FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 19, 2016
Contact:
Adam Scott, Adam [at] priceofoil [dot] org
David Turnbull, David [at] priceofoil [dot] org
Kinder Morgan Pipeline proposal a recipe for disaster
In response to the National Energy Board’s (NEB) recommendation to conditionally approve the Kinder Morgan Transmountain Pipeline Expansion today, Adam Scott of Oil Change International’s Canada office released the following statement:
“Today’s decision does not mean the Kinder Morgan project will be built. The company faces an insurmountable wall of opposition in B.C. 17 First Nations, 20 municipalities and millions of Canadians have already said no to this pipeline. We expect Prime Minister Trudeau to reject this environmentally irresponsible proposal.
“No one should be surprised that the National Energy Board issued a rubber-stamp approval today. It’s widely recognized that Canada’s national energy regulator is too close to industry and is lacking credibility.
“What meaningful review process actively refuses to consider evidence on one of the pipeline’s most serious impacts – the project’s massive contribution to the global climate crisis?
“Using Oil Change International’s model of the North American pipeline and refinery system, we found that the Kinder Morgan pipeline would facilitate a major expansion of tar sands extraction – releasing as much as 162 million additional tonnes of CO2 per year. That’s equivalent to putting 34 million new cars on the road, or operating 42 coal plants.
“Put simply, the Kinder Morgan pipeline fails any meaningful climate test.
“The NEB even failed to deliver on its limited mandate to find out if this project makes economic sense. In a world that has committed to quickly reduce its reliance on fossil fuels in the coming decades, will there be a sustained market for tar sands oil to support Kinder Morgan’s proposal?
“As Environment and Climate Change Canada prepares to release its own independent environmental assessment of the proposed pipeline, we will be watching to make sure there is a full accounting of all the climate pollution this project would cause.”
For additional background on the Climate Test that must be applied to all proposed new energy projects see: http://climatetest.org and https://priceofoil.org/2016/02/23/introducing-the-climate-test/
I know Suncore Fort Hills has improved its oil sands projects. Here at Fort Hills they are recycling the water used so as to not be so devastating to the environment. They are ecologically responsible by cleaning up tailings ponds and using a sound cannon to ward off wildlife etc. from interacting with toxins. These toxins are not allowed to leak into the environment and are cleaned and removed safely as well. Check out the websites to see how things are improving all the time with new technology.