau Government Approves Trans Mountain Expansion a Day After Canada Declares Climate Emergency
19 June 2019
Politics
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivering remarks to supporters at a Liberal Climate Action Rally in Toronto, Ontario on March 4. Arindam Shivaani / NurPhoto / Getty Images
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Tuesday that his government would once again approve the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline, which would triple the amount of oil transported from Alberta's tar sands to the coast of British Columbia (BC).
<p>The decision comes a day after Canada's House of Commons passed a non-binding resolution declaring a climate emergency, as <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/climate-emergency-motion-1.5179802" target="_blank">CBC News reported</a>. The timing prompted environmental activists to charge the Trudeau government with hypocrisy, since the House motion was proposed by the government. </p>
<p>"This is like declaring war on cancer and then announcing a campaign to promote smoking," <a href="https://www.ran.org/" target="_blank">Rainforest Action Network</a> energy program director Patrick McCully told <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/tasker-trans-mountain-trudeau-cabinet-decision-1.5180269?fbclid=IwAR3hsidEg-eMgBglOqvLOqy4AGFnSPa2ROIrfrrSNq7ZPLhTCjoq1E8tZ4g" target="_blank">CBC News</a>.</p>
<div id="be6fb" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="SKYUKN1576662955"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1141087666278154241" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Statement from the Rainforest Action Network @RAN:
“What stunning hypocrisy for Prime Minister Trudeau to approve… https://t.co/axddSfbL5K</div> — Trevor Robb (@Trevor Robb)<a href="https://twitter.com/TrevorRobb_/statuses/1141087666278154241">1560891474.0</a></blockquote></div><p>Trudeau's cabinet followed the ruling of the National Energy Board that the pipeline could harm the environment and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/marine-life" target="_self">marine life</a>, but could create thousands of jobs and earn the federal government tens of billions of dollars. Trudeau pledged to invest all of that revenue in developing <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy/" target="_self">renewable energy</a>.</p><p>"We need to create wealth today so we can invest in the future. We need resources to invest in Canadians so they can take advantage of the opportunities generated by a rapidly changing economy, here at home and around the world," Trudeau said.</p>
<div id="61cdf" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4JHL591576662955"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1141110920149647360" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">It’s in Canada’s national interest to protect our environment and invest in tomorrow, while making sure people can… https://t.co/P9epx5xxfm</div> — Justin Trudeau (@Justin Trudeau)<a href="https://twitter.com/JustinTrudeau/statuses/1141110920149647360">1560897018.0</a></blockquote></div><p>However, pipeline opponents argued that the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change" target="_self">climate crisis</a> was too urgent for the government to be investing in more <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" target="_self">fossil fuel</a> infrastructure. The <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/" target="_blank">Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change</a> (IPCC) concluded in <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change-ipcc-report-2610866229.html" target="_self">October of last year</a> that greenhouse gas emissions must fall to 45 percent of 2010 levels by 2030 in order to limit global temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.</p><p>"The federal government has signed off on as much as an additional 15 million tonnes (approximately 16.5 million U.S. tons) of carbon. This is irresponsible at a time when Canada is drifting further away from meeting our Paris climate commitment, and inconsistent with the climate emergency that was declared only yesterday," <a href="https://environmentaldefence.ca/" target="_blank">Environmental Defence</a> Executive Director Tim Gray told CBC News.</p><p>A senior government official <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-canada-energy-pipeline/canada-approves-contentious-oil-pipeline-expansion-expects-legal-challenges-idUSKCN1TJ24M" target="_blank">told Reuters</a> anonymously that the government expected legal challenges to the decision.</p><p>The government's 2016 approval of the project was <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trans-mountain-pipeline-canada-2600441320.html" target="_self">blocked by a court decision</a> in August 2018 ruling that it had failed to take into account the environmental costs of increased tanker traffic and had not adequately consulted with indigenous groups concerned about the project.</p><p>Trudeau's government, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/canada-kinder-morgan-pipeline-2573283566.html" target="_self">which bought the pipeline from Kinder Morgan</a> in May of 2018, sent 60 consultants to meet again with indigenous communities along the pipeline's route, CBC News reported. Trudeau promised additional "accommodation measures" such as embracing an initiative to reduce the impact of tanker traffic on the endangered <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/southern-resident-orca-born-2638660853.html" target="_self">southern resident killer whales</a> that live in the waters off BC.</p><p>However, the Squamish Nation told <a href="https://www.squamishchief.com/news/local-news/tmx-approval-based-on-shallow-consultation-squamish-nation-1.23860076" target="_blank">The Squamish Chief</a> that the government's consultation had been "shallow."</p><p>"The failure to meaningfully engage with rights holders means this government is either not serious about building this pipeline or not serious about respecting Indigenous rights," nation spokesperson Khelsilem said.</p><p>Chief Leah George-Wilson of the Vancouver-area Tsleil-Waututh First Nation told CBC News that her community had decided to appeal the approval, and a group of BC indigenous activists called the <a href="http://tinyhousewarriors.com/" target="_blank">Tiny House Warriors</a> promised to continue fighting the project.</p><p>"The Trudeau government does not have the right to put a pipeline through unceded Secwepemc land," spokeswoman Kanahus Manuel said in a statement reported by Reuters.</p>
<div id="b3a91" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="FT2YLX1576662955"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1141147893040066560" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Response to @JustinTrudeau re: #Transmountain https://t.co/n4aI6w9C7I</div> — Kanahus Manuel (@Kanahus Manuel)<a href="https://twitter.com/KanahusFreedom/statuses/1141147893040066560">1560905833.0</a></blockquote></div><p>However, other indigenous groups are interested in investing in the project.<br></p><p>Trudeau said construction would restart this year. If that proves to be the case, the pipeline would be operational by 2022, investment bank Tudor Pickering Holt & Co told Reuters. The expansion would enable the pipeline to move 890,000 barrels of oil per day.</p>
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Stunning Victory for Indigenous Nations as Canada Halts Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion
30 August 2018
Energy
Pipeline intended to cross Jasper National Park in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Robert McGouey / Getty Images
A Canadian court "quashed" approval of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion on Thursday, a major setback for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whose government agreed to purchase the controversial project from Kinder Morgan for $4.5 billion Canadian dollars (U.S. $3.5 billion) in May.
