An open letter to every Canadian and West-Coast politician, resident, and citizen,
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau put it very simply: “Governments grant permits but communities grant permission.”
Nearly 60 First Nations and 22 municipalities oppose the Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion, including the cities of Vancouver and Burnaby. The premier of British Columbia and the governor of Washington State have also taken a stand against Kinder Morgan.
The federal and provincial governments of Canada granted conditional approval for Kinder Morgan to twin its Trans Mountain Pipeline and expand its oil tanker terminal in the Burrard Inlet. The Texas oil giant has begun construction despite the fact that those conditions have yet to be met.
One of Christy Clark's five conditions was for KM to demonstrate their ability to provide “world-leading marine oil spill response, prevention, and recovery.”
As Raincoast Conservation Foundation has stressed repeatedly, there is no such thing as world-leading or world-class oil spill response, prevention and recovery. The existing yardstick is wholly inadequate as estimates of open-water recovery by mechanical equipment are 10 to 15 per cent of the oil from a marine spill, at best. As we have learned from previous spills, no response is possible in rough weather, high seas and dangerous conditions. Importantly, these conditions often precede, or follow, oil spills. Pumping and skimming recovery options are ineffective in over one knot of tide or in waves and choppy waters. In rough conditions or offshore spills, response is limited to the use of dispersants, as containment is not an option. Dispersants have proven to be largely unsuccessful on water-in-oil emulsions and on oil that has weathered, and will not likely be successful on diluted bitumen. Furthermore, reliable knowledge regarding the extent of dispersant toxicity is lacking. (1)
Therefore, it is the responsibility of the government to revoke Kinder Morgan's permit and halt construction immediately. This is vital to ensure the safety of concerned citizens who are willing to put their lives on the line to protect the earth, stand up for beings that do not have a voice, and stand up for first nations rights.
Even without a spill, this pipeline expansion poses serious risks to the environment, directly contradicts the goals set out by the Paris Climate Accord, and threatens the existence of the remaining 76 Southern Resident Orca whales.
The increased capacity of the pipeline will result in a five to seven-fold increase in tanker traffic through the Burrard Inlet and the Salish Sea. “Southern resident killer whales are designated as endangered in the U.S. and Canada, and noise pollution is a key threat to their survival,” said Lance Barrett-Lennard, the head of the Vancouver Aquarium's cetacean research program, who co-signed this letter (2) to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, along with the ministers of fisheries, transport and environment.
“It's absolutely a critical time for the survival of that population,” said Barrett-Lennard. “These animals swim around in a kind of acoustic smog if you like. And every ship that goes by absolutely fills their world with noise.”
The best case scenario, with a fully functioning pipeline and terminal that operates flawlessly without spilling a drop, could still lead to the extinction of one of the most beautiful animals on earth. The worst case scenario, in which a major spill occurs, would devastate an entire ecosystem and cause irreparable harm to communities up and down the coast.
This is why I and thousands of others are standing up to the government and Kinder Morgan. This pipeline will not pass.
The icing on the proverbial cake of shame is that this expansion is slated to transport diluted bitumen from a new tar sands mine - Canada's biggest ever.
Canada made a commitment on the world stage by signing on to the Paris Climate Accord. As Bill Nye the Science Guy pointed out to Justin Trudeau in person – tar-sand extraction is a very inefficient and expensive way to make crude oil. (3) The tar sands produce some of the world’s most costly oil, and they are already the largest source of greenhouse gases in the nation. We must divest in old technology and join the world moving in a new, clean, sustainable direction. We have to keep tar-sands oil in the ground if we are going to keep our commitment to decelerate the rise in global temperatures.
Those that support the pipeline are promoting it for its economic benefits, tax revenue, and job creation. However, the International Energy Agency says in its latest Oil Market Report that, “There is currently little evidence to suggest that economic activity is sufficiently robust to deliver higher oil demand growth.”
Robyn Allan, a former President and CEO of the Insurance Corporation of BC and, before that, senior economist at the BC Central Credit Union has done considerable research that challenges the economics of the Trans Mountain proposal, for the industry and for Canada (4). Allan points out that Kinder Morgan has been clear in its annual report communications to shareholders that it pays very little tax on its Canadian operation: during the five years between 2009 and 2013, Kinder Morgan reported average income of $172 million on which it paid an average $1.5 million in taxes.
As for the jobs promised, the jobs are mostly temporary, according to Kinder Morgan's own evidence. There will be 2500 construction jobs for two years and then there will be only 90, yes NINETY permanent jobs. (5)
This is an open letter to every Canadian and West-Coast politician, resident, and citizen, because we must stand together to stop this calamity.
Thank you for your time and consideration,
-Clara Shandler
Footnotes:
(1) http://vancouversun.com/opinion/opinion-christy-clarks-five-conditions-con
(2)https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3553862-Scientists-Statement-Salish-Sea-12-April-2017x.html
(3) http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/bill-nye-trudeau-kidner-morgan-1.4564547
(4) http://robynallan.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/05/Economist-Robyn-Allans-Submission-To-The-Ministerial-Panel-September-28-2016.pdf
(5) http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/elizabeth-may-pipeline-q-a-1.4575788
Other References and Further Reading:
http://calgaryherald.com/opinion/columnists/adkin-alberta-should-hold-inquiry-into-oilsands-subsidies
http://www.iisd.org/library/g20-subsidies-oil-gas-and-coal-production-canada
http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/energy/facts/crude-oil/20064#L3
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/alberta/mikisew-first-nation-takes-wood-buffalo-concerns-to-unesco/article25156281/
https://www.nap.edu/read/21834/chapter/2#2
https://www.thetyee.ca/News/2016/11/29/Kinder-Morgan-Approved/