BC NDP government empowered to revisit Trans Mountain pipeline conditions
Today the BC Court of Appeal ruled unanimously that the BC NDP government must reconsider the conditions of the environmental assessment certificate allowing the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline. This is an incredibly important ruling as it means that the BC government now has the opportunity, which the BC Greens expect them to take, to reexamine the nebulous environmental conditions put in place by the former B.C. Liberal government. As I’ve argued numerous times in the past, politics clearly trumped evidence in the decision-making process of the NEB approval for the Transmountain pipeline. British Columbia now has the opportunity to ensure our coastal regions are protected.
As we move forward I am looking for the BC environmental assessment process to now properly consider the many issues I raised during the fundamentally flawed NEB process.
Below is a copy of the press release my office released following the BC Court of Appeal ruling.
Media Statement
B.C. NDP government empowered to revisit Trans Mountain pipeline conditions
For immediate release
Sept. 17, 2019
VICTORIA, B.C. – Today’s B.C. Court of Appeal’s unanimous ruling that the NDP government must reconsider the conditions of the environmental assessment certificate allowing the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline opens a path for additional environmental protections.
“The court has shown yet again the many shortcomings of the environmental assessment process that leaves our province facing the unacceptable environmental impacts that an expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline threatens to bring to our province,” B.C. Green Party Leader Dr. Andrew Weaver said. “The B.C. NDP government has a responsibility to revisit the conditions placed by the former B.C. Liberal government.
“The negative long-term economic impacts related to increased emissions and the risk of oil spills associated with the Trans Mountain pipeline are indisputable. And British Columbians are already shouldering the environmental costs from climate change by way of our depleted oceans, stressed forests, shallow rivers, and dwindling resource economy.
“Tripling the capacity of the existing pipeline from Alberta’s oilpatch to Burnaby would pose an even greater threat to our future. A spill would be devastating to our environment, our coastal economies, and our tourism and fishery industries. Furthermore, the seven-fold increase in tanker traffic would pose significant threats to British Columbia’s already endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales. We ask again: Is the federal government ready to justify to Canadians why it is willing to herald the death knell of this iconic species?
“British Columbia’s economic future lies in the innovative, creative industries that are leading global economic growth, not in continued fossil-fuel infrastructure development that created the climate challenges that our communities and resource-based industries are struggling to cope with today.
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Media contact
Macon L.C. McGinley | Press Secretary
B.C. Green Caucus
+1 250-882-6187 | macon.mcginley@leg.bc.ca
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6 Comments
The NDP says they can not stop the pipeline since that power remains only with the federal government. THAT IS AN OUTRIGHT LIE. After doing the environmental assessment all they need to do is determine that the risk is too high and refuse to allow the project to go through. They do have the power to do this and saying they can’t is pantamount to telling us they intend to approve the project regardless of the environmental assessment and regardless of their election promise to do everything in their power to stop the project. THEY ARE LYING TO US. Our only hope is for the Green caucus to raise such a stink that public outrage becomes so strong that the NDP doesn’t dare approve the pipeline if they ever want another seat in government in future elections.
Students across Canada have little understanding of the impacts from the TransMountain Pipelines expansion. Educating and inviting the students across Canada to BC along the pipeline expansion routes and the lands allow the future generations witness the Climate Dangers they will face in their years. For the working class , we wish we could have more opportunities to see the sites in person but we educate ourselves in ClimateChange Issues to protect our children’s future in their ClimateCrisis .
‘Right to Roam’ . I fully support to concept for BC. What I would like to know is when & how did it become ‘illegal’ to travel unencumbered through Crown Land? Crown Land is not private property but ‘belongs’ to the citizenry. I also believe that as such in the most recent progress on this topic, that private landowners do not have any rights to block or restrict in any manner, access to Crown Lands. Cheers from Sechelt.
Let me ask you this: what happens when there is a spill of dilbit at the Burnaby loading facility? I’ll give you a hint, one of the dilutants is benzene. It takes very little benzene to horrifically impact human beings.
I would also want an economic assessment outlining specific “offtake commitments “ . Are there any?
The original case put forward to the NEB assumed oil prices in excess of $100 / barrel and that California refineries would be a primary source. With the explosion of Bakken shale production, that is all out of the window.