It's a stunning victory for Indigenous groups and environmentalists opposed to the project, which is designed to nearly triple the amount of tar sands transported from Alberta to the coast of British Columbia.
<p>
The Federal Court of Appeal
<a href="https://decisions.fca-caf.gc.ca/fca-caf/decisions/en/item/343511/index.do#_Conclusion_on_Canada%E2%80%99s" target="_blank">ruled</a> that the National Energy Board's review—as explained by the <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/4418485/trans-mountain-pipeline-quashed-federal-court/" target="_blank">Canadian Press</a>—"was so flawed that the federal government could not rely on it as a basis for its decision to approve the expansion."
</p><p>
The project has been at the center of widespread protests from environmental groups and First Nations ever since November 2016, when Trudeau approved a $7.4 billion
<a href="https://www.kindermorgan.com/pages/business/canada/tmep.aspx" target="_blank">expansion</a> of the existing Trans Mountain pipeline that would increase the transport of Alberta tar sands oil from the current 300,000 barrels per day to 890,000 barrels per day and increase tanker traffic nearly seven-fold through the Burrard Inlet.
</p><p>
Specifically, the court said it was an "unjustifiable failure" that the National Energy Board did not consider the environmental impacts of the increased tanker traffic.
</p><p>
<span></span>The court additionally concluded that the government "fell well short" with properly consulting with the Indigenous groups involved in the case, including the Tsleil-Waututh and Squamish on British Columbia's south coast.
</p><p>
<span></span>The ruling will force the National Energy Board to redo its review of the pipeline and the government to restart consultations with the Indigenous groups. It also means that the construction that has already began in central Alberta must cease.
</p><p>
In effect, the court has halted the 1,150-kilometer project indefinitely and it will remain in "legal limbo until the energy regulator and the government reassess their approvals to satisfy the court's demands," <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/tasker-trans-mountain-federal-court-appeals-1.4804495" target="_blank">CBC</a> wrote about today's decision.
</p><p>
<span></span>Notably, the decision was made the same day Kinder Morgan's shareholders voted to approve the $4.5 billion sale to Canada, which means the country owns a proposed pipeline project that could be subject to years of further review, the publication pointed out.
</p><p>
<span></span>The court's judgment could be appealed a final time to the Supreme Court of Canada.
</p><p>
The Minister of Finance Bill Morneau said that the government has received the ruling and will review the decision.
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</p><div id="a84f3" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="HYPI331576683801"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1035181682998042624" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">We have received the ruling by the Federal Court of Appeal, and are taking the appropriate time to review the decis… https://t.co/86j83XhDLS</div> — Bill Morneau (@Bill Morneau)<a href="https://twitter.com/Bill_Morneau/statuses/1035181682998042624">1535641520.0</a></blockquote></div>
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A traditional Coast Salish Watch House being built next to a pipeline terminal in Burnaby, BC as part of a protest against the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. JASON REDMOND / AFP / Getty Images
Canada's Supreme Court rejected on attempt by the city of Burnaby, British Columbia (BC) to halt work on the controversial Trans Mountain pipeline expansion Thursday, Reuters reported.
<p>Burnaby had applied to appeal a decision by Canada's National Energy Board (NEB) in December 2017 that <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/pipelines" target="_blank">pipeline</a> owners <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/kinder-morgan" target="_self">Kinder Morgan</a> could continue building without some municipal permits that the NEB found took too long. The Supreme Court rejected the city's application to attempt and reverse that decision. </p><p>"Burnaby is not going away. We intend to continue to oppose this project with all legal means available to us, and will be continuing with our other legal challenges," Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan said in a statement reported by <a href="https://vancouversun.com/pmn/news-pmn/canada-news-pmn/newsalert-supreme-court-dismisses-burnabys-case-against-trans-mountain-pipeline/wcm/df169f3a-12e4-47bf-b780-cbaa0781b77b" target="_blank">The Canadian Press</a>. </p><p>There are still several legal challenges to the pipeline issued by First Nation groups, one of which was rejected in June. The province of BC as a whole also issued a challenge in April that has not been heard, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/trans-mountain-kinder-morgan-burnaby-bylaws-1.4796012" target="_blank">CBC News reported</a>.</p><p>The project has faced both legal opposition and protests from indigenous and environmental groups in BC who oppose a pipeline expansion that would triple the amount of oil moving from Alberta's <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/tar-sands" target="_self">tar sands</a> to the port in Burnaby. </p><p>The Canadian government has supported the project, arguing it is necessary to create jobs and provide new markets for Canadian crude oil, a spokesperson for Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr told The Canadian Press. </p><p>In May, the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/canada-kinder-morgan-pipeline-2573283566.html" target="_self">government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced</a> it would buy the existing pipeline and the expansion from Kinder Morgan after the company halted non-essential work due to protests and asked for a May 31 guarantee it could continue working uninterrupted. </p><p>Corrigan said the Supreme Court's decision was part of a pattern of Canada overriding the concerns of municipal governments. </p><p>"The lack of status for municipal government and the lack of consideration of municipal government by the federal government is a serious issue and it's one that needs to be resolved and we're certainly going to look to our citizens to continue to press this forward," Corrigan told CBC News.</p><p><a href="https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/" target="_blank">Greenpeace</a> campaigner Mike Hudema agreed. </p><p>"We're disappointed by today's decision as what we are seeing is the federal government railroading over municipalities just trying to protect the health and safety of their citizens," he told The Canadian Press.</p><p>The decision also comes as BC battles hundreds of <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wildfires" target="_self">wildfires</a> that the Canadian government has linked to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change" target="_self">climate change</a>.</p><p>Hundreds of protesters gathered outside Trudeau's cabinet retreat in Nanaimo, BC Wednesday, accusing him of "fiddling while BC burns" for buying a project that would increase the use of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" target="_self">fossil fuels</a>, <a href="https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/protesters-accuse-trudeau-of-fiddling-on-pipeline-while-climate-change-burns-b-c" target="_blank">The Canadian Press reported</a>.</p>
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Climate Justice Edmonton
By Andrea Germanos
To put forth a "hopeful vision for the future" that includes bold climate action, a new installation project is to be erected along the controversial Trans Mountain pipeline expansion route to harnesses art's ability to be a force for social change and highlight the fossil fuel project's increased threats to indigenous rights and a safe climate.
