Tag Archives: methane leakage

Energy

The B.C. agency overseeing oil and gas is about to get more powerful. Here’s why you should care

By Matt Simmons, The Narwhal, Local Journalism Initiative reporters

One of British Columbia’s government agencies is poised to get a lot more power.

Premier David Eby’s NDP government has just introduced legislation to give new responsibilities to the BC Energy Regulator (BCER), which oversees the province’s growing oil and gas sector and other energy projects.

The changes will put the regulator — largely funded by the oil and gas industry — in charge of fast-tracking renewable energy projects like wind and solar, along with the $3-billion North Coast transmission line that will power liquefied natural gas (LNG), mining and other industrial projects.

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Energy

The feds raised doubts about a climate scientist’s LNG research; He says they sounded like fossil fuel lobbyists

By Carl Meyer & Matt Simmons, The Narwhal, Local Journalism Initiative reporters

Edward Burrier chuckled as he told his colleagues what he thought about an academic paper written by a prominent U.S. climate scientist.

Burrier, a director of public policy at Canadian fossil fuel giant TC Energy, said the study was largely to blame for public skepticism about whether liquefied natural gas (LNG) is as environmentally friendly as the oil and gas industry claims.

“One quoted study that drove a lot of this initial activism … said that LNG is worse than coal,” Burrier said.

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Cost of Climate Change, Energy

Carrie Saxifrage’s Climate Mitigation Presentation To The SRD Board

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Cortes Island author Carrie Saxifrage made a climate mitigation presentation at the May 22 SRD Board meeting. This is an abridged version of that talk. 

She began with a simple admission, “This is my first time. Thank you so much for having me. If I were to do it again, I’d do it a little differently, but here we are. We’re going to whisk through some slides, and I’m going to emphasize what I think is most important.”

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Energy

An invisible climate killer is lurking behind B.C.’s LNG boom

By Matt Simmons, The Narwhal, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

Invisible to the naked eye, undetectable by smell and 80 times more powerful than carbon dioxide for its  short-term warming impact on the climate, methane is explosive, toxic  and can make helicopters fall out of the sky. It’s like something out of a superhero movie — or a bad dream.

About half of Canada’s reported methane emissions  are produced by the oil and gas industry, both from regular operations  and leaks. But much of the climate damage caused by the sector’s methane  pollution goes undetected due to weak regulations.

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Energy

Federal rule on oil and gas projects ‘does not stand up to the facts’

By Cloe Logan, National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Last week, Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault announced the approval of the deepwater oil project Bay du Nord with 137 conditions, including a requirement the project achieves net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. 

That same day, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) announced the requirement would also apply to all future oil and gas developments. 

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