Saint John & Fredericton chapters on the Matapedia River to oppose the Belledune oil-by-rail project
[ https://canadians.org/blog/saint-john-f ... il-project ]
June 3, 2017 - 9:19 pm
(PHOTO: The Council of Canadians Saint John and Fredericton chapters joined the 'Hands Across the Water' action in Amqui, Quebec today.)
The outreach had noted, "On June 3, [the Quebec-based group] Coule pas chez nous has organized an event to protect the Matapedia and Restigouche salmon rivers from the proposed Belledune oil-by-rail project. ...Paddle on Saturday, June 3, 8:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m., down the Matapédia River starting at Amqui, Quebec."
Amqui is located about 450 kilometres north of Fredericton and about 550 kilometres north of Saint John. The Port of Belledune is located in north-eastern New Brunswick, about 175 kilometres south-east of Amqui.
In July 2016, the CBC reported, "Three Mi'kmaq communities in Quebec are challenging the proposed Chaleur Terminals oil terminal project at the Port of Belledune, this time taking the federal government to court over lack of consultation. Chaleur Terminal's plan would see 150,000 barrels of oil travel through Quebec and the Matapedia Valley to the Restigouche region on its way to Belledune on 220 rail cars each day. The Calgary-based company then plans to pump the crude oil into storage tanks, eventually to be transferred onto tankers for international export."
Today, our ally Marie-josée Béliveau posted on social media (in French), "Bravo to the brave and courageous who braved the chilly weather this morning on the beautiful Matapédia River for the launch of the 2017 edition of the 'not in our waterways' campaign! ...Show all together our love for water courses! It's the best way to protect them against the dangers of hydrocarbons!"
This is part of three weekends of action. Next weekend - June 10 - the Fredericton chapter is organizing a march in their city against the Energy East pipeline. And on June 17, there will be a march in Red Head (Saint John) where a massive tank farm and deep water export terminal would be built to serve the Energy East project.
For more, please see:
Amqui, Quebec: Hands Across the Water Event - June 3, 2017
[ https://canadians.org/event/amqui-quebe ... ater-event ]
Fredericton: Hands Across the Water Event - June 10, 2017
[ https://canadians.org/event/fredericton ... ater-event ]
Red Head, Saint John: Hands Across the Water Event - June 17, 2017
[ https://canadians.org/event/red-head-sa ... ater-event ]
Tags: chapters
[ https://canadians.org/tags/chapters ]
Brent Patterson's blog
Political Director of the Council of Canadians
[ https://canadians.org/blogs/brent-patterson ]
ENERGY EAST: "Hands Across the Water"
4 posts
• Page 1 of 1
ENERGY EAST: "Hands Across the Water"
by Oscar » Thu Jun 08, 2017 10:00 am
- Oscar
- Site Admin
- Posts: 9100
- Joined: Wed May 03, 2006 3:23 pm
Re: ENERGY EAST: "Hands Across the Water"
by Oscar » Sat Jun 10, 2017 3:52 pm
Hands across New Brunswick and Québec waterways in the campaign against tar sands bitumen
[ https://canadians.org/blog/hands-across ... ds-bitumen ]
June 5, 2017 - 8:47 pm
On June 3rd, in Amqui Québec, people of all ages stretched their canoes and kayaks across the waters of the Matapedia River to say no to the rail transport of tar sands bitumen from the Alberta Tar Sands to the Port of Belledune, New Brunswick.
A group of us travelled from New Brunswick to the Gaspe Penisula show solidarity with our water protectors in Québec. We represented Council of Canadians - Fredericton chapter, Red Head Anthony's Cove Preservation Society, Council of Canadians - Saint John chapter, and EcoVie from Kedgwick, NB.
After crossing the interprovincial bridge at Campbellton, New Brunswick, driving through the valley of the Restigouche River and Matapedia River on the way to Amqui, Québec is breathtaking. You are also struck by how close the train tracks hug the shore of these rivers, and the significant number of train bridge crossings over the Matapedia River.