<p>Called "<a href="https://climatejusticeedmonton.com/people-on-the-path/" target="_blank">People on the Path</a>" and launched Sunday, the project organized by Climate Justice Edmonton features larger-than-life portraits of numerous Albertans from varying walks of life, with their bodies displaying messages such as "No justice on stolen land" and "For my daughter 100% renewable energy."</p><p>Part of the goal, organizers <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ClimateJusticeEdmonton/videos/494482467682464/" target="_blank">explained</a> at the launch at Whitemud Park in Edmonton, is also to "dismantle the myth that everyone in this province is pro-oil."</p><p>The Edmonton Journal <a href="https://edmontonjournal.com/business/energy/climate-justice-portrait-series-to-span-trans-mountain-pipeline-expansion" target="_blank">reported</a> that the full series, which will include 25 portraits, will go up this fall. CBC <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/edmonton-pipeline-trans-mountain-1.4791283" target="_blank">added</a> that it "will be exhibited around the city and then placed along the route of the proposed Trans Mountain pipeline expansion—through Edmonton, under the river, and west to Jasper."</p>
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</p><div id="20bae" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="H2ZH471576661657"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1031543462535913472" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Yesterday we officially launched #PeopleOnThePath— a collective art installation of 25+ Albertans against #TMX who… https://t.co/PWk6mJ3jxh</div> — Climate Justice Edmonton 🌅 (@Climate Justice Edmonton 🌅)<a href="https://twitter.com/CJEdmonton/statuses/1031543462535913472">1534774101.0</a></blockquote></div>
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</p><div id="886bc" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="PMTRTV1576661657"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1031313246400045056" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">The launch for #peopleonthepath is finally here! We’re telling the story of what climate justice would look like in… https://t.co/LdiE4J1zyV</div> — Bronwen Tucker (@Bronwen Tucker)<a href="https://twitter.com/bronwentucker/statuses/1031313246400045056">1534719213.0</a></blockquote></div>
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<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="0b468" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="IAX6AP1576661657"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1031436159891660800" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">we did it. we produced content only monsters can troll.
@RachelNotley, a just future for generations to come means… https://t.co/NOikVEO4xo</div> — Emma Jackson (@Emma Jackson)<a href="https://twitter.com/EmmaJackson57/statuses/1031436159891660800">1534748518.0</a></blockquote></div>
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<p>"Together," the Climate Justice Edmonton <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/528590514244273/" target="_blank">stated</a> on its Facebook page, "these portraits are a powerful statement of the future we want to build—one which respects Indigenous rights, puts workers first, and honors our international climate commitments. We can't build this future if we build new pipelines."<br></p><p> <em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/08/20/these-giant-portraits-will-stand-path-trans-mountain-pipeline-make-powerful" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em><em></em></p>
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Kinder Morgan Pipeline Leak Two Days Before Trudeau Buyout Was 48 Times Larger Than First Reported
11 June 2018
Energy
The Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Pipeline Darfield Pumping Station. Google
By Jake Johnson
Just two days before Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that his government would purchase Kinder Morgan's faltering and widely opposed Trans Mountain pipeline, British Columbia's Ministry of Environment said 100 liters of crude oil had leaked at a Kinder Morgan pipeline pump station north of Kamloops—but the company initially refused to confirm the severity of the spill.
<p>On Saturday, with its bailout from the Canadian taxpayer confirmed by Trudeau, Kinder Morgan declared after an <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.4699763" target="_blank">investigation</a> that, actually, 4,800 liters of crude oil had leaked during the May 27 spill—48 times more crude than first reported.</p><p>While the Ministry of Environment said no waterways were affected by the leak, environmentalists and Canadian members of parliament highlighted the leak as a telling example of the dangers <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/pipelines">pipelines</a> pose to people and the environment and continued denouncing Trudeau's buyout.</p>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="bbd2e" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="FXCLQO1576662964"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1005632749976162306" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Kinder Morgan initially reported that 100 litres was spilled - but it was actually 4800 litres. With accuracy like… https://t.co/ikOECGX3kU</div> — Don Davies MP (@Don Davies MP)<a href="https://twitter.com/DonDavies/statuses/1005632749976162306">1528596506.0</a></blockquote></div>
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</p><div id="bf82a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="557YPO1576662964"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1005620320844144640" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">When this Kinder Morgan spill first happened I posted it and a flood of angry messages poured in telling me what an… https://t.co/XaAAlnDnWt</div> — Nathan Cullen (@Nathan Cullen)<a href="https://twitter.com/nathancullen/statuses/1005620320844144640">1528593542.0</a></blockquote></div>
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<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="d1a5d" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="E8OYGK1576662964"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1005630527829757952" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Remember that 100 litre spill on the existing Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline days before Trudeau announced p… https://t.co/pWXYoCUeEz</div> — Treaty Alliance (@Treaty Alliance)<a href="https://twitter.com/Treaty_Alliance/statuses/1005630527829757952">1528595976.0</a></blockquote></div>
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</p><div id="8458b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="HJZE0E1576662964"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1005632738341163010" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Anyone Surprised?
