Hair straight back

No, I'm not talking about those equinox storms that are beginning to appear. I'm talking about the whirlpool of threats, hearings, events, decisions, comment periods, interventions and even fun happening in the Skeena watershed and on the coast these days.

River Days 2016

First of all - the fun. Yesterday, because of the generosity of Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition, we got to join a one-hundred strong paddle down the Bulkley from Quick to Telkwa - thanks to all the organizers who put together the event.

 

 

 

 

Enbridge and an oil tanker moratorium - Sept. 30 deadline for input

If you want to keep up-to-date on what's happening around what looks like another end to Enbridge's plans to build a bitumen pipeline across three watersheds, here's a place to go: Friends of Morice-Bulkley. If you'd like to add your voice to the request to ask for a tanker moratorium that is:

• legislated, 
• has no sunset clause, and 
• covers at least Hecate Strait, Dixon Entrance and Queen Charlotte Sound

go to Let's Talk Marine Transportation in Canada.
You have until Sept. 30.

Pipelines, pipelines, where ever you look

Of course, the Enbridge project, tied as it is to tar sands oil extraction, is not the only threat to water and climate. Kinder Morgan's proposed expansion, Energy East and other bitumen pipelines are being questioned by people across the continent. A CBC September 22 news story outlined the stand taken by 50 aboriginal groups in North America:

Aboriginal tribes from Canada and the northern United States signed a treaty on Thursday to jointly fight proposals to build more pipelines to carry crude from Alberta's oil sands, saying further development would damage the environment.

The treaty, signed in Montreal and Vancouver, came as the politics around pipelines have become increasingly sensitive in North America, with the U.S. Justice Department intervening last week to delay construction of a contentious pipeline in North Dakota.

The Treaty Alliance Against Tar Sands Expansion was signed by 50 aboriginal groups in North America, who also plan to oppose tanker and rail projects in both countries, they said in a statement.
Targets include projects proposed by Kinder Morgan Inc, TransCanada Corp and Enbridge Inc.

Lelu Island and LNG - Sept. 30 deadline for input

Pipelines aren't the only threat to the Skeena Watershed. To quote Friends of Wild Salmon,

Next Friday, September 30, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to make a decision on whether to approve Pacific Northwest LNG's plant on Lelu Island in the Skeena estuary. Not only does his decision have potentially dire implications for Skeena wild salmon, it would create one of Canada's largest single sources of greenhouse gas pollution.

So much for clean green energy, Christi.

If you'd like to raise your concerns before Friday, click on the Wild Salmon link and follow the directions given.

Site C 

And just in case you don't think these things are related, it's pretty clear that much of the power the Site C dam would create is planned to fuel the fracking industry wreaking havoc in northeastern BC and elsewhere, the same industry that would have to expand significantly to fuel the Lelu Island project. Site C has never been subjected to BC's own economic and energy needs scrutiny under the aegis of the BC Utilities Commission. It's not being built to power electric cars.

For an overview, check out Amnesty International's campaign.

How about a national plan to curb carbon emissions? 

How about it!

How to make sense of it all?

We got to see To the Ends of the Earth in Smithers last week. It's a great documentary doing a damn fine job of untangling the Ponzi economics of energy production. If you get a chance, go see it.

It ain't over 'til it's over...

Leave those signs in place!

Earlier this year, I speculated about perhaps taking down the sign I have posted at the bottom of our driveway - talked about breaking out the champagne. Well, I'm thinking again.

The Friends of Morice-Bulkley (FOMB) recently sent out this call for action - it seems even more important now that Christy Clark and Rachel Notley are talking electricity/pipeline deals. 

Dear Supporters,
The FOMB Steering Committee recently wrote a letter to federal Transport Minister Marc Garneau, urging the federal government to enact a legislated oil tanker ban on the north coast of BC. See our letter below.
We understand that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's call to formalize a moratorium on crude oil tankers has elicited strong push-back from oil executives and business. We need to make our voice heard also.
Please add your voice to ours in one of these ways:

• write the Honorable Minister of Transport Mr Garneau at marc.garneau@parl.gc.ca
  
• sign an on-line letter at Dogwood's website  http://www.tankerban.ca/
  
• or pick up and mail a Friends of Wild Salmon tanker ban postcard. Postcards can be found at Mountain Eagle Books, Oscar's Source for Adventure and the Local Supply Company.

