tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17909993.post1732317077512825606..comments2023-10-09T05:28:35.705-07:00Comments on Creekside: Feds unveil "world class" tarsands PR monitoring planAlisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09811694143714068436noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17909993.post-29981048848409389862011-07-30T07:58:59.014-07:002011-07-30T07:58:59.014-07:00Thanks Alison,
I couldn't find anything on th...Thanks Alison,<br /> I couldn't find anything on the BC government website in reference to the agreed upon principles either.Nicole Chalandnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17909993.post-19474197692967561302011-07-29T10:23:32.879-07:002011-07-29T10:23:32.879-07:00Thanks, Nicole. Re link - not really.
The links la...Thanks, Nicole. Re link - not really.<br />The links labelled 2011 Energy Communiqué and 2011 Mines Communiqué at the <a href="https://emmc2011.alberta.ca/EnglishContent/Default.asp" rel="nofollow">Alberta Gov Energy and Mines Ministers Conference website</a> actually only go to press releases, while their EMMC Webcast link goes to a registration form for the conference!<br /><br />This 9 page pdf : <a href="https://emmc2011.alberta.ca/PanCanEnergyEN.pdf" rel="nofollow">CANADA AS A GLOBAL ENERGY LEADER: TOWARD GREATER PAN‐CANADIAN COLLABORATION</a> is the most complete doc I've found but even it reads like a glorified press release.Alisonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09811694143714068436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17909993.post-61701044500059176002011-07-29T06:59:31.927-07:002011-07-29T06:59:31.927-07:00Hi Alison,
Thanks for sharing this news. Do you h...Hi Alison,<br /><br />Thanks for sharing this news. Do you have a link to the joint communique referred to? <br /><br />Keep up the good work!Nicole Chalandnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17909993.post-39155406600862690802011-07-22T14:56:18.660-07:002011-07-22T14:56:18.660-07:00Arghhh. I'll try again.
One year ago, budget ...Arghhh. I'll try again.<br /><br />One year ago, budget Bill C9 with its gutting of environmental assessments could have been stopped or at least delayed for further consideration but it was rushed through the Senate and passed 48-44 because seven Liberal senators had already left early for their summer holidays and did not show up for the vote. <br />Since then I've been a Senate abolitionist.<br /><br />While Kent's announcement of the panel certainly portends green-washing, some of the new panel's members have excellent creds - including Dr. David Shindler, the last guy to give that explosive testimony before the Environment Committee before it locked itself away from public view. <br /><br />He had conducted the <i>first independent research since 1983!</i> on "airborne tar sands contaminants found in the snow pack along the Athabasca River" :<br /><br />"Mercury emitted from these plants has increased three-fold in seven years, lead has increased four-fold in six years, and arsenic three-fold in six years as well."<br /><br />So we'll see.Alisonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09811694143714068436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17909993.post-23903902854893570042011-07-22T14:49:27.198-07:002011-07-22T14:49:27.198-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Alisonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09811694143714068436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17909993.post-12507626034979498072011-07-22T13:56:13.766-07:002011-07-22T13:56:13.766-07:00Yes, the whole thing has been a sham from the begi...Yes, the whole thing has been a sham from the beginning with respect to the various oil sands development projects. And as you reminded me, federal responsibility for ensuring proper environmental assessment and mitigation was further diluted by Harper. Those discretionary powers in that budget barely raised an eyebrow, let alone a public outcry because it was barely announced/covered by the media and rarely with any analysis of its ramifications.<br /><br />The monitoring plans should be based on prior assessments that if properly conducted would have already identified potential adverse effects. If what is happening points to even more negative effects than anticipated when the projects were approved, then adjustments have to be made. This is a process that should have been ongoing for over a decade now.<br /><br />Kent's announcement is no more than governmental green-washing.Beijing Yorkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05579118045254845839noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17909993.post-79145503241488713352011-07-22T11:58:45.310-07:002011-07-22T11:58:45.310-07:00BY : I was wondering which specific project's ...BY : I was wondering which specific project's missing EIS you were referring to, but then I realized you meant all of them collectively.<br /><br />I'm no expert on this - really not - but going back ten years, the feds have consistently abrogated their CEAA responsibilities on EISs by deferring to the provinces, even in those cases they lost in the Federal Court of Canada.<br /><br />See <a href="http://www.businessedge.ca/archives/article.cfm/oilsands-court-ruling-interpreted-differently-by-industry-activists-945" rel="nofollow">Suncor case from 2002</a> :<br />"The Federal Court of Canada, in a decision handed down late last month, ruled that the federal ministers of environment and fisheries and oceans failed to comply with their duties under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act in approving Suncor’s Millennium project.<br /><br />Federal Justice Elizabeth Heneghan found that the federal ministers erred in relying on a provincial planning process to ensure that significant and uncertain environmental impacts from the project would be addressed and mitigated.<br /><br />It is the first judicial decision in Canada that says Ottawa has a statutory duty, under federal environmental assessment legislation, to ensure that environmental mitigation measures are put into place within a province.<br /><br />Suncor and its lawyers believe the federal court ruling “will have no effect whatsoever on Project Millennium,” says Brenda Erskine, communications manager for Suncor’s oilsands division.<br /><br />Suncor’s position is that the court ruling doesn’t create a precedent for how future oilsands expansions and new facilities should be regulated, Erskine said."<br /><br />Is this what you meant?<br /><br />As you already know this is now legal. Last year the Cons gutted the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency's authority to carry out comprehensive EIs in <a href="http://www.miningwatch.ca/federal-government-moves-quickly-bypass-supreme-court-ruling-undermine-environmental-assessment" rel="nofollow">Bill C9 of the budget</a> :<br /><br />"Specifically, the Budget bill gave the federal Minister of the Environment the discretion to redefine the scope of an environmental assessment, allowing him (or her) to split projects into component parts or exclude parts of the project from the assessment. It also legalised the exemption of federally-funded infrastructure projects from EA."Alisonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09811694143714068436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17909993.post-25239275484050364892011-07-22T09:32:26.364-07:002011-07-22T09:32:26.364-07:00This integrated monitoring plan is a PR exercise, ...This integrated monitoring plan is a PR exercise, as the language of the press release from Kent reveals: "boost the damaged reputation of the industry abroad"; "defend the product"; and "discriminate against the product". <br /><br />What I don't understand is how Canada and Alberta bypassed a regulatory review of the proponents' Environmental Impact Statements (based on extensive environmental impact assessments, which include mitigation and monitoring to reduce adverse impacts). I can't find any evidence of such an EIS, nor of a public review process or even Environment Canada review. Instead there is a reference to the Royal Society of Canada providing an overview:<br /><br />http://economicallygreen.ecomtechnology.com/?p=7034<br /><br />A real monitoring plan acknowledges both positive and negative impacts identified in the EIS. It addresses how each impact will be monitored against projected impacts and mitigation mechanisms. This monitoring plan is bullshit science.Beijing Yorkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05579118045254845839noreply@blogger.com