#StopKM #KinderMorgan #StopKMbuyout #cdnpoli #bcpoli https://t.co/hSR4s6iNYh</div> — Eric Doherty (@Eric Doherty)<a href="https://twitter.com/Eric_Doherty/statuses/1005632738341163010">1528596503.0</a></blockquote></div>
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<p>Since its inception, Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain expansion project has faced fierce and widespread grassroots opposition across Canada as well as legal challenges that have brought the projection's completion into question.<br></p><p>As Common Dreams <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/05/29/immense-moral-cowardice-trudeau-trashed-government-purchase-climate-killing-kinder" target="_blank">reported</a>, Trudeau announced late last month that his government would buy the Trans Mountain pipeline for $4.5 billion, a move environmentalists and Indigenous leaders denounced as an act of "immense moral cowardice" that betrayed the prime minister's rhetorical commitments to bold <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change">climate</a> action.</p><p>Trudeau's decision has since sparked opposition rallies nationwide, with green groups arguing that the billions of taxpayer money being used to rescue a leak-prone, "climate-destroying" pipeline should be spent on healthcare, education, and a just transition to a sustainable energy system.</p><p>"This could cost $15 to $20 billion all told," Andrea Harden-Donahue, energy and climate justice campaigner at Council of Canadians, <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/06/04/lets-not-subsidize-our-own-extinction-rallies-across-canada-denounce-trudeaus-kinder" target="_blank">said</a> at a demonstration outside of the Ottawa office of Liberal MP Catherine McKenna last week. "That is money that could solve the drinking water crisis in Canada on First Nations reserves. That is money that could halve tuition fees across the country. Think about the affordable housing that we could achieve with that money ... That is where this money should be going."</p>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="19ef6" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="MYFYGY1576662964"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1004923861882765313" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">"This is truly a best-in-class pipeline and we look forward to many years of safe, reliable, and efficient operatio… https://t.co/1QN0sCptvJ</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/1004923861882765313">1528427493.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/06/10/anyone-surprised-kinder-morgan-pipeline-leak-two-days-trudeau-buyout-was-48-times" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em><br></p>
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- Pipeline Spills 76,000 Gallons of Crude Oil Emulsion in Northern ... ›
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Canada Risks Billions in a 'Carbon Bubble' as Kinder Morgan Execs Get Big Bonuses
05 June 2018
Energy
Oil sands, Fort McMurray, Alberta on Nov. 11, 2010. eryn.rickard / CC BY 2.0
By Andy Rowell
Days after Justin Trudeau blew an estimated $15 billion of hard-earned Canadian taxpayer money on Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain pipeline, scientists are warning just how financially and ecologically stupid and short-sighted the investment was.
In a peer reviewed scientific paper published Monday, the scientists warn of the existence of a "carbon bubble," due to the plunging price of renewables and improved energy efficiency measures, which will make many fossil fuel projects "stranded assets."
<p>The abstract in the prestigious journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-018-0182-1" target="_blank"><em>Nature</em></a> could make Trudeau choke on his morning coffee: "Several major economies rely heavily on <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels">fossil fuel</a> production and exports, yet current low-carbon technology diffusion, energy efficiency and climate policy may be substantially reducing global demand for fossil fuels."</p><p>It continues: "This trend is inconsistent with observed investment in new fossil fuel ventures, which could become stranded as a result."</p><p>Crucially, the scientists argue that many fossil fuel projects will become stranded due to changing market conditions, especially with the cost of renewables rapidly decreasing.</p><p>But this economic loss of "stranded fossil fuel assets" will be exemplified if "new climate policies to reach the 2°C target of the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/paris-agreement">Paris Agreement</a> are adopted and/or if low-cost producers (some OPEC countries) maintain their level of production ('sell out') despite declining demand."</p><p>If this happens there will be winners and losers, with "winners (for example, net importers such as China or the EU) and losers (for example, Russia, the United States or Canada, which could see their fossil fuel industries nearly shut down)."</p><p>So Canada will be a net loser. And the reason will be the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/tar-sands">tar sands</a>. And if the tar sands are "shut down," Kinder Morgan is a <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/pipelines">pipeline</a> to nowhere.</p><p>Professor Jorge Viñuales, co-author, told <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jun/04/carbon-bubble-could-spark-global-financial-crisis-study-warns" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>: "Contrary to investor expectations, the stranding of fossil fuel assets may happen even without new <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change">climate</a> policies. Individual nations cannot avoid the situation by ignoring the Paris agreement or burying their heads in coal and tar sands."</p><p>Dr. Jean-François Mercure, the lead author, from Radboud and Cambridge universities, also told the newspaper: "If people stop putting funds now in fossil fuels, they may at least limit their losses."</p><p>Trudeau has just done the opposite. As the prime minister buries his political future in the tar sands, others have criticized last week's bail-out as a clear "subsidy" to the oil industry, which goes against a G7 pledge to phase out "inefficient" support for polluting sectors by 2025.</p><p>"The decision by the Canadian government to acquire the Trans Mountain pipeline from Kinder Morgan has essentially been taken because, given the risk, no other private investor would step in," argues <a href="http://www.climatechangenews.com/2018/05/31/canada-oil-pipeline-buyout-subsidising-market-failure/" target="_blank">Mark Campanale</a>, the executive director of Carbon Tracker. "It is government subsidizing a market failure."</p><p>But it gets worse: As Trudeau invests in "carbon bubbles" and "market failures," two Kinder Morgan bosses are literally laughing all the way to the bank. <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/kinder-morgan-retention-bonuses-1.4690911" target="_blank">Two senior</a> executives have each been awarded $1.5-million "retention bonuses" in connection with the $4.5 billion sale of the pipeline.</p><p>Opposition MPs were outraged at the news: One, the B.C. New Democrat MP Nathan Cullen, said in the<a href="http://www.timescolonist.com/opposition-criticizes-1-5-million-retention-bonuses-for-kinder-morgan-execs-1.23324181" target="_blank"> House of Commons</a>: "Adding insult to injury to this public bailout, it includes a $3 million bonus to Kinder Morgan executives."</p><p>Canadian economist <a href="https://www.nationalobserver.com/2018/06/01/news/kinder-morgan-execs-ian-anderson-and-david-safari-offered-15-million-bonuses-under" target="_blank">Robyn Allan</a>, who has spent the past few years <a href="https://www.nationalobserver.com/2018/05/15/opinion/whats-behind-kinder-morgans-may-31-ultimatum-follow-money" target="_blank">analyzing</a> the dodgy finances behind the Trans Mountain project, also criticized the payouts: "It's a large amount of money and it's something that most people are going to be shocked about."</p><p>They are right to be shocked about another example of rewarding <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/big-oil">big oil</a> executives for climate failure.</p>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="e0f1b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3MSN641576662665"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1002117510764924929" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Canada to Buy Controversial Tar Sands Pipeline https://t.co/fVBsX1gtz3 @TarSandsAction @NoTarSands</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/1002117510764924929">1527758407.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="http://priceofoil.org/2018/06/05/as-canada-risks-billions-in-a-carbon-bubble-km-bosses-get-big-bonuses/" target="_blank">Oil Change International</a>.</em><br></p>
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Protesters at Trans Mountain pipeline protest in Burnaby. Break Free / Flickr / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
The Canadian government plans to spend $4.5 billion Canadian dollars ($3.5 billion) to buy Kinder Morgan's existing Trans Mountain pipeline and its controversial expansion project that will triple the amount of tar sands transported from Alberta to the coast of British Columbia.