Sincerely,
FOMB Steering Committee

Sample letter

Honourable Minister of Transport Marc Garneau

330 Sparks Street
Ottawa, Ontario  K1A 0N5

April 4, 2016

Dear Honourable Minister Marc Garneau,

We are a conservation group in a Skeena watershed community that has a deep connection to our wild salmon, both for economic and quality-of-life reasons. The Skeena River is the second largest wild salmon producer in Canada and an international destination for sport fishing tourism.

We commend the federal government’s commitment to protecting the North coast of British Columbia from oil spills with a tanker ban and call on the government to make it a permanent, legislated oil tanker ban. The voluntary ban, which had been in place since the Exxon Valdez oil spill, was completely disregarded by the previous government when they approved Enbridge Northern Gateway tankers traveling from Kitimat to ports in Asia. 

It is even more important the ban be given the force of legislation now the science clearly shows that diluted bitumen can’t be cleaned up with conventional oil spill response technology. The U.S. National Academy of Science published a comprehensive study of the fate and behaviour of spilled diluted bitumen (dilbit) last December, citing evidence from the Kalamazoo and Mayflower dilbit spills. The multi-disciplinary panel of experts concluded that conventional spill response technology and plans are unable to effectively deal with dilbit. 

The 27^th anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill was last month. The spill devastated the community of Cordova, Alaska and left Prince William Sound with an oily legacy that persists to this day. The Exxon Valdez oil spill continues to be a sobering reminder that accidents happen, clean-up is impossible, and the environmental and economic impacts last for decades. The oil that couldn’t be removed from shorelines still persists, and is still toxic, an ongoing source of contamination implicated in the failure of Prince William Sound herring stocks to recover and the slow recovery of other impacted species.

Throughout the north Pacific, salmon are already stressed by warm waters due to climate change and this was particularly evident in 2015. Salmon runs in B.C. did not collapse in 2015, but the fish were smaller than usual and the warm rivers had disastrous consequences for sockeye salmon in the Columbia River, with 97% perishing on their upstream migration. There were also substantial losses of sockeye in the Fraser River due to warm water in 2015.

If we want salmon in the future, we are going to have to protect wild salmon populations in rivers such as the Skeena and Nass on the North coast of British Columbia. Coastal First Nations have already banned oil tankers in the waters of the Great Bear Rainforest. A federally legislated oil tanker ban will respect coastal First Nations and provide binding legal protection to this coast and wild salmon economy.

Sincerely...

Here's what the The Globe and Mail reported in the article linked at the beginning of this post: 

Meantime, Enbridge is still pushing ahead with plans for Northern Gateway, which was approved by the NEB in June, 2014, with more than 200 conditions attached. Ms. Notley had said during the provincial election campaign she was adamantly against Gateway for an array of reasons but was open to reviewing Kinder Morgan’s plans. Now, she says she is no longer irrevocably against Gateway.

“I’m not completely closed on it, no, and I will say that my opinion on this has evolved and changed a little bit over time,” the Premier said. “So there are some serious concerns about it we have to hear … The NEB itself came up with over 200 conditions, and those need to be addressed. So it’s a bit of an uphill battle when you compare it to Kinder Morgan, which has effectively been functioning for 50 years with very few problems – not none but very few – one wonders which is the easier way to go.”

We're still here...

To "celebrate" the anniversary of the Joint Review Panel's decision to give permission to Enbridge to proceed with its plans to build the Northern Gateway pipelines, Friends of Morice-Bulkley and the Wet'suwet'en chiefs are hosting an event to celebrate healthy rivers and wild salmon and to send out a friendly reminder that the opposition has not gone away. Saturday, June 13, 2015 from 12 - 2 in Bovill Square in Smithers.

