It's Getting Hot In Here

Why do old pipes fail? And did you know that over 50% of hazardous-liquid pipeline failures occur in pipes that are over 44% years old?

Last week, TransCanada announced that it is moving ahead with its proposed Energy East pipeline which would carry oil from Alberta to Atlantic waters. If you are among those getting confused by all the different pipelines making headlines—Northern Gateway, Line 9, Kinder Morgan, etc.—this primer is for you!

What is TransCanada’s Energy East pipeline?

TransCanada wants to convert its natural gas pipeline, called the Eastern Mainline pipeline, which is currently operating at half capacity, into an oil pipeline which could carry up to 850,000 barrels per day. At the moment, the Eastern Mainline serves Quebec, but the company and some politicians want to extend it all the way to the Irving refinery in St. John, New Brunswick.

80% of the pipeline (between Saskatchewan and Quebec) already exists and it would need to be extended on either end: in the west to connect the pipe to Hardisty, Alberta; and in the east it would be extended to either Montreal, Quebec City, or St. John, NB—pending approvals and finalized shipping contracts. Why these three cities? All of them are port cities, which helps industry get the crude to international waters.

So much of the pipeline is already there, what’s the big deal?

To explain why this is a “big deal,” I’m going to direct folks to an article in InsideClimate News about a recent rupture in Exxon’s Pegasus Pipeline which spilled up to an estimated 7,000 barrels of bitumen in Mayflower, Arkansas.

“The Pegasus pipeline that ruptured and spilled thousands of gallons of tar sands crude in Mayflower was 65 years old, and was initially built to carry thinner oil at lower pressure in the opposite direction than today.”

Like the Pegasus Pipeline, the Eastern Mainline Pipeline was built in the 1950s and would also carry a substance (oil) thicker than the material for which it was originally made. The article continues to cite a study by the National Petroleum Council for the U.S. Department of Energy which states that “pipelines operating outside of their design parameters such as those carrying commodities for which they were not initially designed, or high flow pipelines, are at the greatest risk of integrity issues in the future due to the nature of their operation.”

Converting an existing gas pipeline to an oil pipeline may mean less effort put into construction and materials, but it also means more risk for the many rivers and lakes along the route such as the Trout Lake Watershed which supplies drinking water for the City of North Bay.

Providing oil to Eastern Canada?

Politicians and right-wing pundits keep trying to convince us that they want to get tar sands to Eastern Canadians; however, there is reason to believe that pipeline is really meant to get tar sands to Atlantic ports so that the crude can be easily exported. Natural Resource Minister Joe Oliver has said that the Energy East pipeline could deliver Canadian oil to large energy consumers and new markets. In the end, the oil will go to the highest bidders as shippers are looking to the US’s East Coast and Gulf Coast, Europe, India, and China—not just eastern Canada.

Additionally, there is not even enough refining capacity in eastern Canada to refine the bitumen, and there are no talks of new refineries being built or of old refineries getting the capital investments required to process the oil. This means that the crude would need to be exported to even get to refineries that could make the crude useful for people in the East. The claim that the Energy East Pipeline will service Eastern Canada is mere propaganda.

Reducing dependence on oil imports

We have also been hearing that this pipeline will help Canada reduce its dependence on oil imports, but transporting oil to eastern Canada is not the best strategy. Reducing dependence on all oil, in general, is! The Energy East pipeline is a massive $5.6 billion project, and the fossil fuel sector in Canada receives over a billion dollars in subsidies even though it is an industry that generates corporate revenue. These subsidies could be redistributed and put into projects that reduce emissions on oil and put less strain on the environment, communities, and the atmosphere. Investing in public mass transit, community-based renewable energy projects, and green building retrofits are some of the solutions to reducing dependence on oil imports and tar sands expansion.

Creating jobs

Creating a more sustainable and stable economy does not come from expanding the fossil fuel industry and associated pipeline systems. Studies have shown that investments in renewable energies and community-owned power generation produce more jobs and local revenue. Public and community ownership ensures that power generation is accountable to the public interest and contributes to decent job creation and reduced inequality. For more information, you can refer to Green, Decent, and Public. Fossil fuel subsidies and tax breaks can instead be directed to public mass transit and green building retrofits that not only reduce reliance on fossil fuels and create jobs. This one solution alone prioritizes local jobs and more permanent jobs. Continue reading ‘A Primer on TransCanada’s West-East Pipeline’

Obama just delivered his “state of the union” address and, at the very least, he has recognized that climate change is becoming more like a climate catastrophe with the 12 hottest years on record having come in the past 15, and with “heat waves, drought, wildfires, and floods… now more frequent and intense.” Recognizing there is a problem is the first step.