The pipeline has been at the center of widespread protests by environmentalists and some Indigenous groups. The announcement was met with condemnation from 350.org organizers, who slammed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his government for "turning Canada into a fossil fuel company."
<p>
Kinder Morgan
<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trans-mountain-pipeline-halted-2558346085.html">halted</a> all non-essential spending the pipeline project last month, citing continuing opposition in British Columbia. The company set a May 31 deadline to get assurances it can proceed with the project without delays.
</p><p>
Bill Morneau, the federal finance minister, said in Ottawa Tuesday that the government's purchase will guarantee the summer construction season for workers and will ensure the project is built to completion.
</p><p>"Our message today is simple—when we're faced with an exceptional situation that puts jobs at risk, that puts our international reputation on the line, our government's prepared to take action," he said.
</p><p>
The agreement was approved by the Cabinet this morning and is subject to approval by Kinder Morgan shareholders. The purchase is expected to close this August, he said.
</p><p>
Morneau said the government will eventually sell the expanded pipeline back to the private sector.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="36f0f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3PDJ331576662766"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1001451345902120960" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">BREAKING: Federal government to buy Trans Mountain pipeline, all of Kinder Morgan Canada's core assets for $4.5 bil… https://t.co/22a3pmuSE9</div> — Globalnews.ca (@Globalnews.ca)<a href="https://twitter.com/globalnews/statuses/1001451345902120960">1527599581.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>
Kinder Morgan Canada CEO Steve Kean said he was pleased with the deal.
</p><p>
"The outcome we have reached represents the best opportunity to complete the [Trans Mountain Pipeline system and the expansion project] and thereby realize the great national economic benefits promised by that project," Kean said in a
<a href="https://ir.kindermorgancanadalimited.com/2018-05-29-Trans-Mountain-Pipeline-System-and-Expansion-Project-to-be-Sold-for-C-4-5-Billion" target="_blank">statement</a>.
</p><p>
Aurore Fauret, 350.org's Canadian tar sands campaign coordinator, said in a statement that "in a single mandate, Justin Trudeau transformed from a climate champion into a Big Oil CEO."
</p><p>
Trudeau, Fauret said, "had an opportunity to walk away from pipeline politics and get on with the real work of leading Canada, and the world, in a 100 percent renewable energy revolution, but instead he's opted to ignore science, Indigenous rights and the voices of people across Canada and bailed out a dangerous, unwanted pipeline with public money."
</p><p>
Since taking office, the Liberal party leader has introduced several environmental mandates, including a national price on carbon and a $1.5 billion ocean protection plan. However, environmentalists have criticized Trudeau's support of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. He
<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/bill-nye-justin-trudeau-pipeline-2544011520.html" target="_blank">insists</a> that "the environment and the economy need to go together."
</p><p>
<span></span><a href="http://priceofoil.org/" target="_blank">Oil Change International</a> pointed out that while Trudeau has signed up to the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/paris-agreement" target="_blank">Paris climate goals</a>, the amount of carbon that would be transported and ultimately burned by the pipeline means that Canada would <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/justin-trudeau-fossil-fuels-2571674194.html" target="_blank">miss those goals</a>.
</p><p>
<span></span>What's more, <a href="https://www.thestar.com/vancouver/2018/05/28/trans-mountain-pipeline-spills-crude-at-bc-pump-station-days-before-companys-deadline.html" target="_blank">The Star Vancouver</a> reported that Kinder Morgan has reported 82 spills to the National Energy Board since 1961. The most recent spill occurred this past Sunday, when 100 liters (26 gallons) of a medium crude blend was released at the Darfield Pump Station near Barriere, British Columbia.
</p><p>
Opponents said the latest leak highlights the risks of the project. "We know spills happen and we know that it won't get 100 percent cleaned up," Charlene Aleck, a Tsleil-Waututh Nation councillor, told The Star, adding that the spill gave her a "sinking feeling" and "it reinforces the risk that Tsleil-Waututh has been speaking of all along."
</p><p>
350.org vows to continue protesting the project.
</p><p>
"Today is not the end of this story. Kinder Morgan abandoned this project because people organized all across the country to stop it, and we'll do it again," Fauret said. "This fight is far from over, and now that Justin Trudeau has turned the Canadian government into a fossil fuel company, it's crystal clear who we're up against."
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="260d9" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="FE1NGZ1576662766"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="999832538041417728" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">236 Civil Society Groups to Justin Trudeau: 'The Time for Investment in New Fossil Fuel Infrastructure Is Over'… https://t.co/MYATeBUbyc</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/999832538041417728">1527213627.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p>
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236 Civil Society Groups to Justin Trudeau: 'The Time for Investment in New Fossil Fuel Infrastructure Is Over'
24 May 2018
Energy
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at World Bank Group headquarters during Trudeau's first official visit to Washington, DC in March 2016. Franz Mahr / World Bank / CC BY 2.0
By Andy Rowell
With just over a week to go until the May 31 deadline set by Kinder Morgan for the Canadian Government to resolve all financial and political issues surrounding its highly controversial Trans Mountain pipeline, some 236 civil society groups from 44 countries have written to Justin Trudeau to tell him to drop his support for the project.
Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain Pipeline will triple the amount of dirty tar sands being shipped from Alberta to the coast of British Columbia.
