Transmitted by CNW Group on : January 7, 2016 17:44
NEB approves LNG Canada export licence
CALGARY, Jan. 7, 2016 /CNW/ - The National Energy Board (NEB) has approved the application of LNG Canada Development Inc. (LNG Canada) for a 40-year natural gas export licence with a maximum term quantity of 1494 billion cubic metres1. The issuance of this licence is subject to the approval of the Governor in Council.
About 42 kilometres from Los Angeles, above the houses nestled in the mountains of Porter Ranch, Calif., a plume of methane is shooting into the sky. The cloud is invisible but it stretches for kilometres, as though a forest fire has been continually burning for months. All of this is emanating from a tiny pipe about 20 centimetres wide, more than a kilometre underground.
Provincial regulators are struggling to keep up with a fracking boom that has caused small earthquakes in British Columbia and Alberta and could result in a larger one in the future, one of Canada’s top experts on seismic risks said on Thursday.
British Columbia’s Oil and Gas Commission confirmed this week that a 4.6-magnitude earthquake in the shale gas fields of the province’s northeast last summer was caused by hydraulic fracturing, the industry practice of using high-pressure water to crack rock and extract natural gas or oil.
The Tsawwassen First Nation has rejected plans to build an LNG export facility just north of the B.C. Ferries terminal.
In a vote on Wednesday night, 53 per cent said 'no' to allowing the 32-hectare project on the nation's traditional land.
"What would you rather have, more money or a better environment?" asked Tsawwassen First Nation member Nic Gurniak. "No need to do more damage to the environment than has already been done."
British Columbia's energy regulator has confirmed that a 4.6 magnitude earthquake in northeast B.C. in August of this year was caused by a nearby fracking operation.
"This seismic event was caused by hydraulic fracturing," said Ken Paulson, CEO of the B.C. Oil and Gas Commission. Paulson said fewer than one per cent of fracking operations trigger seismic activity, and those quakes tend to be low magnitude and cause little damage.
It was quite a sight: The CEOs of Alberta’s oilsands projects stood with NDP Premier Rachel Notley to announce Alberta’s climate plan before the climate talks in Paris. The CEOs had the widest smiles.
No wonder. Alberta’s climate plan targets the 28 per cent of Alberta’s greenhouse gases from power generation and transportation (driving), and leaves the 46 per cent of the province’s emissions from the production of oil and gas almost scot-free.
B.C. Premier Christy Clark’s own climate change advisors will recommend a hike in the province’s carbon tax to avoid a complete blowout of a year 2020 climate target due to an aggressive push to build a highly polluting liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry, National Observer has learned.
The government is expected to make the premier’s Climate Leadership Team’s report public Friday at 1 p.m. in Victoria, ahead of Clark’s trip to Paris for the UN climate summit next week.