The problem has been his next step: to pursue solutions through the market. In his address, he stated, “I urge this Congress to pursue a bipartisan, market-based solution to climate change.” This indicates that Obama is willing to do what it takes to solve the climate crisis…as long as it doesn’t impact markets and profits.

Take another scenario. Let’s pretend that Obama’s speech read something like this:

I urge this Congress to pursue a strategy to solve the climate crisis that involves communities to control the resources–including land, water, and air–that impact them most. This means that we need to stop blasting off the top of mountains to dig up coal. It means that we need to stop hydraulic fracturing which pollutes groundwater supplies. And it means we need to stop enabling the expansion of the tar sands. I will direct my Cabinet to come up with executive actions we can take, now and in the future, to reduce pollution, prepare our communities for the consequences of climate change, and speed the transition to more sustainable sources of energy. This means that I am not going to approve the Keystone XL project which has faced clear opposition by those who are willing to get arrested at mass actions in the White House, office occupations, and at the point of destruction by running in front of, and chaining themselves to, machinery.

This would indicate that the president has been listening to those involved in the Tar Sands Blockade, those who have signed petitions and written letters, those who got arrested, and those who are mobilizing for the February 17th Forward on Climate action in DC. It would mean that he is putting the needs and demands of communities and people first. It would mean that he is prioritizing safety of the environment, and consequently the safety of water, land, and air.

Unfortunately, more attention is being given to those who can fully engage in the market. You know, those who can buy, sell, and trade. And those who have the greatest ability to buy, sell, and trade are big business and governments. Climate change has simply become one more venue for capital accumulation at the expense of people.

The Indigenous Environmental Network has rejected carbon markets, saying that “the potential threat of climate change into an opportunity for profit…is a new form of colonialism. It creates CO2lonialism.”

The reality is that CO2lonialism and CO2rporate exploitation has already been happening. Industries have already been profiting off of polluting. Fossil fuel industries continue to destroy the land, water, and air and they continue to ravage the land and resources of Indigenous communities, communities of colour, rural communities, and poor communities.

Some resources on carbon markets include the new documentary, the Carbon Rush which exposes some of the problems with purchasing “carbon credits,” which allow polluters to continue polluting. Their pollution is thus “offset” by companies that may plant trees, build dams, or creating waste-to-energy schemes. The reality is that this money goes to another company which finds loopholes and continues to pollute and exploit communities. In some cases, trees planted are harvested in large plantations, only to be burned again for energy; large mega-dams privatize water and displace entire communities and destroy food systems; and the “waste” that is being burned for energy is actually being done in energy-intensive incinerator plants that are also impoverishing millions of waste workers whose livelihood depend on sorting and recycling. Rising Tide North America’s publication Hoodwinked in the Hothouse: False Solutions to Climate Change goes into further detail about the fallacy of carbon markets and carbon trading, while also debunking the propaganda around Mega Dams, Incinerators, and Geoengineering.

Carbon markets have caused forced displacement, water privatization, job loss, and continued carbon emissions in the Global South. You can also check out the Story of Cap and Trade which is “a story of a system in crisis.” The ever-so-engaging narrator tells us how “we are trashing the planet” and “we’re trashing ourselves.” More importantly, she tells us why you just can’t solve a problem with the thinking that created it–the market!

But take away all the background reading, if you really want pure confusion, ask yourself this: If there is someone profiting off of polluters, then who is going to demand that carbon pollution stop?

Continue reading ‘Obama Didn’t Get the Memo: The Market Doesn’t Care About Climate Change’

For immediate release: January 15, 2013
Six People Arrested Inside Enbridge Hearings
Group directly intervenes in proceedings and raises climate issues while condemning process

Video available upon request.

Vancouver, BC / Coast Salish Territories - This morning six people directly intervened in the Enbridge pipeline joint Environmental Assessment and Energy Board hearings and put climate change on the agenda . The group managed to make their way past police undetected and into the secured 4th floor of Vancouver’s Sheraton Wall Center.  Once inside they revealed shirts emblazoned with messages like “Stop The Pipelines” and proceeded to use police tape to cordon off the hearing area as a “climate crime scene”.

“Climate change is killing thousands of people every year, primarily in developing countries and Indigenous communities that are the least responsible for creating this problem.  Despite this fact, the Joint Review Panel has instructed those participating in the hearings not to talk about climate change. This is a shockingly irresponsible move considering Canada’s tar sands contain twice the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by global oil use in our entire history. New fossil fuel pipelines are an irresponsible step in the wrong direction.” said Sean Devlin.