<p>The <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/pipelines">pipeline</a> has become the most toxic Canadian political issue of the day, with Trudeau's government saying they will underwrite losses incurred by Kinder Morgan in their desperation to see the dirty pipeline be built.</p><p>Since that announcement for financial support on <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/morneau-kinder-morgan-pipeline-announement-1.4665009" target="_blank">May 16</a>, there has been growing national and international hostility to the plan.</p><p>Just in the last 24 hours, for example, award-winning Canadian journalist <a href="https://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2018/05/23/Canadian-Taxpayers-Hostage-Kinder-Morgan/" target="_blank">Andrew Nikiforuk</a> said that Trudeau was being held "hostage" by Kinder Morgan. "The Trudeau federal government has made itself a pathetic hostage to a Texas-based pipeline company known for its cheapness and debt," he wrote Wednesday.</p><p>Also <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/youth-walk-out-of-class-to-protest-trans-mountain-pipeline-1.4675166" target="_blank">on Wednesday</a>, some 200 youths from a number of Vancouver schools walked out of class to protest the government's support for the pipeline. "This is a chance to show our elected leaders and Kinder Morgan that our lands, livelihoods and future are more important than a pipeline," said Ta'Kaiya Blaney from Vancouver. And finally on Wednesday, protesters unveiled banners at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, DC, saying, "<a href="https://www.facebook.com/priceofoil/?hc_ref=ARRAtMgjrw6cu8RZV720sKxEtqAKeMFsjKQqs1dej42Sf0eQ8LqK0tD-3KGS_-oJMX4&fref=nf" target="_blank">Canadian Leaders Don't Build Pipelines</a>."</p><p>And that banner refers to a simple climate circle that Trudeau can't square, however much he tries to spin it otherwise: Trudeau has signed up to the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/paris-agreement">Paris climate goals</a>, but the amount of carbon that would be transported and ultimately burnt by the Trans Mountain Pipeline means that Canada would miss those goals.</p><p>As the letter outlines: "Canada has been a vocal champion of the Paris Agreement and ambitious climate action, and under your leadership, Canada has finally signed the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples."</p><p>It continues: "However, your unwavering support for the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline expansion runs counter to both of these commitments and undermines Canada's role as a global leader."</p><p>"Climate leaders cannot expand or finance major fossil fuel expansion, and climate leaders must begin to plan for a managed phase-out and just transition away from all fossil fuel production," says the letter.</p><p>The letter, signed by the likes of Amazon Watch, Asian Peoples' Movement on Debt and Development, Center for International Environmental Law, Christian Aid, The Climate Reality Project, Council of Canadians, Friends of the Earth International, Greenpeace, Hip Hop Caucus, Indigenous Environmental Network, Natural Resources Defense Council, Oil Change International, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Rainforest Action Network, Sierra Club, SumOfUs.org, Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, Wilderness Committee, and 350.org, says that financing the pipeline "with public money, as your government has suggested, is particularly offensive in the face of the global climate crisis."</p><p>The letter goes on to say: "As global organizations deeply concerned about the climate, communities, workers, and Indigenous Rights, we stand in solidarity with those who oppose the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline. We also support communities along the proposed pipeline and tanker routes who are standing up to protect the land, the coast, and the ocean from the risks of spills and other damage".</p><p>It points out that Canada should be leading the world in a "managed decline" of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels">fossil fuels</a> and transition to clean energy. "The time for investment in new fossil fuel infrastructure is over," say the signatories, before ending with: "We urge you to reconsider your support for this project, and instead work to make Canada the climate leader that it should be."</p><p>Leila Salazar-López, executive director of Amazon Watch, said, "We stand with our indigenous brothers and sisters in the North in their efforts to protect their territories from the Kinder Morgan Pipeline and other destructive fossil fuel infrastructure. It is past time for governments—including the Canadian government—to respect UNDRIP [United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples] and begin a managed decline of fossil fuel extraction. Our collective futures depend on it."</p><p>May Boeve, executive director of 350.org added, "The Kinder Morgan pipeline threatens to pollute clean air and water, violate the rights of First Nations, and lock us into climate-wrecking fossil fuel extraction. Justin Trudeau has spoken about justice for Indigenous people and addressing climate change, but his actions are miles behind his words. At the end of the day, you cannot be a climate leader while supporting fossil fuel pipelines."</p>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="61929" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="SYWS0O1576662105"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="971457520601616384" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Bill Nye Confronts Justin Trudeau Over Kinder Morgan Pipeline https://t.co/EwCzoBV48n @NRDC @YEARSofLIVING… https://t.co/olSrnqvMu3</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/971457520601616384">1520448496.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="http://priceofoil.org/2018/05/24/civil-society-to-justin-trudeau-the-time-for-investment-in-new-fossil-fuel-infrastructure-is-over/" target="_blank">Oil Change International</a>.</em><br></p>
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Environmental Groups Vow to Block Tar Sands Oil Project: 'We Are Going to Not Allow Kinder Morgan to Finish This Pipeline'
21 May 2018
Energy
Emma Cassidy / Greenpeace
By Andy Rowell
As the clock ticks down until the May 31 deadline for the controversial Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline project, which will triple the amount of tar sands being transported from Alberta to the British Columbian coast, the campaign against its expansion is spreading abroad.
On Sunday in Seattle, more than 120 miles south of where the pipeline hits the coast, hundreds of "kayactivists" took to the water to protest against the pipeline.
