• About
    • Which Energy Mix is this?
  • Climate News Network Archive
  • Contact
The climate news that makes a difference.
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
  FEATURED
BREAKING: Federal Budget Pours Tens of Billions Into Clean Economy March 28, 2023
Somali Canadians Aid Drought-Stricken Homeland as 43,000 Reported Dead March 26, 2023
B.C.’s New Energy Framework a ‘Smokescreen,’ Critic Warns March 26, 2023
SPECIAL REPORT: ‘Defuse the Climate Time Bomb’ with Net-Zero by 2040, Guterres Urges G20 March 20, 2023
Devastating Impacts, Affordable Climate Solutions Drive IPCC’s Urgent Call for Action March 20, 2023
Next
Prev

B.C. Lawyer Says Feds Failed to Weigh Risk from Kinder Morgan Tanker Traffic

October 3, 2017
Reading time: 3 minutes

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:US_Navy_030629-N-4790M-003_Commercial_oil_tanker_AbQaiq_readies_itself_to_receive_oil_at_Mina-Al-Bkar_Oil_terminal_(MABOT),_an_off_shore_Iraqi_oil_installation.jpg

Wikipedia

 

The Trudeau cabinet ordered the National Energy Board to issue a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity—in short, a permit—to U.S.-based Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline expansion without adequately considering the risk to British Columbia, a lawyer for the province will argue during hearings in the Federal Court of Appeal this week and next.

The province was granted leave to address the court in August, after its new NDP government reversed its Liberal predecessor’s approval of the $8-billion proposal. The hearings consolidate submissions from “seven First Nations, the cities of Burnaby and Vancouver, the Raincoast Conservation Foundation, and the Living Oceans Society,” the Canadian Press reports.

  • Concise headlines. Original content. Timely news and views from a select group of opinion leaders. Special extras.
  • Everything you need, nothing you don’t.
  • The Weekender: The climate news you need.
Subscribe

In an interview with the National Observer’s Mike De Souza over the weekend, the lawyer representing British Columbia explained the basis of the province’s case.

“The pipeline, of course, is not a pipeline to nowhere,” Monique Pongracic-Speier observed. “The objective is to get oil to tankers, to export the oil to overseas markets.”

Which means “the ships, when they leave the Westridge Marine Terminal, will thread through Burrard Inlet, go out into the Salish Sea, round the southern tip of Vancouver Island, travel through the Juan de Fuca Strait, and then into the Pacific, until they hit the 12-mile (19-kilometre) limit off the west coast of Vancouver Island,” Pongracic-Speier said. “And all along that route, it’s British Columbia that would bear the risk of a marine spill.”

In its order-in-council last year mandating the NEB to issue the permit, she asserts, Trudeau’s government offered no evidence that it had fully considered the extent of that risk.

“Under the National Energy Board Act, when the Governor in Council makes a decision of this kind, it has to give the reasons for its order,” she told De Souza. “But what the order-in-council does not indicate the Governor in Council considered is the risks of marine spills from project-related shipping. And these are risks that will be borne by British Columbians, pretty much alone.”

That omission constitutes “a legal error, and it causes the Governor in Council (Cabinet) decision to be unreasonable,” she said.

As well, First Nations party to the hearing “allege the project infringes on their land claim rights and title, and the government failed to meet its fiduciary duty to thoroughly consult affected communities,” the CP reports.

The multiple arguments raise the bar considerably for counsel representing the federal and Alberta governments, who must defend the November, 2016 decision.

“For the federal Cabinet decision to stand, they will essentially have to win on every single one of those issues,” attorney Eugene Kung of West Coast Environment Law told CP.

Last week, Kinder Morgan suggested completion of its project may be delayed after the NEB ordered it to stop installing mats in streams where fish spawn without its prior approval. Other analyses have suggested the British Columbia government’s decision to join this week’s legal fight could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back for the deeply troubled project.



in Canada, Energy Politics, Legal & Regulatory, Oil & Gas, Pipelines / Rail Transport, Sub-National Governments, Water

The latest climate news and analysis, direct to your inbox

Subscribe

Related Posts

kelly8843496 / Pixabay
Finance & Investment

BREAKING: Federal Budget Pours Tens of Billions Into Clean Economy

March 29, 2023
708
TruckPR/flickr
Hydrogen

Opinion: Hydrogen Hype Sabotages Potential to Decarbonize

March 28, 2023
389
icondigital/pixabay
Supply Chains & Consumption

New Federal Procurement Rule Requires Biggest Bidders to Report Net-Zero Plans

March 28, 2023
195

Comments 2

  1. John Hunter says:
    5 years ago

    Nice picture of a freighter!

    Reply
    • Mitchell Beer says:
      5 years ago

      Not 100% sure of that, but we’ve changed out the photo. Thanks for the advice.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Trending Stories

kelly8843496 / Pixabay

BREAKING: Federal Budget Pours Tens of Billions Into Clean Economy

March 29, 2023
708
Faye Cornish/Unsplash

Abundance, Not Austerity: Reframe the Climate Narrative, Solnit Urges

March 26, 2023
173
U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement/flickr

Willow Oil Project in Alaska Faces Legal Challenges, Economic Doubts

March 19, 2023
775
TruckPR/flickr

Opinion: Hydrogen Hype Sabotages Potential to Decarbonize

March 28, 2023
389
icondigital/pixabay

New Federal Procurement Rule Requires Biggest Bidders to Report Net-Zero Plans

March 28, 2023
195
Bruce Reeve/Flickr

Ontario Faces Multi-Million Dollar Lawsuits Over Cancelled Carbon Pricing Program

May 14, 2022
209

Recent Posts

UNICEF Ethiopia/flickr

Somali Canadians Aid Drought-Stricken Homeland as 43,000 Reported Dead

March 29, 2023
42
Σ64/Wikimedia Commons

B.C.’s New Energy Framework a ‘Smokescreen,’ Critic Warns

March 28, 2023
66
Prime Minister's Office/flickr

Biden’s Ottawa Visit Highlights EVs, Clean Grid, Critical Minerals

March 28, 2023
90
EUMETSAT/wikimedia commons

Cyclone Freddy Leaves Over 500 Dead on Africa’s Southeast Coast

March 23, 2023
65
Kern River Valley Fire Info/Facebook

SPECIAL REPORT: ‘Defuse the Climate Time Bomb’ with Net-Zero by 2040, Guterres Urges G20

March 20, 2023
344
IFRC Intl. Federation:Twitter

Devastating Impacts, Affordable Climate Solutions Drive IPCC’s Urgent Call for Action

March 21, 2023
1k
Next Post
Gerry Dincher/Wikimedia Commons

Fueled by Fossil Donations, Saskatchewan’s Wall Government Hid Sour Gas Threats

The Energy Mix - The climate news you need

Copyright 2023 © Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy and Copyright
  • Cookie Policy

Proudly partnering with…

scf_withtagline
No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}