On Friday, community members from across Vancouver converged on Burnaby Mountain, the site of conflict surrounding the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, after the B.C. Supreme Court approved an injunction to remove a group of protesters, who call themselves the Caretakers of Burnaby Mountain, by Monday at 4 p.m. This article takes an in-depth look at Jakub Markiewicz, an artist, filmmaker and the youngest member of the Caretakers, who recently made headlines after chaining himself to a Kinder Morgan vehicle.

Living in the city, amidst streetlights and headlights and shop signs left on all night, it’s easy to forget just how dark the night can be. Burnaby Mountain isn’t far from its namesake city, or downtown Vancouver for that matter, but by the time six o’clock rolls around (thank you, daylight savings), the darkness feels like a vacuum. The moon, one day past full, is barely enough for me to see where I’m putting my feet in the wet grass.

Caretakers of Burnaby Mountain

Burnaby vs. the National Energy Board

All in the Family

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From now until November 30, if parents and teachers want to support Lower Mainland schools, all they need to do is fuel up at Chevron gas stations within their district.

As part of a program called Fuel Your Schools, for every 30 litres of gas purchased, Chevron donates $1 to participating school districts. The program has been in effect in North Vancouver since May when the Board of Trustees decided to opt in. Chevron has ads up in its gas stations informing drivers of the program.

North Van was the fifth district in B.C. to join the program, joining West Vancouver, Burnaby, Surrey and Coquitlam. If the fundraising goal is reached — a total of $565,000 to be split between the five districts — B.C. drivers will have purchased just under 17 million litres of gas.

In spite of the incentive to buy more gas and to buy it from Chevron — the company behind the proposed Pacific Trail pipeline that would carry one billion cubic feet of natural gas from Summit Lake to Kitimat — Victoria Miles, spokesperson for the North Vancouver School District (NVSD), told DeSmog that the district believes a relationship with Chevron “in no way impedes” its sustainability mandate.

“When it comes to energy use, we want to ensure that we are using less and creating greater efficiencies in all of our operations. Sustainability in all areas of our operations is a goal we are actively working to realize as part of our 10-year strategic lan," she said via e-mail.

The program is a collaboration between Chevron and My Class Needs, a non-profit organization that crowdsources money for schools to fund projects. The funding prioritizes STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) projects and teachers have the option of applying for funding for particular programs or projects. Teachers report back on how the funds are used.

Miles was also quick to point out that Chevron isn’t permitted to advertise in classrooms and supplies purchased through the program won’t be branded. However, presentations given to children in Surrey classrooms featured Chevron advertising materials.

A presentation given at Bear Creek Elementary School features Chevron Fuel Your Schools material. Source: Surrey604.com

“We recognize the funding source is an act of corporate social responsibility that the company does not have to engage in with a portion of their profits. The company offers their support to public education, as an option for teachers who might value supplementary funding for a resource that can enhance their educational practice and classroom engagement,” she said via e-mail. 

Students and school faculty in Orange County, California, pose with Chevron advertising materials. Source: Irvine News Blog.

Carolyn Pena, president of the North Vancouver Teachers Association (NVTA), is skeptical about the promise to keep branding out of school. After learning of the program, she saw a promotional video made by teachers in the Surrey district that featured Chevron Fuel Your School posters as well as the program's cartoon car logo.

“That's what we’ve seen of the program, so it just makes us wonder,” she said

Pena only found out about the program when teachers who were sent information about it contacted her to express their concerns.

“We weren’t consulted at all. Not only were we not consulted, we didn’t even know the decision was taking place in order to provied any feedback whatsoever."

"We didn’t know for months afterward,” she said.

While Chevron claims that parents were not told about the program and have in no way been pushed to buy gas from Chevron, Pena said it puts teachers in the difficult position of potentially having to explain the program to students while also teaching about environmental responsibility.

“Fundamentally, what we need is a level of public education funding that allows schools to function without the need for corporate donation. This undermines the call for adequate public funding.”

The Vancouver School District has refused to be part of the program on the grounds that Chevron’s partnership with My Class Needs, which has oversight over fundraising projects, amounts to corporate influence on curriculum. With municpal elections coming up on Nov. 15th, the issue is a contentious one both for the mayoral race and school board trustee elections.

