Extracting info: Why’s it so hard to get the goods on oil spills?
Leslie Young, Global News, May 22 2013
CALGARY – It can be tough to get a good sense of how safe Alberta’s oil industry is when you can’t access the information you need.
Pacific NorthWest LNG awards design and engineering contract
Shaun Thomas, The Northern View (Prince Rupert), May 21, 2013
More than 91,000 litres of oil spilled from derailed Saskatchewan train
Canadian Press, Star Phoenix, May 22 2013
A freight train jumped the tracks in southeastern Saskatchewan Tuesday and spilled more than 91,000 litres of oil.
Court rules hydro project can proceed without environmental assessment
Vivian Luk, The Canadian Press, Globe and Mail, May 17 2013
Vancouver — The B.C. Supreme Court has ruled that a hydro-electric development in northeastern B.C. should be allowed to proceed without an environmental assessment.
Global warming has not stalled, insists world's best-known climate scientist
Damian Carrington, guardian.co.uk, 17 May 2013
Prof James Hansen warns public not to be fooled by 'diversionary tactic' from deniers
Pipeline dreams turn to ashes for Big Oil
Rick Smith, The Star, May 17 2013
The arrogance of oil companies and the Harper government turned a previously obscure environmental issue into a much more potent concern regarding the erosion of democracy and fairness
Oil trains -- pipelines on wheels -- headed to Northwest terminals and refineries from North Dakota fracking
Scott Learn, OregonLive.com, May 13 2013
The boom in North Dakota's Bakken oil field is speeding to the Northwest, a boon for ports and refineries that could bring in upwards of 200 million barrels of crude each year on mile-plus oil trains.
The Case of the Disappearing Dilbit: How Much Oil Was Released in 2010 Pipeline Spill?
Lisa Song, Inside Climate News, May 6 2013
A crucial number is removed, without explanation, from the EPA website that is tracking the cleanup of the 2010 dilbit spill Michigan’s Kalamazoo River.
Enbridge breaks safety rules at pipeline pump stations across Canada
Max Paris, CBC News, May 6, 2013
Company's defence is that National Energy Board is interpreting rules differently
The biggest oil and gas pipeline company in Canada is breaking National Energy Board safety rules at 117 of its 125 pump stations across the country, but Enbridge says it's not to blame.
B.C. power producers have high number of compliance issues
Canadian Press, Globe and Mail, May 2 2013
Internal government documents show a startling number of compliance issues with British Columbia’s independent power producers and say the province does not have the staff to monitor the projects.
B.C. demand for renewable power could boom
Scott Simpson, Vancouver Sun, April 30, 2013
KPMG report sees LNG, population and industry growth as catalysts for new wave of IPPs
Wind power development could boom in British Columbia as the province scrambles to support a potential LNG export industry, according to a study.
The Rise of Independent Power Producers, Explained
Colleen Kimmett, TheTyee.ca, April 30 2013
They split the enviro vote in 2009, but can they still spark trouble across the province?
Global carbon dioxide levels set to pass 400ppm milestone
John Vidal, The Guardian, 29 April 2013
The concentration of carbon in the atmosphere over the next few days is expected to hit record levels
Harper government amends list of industrial projects requiring environmental reviews
Mike De Souza, Postmedia News, April 28, 2013
OTTAWA — Building a diamond mine, expanding an oilsands mine, offshore exploration or an interprovincial bridge could soon require a federal environmental review under proposed additions and subtractions to the Harper government’s new environmental rules.But provincially regulated pipelines, facilities used to process the heavy oil from the oilsands, pulp and paper mills as well as chemical explosive plants are among those being deleted from a list of projects requiring federal environmental investigations prior to approval.
Alberta exploring at least two oil pipeline projects to North
Yadullah Hussain, Financial Post, Apr 25 2013
Hemmed in by unco-operative jurisdictions to the south, west and east, Alberta is looking upward, exploring at least two new northern projects that would help the province get its oil to tidewater, making it available for export to overseas markets.
Plains Midstream charged in 2011 Rainbow Pipeline spill
Karen Kleiss, Edmonton Journal, April 26, 2013
Government acts after receiving Greenpeace report
EDMONTON - One day after receiving an advance copy of a scathing Greenpeace report, the Alberta government charged Plains Midstream Canada in connection with the Rainbow Pipeline oil spill.
US Pipelines Incidents Are a Daily Occurrence
Matt Kelso, Fracktracker.org, Apr 15 2013
Recently, there has been a lot of attention focused on the Mayflower, Arkansas pipeline failure that resulted in a massive oil spill, particularly as it comes at a time when discussions of the controversial Keystone XL Pipeline project are once again heating up. However, the situation is far from unusual. In fact, according to data downloaded from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), there were 1,887 incidents in the nation’s gathering and transmission, distribution, and hazardous liquids pipelines between January 1, 2010 and March 29, 2013, or an average of 1.6 incidents per day.
Lobbying: Oil, gas companies are the top B.C. lobbyists
Chad Skelton, Vancouver Sun, April 18, 2013
Four of the five most active companies soliciting provincial politicians are in the energy sector
“The real way an industry moves politicians is by moving blocks of voters to align with their interests."
Francesco Trebbi, Assoc. Professor, Economics, UBC
David Black signs deal with major Chinese bank to help finance Kitimat refinery
Andrew Duffy, Times Colonist, April 19, 2013
Victoria businessman David Black has taken a major step forward in fulfilling his dream of an oil refinery built on B.C.’s west coast after making a deal that could be worth billions of dollars with a major bank in China.
Enbridge, Tundra to build Manitoba rail oil terminal
Scott Haggett, Reuters, April 16 2013
CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Tundra Energy Marketing Ltd said on Tuesday it and Enbridge Inc, Canada's No.1 pipeline company, will build a rail terminal near Cromer, Manitoba, capable of handling up to 60,000 barrels per day of oil.
Mayflower, meet Exxon: When oil spilled in an Arkansas town
Edward McAllister, Reuters, Globe and Mail, Apr. 11 2013
MAYFLOWER, ARK. — Warren Andrews had just finished putting up balloons for his stepdaughter’s 18th birthday party at their suburban home in Mayflower, Ark., when his wife came inside and said something was wrong.
After stepping out of his house, and taking one glance, he immediately dialled 9-1-1.
BC Hydro rate policy could hinder LNG growth prospects as grid expansion costs become an issue
Scott Simpson, Vancouver Sun, April 11 2013
A BC Hydro policy that slaps extra costs onto major new industrial customers could prompt natural gas producers to “abandon their plans” to support an international LNG export industry, according to documents obtained by The Vancouver Sun.
Stephen Harper’s “omnibus” strategy to overhaul green laws was proposed by oil industry, says records
Mike DeSouza, O.Canada.com, April 10 2013
OTTAWA – Lobbyists from Canada’s oil and gas industry recommended the Harper government’s 2012 strategy to put multiple changes to a series of environmental protection laws into a single piece of legislation, says a newly-released internal federal document.
NEB hearings application form called undemocratic
Max Paris, CBC News, Apr 8, 2013
Enbridge will be 1st test of new rules for who qualifies to comment on projects
The National Energy Board is changing its rules for participation in public hearings, starting with its hearings in August into the reversal of a pipeline that runs through Ontario to Montreal.
2 file federal suit over Arkansas oil spill
Associated Press, Houston Chronicle, April 5 2013
MAYFLOWER, Ark. — Two women who live near an ExxonMobil pipeline that ruptured last week and spilled thousands of barrels of oil in central Arkansas filed a federal lawsuit against the company on Friday.
