New Federal Rules on Energy Projects Welcome in BC

Media Statement: January 28, 2016
New Federal Rules on Energy Projects Welcome in BC
For Immediate Release

Victoria B.C. – New Federal rules on major energy projects announced today from the Government of Canada are welcomed by Andrew Weaver, Leader of the BC Green Party and MLA for Oak Bay – Gordon Head.

“I am absolutely thrilled that the new federal Liberal Government continues to exemplify leadership on climate change” says Andrew Weaver. “As a climate scientist, I see including upstream emissions on energy projects as a major step forward for Canada. It is long overdue and the federal government deserves a lot of credit for introducing this substantive change to the NEB process.”

Earlier today the Minister for the Environment and Climate Change and the Minister for Natural Resources held a joint press conference on the new regulatory changes the Federal government is implementing.

“It’s encouraging to see some leadership from our Federal Government,” says Weaver. “I strongly agree with Minister McKenna’s comments about the need to reinstate Canadian’s trust in the environmental review process.”

For Kinder Morgan, the government will appoint a ministerial representative to consult the communities, including indigenous communities, who could be affected by the project. The new rules announced today will delay the Kinder Morgan pipeline review by at least four months – a cabinet decision on the project is now expected in December 2016.

“It’s important to note, however, that as the MLA for a coastal riding, this announcement does nothing to alleviate my concerns on spill response and spill preparedness. For British Columbians the central issue is about the potential for a catastrophic accident and not as much about the climate impacts of the project. On these grounds the project should still be rejected.”

The new rules will also affect at least two LNG projects in the province: the Pacific Northwest LNG project and the Woodfibre LNG project.

“I’ve stated many times that our climate goals are incompatible with the BC Liberals’ LNG strategy so I’m encouraged to see that upstream emissions will now be considered as part of the environmental review for LNG projects” says Weaver. “While I am hopeful that the inclusion of upstream emissions will be given the importance it deserves, I caution that it will be difficult for the Federal Government to accurately account for fugitive emissions in its assessment.”

Mat Wright
Press Secretary – Andrew Weaver MLA
Cell: 250 216 3382
Mat.wright@leg.bc.ca
Twitter: @MatVic