The North Vancouver Teachers Association has passed a non-binding motion asking teachers not to participate in the program.

David Lavallee is one of the many teachers in the North Vancouver School District with serious concerns about the program. As a teacher on call, he could be requested to teach in a variety of schools, all of which might participate in the program differently.

When it comes to the messaging of oil companies like Chevron, Lavallee has done his homework. A documentary filmmaker when he’s not in the classroom, Lavallee is the creator of White Water Black Gold, a film about water use in the Alberta oilsands.

With a Master’s degree in psychology, Lavalee formerly researched child development and how children respond to advertising and corporate messaging. Logos or no logos, he believes Chevron has no business in public schools.

“Climate change is on the news all the time. I remember as kid myself listening to stuff on the news and trying to make sense of it and not having the tools to make sense of it.”

Lavallee says he has even seen adults struggle to separate fact from fiction when it comes to the oil and gas industry. And in spite of years of exposure to the tactics multinational corporations use to keep the oil flowing, he said he still sometimes runs into confusion himself.

“It’s too much for kids,” he said. “I believe the classroom should be a sacred space where kids don’t have to face advertising of any kind.”

Image Credit: A Chevron representative speaks to children in a California elementary school. Photo from Richmond Confidential, a University of Berkley journalism website.

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The B.C. government has announced its highly anticipated plan to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from the liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry. While the legislation gives LNG plants a stringent standard for carbon pollution, it doesn't address the rest of the natural gas supply chain and focuses heavily on the use of carbon offsets.

“LNG production releases carbon pollution all the way down the chain of production, from wellhead to waterline," said Merran Smith, director of Clean Energy Canada. "[The] legislation only addresses the last link in that chain — the port facilities where companies would chill the gas to load it aboard ships. It also allows companies to buy credits rather than actually build cleaner terminals.”

Still, Smith characterized the province's announcement as "a good start" and the province indicated regulations to govern upstream emissions from shale gas development are coming.

Facilities will be charged $25 per tonne of emissions over the limit and an incentive program will subsidize corporations’ compliance costs at an increasing rate the closer they get to meeting the target.

At the press conference in Victoria, Environment Minister Mary Polak dodged questions about the potential cost of the incentive system saying only that the government expects revenues from the LNG industry will offset the cost.

She also declined to comment on potential tax revenues from corporations involved in LNG development, citing the soon-to-be-released deal the province will offer to potential LNG investors, such as Malaysia’s Petronas. That company has already threatened to delay its multibillion-dollar project if B.C.’s original tax regime isn’t lowered. 

Polak added the decision allows facilities to consider multiple options to reduce their carbon emissions. This flexibility is intended to drive innovation in the industry, she said. Operators will be able to contribute to a technology fund as part of their efforts to meet the new target, although the shape and direction of the fund has yet to be determined.

The new legislation will supercede 2008's Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act.

Upstream Emissions Account for 70% of Industry's Carbon Footprint

The lack of upstream regulation leaves the province exposed to the bulk of the pollution generated upstream of the terminals themselves, according to Matt Horne, B.C. associate regional director for the Pembina Institute.

“Shale gas development needed to fill LNG pipelines and terminals on the coast will account for 70 per cent of the total carbon pollution from the industry," Horne said. "This is not addressed directly by the new legislation. It is, however, encouraging that government has signaled its intent to deal with this at a later date."

Horne said there are already effective strategies to mitigate upstream greenhouse gas emissions. A recent Pembina Institute report, BC LNG Proposals and GHG Emissions, outlines how LNG developers can reduce emission throughout the production chain through carbon capture and sequestration, as well as eliminating venting and flaring during the fracking process. The report also notes there are significant costs associated with these practices and that no jurisdiction in Canada currently requires them. 

The simplest way to address the problem, Horne said, would be to increase the carbon tax and extend it to all aspects of production, ensuring that companies are hit harder over time for failing to lower admissions.

He added that the way in which the government decides to administer both the offsets program and the technology fund will have significant implications for the success of the legislation. Without credible offsets, he said, the province can make little progress toward its emissions reduction targets.

