LNG DENIAL AKIN TO ‘SABOTAGE’
Trudeau urged to approve project
The Trudeau government OT TAWA would “sabotage” an enormous Canadian advantage in world markets by capitulating to environmentalist pressure to block an $11.4-billion West Coast liquefied natural gas project.
That is the B.C. business community’s warning in a letter to Environment Minister Catherine McKenna as the federal cabinet prepares to make its final decision on the Pacific NorthWest LNG proposal.
On Monday, Ottawa is expected to announce its verdict on a project that is a key component of Premier Christy Clark’s strategy to boost the B.C. economy and her chances of getting re-elected next spring.
The federal cabinet is expected to discuss the matter at a cabinet meeting Tuesday.
“We are writing to express our concerns with ongoing negative commentary from certain environmental groups who are opposed to fossil fuel development in Canada — and specifically, to proposed energy projects in British Columbia,” said Greg D’Avignon, president of the Business Council of B.C., in a letter that went to senior members of the federal and B.C. cabinets.
D’Avignon said that, contrary to arguments from environmentalist groups, Canadian LNG exports would allow Asian countries to transition away from more carbonintensive methods of generating electricity. Such exports would also stimulate the national economy and create jobs and wealth, he argued.
If Canada doesn’t export LNG, other countries with worse environmental records would step in to fill the void, he said.
“So it is difficult to understand why Canadian policy-makers would want to sabotage the country’s comparative advantage in energy resources,” the letter states.
Critics have noted, however, that Pacific NorthWest LNG would become one of Canada’s largest carbon emitters.
The Pembina Institute issued an analysis over the summer arguing that the project, if it proceeds at Lelu Island near Prince Rupert, would make it “virtually impossible” for B.C. to meet its 2050 climate targets.
The balancing act means the decision will be the first test of how Trudeau navigates competing interests between environmentalists and First Nations concerned about climate change and salmon habitat, and development advocates, including the B.C. government.
The liquefied natural gas processing plant on Lelu Island would ship 19 million tonnes a year of liquefied gas to markets in Asia while pumping more than five million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually into the atmosphere.
The government’s acceptance or rejection of the project comes at a critical juncture as decisions on a national climate change plan and energy sector infrastructure loom.
McKenna is to sit down with her provincial counterparts Monday in Montreal to begin hammering out a pan-Canadian strategy for meeting Canada’s international commitments on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
A spokesman for Pacific NorthWest LNG said the decision to begin construction — should the project receive a federal green light — must still go to the company’s shareholders. “Once a decision by the Government of Canada is made, Pacific NorthWest LNG will conduct a total review of the proposed LNG facility before tabling it to the project’s shareholders for a final investment decision.”
Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr, meanwhile, faces a mid-December deadline for a federal decision on the proposed expansion of the Trans Mountain oil pipeline that runs from Alberta to the company’s terminal in Burnaby.
And sometime this fall, the Liberal government says it will formally ratify the international Paris Accord, under which Canada committed to cut its greenhouse gas emissions to 30 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030.