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Eriel Deranger likens impact of tar sands development on her people's health and culture to "genocide".

from the Vancouver Observer

"Her people are on 'the precipice,' their health and culture poisoned by oil sands pollution. They are one of the First Nations closest and most exposed to hazardous effects of tar sands pollution, and the damage has been devastating, Eriel Deranger of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, said. 

"'It's a genocide. It's happening slowly, but we are dying off. We're still drinking the water, and we're eating the fish, but it's getting poisoned,' Deranger, a keynote speaker at the Hollyhock Social Change Institute who works on the front lines of her people's legal battle against unchecked tar sands development, said yesterday.

"Living off the land has always been a basic part of Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation culture, she said.  But now maintaining connection to culture can be dangerous, if not lethal. …"

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David Coles of Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada also argues bitumen exports will kill jobs.

from the Vancouver Observer

"Canada’s Conservative government is reportedly spending $16.5 million in taxpayer dollars to promote pet projects that will never be approved, David Coles, President of Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada, said yesterday. 

"And it’s not just spending tax dollars on oil sands advertising that’s wrong, Coles said in the interview.    

"Exporting jobs that belong in Canada is worse.   

“'It’s irrefutable that long term bitumen export kills jobs.  When you take raw bitumen and pull it from the ground and send it out of the country, the job loss is not just the refinement that’s not taking place, but also the upgrading.' …"

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Company to look at other sites in the Pacific Northwest

from the Vancouver Observer

"A decision by Kinder Morgan to abandon plans to build a coal export facility in Oregon could have repercussions for British Columbia.

"The company says it is 'still looking at options in the Pacific Northwest' after blaming poor logistics as the reason for dropping plans to build a $200 million coal export terminal on the Columbia River in northern Oregon.

"The facility would have handled just over 30 million tonnes of coal annually, most of it destined for overseas markets. Kinder Morgan spokesman Allen Fore told the Los Angeles Times 'we concluded our analysis and determined that we could not find a location on that particular footprint that would be compatible with the facility that we needed to construct.' …"

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Former Deputy Environment Minister challenges Enbridge's risk prediction.

from the Vancouver Observer

"Enbridge is understating the risk of a Keystone pipeline spill by quite a bit, according to Dr Tom Gunton, director of Simon Fraser University's School of Resource and Environmental Management and former Deputy Minister of Environment.

"The Canadian government has not carried out its own risk assessment of the Northern Gateway pipeline project, instead relying on Enbridge itself to paint the picture of the oil-spill risk.

"While Enbridge said that the risk of a spill stood at 18 percent, Gunton asserts that the real number is between 93 percent and 99 percent, and that's using Enbridge's own data. …"

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Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute concludes obstacles to change are political, not technological.

from the Vancouver Observer

"Last Monday, the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute launched their latest report in conjunction with the Centre for Policy Development called Post Carbon Pathways: Towards a Just and Resilient Post Carbon Future. 

"What the report aimed to do was to start the conversation about how we get to be a post carbon global economy. The report looked at large scale economic de-carbonization strategies across the globe from governments, think tanks, books published by climate experts, climate NGOs and also interviewed 20 policy makers, climate researchers and climate activists to get their thoughts on the issue. 

"From there, they drew three main messages about our post carbon future:

1. The probability of reaching 4^oC of global average warming is rapidly increasing as noted by several institutions, most recently the World Bank and Christine Lagarde from the IMF.
2. We know what needs to be done to decarbonize and how to do it.
3. The biggest barriers to a post carbon future are political, not technological. …"

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