B.C. officially opposes Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline

Interesting--the CBC changed it's earlier headline from "rejects" to "officially opposes." "Officially opposes" is probably more accurate since all they've really down is register their opposition to the Federal Joint Review Panel.

Didn't expect anything different actually. Even after a big election win Christy Cluck coulnd't risk pissing everyone off with a mega two-face move on the pipelines. Hope no one in the sector was betting big on her changing her position.

No, it's not unexpected.

Regardless of teh Panel's decision, the Cabinet can accept it or override it. If Keystone is deep-sixed, I would expect the feds to offer up enough largesse to make it politically palatable for Christy to say her conditions have been met. Even if that happenes there'll still be lots of screeching and feces-flinging from enviroweenies and natives.

Not sure what happens if Keystone goes through. Does Northern Gateway go away?

Nope, if there is enough interest in selling capacity, they both go. The 'goes east' pipeline too, if there is enough carriage booked.

If they can't move the oil through Northern Gateway, they can use existing right-of-way on the pipeline already going to Vancouver and ship it from there.

Good

The unelected Premiere still has an election to win. Keep yapping away you old cougar.

WTF? You and Mayor Ford hitting the pipe earlier than usual tonight?

Maybe they're waiting to see if Blacks refinery at Kitimat is a go before they'll give the go ahead.

Unfortunately for Alberta they're trying to put a pipeline through a province that has a hardcore nybody policy which, when you think about it is understandable.

"Clouds are God's sneezes."

Good.

Just out of curiosity, would the pipeline be more palatable if it was set down a different route, one that avoids the earthquake-happy and ecologically sensitive areas that so many British Columbians are concerned about? And what if the oil was shipped from another port, one that didn't require tankers to sail through such precarious straits? Or would that make the pipeline unprofitable?

I wonder whether the Harper government hasn't made Northern Gateway a much tougher sell than it would be with some of the things it's done over the last year. Didn't they unilaterally eliminate a bunch of environmental reviews through last summer's omnibus bills, declare that the final word on the pipeline would be up to the federal Cabinet no matter what the National Energy Board says, require people who want to register to speak about the pipeline to fill out a ten-page form, and drastically reduce the number of forums at which people had the opportunity to speak? And those are just the official actions-what about Mike Duffy calling environmental groups "un-Canadian" for opposing the pipeline?

How's any of that supposed to ease concerns about the pipeline, much less convince opponents (who, as this very forum demonstrates, hail from all parties, including Conservatives) that it's a good thing? To me, it just makes the federal government come across as saying that they don't give a damn about anybody's concerns and that the pipeline is going through whether people want it or not. Is that the message BCers have been getting from Ottawa?

For the record, I actually would be quite happy to see a pipeline shipping Alberta oil to Asia, but the concerns BCers have raised make me doubt that the current route is the right one. Would another route work better?

This is the problem. The Conservatives and Kinder Morgan have managed to cultivate a reputation as environmental laggards that a few political announcements and fancy commercials aren't going to sway people.

Jobs! Jobs! Jobs!
Sure glad the NDP didn't win, eh?

Debt! Debt! Debt!
Sure glad the NDP didn't win!