Province Claims Natural Gas is a 'Bridge Fuel'

In its press release, the province claims "natural gas is part of a global climate solution" — a claim debunked in a new report published in the scientific journal Nature last week. The report's author Haewon McJeon concluded that abundant natural gas will actually delay climate action. Numerous reports have found upstream emissions mean natural gas is similar to coal when it comes to climate impacts.

“Given the level of LNG development targeted by the government, it remains unclear as to how the province will meet its legislated climate targets," Horne said.

The Trouble With Carbon Offsetting

Touted as an extension of the province’s push to achieve a carbon-neutral government through the purchase of offsets, the LNG program requires that all facilities purchase offsets from within British Columbia.

The province’s offset program has come under fire before. Last March, the auditor general John Doyle released a report, in spite of attempts to suppress it, heavily criticizing the program for allowing the purchase of false credits. Focusing on two projects that made up almost 70 per cent of the total offsets the government bought — the Darkwoods Forest Carbon Project and the Encana Underbalanced Drilling project — Doyle reported that the province was spending way more than market value for offsets generated by projects that were slated to go ahead regardless.

“In industry terms, they would be known as ‘free riders’ — receiving revenue ($6-million between the two) for something that would have happened anyway,” Doyle told the Globe and Mail after the report was released.

Last November, the province announced the Crown carbon offset agency, the Pacific Carbon Trust, would be enveloped within B.C.'s Climate Action Secretariat to reduce costs. 

While Polak commented during the press conference that the policy will provide revenue opportunities for those with offsets — in particular First Nations — to sell there has been significant criticism of the real value of the practice to begin with.  

Polak told media yesterday that all offsets purchased will adhere to international standards, and will not allow companies to claim emissions reductions at the market end of industry, for example, claiming offsets for LNG burned in lieu of coal in countries such as China.

Image Credit: B.C. Gov Photos via Flickr.

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We’re all taught in life that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. The sentiment has been applied to Germany’s renewable energy transition, or Energiewende, with critics questioning emission reduction reporting or arguing costs of new systems are too high. But even if the Energiewende isn’t quite as shiny as it first appears, there are still a few important lessons from Germany's energy transition that Canada can take to heart. German clean energy policy expert Dr. David Jacobs paid Canada a visit this week to dispel a few myths about the Energiewende. While addressing potential downsides, Jacobs talked about the lessons North American countries can take from Germany’s push toward completely sustainable energy.    Jacobs, the founder and director of International Energy Transition Consulting, organized an event in Vancouver Thursday to discuss Germany’s energy policies, and invited MLAs, policymakers, developers and academics to ask questions. He also spoke at the annual Generate conference, hosted by Clean Energy BC. Jacobs visited at the invitation of Clean Energy Canada as part of their Low Carbon Leadership speaker series.

Localized and democratized energy production

Where once there were only four companies supplying energy to the German grid, there are now 1.2 million contributors, and Jacobs said that number is only growing. The result is a decentralized and localized system of energy production and supply.  

Germany's next steps

Political obstacles to Canada's energy transition

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At a time when B.C.’s politicians are considering flooding the Peace Valley for the Site C hydroelectric dam, a new project by the Canadian Geothermal Energy Association says the province could be sitting on a figurative gold mine of power with low environmental impact.The project used publicly available data to produce a database of maps and supporting information that show all the areas in B.C. that have the potential to produce geothermal energy. The project reports that, using existing technology, the province could produce between 5,500 and 6,600 mega watts of power — enough to power the whole province. Ironically, the information CanGEA used comes mainly from the oil and gas industry, which is required by law to report on things like well depth and temperature.

“The low level of effort is surprising, especially if it results in a plan that involves large and possibly avoidable environmental and social costs,” the panel wrote.

The Site C joint review panel recommended that, regardless of the decision taken on Site C, that BC Hydro establish a research and development budget for the engineering characterization of geographically diverse renewable resources, such as geothermal.

“If the senior governments were doing their job, there would be no need for this recommendation,” the panel added.

