Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Monday, January 09, 2012

Harper government steps up attack on environmentalists over pipeline issue

OTTAWA—Accusing opponents of a proposed tarsands pipeline in western Canada of being radicals opposed to any major energy projects, the Harper government Monday stepped up its campaign to keep environmentalists from blocking approval of the planned Northern Gateway line.

A day before an independent federal panel is set to begin hearings to determine if the proposed $5.5-billion pipeline should be built, Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver said the regulatory process needs to be streamlined so opponents of the line can’t slow approval by overloading the public hearings.

The regulatory approval system “is broken,” Oliver said in an open letter to Canadians in which he suggested the federal government will pursue ways to overhaul the hearings of independent regulatory bodies like the National Energy Board.

“We believe reviews for major projects can be accomplished in a quicker and more streamlined fashion,” the letter said. The federal government does not want to see projects “die in the approval phase due to unnecessary delays.”

“It is an urgent matter of Canada’s national interest.”

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said a pipeline to carry tarsands-derived crude oil to the west coast for shipment to Asia is a high priority. But the proposed Nothern Gateway pipeline that would connect to a new supertanker port on the northern B.C. coast has sparked widespread opposition from native groups and environmentalists.

More than 4,000 people are expected to appear before the three-member federal review panel vetting the proposed project, an outpouring of interest that has delayed possible regulatory approval a year longer than many in Ottawa expected.

In response to this development, the Harper government is seeking to discredit the green community activists determined to keep Northern Gateway from being built.

On Friday, the Prime Minister accused environmentalists backed by “foreign money” of trying to hijack the Northern Gateway hearings.

This has set the stage for a bitter fight between the environmental movement and the federal Conservatives.

Reacting to Harper’s comments, Greenpeace Canada climate and energy campaigner Mike Hudema said Friday, “The oil industry’s own polling shows that there are millions of Canadians opposed to this new tarsands pipeline and they have a right to be heard, not disenfranchised by some kind of U.S. Republican-style smear campaign.”

On Tuesday, a biologist, an energy lawyer and an aboriginal geologist will sit down in a recreation centre in the wilderness of northern British Columbia to initiate what could be the fiercest standoff ever seen in Canada over an energy project.

Like the now-stalled Keystone XL project in the United States, Northern Gateway is shaping up as a titanic clash of economic and environmental imperatives.

Fear of pipeline leaks or a tanker spill that would foul some of the world’s most pristine forests and coastal areas has already galvanized unprecedented concern in the green movement, with some groups calling it the “defining environmental battle” of modern times.

The army of opponents includes environmentalists from around North America, more than 100 aboriginal groups and thousands of other B.C. citizens. Star power will also be brought into play from the likes of Robert Redford and Leonardo DiCaprio.

On the other side of the issue stand powerful oil interests touting such a pipeline as a crucial nation-building project that will enable Canada to cash in on its tarsands reserves by gaining access to energy-hungry China. Chief among the industry’s supporters is Harper, who has staked much of his government’s energy strategy on finding new markets for oilsands crude.

Beginning Tuesday in the Haisla First Nation of Kitamaat village near the B.C. coast, the independent federal review panel — biologist Sheila Legget, energy lawyer Kenneth Bateman and aboriginal geologist Hans Matthews — will amass evidence to give a yes or no verdict on the pipeline. The review will decide if the project is in Canada’s public interest and whether it meets federal environmental safety regulations, with a report expected in late 2013.

The outpouring of interest in the hearings was partly facilitated by green activists, who used social media to help sign up people to testify. The Victoria-based Dogwood Initiative alone takes credit for facilitating testimony by 1,600 of the 4,000-plus people who are stepping forward to comment on the proposed pipeline.

Enbridge Inc.’s Northern Gateway is designed to carry 500,000 barrels a day of oil sands-derived crude from a terminal near Edmonton across the Rockies to Kitimat on the B.C. coast, where about 200 supertankers annually would dock to take on the petroleum for export to the U.S. and Asia.

The 1,172-kilometre line, which would cross hundreds of rivers and streams and pass through a region renowned for its salmon, wolves, bears and other wildlife, is seen as a threat to the environment and the livelihoods of tens of thousands of people. It has sparked an eruption of opposition among aboriginals, who maintain the project must be stopped at almost any cost.

“The Enbridge pipeline would risk an oil spill into our rivers and lands that would destroy our food supply, our livelihoods and our cultures,” said Chief Larry Nooski of Nadleh Whut’en First Nation in B.C. “Our laws do not permit crude oil pipelines into our territories. This project isn’t going anywhere.”

Asked in an interview if he would resort to civil disobedience if necessary, he said, “There are options such as going out on the land and standing in front of the graders and things like that and court is obviously another consideration.”

But for the moment, Nooski said natives opposed to Northern Gateway see the federal review process as a possible way to block the project. “We’re hoping with the participation of other First Nations in the review process, it would convince the regulators to really seriously consider the options and finally say no to something that could be devastating to B.C. and Canada.”

In December, 130 aboriginal groups in B.C. said they were joining forces to use “whatever means necessary” to stop the project.

The industry sees the pipeline as a way to open up vital new markets for Canada’s energy products. Lack of more competitive options is costing producers billions of dollars a year in lost revenues, analysts say. And the delay of the Keystone pipeline to carry oil sands-derived crude to U.S. markets has underscored the need for diversification, particularly to Asia, says Brenda Kenny, head of the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association.

“Up until now, Canadian energy resources have flowed just to Canadian markets or U.S. markets,” she said in an interview. “And there’s always an advantage to any country if they can enhance their trade relations with a broader and more diverse group of trading nations. The Keystone XL delay certainly put a sharp point on the perils of having just one trading partner.”

Harper fully agrees and has stepped up his support for a pipeline to access Asian buyers since U.S. President Barack Obama put the Keystone project on hold.

Besides Northern Gateway, Kinder Morgan Canada is considering providing expanded access for oilsands crude to overseas shipment by enlarging its existing Trans Mountain pipeline, which currently stretches 1,150 kilometres from Alberta to Burnaby, B.C.

In the global context, the issue pits industry and the Harper government, which says exploiting Canada’s abundant oil sands is vital for prosperity, against environmentalists who argue projects like Northern Gateway enable more production of “dirty oil.”

“There is an effort in both Canada and the U.S. to make sure there is a good public understanding of the many problems with tar sands oil and the pipelines that would transport tar sands oil,” said Susan Casey-Lefkowitz, a director of the U.S.-based Natural Resources Defense Council.

“This is a high priority and we’re very concerned about any major tar sands pipeline proposal, whether it’s in Canada or the U.S.,” she said.

The NRDC has 1.3 million members including Redford, who wrote an opinion piece for a Canadian newspaper in November telling Canadians that American green activists will “stand by you” to fight Northern Gateway.

Harper said Friday his government respects the independence of the Northern Gateway regulatory review. But, noting the holdup by Obama of the Keystone proposal, Harper said, “I think it is particularly essential for this country that, over time, we have the capacity to sell our energy products into the growing markets of Asia.”

A long and bitter fight lies ahead before a decision is reached by the joint review panel on whether Enbridge’s proposed pipeline should go ahead.

Original Article
Source: Star 

No comments:

Post a Comment