Tag Archives: TC Energy

Energy, Politics

In the Midst of a Global Energy Transition: Canada’s New Pipeline

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Someone sent me a Facebook post in which North Island-Powell River MP Aaron Gunn points to a Petro Canada sign advertising gas for $2.09.9 a litre. 

Gunn wrote, “Ridiculous. 4th-largest oil reserves on the planet. $2.09 per litre at the pumps. It’s time to build pipelines, refineries and an energy policy that puts Canada, and Canadians, first!” 

My first response, when I calmed down enough to have a polite response, was ‘does he think a fully operational pipeline is going to drop out of the sky?’ 

So far, no proponents have stepped forward to build the proposed pipeline. Premier Danielle Smith of Alberta recently said there are some Middle Eastern and Asian investors who expressed interest in a minority stake. IF a proponent steps forward and clears all the necessary preliminary steps, it is still going to take years before oil flows through the proposed pipeline. 

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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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Energy, Politics

A Peek Into Big Oil’s Playbook with Environmental Defence

Environmental Defence just released a report showing that last year oil and gas company lobbyists were targeting the Conservative Party, in preference to the Canadian Government, by more than a 2 to 1 ratio. Cortes Currents interviewed Emilia Belliveau, lead author of ‘Big Oil’s Playbook, A Summary of Big Oil’s 2024 Federal Lobbying’ and asked Max Thaysen, from the Cortes Island Climate Action Network for his insights.  

Emilia Belliveau:  “Environmental Defence is a charity, so we are nonpartisan. What I can do is simply relay the facts, which are that the Bloc Québécois and the Green Party did not take any lobbyist meetings. The NDP took a very small number, four. Then you have most of the lobby meetings targeting the Federal Liberals and the Federal Conservatives. The Federal Liberals had 62 meetings with ministers and 29 meetings with backbencher MPs, and Conservative MPs took 216  lobby meetings.”

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Energy, Politics

Fossil fuel execs outlined a 7-part playbook to influence governments and media. Here’s what you need to know

By Matt Simmons, The Narwhal, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

Last week, explosive claims made behind closed doors by a fossil fuel industry executive were made public. The claims — about how oil and gas giant TC Energy conducts its business — were made during an insider call at the company, which builds and operates crude oil and natural gas pipelines across North America.

The 42-minute spiel from Liam Iliffe, then a TC Energy executive, was part of a March “lunch and learn” session for 150 external relations employees across the continent. While the company said some of his claims were inaccurate and didn’t reflect how it operates, the leaked recordings have since made international headlines, sparked a probe from the B.C. government into his tactics and prompted harsh rebuke from politicians.

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Energy, Politics

Leaked TC Energy recording prompts B.C. to probe claims of outsized lobbying influence on government

By Matt Simmons, The Narwhal, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

B.C. Attorney General Niki Sharma has asked a provincial watchdog to look into a series of bold claims about how an executive at a Canadian oil and gas giant — and former BC NDP political staffer — claimed the company had leveraged political connections to persuade the provincial government to significantly weaken its environmental policies.

“We’ve been given opportunities to write entire briefing notes for ministers and premiers and prime ministers,” a TC Energy executive was recorded saying in a leaked tape from March 2024, adding that sometimes “overworked and underpaid” public servants “just want the job done for them.”

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