This water event was organized by Coule pas chez nous, a Québec group that is leading a strong, well-organized and unified resistance against the rail, pipeline, and supertanker transport of extreme oil. At significant risk are the communities and farms along the waterways, the salmon and other wildlife in the fresh water habitat, and the fisheries and magnificent creatures like the endangered right whale in the Bay of Chaleur.
New Brunswick and Indigenous communities share the same concerns about the risks from the Energy East tar sands pipeline to the Wolastoq (Saint John River) and the Energy East tar sands supertankers to the Bay of Fundy, including the lobster fisheries and the endangered right whale.
Unlike conventional oil, when tar sands bitumen spills into water, the solvent chemicals quickly evaporate into a toxic cloud that is life-threatening - requiring immediate mass evacuation and hospitalization - and the bitumen remains in the water to form tar balls which sink and aggressively stick to the bottom. No technology exists that can capture and cleanup bitumen; cleanup is difficult, expensive, and it is impossible to fully restore the river or bay.
Speaking to the crowd before the boats were launched, Lynaya Astephen, spokesperson for Red Head Anthyony's Cove Preservation Association, and Council of Canadians - Saint John chapter, explained, "Everyday on my way to town, I drive by the Irving oil refinery and their rail terminal, the very terminal that was supposed to get the Lac Megantic trains. I've heard the argument over and over again that pipelines are safer than rail." "We know this is a false argument. The reality is industry wants both. Industry wants to use our land and coastlines to line their pockets. We are not going to let them do it!"
With 40+ boats on the Matapedia, it was both fun and empowering to be part of this water event.
"It is so important to be here in solidarity with Québec", said Maggie Connell, a member of Council of Canadians - Fredericton chapter. "When we stop thinking only about the issues at home, such as Energy East and the impacts to the Bay of Fundy, we start thinking about the problem as a whole."
More information on their waterways campaign, #CoulePasDansNosCoursDeau, can be found on the Coule pas chez nous website [ http://www.coulepascheznous.com/ ] and their campaign's Facebook site. [ https://www.facebook.com/notes/coule-pa ... 672786694/ ]
The extreme oil is not for use by Quebec
Back on land, there was a discussion on the Belledune oil-by-rail and other proposed tar sands bitumen projects, proposed shale gas fracking for the Gaspé Peninsula, the disrepair of train tracks along the Matapedia River, and the paradigm shift to efficiency, clean energy, and local diverse economies.
Coule pas chez nous made several strong arguments why these projects will not be allowed to pass - "Vous ne passerez pas!". While these waterways will be put at great risk of tar sands bitumen spills, all of these additional projects that are proposed to pass through Québec are not for Québec consumption.
Adding up the tar sands-by-rail projects going to export terminals at Belledune, N.B. and Sorel-Tracy, Québec, as well as the tar sands pipeline Energy East going to the export terminal at Red Head (Saint John), N.B., these 3 projects total more than 5-6 times the petroleum which is needed by Quebec.
At the national level, they point out that Canada now produces 2X more oil than we consume. The petroleum production in Alberta would double by 2020 and triple by 2035 if proposed projects are allowed to proceed.
The same is true for Energy East in New Brunswick. At least 80% of the 1.1 million barrels/day proposed for the Port at Red Head (Saint John) is already under commercial agreement for export. The math is simple. Using numbers from TransCanada's application to the National Energy Board, TransCanada has proposed using 70 Aframax, 175 Suezmax, and 36 Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) per year. The total capacity of this many oil tankers carrying tar sands bitumen and crude oil is 328 million barrels per year, which is over 81% of the total volume of the pipeline.
Hands Across The Water on June 10th and June 17th
This is part of three weekends of action. Next weekend on Saturday June 10th, the Fredericton chapter is organizing a march in their city against the Energy East pipeline. And on Saturday, June 17th, there will be a march and picnic in Red Head (Saint John) where a massive tank farm and deep water export terminal would be built to serve the Energy East project.