<p>They were part of a demonstration by the U.S. environmental groups <a href="https://mosquitofleet.us" target="_blank">Mosquito Fleet</a>, <a href="https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/" target="_blank">Greenpeace USA</a> and <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org" target="_blank">Sierra Club</a> that organized a rally in the city against Kinder Morgan's proposed <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/pipelines">pipeline</a> expansion.</p><p>Tensions are certainly rising. Kinder Morgan has given the federal government of Canada until the end of the month to resolve outstanding financial and legal issues surrounding the pipeline. Last week, in order to appease the Texan oil company, Trudeau's government announced that it will effectively give Kinder Morgan a "blank check" "<a href="https://other98.com/justin-trudeau-gives-kinder-morgan-a-blank-check-to-build-the-dirtiest-pipeline-on-earth/" target="_blank">to indemnify</a>" the pipeline "against any financial loss," suffered if they build the pipeline.</p><p>The move seems to have backfired and emboldened everyone fighting the pipeline. And as the May 31 deadline gets closer, there is a growing awareness not only of the threat that the pipeline poses to the climate, but also to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/marine-life">marine life</a> as it would massively increase the tanker traffic up the west coast of Canada and the U.S.</p><p>Indeed, last week the <a href="http://priceofoil.org/2018/05/15/kinder-morgans-pipeline-in-canada-could-violate-us-endangered-species-law/" target="_blank">Natural Resources Defense Council</a> warned Kinder Morgan that the pipeline project, could be "illegal" under the Endangered Species Act, which is seen as one of the world's strongest species protection laws.</p><p>"It's not just about the spills, it's not just about the orcas," said Graham Clumpner, one of the paddlers with the Mosquito Fleet: "The bigger issue that we are all facing is <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change">climate change</a>," he said. "We are going to not allow Kinder Morgan to finish this pipeline."</p><p><a href="http://q13fox.com/2018/05/20/activists-protest-kinder-morgan-pipeline-expansion-in-seattle/" target="_blank">Ben Smith</a> from Greenpeace USA added, "It would make climate change worse, it would trample Indigenous rights, it would run over our clean water here, and it would decimate the final 76 remaining orcas, the Southern Resident killer whale in our waters."</p><p>At the rally yesterday, one of the speakers was <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/kinder-morgan-protest-kayak-paddlers-trans-mountain-washington-oregon-1.4671602" target="_blank">Cedar George-Parker </a>from the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, who have been leading the community opposition to the pipeline in British Columbia. "They want to bring that oil through here, but we say that we will stop Kinder Morgan," George-Parker said. "It is not happening."</p><p>Not only is the resistance growing from the local community, indigenous rights groups and local and U.S.-based environmental groups to the pipeline, but even the financial community thinks the economics and changing energy market is stacked against it. Wal van Lierop is president and CEO of Chrysalix Venture Capital.</p><p>Writing in the <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/commentary/article-lets-get-honest-about-the-outlook-for-the-alberta-oil-sands-and-trans/" target="_blank">Globe and Mail</a> Sunday, Van Lierop pointed out what many people having been saying to Trudeau for months, but what the Canadian prime minister has flatly ignored: "There is also growing consensus that the world is going through an energy transition," he wrote, before likening the current energy transition to a baseball game, where "we could see the stages of its progression over the past decade."</p><p>In the first inning, argued Van Lierop, "coal lost to gas in the competition for power generation in North America and Europe; solar and wind lit up the scoreboard with incredible cost reductions in the second inning; but in the third, shale oil and gas rallied, creating an energy boom in U.S. gas and making that country the international swing player—supplanting OPEC in that position."</p><p>Van Lierop added: "Now we are entering the fourth inning, with a playing field of abundant cheap energy and midway through the ball game it looks like the players highest on the cost curve will be the ones striking out. Those players will likely include both new projects in Arctic oil and the oil sands, as their business case makes them weak in a game where cost is key."</p><p>He even went as far as to warn, because the pipeline makes no economic sense due to the expensive <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/tar-sands">tar sands</a> extraction and transportation costs, that "we would have to presume that the Alberta and federal governments hadn't seen the Kinder Morgan order book before they announced an intention to financially support the company's pipeline, because that may show a rapidly deteriorating business case."</p><p>He is not the only one who thinks Trudeau is in trouble here. Indeed, as <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-18/for-sale-stalled-pipeline-project-angry-protesters-included" target="_blank">Bloomberg</a> pointed out at the end of last week, "Justin Trudeau's pipeline nightmare may be only getting started … the prime minister could end up fighting for an asset that hardly anybody wants."</p>
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</p><div id="61929" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4R871Q1576662106"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="971457520601616384" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Bill Nye Confronts Justin Trudeau Over Kinder Morgan Pipeline https://t.co/EwCzoBV48n @NRDC @YEARSofLIVING… https://t.co/olSrnqvMu3</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/971457520601616384">1520448496.0</a></blockquote></div>
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<p><em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="http://priceofoil.org/2018/05/21/we-are-going-to-not-allow-kinder-morgan-to-finish-this-pipeline/" target="_blank">Oil Change International</a>.</em><br></p>
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Protest in Burnaby Mountain in BC on April 7. Protect the Inlet / Flickr
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Sunday he is ready to offer financial aid and new legislation to push forward the contentious Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion that will triple production of tar sands going from Alberta to British Columbia.
Houston-based developer Kinder Morgan has threatened to scrap the $7.4 billion (USD $5.9 billion) project unless political and legal opposition is resolved by May 31. The energy giant's move came after fierce opposition from environmental activists and Indigenous groups, as well as escalating tension between the Albertan and British Columbian governments.
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But after a meeting with the premiers of Alberta and British Columbia on Sunday, Trudeau insisted the project will go ahead.
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"The Trans Mountain pipeline expansion is of vital strategic interest to Canada," he said. "It will be built."
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"I have instructed the minister of finance to initiate formal financial discussions with Kinder Morgan, the result of which will be to remove the uncertainty overhanging the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project," Trudeau <a href="https://ca.reuters.com/article/topNews/idCAKBN1HM0I0-OCATP" target="_blank">noted</a>.
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</p><div id="d340a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="I2F3BQ1576662965"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="985673343352360965" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Why are major energy projects of vital interest to Canada? Because they’re vital to the people who work hard every… https://t.co/wSSIDJ2BHU</div> — Justin Trudeau (@Justin Trudeau)<a href="https://twitter.com/JustinTrudeau/statuses/985673343352360965">1523837812.0</a></blockquote></div>
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Trudeau added that he is seeking federal jurisdiction over the pipeline "We are actively pursuing legislative options that will assert and reinforce the government of Canada's jurisdiction in this matter," he said.</p><p>But British Columbia's Horgan said after the meeting he will continue to fight the pipeline expansion due to the threat of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/oil-spill">oil spills</a> in the province. <br></p><p>
"My obligation is to the people of B.C., and I will defend that until I am no longer premier," Horgan said Sunday.
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However, he said he will back down if the court rules against his government, the <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-trudeau-promises-financial-backing-for-vital-trans-mountain-pipeline/" target="_blank">Globe and Mail</a> reported. </p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="70460" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="TT8E8J1576662965"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="985625156390273025" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">The interests of British Columbians — and all Canadians — should come before those in Texas boardrooms. I will cont… https://t.co/ryapkFxklr</div> — John Horgan (@John Horgan)<a href="https://twitter.com/jjhorgan/statuses/985625156390273025">1523826323.0</a></blockquote></div>
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In a <a href="https://protecttheinlet.ca/media/" target="_blank">statement</a> from the <a href="https://protecttheinlet.ca/" target="_blank">Protect the Inlet</a> initiative, the Indigenous-led group reminds the federal government that Kinder Morgan's project does not have their consent.