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Two days ago, the weather forecast for northeastern B.C. called for snow. And snow it did, at least up on the plateau in places like Fort St. John and Dawson Creek. But there’s one place in the northeast that stayed conspicuously snow-free: the Peace River Valley. “That is one of the values in the valley,” Gwen Johansson, mayor of the District of Hudson’s Hope told a small crowd at the Four Seasons Hotel in Vancouver this morning. She had gathered with a diverse group of people from the Peace River region to talk about the devastation the proposed Site C dam would cause.    “It is unique and it is an east-west valley, which brings with it a special microclimate, the thing that allows those heat-loving crops like watermelon, cantaloupe, corn and tomatoes and so on, to be grown.”   She had brought with her on the plane enough watermelon, both pink and yellow, and vine-ripened cantaloupe for everyone at the press conference to share. She also gave out small jars of honey made from Hudson’s Hope bees.   “I watched that produce, watermelon and cantaloupe, be picked yesterday in the field.”

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In spite of the ink that has been devoted to arguing about how many jobs Enbridge Northern Gateway is promising to Kitimat residents, one of the most compelling bits of evidence may be an update to a community planning document produced by the District of Kitimat in 2008.  Updated most recently in 2012, the Official Community Plan outlines the history of population growth and decline in Kitimat and makes projections for the next decade based on a few different scenarios. One scenario uses percentages from previous years, another posits a steady two per cent increase and the third looks at the impact of major industrial development.   Gwendolyn Sewell, Director of Community Planning and Development for the district, said the numerous LNG proposals currently in the works for the town could have an enormous impact on the population. But predictions based on Northern Gateway don’t appear anywhere in the report.

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In a case that faced three courts and spanned more than two decades, the Tsilhqot’in First Nation of British Columbia’s interior won an unprecedented Supreme Court of Canada decision last week granting them title to 1,750 square kilometres of land.  Led by Chief Roger William of the Xeni Gweti’in people, the Tsilhqot’in were spurred to legal action in the late '80s when the province allowed logging on their traditional territory in spite of their assertion of rights and title. In 1990, the Xeni Gwet’in launched a case for title over their traditional lands, relying on elders to give evidence in the form of oral history to demonstrate their people’s continuous use of the land from before contact to the present day.   

“We take this time to join hands and celebrate a new relationship with Canada,” Chief William said. “We are reminded of our elders who are no longer with us. First and foremost we need to say sechanalyagh (thank you) to our Tsilhqot’in Elders, many of whom testified courageously in the courts. We are completing this journey for them and our youth. Our strength comes from those who surround us, those who celebrate with us, those who drum with us.”

First awarding recognition of the right to hunt, fish and trap on their traditional territory, then spring boarding off the historic Delgamuuk’w decision in 1997 that recognized oral history as admissible evidence requiring no further corroboration, Justice David Vickers of the B.C. Supreme Court ruled in 2007 that the nation could prove title to roughly half the original claim area. Vickers also ruled that both provincial and federal governments were failing in their constitutional obligation to the nation, and that the B.C. government had infringed upon the rights and title of the Tsilhqot’in people.

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While Canadians have had their eye on the company's Northern Gateway Pipeline proposal, Enbridge has been quietly developing numerous new hydroelectric projects in major B.C. and Alberta waterways. Since 2011, Enbridge submitted water license applications for almost a dozen new projects, some located in the Skeena Watershed region and others along the Fraser River.

Researchers at the SkeenaWild Conservation Trust uncovered several numbered company applications and reports concerning projects that would have serious consequences for wildlife in the area. SkeenaWild executive director Greg Knox says the projects, designed to divert river water to power stations, would disrupt salmon spawning grounds and impair water flow that is crucial to sediment transport.

“These streams are constantly producing gravel in the system which the salmon require for spawning. Without the large flow through the streams, there won’t be this large gravel production, and the gravel that’s there will eventually be washed away.”

The proposed projects require the construction of tunnels and pipes used to direct water away from the river. At certain times of year, very little water flows through wide sections of the rivers. 

One of the projects, a proposal to dam a significant reservoir at the confluence of the Clore and Bernie Rivers, could put as much as eight kilometres of fish habitat in serious jeopardy.