Plus, if you enjoyed Jennifer Skin Wickham's poem in an earlier posting, you might want to check out the interview I did with her on my Smithers Community Radio show In the Shadow of the Mountain about a month ago.

Stay strong

The following note was sent out to members of Friends of Morice-Bulkley this evening  - thanks to them for keeping us focused.

Dear Friends of Morice-Bulkley,

It is the eve of the Joint Review Panel’s recommendation to Cabinet regarding Enbridge Northern Gateway. They are set to release their report at 1:30 pm tomorrow, December 19. This is an important moment in our work to stop this pipeline but it is not the end. 

No matter what the JRP says, Enbridge does not have social license or First Nations approval. For the people of BC, nothing changes: we have clearly expressed our opposition to the pipeline, tankers on the coast and the threat of bitumen spills. First Nations have formally banned pipelines from their territories and tankers from their seas.

 

A yes recommendation, with conditions, wouldn’t be a surprise. The NEB has a record of approving almost every project brought before it and it is clear that industry lobbyists have undermined this review process. 

You have all done incredible work to give this movement the strength that it has. From marching in the streets, to writing letters, to testifying in front of the JRP, it is your stories and your passion for this place that has created a province-wide movement of opposition. 

In Smithers, 119 residents opened their hearts to the JRP and shared their love for their homes and their passion for protecting it. To revisit those moments, or if you weren’t there and want to be inspired by the powerful testimony of your friends and neighbours, here are a few links to the transcripts: 

 April 23, 2012 transcript 

 April 24, 2012  transcript

 April 25, 2012  transcript

 April 26, 2012  transcript

 April 27, 2012  transcript

 

We will be paying close attention to the release of the report tomorrow and following up with you. Until then...

Best,

FOMB Steering Committee

Think tankers and what comes along with them

I received notice of this August 24 presentation in Smithers from the Friends of Morice-Bulkley - as always, it's the stories people tell that really illustrate the impact of oil spills - and bravo to the folks who take the time to share their stories, as so many have done at the Joint Review Panel hearings.

A coalition of First Nation organizers and conservation organizations are sponsoring Dr. Riki Ott, a renowned marine toxicologist and oil spill expert on a speaking tour throughout British Columbia in August.  Friends of Morice-Bulkley are hosting Dr. Ott at the Old Church in Smithers on Friday, August 24 at 7 pm. Everyone is invited to this free event.

In her talk, "Think Tankers -- and what comes along with them", Ott shares stories of accidental activists from the Exxon Valdez spill, the BP Gulf of Mexico disaster, the Enbridge Michigan spill and more, showing the devastating costs of our fossil fuel dependency on communities across North America. Her stories show what ordinary people are doing to create more self-reliant, sustainable, and democratic communities. Ott engages the audience to imagine what it would take to transition off fossil fuels and confront the dangerous expansion of corporate power – and inspires people to take action.

Ott says, "I spent a year in Gulf of Mexico communities after the BP oil disaster, warning people what to expect based on my experience with the Exxon Valdez oil spill. In Cordova, Alaska, we learned that the oil industry does not know how to clean up oil – there would be a cover up, not a clean up. Sure enough, people in the Gulf are sick, wildlife is sick, tons of oil is still everywhere, and the government and oil industry are working together to minimize the appearance of damages and BP's response costs."

Ott found this same story of deception and harm is repeating in Michigan communities after the Enbridge pipeline tar sands spill in July 2010. Ott is working with community organizers in Michigan to launch a pilot community health survey in areas impacted by the tar sands spill. "In Michigan, we're dealing with incredibly toxic oil – pretty much the same stuff that the Canadian government wants to bring through BC. Tar sands oil is concentrated in the heavy particulates that harm the respiratory system, the reproductive system, immune function, the central nervous system, the stomach, bladder, liver, skin, and more. The diluents – the chemicals used to dilute the thick tar sands – also are linked with a host of human illnesses."  

 "I want to share these stories and experiences with people in British Columbia because you still have a chance to prevent the harms that have happened in Alaska, the Gulf of Mexico, and Michigan. It's far better to fight to stop the pipelines and tankers now than to loose your health, your traditional foods, and your families after a spill."