It’s not the pipeline, it’s the risk

Re: “Feds must fight for pipeline,” editorial, April 10.

The editorial contains a major error. Our premier is not saying to the Alberta oilsands industry: “You can’t sell it [dilbit].”

Let’s be clear, he is saying they can’t transport the increased volume through British Columbia until the science says it’s safe to do so. That is very different.

Another issue to be clear about is the main objection to the project. It is not so much the pipeline itself; it’s the extreme risk to our precious Salish Sea and Juan de Fuca Strait just so Alberta’s industry can get a few dollars more per barrel for its oil.

In my opinion, the Trans Mountain pipeline is motivated by money and urgency. The money (a few dollars more per barrel) issue is clouded, as Robyn Allan pointed out, by the fact much of the dilbit currently being sold is going to refineries owned by the same folks who own the dilbit (“Pipeline won’t keep gasoline prices down,” March 27). A little price fixing happening there?

The urgency is because greener options, such as electric cars, are just around the corner, and the oilsands industry wants to unload as much of it as possible before it becomes uneconomic. Perhaps that, too, is the reason Alberta will not build refineries to make the product a little more palatable for us to accept flowing through our province and over (and likely into) our beautiful oceans.

Mike Fall Ladysmith