The impacts of climate change have been drawing global attention recently, between Hurricane Sandy, unprecedented deadly typhoons in the Philippines and previously unimaginable temperature records in Australia.  In this urgent context the JRP has designated climate change and the carbon emissions of Canada’s tarsands “outside of the panel’s mandate”,  a move that officially discourages intervenors from raising these critical issues during their oral statements.

“Enbridge and the federal government are using their position of authority within this process to coerce members of the public into silence on these issues. The majority of First Nations and settler communities in the province oppose fossil fuel pipelines. We respect those who are voicing their opposition to the pipelines inside the hearings, but the hearing process is meaningless, especially since Harper has changed the law, giving his cabinet final say on pipeline projects.” Said Fiona De Balasi Brown.    Continue reading ‘Six People Arrested Inside “Public” Enbridge Hearings’

This week, the Joint Review Panel has been holding hearings in Victoria about the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline. Just today, the Dogwood Initiative tweeted:

Final speaker of the day makes it official! 141 OPPOSED – in favour, ZERO at the #yyj #Enbridge #JRP hearings #bcpoli

Earlier in the week, several news outlets (written coverage here and TV coverage here) reported heavy police presence and “armed guards” at the hearings, where the public is supposed to be able to express their opinions on the pipeline which is planned to carry over 500,000 barrels of tar sands per day from Alberta to the Pacific Coast where it will be exported. Organizers with Social Coast organized events outside of the hearings and criticized the undemocratic nature of the hearings. “They are public hearings, are they not?” asked Eric Nordal of Social Coast. The format of the hearings taking place this month and next in Victoria, Vancouver, and Kelowna are having a different format than previous hearings on the same pipeline. People who have registered to speak are asked to speak to the panel one at a time, while others wait in a separate observation room. A few months ago, there were also updates as to what people were allowed to speak about, prohibiting people to address issues such as climate change.

The following is a release sent out by Rising Tide-Vancouver, Coast Salish Territories. A long list of endorsers indicates the broad-based opposition to Enbridge, and other pipelines that would bring fossil fuels to the coast and across unceded Inidgenous territories.

Media Release-January 7th, 2013

Enbridge Panel to be Greeted with Loud Demonstration
Diverse list of grassroots groups demand consent not consultation

When the Enbridge pipeline joint Environmental Assessment and Energy Board hearings open in Vancouver on January 14th they will be greeted by community members determined to make their opposition heard on the streets and inside the hearing room. A large, noise demonstration will march through downtown Vancouver in full support of the self-determination of Indigenous communities, and their rights to say no to oil and gas pipelines across their territories.

The Harper government has gutted Canada’s already weak environmental laws, giving cabinet the final say on pipeline projects and making the Joint Review Panel hearings merely a public relations (consultation) exercise. This undemocratic change attempts to remove the rights of communities to say no to big oil corporations. Continue reading ‘Enbridge Greeted With Vocal Opposition at BC Hearings’

Image courtesy of Rising Tide North America

Rising Tide Vancouver Coast Salish Territories opposes the recent attacks on the people of Gaza and the ongoing military occupation of Palestinian Territories.

Rising Tide has been working with Indigenous peoples on Turtle Island, opposing land grabs and resource exploitation by industries and state sanctioned institutions. One of those institutions has been, and continues to be, imperial militaries which destroy communities, the environment, and the climate.

We reject the Israeli military’s attacks on the Palestinian people in Gaza, and the worldwide state powers which respond with complacency. We reject the state powers which support the Israeli military with monetary contributions and weapons such as drones and missiles. We reject Canada’s negotiating with Israel for the sake of trade and further development of energy resources. As many regions of the world have tar sands resources, including the occupied Palestinian territories, we extend our solidarity with all who are impacted by resource extraction processes, and encroachments on their sovereignty and self-determination.

We reject the mainstream media’s coverage (and lack of coverage) of what is happening and the demonizing of the Palestinian people as terrorists. We reject the Western mainstream media’s ongoing failure to cover the struggle of the Palestinian people as a struggle for freedom and self-determination.

In the movement for environmental and climate justice, we stand with those fighting war and occupation. Militaries exploit land and natural resources to fuel their violent control and power over others. Canada exports 2 million barrels of oil per day to the USA and the US Department of Defense is the world’s largest consumer of oil. Both Harper and Obama have been contributing to the Israeli military’s occupation financially and politically. We will not stay silent as the state and corporations contribute to attacks on communities both here and abroad.

