Coalbed methane presentations in British Columbia
Dogwood Initiative is offering presentations on coalbed methane in areas of British Columbia targeted for exploration and development. Thanks to the generous support of Mountain Equipment Co-op and Patagonia. If you think a presentation would be helpful in your community or to your group, please email Dogwood Initiative.

B.C.'s coal gas may never be extracted
August 9, 2004
VANCOUVER - Development of British Columbia's extensive coalbed methane resource is many years in the future, and may never happen, analysts say.
John Greenwood, National Post ... article

Shell starts gas search in Klappan Coalfield
August 5, 2004
One of the world’s largest energy companies is heading north of Terrace to look for natural gas. Shell has an eight-year exclusive deal, signed this past week, with the province to explore for coal bed methane under 412,000ha of land commonly known as the Klappan area.
Rod Link, Terrace Standard ... article

Okanagan-Similkameen calls for impact assessment
July 30, 2004
The Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen joins other communities faced with coalbed methane development, in a call for an environmental impact assessment.
Regional District of Okanagan-Simikameen ... letter

Gov. Martz writes to Ottawa
July 26, 2004
Montana Governor Martz follows her letter to BC Premier Gordon Campbell of July 19 (link) with a letter to the federal government. In it she asks that
- the August 25 auction of rights in the Crowsnest/Flathead be deferred
- complete environmental baseline be established
- comprehensive assessment be completed
Governor Martz' letter ... letter

BC gov't public claims contradicted by leaked internal report
June 19, 2004
FERNIE- An internal British Columbia government report starkly contradicts Ministry of Energy representations to Montana officials concerning ransboundary waters into which B.C. may drain wastewater from coalbed methane wells.
Citizens Concerned about Coalbed Methane ... news release

Oil and Gas in British Columbia
10 Steps to Responsible Development
VANCOUVER - A ten-point plan calling for widespread review and reform of British Columbia's booming oil and gas industry has been put forward to the provincial government for consideration. It was released by a grouping of rural landowners, First Nations, environmental groups and energy workers.

Doing It Right

A blueprint for responsible coal bed methane
development. Download the PDF
Northern Plains Resource Council website

Coalbed Methane: A Citizens' Guide
May, 2003
The Province is promoting CBM as a ‘clean, environmentally safe, energy source.’ There are many in the US and in Canada who strongly disagree with this characterization. The objective of this Citizen’s Guide is to document the views of both proponents and opponents of CBM in order to help inform BC citizens about the potential environmental implications of CBM.
Westcoast Environmental Law ...PDF
WCEL asks $1 for this document ...WCEL website

A Cowboy's Lament
July/August, 2003
"If we don’t fix this oil and gas problem we won’t need to argue about grazing, or endangered species, or riparian areas down the line. The land will be ruined."
Marilyn Berlin Snell, Sierra Magazine ...article

Into the Black
March 4, 2002
Methane that’s extracted from coal is a billion-dollar industry in the US. It’s no wonder Canadian companies are so eager to start drilling
Andrew Nikiforuk, Canadian Business ...article

Coalbed Methane Primer
May 25, 2001
An industry lawyer gives a good intro to coalbed methane and production issues
Randy Allen, Frontier Enterprises ...Word Doc

La Plata County Impact Report
October, 2002
La Plata County, Colorado, commissioned a study to determine the benefit and value to the county of a large coalbed methane project. The conclusion: tax revenues (not available in BC), no employment impact, 22% loss in land value
Impact Report (#1 contains Executive Summary) ...
Files 1 - 10 (each about 3 MB) ... 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10

Coalbed methane in British Columbia

This PowerPoint presentation looks at some
of the issues with coalbed methane in
British Columbia. Trevor Jones, 2003