[IPSM] Tories change environmental report on MGP to suit themselves

[Macdonald Stainsby]

this should not be surprising; the Tories are as pro-tarsands as 
possible, and without killing the land near the Deh Cho, there will be 
no energy to pull oil from tar in Alberta.

To stop them destroying the land in "Alberta", we must stop them in the 
"Northwest Territories". The yin to their yang, if you will.

Macdonald


Tories change pipeline assessment report
*Mike De Souza, CanWest News Service

October 7/06 - The federal government has watered down an environmental 
assessment of a major natural gas pipeline project in northern Canada by 
erasing references to pollution reduction targets and the Kyoto 
protocol, CanWest News Service has learned.

The proposed Mackenzie Gas Project, sponsored by several major oil 
companies including Imperial Oil and Shell, could result in emissions 
equivalent to adding 5.5 million cars to the road, environmentalists 
estimate.

A new assessment, submitted by Environment Canada on Monday, 
acknowledges the project could increase greenhouse gas emissions and air 
pollution in the Northwest Territories and northern Alberta. But instead 
of recommending immediate short-term targets, it says the Conservative 
government is working with other countries on a "long-term" approach to 
climate change.

"This is something that we had feared," said Sierra Club of Canada 
spokeswoman Emilie Moorhouse. "They are not going to address the urgency 
of this problem."

The original 32-page assessment by Environment Canada from June 1, 2005, 
when the Liberals were in power, had an entire section about the 
international Kyoto agreement, identifying the proposed Mackenzie Gas 
Project as a "Large Final Emitter." The previous Liberal government had 
proposed mandatory targets for all LFEs -- companies in the mining, 
manufacturing, oil and gas, electricity and thermal sectors.

"Recognizing the threat posed by climate change, governments from the 
majority of the world's nations negotiated the Kyoto Protocol to the 
United Nations Framework on Climate Change, an agreement to reduce the 
emissions of [greenhouse gases] from developed countries," reads one of 
the lines in the 2005 submission that was deleted.

"Targets for new facilities such as the [Mackenzie Gas Project] will be 
based on [best available technology] performance standards, an approach 
which will assist in technological advances and innovation."

Moorhouse said the deleted paragraphs contradict recent claims by 
Environment Minister Rona Ambrose, who insisted her government was 
committed to Kyoto and planned to get tough with large industrial polluters.

William Cook, an Environment Canada spokesman, said references to the 
Kyoto accord were removed to reflect the new government's "emphasis on 
real reductions in greenhouse gas emissions for the long-term."

-- 
Macdonald Stainsby
http://independentmedia.ca/survivingcanada
http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/rad-green
In the contradiction lies the hope
    --Bertholt Brecht.