A confidential scope report (attached below) for the Clore River Hydroelectric Project, obtained by SkeenaWild, states the power project has nothing to do with Northern Gateway. It claims the “project is not expected to connect to or interact with any other facilities or infrastructure not proposed by 8056587 Canada Inc. other than connection to the BC Hydro grid at the Point of Interconnection.”

But Knox isn’t buying it.

“It is baffling to me how they can completely ignore the fact that they are planning to drill a tunnel right beside the Northern Gateway pipeline tunnel, and build the same access road Northern Gateway would require from below the Clore Canyon to the Bernie/Clore confluence, and not mention any of this.” Three of the four proposed projects are situated within two kilometres of the proposed Northern Gateway route.

Knox said a local brought information forward about potential new independent power projects (IPPs) after the company failed to notify potentially affected First Nations. When researched the anonymous company, he discovered it was located at the same address as Enbridge’s Calgary office. Enbridge confirmed that it owned the anonymous company.

In an interview with the Vancouver Sun, Enbridge spokesperson Ivan Giesbrecht told the paper that it’s common for companies to do preliminary work using anonymous companies to remain competitive, especially with new ventures. According to SkeenaWild’s research, however, numbered companies rarely play a role in these types of project proposals. 

“In investigating, we couldn’t find anywhere that it was a common approach,” Knox said. “Most of the companies that applied for water licenses for IPPs did not use numbered companies, so it was confusing to receive Enbridge’s answer that this was common practice.”

This isn’t the first time an energy company has considered building a hydroelectric dam on the Clore River. In 2009, energy company C-Free Power Corp withdrew its application for a water license in the area when the project review failed to meet the company’s own standard for environmental care.

The letter of withdrawal (attached below) states that all C-Free’s projects are evaluated based on its four pillars: environment, First Nations, community and economic development. An environmental consultant on the project and a member of the Kitselas First Nation whose territory is in the region reported there were no barriers to fish migration anywhere along the Clore Canyon and that damming the river could cause significant damage to fish populations. The company concurred and cancelled its plans.

Other projects are located on Williams Creek, Bolton Creek and McKay Creek, all of which are important producers of Coho, Chinook, and steelhead and bull trout species.

There are an additional seven IPPs proposed for locations on the Upper Fraser River, primarily the McGregor Watershed. The cluster of proposals along the Fraser combined would trigger an environmental assessment, but several of the projects around the Skeena Watershed are small enough in scope—producing less than 50 megawatt—tho avoid triggering a provincial review. Without a review, Enbridge needs to obtain provincial crown land tenures as well as fish habitat alteration permits from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, both of which Knox says aren't especially hard to come by.

Knox added that the secrecy with which the application process has been conducted, as well as Enbridge’s failure to draw links between the IPPs and Northern Gateway is indicative of several things.

“It leads me to believe that Enbridge wanted to hide it from the public because they didn’t want it to be part of the Joint Review Panel process,” Knox said. They also knew that all of these IPP proposals were on salmon bearing streams and rivers and probably assumed there would be a lot of public concern because of the potential impacts.”

Image and files courtesy of SkeenaWild Conservation Trust.

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At least 75 environment department officers have taken on positions with an oil and gas industry funded regulatory body in Alberta. It's expected that the same number, possibly more, will make the move in the spring.

The Edmonton Journal obtained documents that make it clear the environment department has been transferring files dealing with oil industry activities, specifically to do with the Public Lands Act, over to the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) since the middle of November. The transition is all part of the Alberta government’s plan to streamline the environmental review process and comply with industry’s request for “one window” by which to get permits for new projects.

With the inception of the so-called arms length regulatory body, the AER, last spring, responsibility for administering all facets of environmental assessment, including the Water Act, the Public Lands Act and the Environmental Enhancement Act (legislation that deals with spills) is now bankrolled by the very industry it is meant to regulate.

Since the summer of 2012 the regulatory agency is now entirely funded by industry rather than split between industry and government.

Prior to last year, companies looking to secure oilsands development permits had to apply to both the provincial environment department and the former Energy Resource Conservation Board. That procedure is now managed by the AER.

