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.]

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Northern Gateway Pipeline Hearings: Not Enough Research To Estimate Environmental Cost Argues Lawyer

EDMONTON - Enbridge hasn't done enough research to properly estimate the environmental cost of its proposed $6-billion Northern Gateway pipeline and has even worked to block studies from being done, hearings into the proposed project heard Wednesday.

"They haven't done the studies that are necessary to truly understand the impacts of these projects on coastal First Nations and the ecosystems they rely upon, not only for salmon, but for all the resources along the whole of their territories," said Brenda Gartner, who represents aboriginal groups along the British Columbia coast.

"When work is being done, they lobby against that work proceeding," she said outside the hearing.

Gartner pointed to testimony from environmental economists hired by Calgary-based Enbridge (TSX:ENB), who acknowledged that they were unable to directly estimate environmental costs outside the immediate pipeline corridor. They also said they hadn't specifically determined if there would be impacts on salmon habitat.

"I'm relying on Enbridge's information and I do my analysis based on that," said Mark Anielski, one of the consultants.

Enbridge official John Carruthers said the company had filed 20,000 pages of information.

"I believe that there is sufficient amount of information for the panel to make a decision," he said.

Gartner pointed to Enbridge's involvement in the cancelling of an agreement between the federal and provincial governments, First Nations and conservationists that was to balance environmental concerns with economic development along the B.C. coast.

"Why was it that Enbridge lobbied the federal government to cancel the (Pacific North Coast Integrated Management Area)?" she asked.

Carruthers denied Enbridge wanted the effort blocked. However, he acknowledged the company lobbied the federal government.

"We had concerns about where some of the money was coming from."

Ottawa ended the agreement it had with the other parties and returned an $8-million grant from Tides Canada, a non-profit group that would have funded the effort.

The federal government is now handling the coastal management effort on its own.

Original Article
Source: huffington post
Author: Bob Weber

No comments:

Post a Comment