Complacency about climate change is no longer an option
The weekend trip to the Matapedia canoe event was transformative for Fredericton teenager Rosie Burgess for becoming engaged about climate change, "Before I was scared of what was coming because I didn't want to face the danger. But now I am more exposed to it and I am realizing it's not just up to the adults. It's up to the youth to speak out and try to fix it as well. The voice of the youth will make a bigger impact. It's our future too, and you can't kill what we have to live on when you're gone."
And seeing so many young people taking part in this event is a positive sign for everyone.
Now is the time to "show up" and "speak up" for real action on climate change. The landmark election in British Columbia, and the Trump decision, may be the signal and the shock, respectively, that we need in our communities to get more people involved in making change.
As reported by CBC News [ http://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/kinde ... -1.4143123 ], Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs said that Alberta Premier Rachel Notley was "grandstanding" in her refusal to accept the alliance formed between the NDP and the Greens in British Columbia. "Mark my words," Phillip said in response. "The Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project will never see the light of day."
The recent announcement by President Donald Trump that he will pull the United States out of the Paris Agreement. But world leaders were quick to condemn this decision [ https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... ders-react ]. German chancellor Angela Merkel, French president Emmanuel Macron and Italian prime minister Paolo Gentiloni released a joint statement pointing out that the President cannot renegotiate the agreement.
As reported in The Atlantic [ https://www.theatlantic.com/science/arc ... ew/529083/ ], Princeton scientist Michael Oppenheimer says that with the Trump decision, keeping the average global temperatures from rising more than two degrees is now "totally unrealistic". "This decision is just enough to push us over the edge, in my view."
It's time to show up and march for the future we want.
For more, please see:
Fredericton: Hands Across the Water Event - June 10, 2017
[ https://canadians.org/event/fredericton ... ater-event ]
Red Head, Saint John: Hands Across the Water Event - June 17, 2017
[ https://canadians.org/event/red-head-sa ... ater-event
(PHOTO CREDITS: Rosie Burgess, Lynaya Astephen and Mark D'Arcy)
Mark D'Arcy's blog
New Brunswick Energy East campaigner
[ https://canadians.org/blogs/mark-darcy ]
[ https://canadians.org/blog/hands-across ... ds-bitumen ]
June 5, 2017 - 8:47 pm
On June 3rd, in Amqui Québec, people of all ages stretched their canoes and kayaks across the waters of the Matapedia River to say no to the rail transport of tar sands bitumen from the Alberta Tar Sands to the Port of Belledune, New Brunswick.
A group of us travelled from New Brunswick to the Gaspe Penisula show solidarity with our water protectors in Québec. We represented Council of Canadians - Fredericton chapter, Red Head Anthony's Cove Preservation Society, Council of Canadians - Saint John chapter, and EcoVie from Kedgwick, NB.
After crossing the interprovincial bridge at Campbellton, New Brunswick, driving through the valley of the Restigouche River and Matapedia River on the way to Amqui, Québec is breathtaking. You are also struck by how close the train tracks hug the shore of these rivers, and the significant number of train bridge crossings over the Matapedia River.
This water event was organized by Coule pas chez nous, a Québec group that is leading a strong, well-organized and unified resistance against the rail, pipeline, and supertanker transport of extreme oil. At significant risk are the communities and farms along the waterways, the salmon and other wildlife in the fresh water habitat, and the fisheries and magnificent creatures like the endangered right whale in the Bay of Chaleur.
New Brunswick and Indigenous communities share the same concerns about the risks from the Energy East tar sands pipeline to the Wolastoq (Saint John River) and the Energy East tar sands supertankers to the Bay of Fundy, including the lobster fisheries and the endangered right whale.
Unlike conventional oil, when tar sands bitumen spills into water, the solvent chemicals quickly evaporate into a toxic cloud that is life-threatening - requiring immediate mass evacuation and hospitalization - and the bitumen remains in the water to form tar balls which sink and aggressively stick to the bottom. No technology exists that can capture and cleanup bitumen; cleanup is difficult, expensive, and it is impossible to fully restore the river or bay.