Several people, including the vice-president of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees — the union environment officers left to take industry-paid positions — and NDP MLA Rachel Notely, have expressed concerns about the AER's ability to remain objective and ensure environmental standards are kept high.

“This is just another step going down this road — we now have a regulator whose prime mandate in legislation is to promote economic development and it is now also the prime environmental enforcer in the oil patch,” Notley said.

The chair of the board of the new regulator is also the founder of Canadian lobby group the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP), Gerry Protti. Next in command is former deputy minister of the environment Jim Ellis, the person behind the decision to keep the Pembina Institute from having standing at hearings concerning oilsands projects. The decision was eventually overturned when an Alberta court, noting a “direct apprehension of bias,” overturned the decision.

The Journal also noted new salaries for environment officers range from 25 to 80 percent higher than salaries with the environment department.

Former Environment Minister Diana McQueen told the Journal that the provincial environment department will still regulate forestry and gravel excavation, as well as develop the regional land use plans used to determine acceptable industry activity and pollution levels.

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When it comes to shipping coal, it looks like the Vancouver Port Authority is taking a page out of the U.S. coal lobby's books. In an effort to combat negative public opinion about coal and the proposed expansion of coal exports through Fraser Surrey Docks, the port authority has hired public relations firm Edelman Vancouver to revamp its image.

Edelman is the largest public relations firm in B.C. and the company has a history of both pushing coal exports and disregarding public opinion. Until recently, the firm represented the pro-coal organization Northwest Alliance for Jobs and Exports, one of the largest groups in Washington state pushing for an increase in coal exports.

Edelman was fired by the Northwest Alliance after Lauri Hennessey, Edelman vice-president and spokesperson for the alliance, was recorded at an industry conference disparaging the people of the Pacific Northwest and calling the opposition “wacky” and “weird.” At the same conference, Hennessey acknowledged climate change in her address, but argued that the coal mined in the Powder River Basin in Montana and Wyoming — the source of the coal that would be shipped through Fraser Surrey Docks — wouldn’t have any adverse effects on the climate.

Edelman has now designed an ad campaign called Port Stories on behalf of Port Metro Vancouver. The ads have got it all: hardworking Canadians, poignant family moments and sweeping statements about how the port has shaped Vancouver as a city. There’s only one thing missing: any mention of coal.

Public documents also show that in April of 2012, the Port Authority hired American law firm McKenna Long & Aldrige to lobby on its behalf south of the border. The registration form, which indicates Port Metro Vancouver has been taken on as a client, says McKenna Long & Aldridge will push for “any regulations or inquiry of the U.S. Maritime Commission regarding possible cargo diversion from U.S. ports to Canadian or Mexican ports.” 

Tightening regulations on greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. mean coal producers south of the border are looking for the quickest way to get their product to market. With fierce opposition to proposals for new coal shipping facilities in the U.S., producers are turning north to Vancouver.

This means that, while purporting to take public opinion into account when making the final decision on the port expansion, the Vancouver port authority has powerful lobbyists working in Washington to push for the very thing many citizens are opposed to in B.C.

The port of Metro Vancouver is the largest port in Canada, trading more than $53 billion per year in goods. According to a company statement, the port would like to be “embraced as a member of the community,” but its conduct around proposals to ship U.S. coal through Vancouver has proven a thorny matter.

Laura Benson, coal campaigner with the Dogwood Initiative, says that until the conflict of interest between the port’s role as a regulator and its position as a proponent of coal export is resolved, the public is facing an uphill battle.

“If the port were truly a corporation, then it would be fair game for them to be hiring PR companies and the biggest and best lobbyists.”

But because the port is also responsible for deciding on the proposed expansion of the Fraser Surrey Docks, Benson says, the conflict is essentially written into its mandate. She says it doesn’t have to be this way.

“There are all sort of models of ports around the world run in a much more responsible way.”

In order to put a stop to dirty coal use for good, port reform needs to be on the agenda, Benson argues.

Benson also stressed the need to continue to build a cross-border movement to oppose coal exports.

“I do think that we’re looking at a desperate industry,” she said. “Their window of opportunity is closing, and if we are successful in blocking thermal coal out of our port, this could be a turning point.”

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

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