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"The Prime Minister is saying they are in negotiations with Kinder Morgan to ensure an end to uncertainty. What he is ignoring is that we are the uncertainty. We will not be bought and we will block this pipeline," Will George, Watch House guardian and project leader, said.
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<a href="http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/en/home/" target="_blank">Greenpeace Canada</a>'s climate and energy campaigner Mike Hudema also <a href="https://twitter.com/GreenpeaceCA/status/985592593290477568" target="_blank">commented</a>, "If Trudeau believes he can ram this pipeline through, he is misreading both the constitution and the electorate, while underestimating the opposition on the ground." <span></span>
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"Bailing out failing projects, strong-arming Indigenous communities by ignoring their right to consent, and bypassing calls for science-based decision making are ways to create a crisis, not solve one," he said.
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<span></span>Kinder Morgan told <a href="https://ca.reuters.com/article/topNews/idCAKBN1HM0I0-OCATP" target="_blank">Reuters</a> it would not comment on Trudeau's remarks "until we've reached a sufficiently definitive agreement on or before May 31 that satisfies our objectives."
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Protestors block the gates of the Kinder Morgan Richmond Terminal in California in solidarity with First Nation's people in Canada on July 24, 2017. Peg Hunter / Flickr
By Andrea Germanos
Environmental and indigenous groups are cheering after Kinder Morgan announced Sunday it was halting most work on its controversial Trans Mountain expansion pipeline project, citing continuing opposition.
<p style="">"This is a sign that organizing works, and it could well be the beginning of the end for this dangerous pipeline," declared Clayton Thomas-Muller, a Stop-it-at-the-Source campaigner with 350.org.</p><p style="">"This is huge," <a href="https://twitter.com/dogwoodbc/status/983135723896254464" target="_blank">added</a> British Columbia-based advocacy group Dogwood.</p><p style="">In the company's statement announcing the move, chairman and CEO Steve Kean said Kinder Morgan was suspending "all non-essential activities and related spending" as a result of the "current environment" that puts shareholders at risk.</p><p style="">"A company cannot resolve differences between governments," he added, referencing resistance from BC lawmakers that is at odds with support for the project coming from Ottawa and neighboring Alberta. "While we have succeeded in all legal challenges to date, a company cannot litigate its way to an in-service pipeline amidst jurisdictional differences between governments," Kean said.</p><p style="">Unless legal agreements are reached by May 31, Kean said that "it is difficult to conceive of any scenario in which we would proceed with the project." (There are still 18 pending court cases that could thwart the project, the <a href="https://www.wildernesscommittee.org/" target="_blank">Wilderness Committee</a> noted.)</p><p style="">BC Premier John Horgan, for his part, <a href="https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2018PREM0050-000594" target="_blank">said</a> in a statement Sunday, "The federal process failed to consider BC's interests and the risk to our province. We joined the federal challenge, started by others, to make that point."</p><p style="">"We believe we need to grow the economy, while protecting the environment. We want to work to address these challenges together. But we will always stand up for British Columbians, our environment, and the thousands of jobs that depend on our coast."</p><p style="">Stopping the fossil fuel project, though would reap benefits beyond the two provinces the pipeline runs through, as author and climate campaigner Bill McKibben noted:</p>
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</p><div id="53fcc" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="SNYAPN1576661696"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="983123816485449728" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Odd to watch Alberta fighting with Ottawa fighting with BC, as if the interests of a) First Nations and b) Planet E… https://t.co/Es7PyTgBxa</div> — Bill McKibben (@Bill McKibben)<a href="https://twitter.com/billmckibben/statuses/983123816485449728">1523229958.0</a></blockquote></div>
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<p style="">As such, apart from Horgan's pushback, the project has faced fierce and sustained opposition from a range of groups who demand the rights of land, water, indigenous groups and others trump those of <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/big-oil">Big Oil</a>.<br></p><p style="">Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of Coast Protectors <a href="https://www.facebook.com/CoastProtectors/videos/1802832849775968/" target="_blank">said</a> that "after some long hours in the boardroom," Kinder Morgan came "to the inevitable conclusion that that you simply can't ram a pipeline through in the face of such opposition—legal, political, on-the-ground opposition. It's impossible."</p><p style="">Offering a similar reaction, Greenpeace Canada's climate and energy campaigner Mike Hudema, said:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">Investors should note that the opposition to this project is strong, deep and gets bigger by the day. This announcement shows that this widespread opposition has reached critical mass. British Columbians' desire to protect clean water, safeguard the environment and stand behind Indigenous communities cannot be ignored or swept under the rug. We encourage Kinder Morgan to shelve this project before the litany of lawsuits, crumbling economics, and growing resistance against the pipeline does it for them.<br></p><p style="">While the company "looks ready to pack it in," said Wilderness Committee Climate Campaigner Peter McCartney, the opposition is "not going anywhere until this pipeline no longer poses a threat to the coast, the climate, and Indigenous communities along the route."</p><p style="">Despite such threats, Ottawa and Alberta Premier Rachel Notley are still aggressively pushing for the project.</p><p>"This pipeline must be built," Notley <a href="https://www.alberta.ca/release.cfm?xID=557308B866BAB-9A99-C601-19BCD5A7237ECD71" target="_blank">declared</a> Sunday, and threatened legal action "to impose serious economic consequences on B.C. if its government continues on its present course." She added that her province "is prepared to be an investor in the pipeline."</p><p style="">Trudeau—who's <a href="https://pm.gc.ca/eng/news/2017/06/01/statement-prime-minister-canada-response-united-states-decision-withdraw-paris" target="_blank">touted</a> his country's "unwavering ... commitment to fight climate change"—said on Twitter, "Canada is a country of the rule of law, and the federal government will act in the national interest. Access to world markets for Canadian resources is a core national interest. The Trans Mountain expansion will be built."</p><p style="">Thomas-Muller, however, said that "Kinder Morgan's investors have seen that people all across Canada are choosing Indigenous rights, clean water, and a safe climate over this dangerous pipeline. Now it's time for Justin Trudeau to do the same."</p><p style=""> <em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/04/09/huge-opposition-forces-kinder-morgan-halt-trans-mountain-pipeline" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em><em></em></p>
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