To add fuel to the fire, literally, the unfettered burning of fossil fuels by Israeli and other militaries to wage war and violence on communities is exacerbating climate change and the impacts of droughts, extreme weather events, flooding, and sea level rise. This will lead to an increase in forced displacement and the number of climate refugees hoping to seek access to food, water, and homes elsewhere.

We recognize that the struggle to protect the land, water, and air from colonization, capitalism, and imperialism is a struggle that the people of Gaza face every day.  We extend our voices of solidarity to the people of Gaza who are facing unacceptable escalation of violence as they struggle to end the illegal occupation of their land.

Any fight against the pipelines and tanker projects in BC must be rooted at stopping them at the source—the Alberta Tar Sands. On Tuesday, October 23^rd we will be standing with the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN) as they challenge Shell’s proposed expansion of the Jackpine Mine.

They have filed a constitutional challenge, “citing lack of adequate or meaningful consultation and that the application would have adverse impact on their treaty rights” says a press release put out by the ACFN. It continues to explain that, “the application calls for the mining out of 21 km of the Muskeg river, a river of cultural and traditional significance to both the people and wildlife in the area.” 

This challenge is even more significant given that just yesterday the Conservatives rolled out a new version of the budget bill, Bill C-45, which further undermines Treaty rights and environmental legislation in Canada. In particular, the bill would weaken the Navigable Waters Protection Act, consequently weakening protection of the Muskeg river and making it easier for the expansion to be approved.

The ACFN are hosting a rally and a pipe ceremony on the first day of the constitutional challenge and are  asking supporters to join them in Fort McMurray, Alberta. To learn more about how to get there from Edmonton, email chelseaf@sierraclub.ca. Council of Canadians will be there to support all of the day’s events. For more information on what is planned, check out Stop Shell Now’s event page, here.

Following these projects, Council will continue on its six-day No Pipelines, No Tankers Speaking Tour, stopping in communities on or near the routes of the Pacific Trails, Enbridge Northern Gateway, and Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Pipelines.

“The idea is to build solidarity between the different pipeline campaigns,” says Harjap Grewal, Pacific Regional Organizer of the Council of Canadians. This includes campaigns to stop the pipelines at their source—in the Alberta Tar Sands and Fracking region in northeastern BC. Pipelines planning to bring fossil fuels to BC’s coast for international markets are being fought as individual projects, when they are all part of a larger agenda to secure profits for corporations and oil- and gas-friendly governments.

“If these and other pipelines are allowed to be built, there will be no incentive in the foreseeable future to cut back on the production of fossil fuels and convert to the clean energy future we and the planet need. These pipelines are not only the arteries carrying the dirtiest oil on Earth, they become the drivers of an expanded industry as there will be relentless pressure to keep them full. We must and will stop these pipelines,” says Maude Barlow.

The lineup of speakers include Maude Barlow, Bill McKibbon, Caleb Behn, Rueben George, and many others who will be speaking in numerous cities beginning on Tuesday, October 23^rd.

For full information on speakers, locations, and times, please visit the No Pipelines, No Tankers Solidarity Speaking Tour site.

Until October 1^st you can make a written submission or sign up to make a presentation submission to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency about the Shell Jackpine Mine Expansion. Visit stopshellnow.com to find out more or visit this page directly to make your submission. It is easy. It won’t take you long. You can do it now!

On October 23^rd, for the first time ever, two First Nations—the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation and the Mikisew Cree–will be filing a constitutional challenge against a tar sands mining project. Shell wants to expand the Jackpine Mine, adding 100,000 barrels of bitumen production per day to the existing 200,000 barrels per day. That would be enough to fuel both the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline (525,000bpd) and the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline (currently 300,000 and proposed to expand to over 700,000bpd), with plenty to spare. To learn more about these tar sands pipelines, visit www.canadians.org/pipelines

Pipelines are a recipe for disaster and mean fear of fractures and spills that would impact sensitive ecosystems, wildlife, and water systems and rivers that provide communities with water and food. With spills may also come the forced evacuation of communities, but also negligence of community health. People have reported burning eyes and headaches when there have been leaks. But when opposing these pipelines, it is crucial that we not only think about the destruction that happens along the pipeline route, but also the destruction that is happening at the point of extraction and downstream from these mines. Downstream communities have been plagued with rare cancers, increased autoimmune diseases and cardiovascular disease. There has also been increasing diabetes as people can no longer eat and live off traditional foods because water, fish, and moose have been poisoned by tar sands contamination.

