Vaughn Palmer, Vancouver Sun, Feb 19, 2013

“How is the government balancing the budget? Is it credible? And will it withstand scrutiny?”Those are indeed the right questions to be asking about the B.C. Liberal government’s 2013 budget and fiscal plan. Things begin to go off course for de Jong and his colleagues once one gets to the answers.

Justine Hunter, Globe and Mail, Feb. 19 2013

Victoria — B.C. Finance Minister Mike de Jong has resorted to corporate and personal income taxes hikes for the first time in his party’s 12 year reign, on the eve of an election that threatens to unseat the B.C. Liberal government.

Brian Hutchinson, National Post, Feb 19 2013

VANCOUVER — B.C.’s Liberal government says it can make good on its promise to deliver surplus budgets this year and beyond, by hiking corporate and personal income taxes, selling off unused real estate and ratcheting down planned spending increases, ambitious measures described in a pre-election budget program that provincial finance minister Mike de Jong calls “plausible and achievable.”

Alfred Sorensen, CBC Early Edition, Feb 15 2013

Alfred Sorensen of Pieridae Energy says LNG in BC is not as promising as Premier Clark states. Challenges include upstream gas production, fracking, water, power requirements. 10 million tonnes per annum plant may need 400 megawatts of electricity capacity. Mr. Sorensen was a partner in Galveston LNG which first proposed the Kitimat LNG project now owned by Chevron and Apache.

Click here to listen to the program segment.

Justine Hunter, Globe and Mail, Feb 15 2013

Victoria — The B.C. Liberal government is facing legal action over a decision to deny an environmental certificate to a proposed copper and gold mine on the shores of Morrison Lake in the province’s northern interior.

Bob Simpson, Georgia Straight, Feb 14 2013

Forestry, mining, and agriculture all made cameo appearances in this week’s throne speech, but liquefied natural gas (LNG) had the starring role.

Vaughn Palmer, Vancouver Sun, February 12, 2013

VICTORIA — Bereft of revenues, political momentum and much in the way of new ideas, the B.C. Liberals Tuesday staked the last throne speech of their current term on wild speculation about a single sector of the economy.

Editorial, Vancouver Sun, February 12, 2013

Peter Tertzakian, The Globe and Mail, Feb. 05 2013

“No one goes there nowadays,” said Yogi Berra. “It’s too crowded.”

Nathan VanderKlippe, Globe and Mail, Feb 5 2013

CALGARY — For the Canadian energy industry desperate to pump oil and natural gas through British Columbia, the single greatest obstacle has been the dozens of first nations fighting to ensure pipelines are never built.

Jeff Lewis, National Post, Jan 31 2013

CALGARY — TransCanada Corp.’s advance into the remote shale gas fields of British Columbia has been temporarily stalled amid concern that a proposed 100-kilometre expansion to its B.C. pipeline system would “unreasonably subsidize” users of the addition.

Jeff Lewis, National Post, Feb 1 2013

CALGARY — Chevron Corp. is taking a hard line with Asian utilities and other potential buyers seeking cheaper prices on exports of liquefied natural gas from Canada’s West Coast, warning that unless sales are indexed to oil prices “the projects won’t get built.”

Derrick O'Keefe, rabble.ca, Jan 31 2013

Earlier today in Vancouver, top officials of the B.C. government joined a day-long seminar -- or, more accurately, a love-in -- with the fossil fuel export industry organized by the Vancouver Board of Trade.

Briony Penn, Focus, February 2013

Climate policy experts are speaking out against various schemes to export more carbon from BC’s coastal ports.

Truck driver John Snyder retired to bucolic Fanny Bay to live the life, only to wake up one morning three years ago to find a notice on his doorstep—an invitation to an information session on the Raven Coal Mine, proposed five kilometres upstream of his home.

Canadian Press, National Post, Jan 29 2013

Chief Terry Teegee says the projects are at risk because there are no agreements in place for First Nations to assess them

Ian Bailey, Globe and Mail, Jan 30, 2013

VANCOUVER —B.C. Hydro says it won’t install smart meters if households don’t want them, even after the B.C. Liberal government insisted for years that the program was mandatory.

Gordon Hoekstra, Vancouver Sun, January 30, 2013

Critics want to know effects of increased diesel exhaust and coal dust from trains

Health leaders will continue to press Port Metro to conduct wider health-impact assessments of diesel exhaust and coal dust in the Lower Mainland after the go-ahead was given to an expanded coal terminal in North Vancouver.

Laura Walz, Powell River Peak, January 30, 2013

Alterra receives 20 for Bute Inlet and five for Toba Inlet

BC’s government has issued over two dozen investigative licences to Alterra Power Corporation for waterpower projects.

News Release, Wilderness Committee, January 24, 2013

This new report, Financial Liability for Kinder Morgan, analyses the insurance available to pay for oil spill response costs and damages caused by a potential marine-based oil spill resulting from the proposed Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline.The report was co-authored by the Living Oceans Society, Georgia Strait Alliance, West Coast Environmental Law and the Wilderness Committee, and addresses the fact that Kinder Morgan’s new Trans Mountain Pipeline proposal represents an exponential increase in the risk of a major marine-based oil spill affecting the Salish Sea’s most populous region—including the Cities of Vancouver and Victoria and the Southern Gulf Islands.

Larry Pynn, Vancouver Sun, January 23, 2013

Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations lists 749 non-compliance incidents from 16 hydro projects in 2010

By Darren Campbell, Alberta Oil Magazine, January 14, 2013

TCPL to build $5.1 billion pipeline that will feed coastal terminal

If you’re keen on seeing liquefied natural gas (LNG) exported from the coast of British Columbia, Wednesday was a good day.

News Release, Environmental Law Centre, Dec 20, 2012

Today the ELC announced the release of Maintaining SuperNatural BC for Our Children: Selected Law Reform Proposals. This book is a series of 35 short, readable articles – punctuated by photos and cartoons - that describe key environmental law reforms the next provincial government should consider.

News Release, Alterra & Fiera Axium, December 12 2012

VANCOUVER - Alterra Power Corp. (TSX: AXY) and Fiera Axium Infrastructure are pleased to announce that they are now partners at the 235 MW Toba Montrose run-of-river hydro facility and the 144 MW Dokie 1 wind farm in British Columbia, effective December 7. A consortium of Canadian investors led by Fiera Axium purchased GE Energy Financial Services' partnership interests, and now owns a 60% interest in Toba Montrose and a 49% interest in Dokie 1. Alterra's ownership interests in these facilities are unchanged at 40% and 51% respectively.

Laura Walz, Powell River Peak, December 19, 2012

Montrose plant may be offline until spring

A large rockslide has damaged the 88-megawatt Montrose hydroelectric facility in the Toba Valley.