Last Friday, several women from tar sands impacted communities shared their personal stories at the event She Speaks: Indigenous Women Speak Up Against the Tar Sands. One of the speakers, Melina Laboucon-Massimo of the Lubicon Cree First Nation spoke about the community impacts of last year’s Rainbow pipeline rupture and the company’s negligent response and has also produced a photo essay.

This fall, the Council of Canadians will be holding a No Pipelines, No Tankers Speaking Tour in which we talk about the pipelines proposed to bring fossil fuels to BC’s coast for export and corporate profit. We will be talking about the fights against three pipelines in BC—the Northern Gateway, Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain, and the Pacific Trails Pipeline—and the much needed solidarity in fighting all of the pipelines. For more information about the pipelines tour, visit http://www.canadians.org/pipelines

This blog was also posted on http://www.canadians.org

For Immediate Release

July 12, 2012

Redford faces mounting pressure for independent inquiry into pipeline safety

(Edmonton) Representatives of more than 50 provincial organizations today released an open letter calling on Premier Alison Redford to establish an independent inquiry into pipeline safety in Alberta. The organizations represent a broad cross-section of Alberta’s population, including farmer, landowner, labour, health, First Nations and environmental groups.

“The recent spate of pipeline spills has been a wake-up call for all Albertans,” said Don Bester, President of the Alberta Surface Rights Group. “We know that we have a problem with pipeline safety in this province, and we can’t afford to wait another year before starting to look at solutions or diagnosing the problem.”

The text of the open letter sent to the premier and opposition leaders reads:

Dear Premier Redford,

The recent series of major pipeline spills in the province has raised serious concerns for all Albertans about the integrity and oversight of the more than 300,000 kilometres of oil and gas pipelines that crisscross the province. These spills have brought attention to an issue that affects the entire province. Albertans deserve assurances that our pipeline infrastructure is safe, and that appropriate regulations and oversight are in place.

For this reason, we are calling on you to initiate an immediate independent province-wide review of pipeline safety in Alberta, similar to the one which was recently conducted for the Auditor General of Saskatchewan’s 2012 report.

We are encouraged that you have indicated you are “not opposed” to such a review, but we believe that such a critical issue simply cannot wait, as you have indicated, for the conclusion of the ERCB investigation into the recent spills. The average ERCB investigation takes nine months to complete, with some investigations taking years, and broader concerns related to regulation and enforcement are unlikely to be addressed by these investigations. An independent review of regulations and enforcement can and must be conducted in a parallel time frame to any ERCB investigation into individual spills.

Albertans need to know that their families, communities and drinking water are safe from pipeline spills. The time for leadership on pipeline safety is now, and the first step must be an independent pipeline safety review.

Continue reading ‘Over 54 Groups Call For Independnt Inquiry into Pipeline Safety in Alberta’

June 26, 2012 – Following Vermont’s ban on hydraulic fracturing last month, the Council of Canadians has written to the premiers of the provinces and territories across Canada asking that they follow suit. “Last month, the state of Vermont took action to protect water sources and to curb demands on fossil fuels. Provincial governments should do the same thing,” said Maude Barlow, National Chairperson of the Council of Canadians.

On May 16, 2012, the State of Vermont passed Bill H.464, an Act relating to hydraulic fracturing wells for natural gas and oil production, and became the first state to ban hydraulic fracturing in the United States.

Hydraulic fracturing, also known as “fracking,” is a process used to extract natural gas from harder to access unconventional sources trapped in rock formations such as shale gas, coal bed methane and tight gas. Sand, water and chemicals are blasted at high pressure to fracture rock where natural gas is trapped.

Communities across Canada have demanded bans and moratoriums on fracking because of its potential to pollute water, harm human health, produce high carbon emissions and cause earthquakes. A recent Environics Research poll found that 62% of Canadians support “a moratorium on all fracking for natural gas until all the federal environmental reviews are complete.”

As stated in media reports, Governor of Vermont Peter Shumlin has stated that: “Human beings survived for thousands and thousands of years without oil and natural gas,” adding that “we have never known humanity or life on this planet to survive without clean water.”

The Council of Canadians’ open letters urge each premier to “take leadership in Canada by banning hydraulic fracturing” as well as the treatment, collection and storage of fracking wastewater.

The Council of Canadians’ letter to premiers can be read at www.canadians.org/fracking

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For more information:

Maryam Adrangi, Energy Campaigner, The Council of Canadians: madrangi@canadians.org, 604-762-0536

Emma Lui, Water Campaigner, The Council of Canadians: elui@canadians.org, 613-298-8792

This release was originally published on the Council of Canadians website