Speaking to the crowd before the boats were launched, Lynaya Astephen, spokesperson for Red Head Anthyony's Cove Preservation Association, and Council of Canadians - Saint John chapter, explained, "Everyday on my way to town, I drive by the Irving oil refinery and their rail terminal, the very terminal that was supposed to get the Lac Megantic trains. I've heard the argument over and over again that pipelines are safer than rail." "We know this is a false argument. The reality is industry wants both. Industry wants to use our land and coastlines to line their pockets. We are not going to let them do it!"
With 40+ boats on the Matapedia, it was both fun and empowering to be part of this water event.
"It is so important to be here in solidarity with Québec", said Maggie Connell, a member of Council of Canadians - Fredericton chapter. "When we stop thinking only about the issues at home, such as Energy East and the impacts to the Bay of Fundy, we start thinking about the problem as a whole."
More information on their waterways campaign, #CoulePasDansNosCoursDeau, can be found on the Coule pas chez nous website [ http://www.coulepascheznous.com/ ] and their campaign's Facebook site. [ https://www.facebook.com/notes/coule-pa ... 672786694/ ]
The extreme oil is not for use by Quebec
Back on land, there was a discussion on the Belledune oil-by-rail and other proposed tar sands bitumen projects, proposed shale gas fracking for the Gaspé Peninsula, the disrepair of train tracks along the Matapedia River, and the paradigm shift to efficiency, clean energy, and local diverse economies.
Coule pas chez nous made several strong arguments why these projects will not be allowed to pass - "Vous ne passerez pas!". While these waterways will be put at great risk of tar sands bitumen spills, all of these additional projects that are proposed to pass through Québec are not for Québec consumption.
Adding up the tar sands-by-rail projects going to export terminals at Belledune, N.B. and Sorel-Tracy, Québec, as well as the tar sands pipeline Energy East going to the export terminal at Red Head (Saint John), N.B., these 3 projects total more than 5-6 times the petroleum which is needed by Quebec.
At the national level, they point out that Canada now produces 2X more oil than we consume. The petroleum production in Alberta would double by 2020 and triple by 2035 if proposed projects are allowed to proceed.
The same is true for Energy East in New Brunswick. At least 80% of the 1.1 million barrels/day proposed for the Port at Red Head (Saint John) is already under commercial agreement for export. The math is simple. Using numbers from TransCanada's application to the National Energy Board, TransCanada has proposed using 70 Aframax, 175 Suezmax, and 36 Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) per year. The total capacity of this many oil tankers carrying tar sands bitumen and crude oil is 328 million barrels per year, which is over 81% of the total volume of the pipeline.
Hands Across The Water on June 10th and June 17th
This is part of three weekends of action. Next weekend on Saturday June 10th, the Fredericton chapter is organizing a march in their city against the Energy East pipeline. And on Saturday, June 17th, there will be a march and picnic in Red Head (Saint John) where a massive tank farm and deep water export terminal would be built to serve the Energy East project.
Complacency about climate change is no longer an option
The weekend trip to the Matapedia canoe event was transformative for Fredericton teenager Rosie Burgess for becoming engaged about climate change, "Before I was scared of what was coming because I didn't want to face the danger. But now I am more exposed to it and I am realizing it's not just up to the adults. It's up to the youth to speak out and try to fix it as well. The voice of the youth will make a bigger impact. It's our future too, and you can't kill what we have to live on when you're gone."
And seeing so many young people taking part in this event is a positive sign for everyone.
Now is the time to "show up" and "speak up" for real action on climate change. The landmark election in British Columbia, and the Trump decision, may be the signal and the shock, respectively, that we need in our communities to get more people involved in making change.
As reported by CBC News [ http://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/kinde ... -1.4143123 ], Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs said that Alberta Premier Rachel Notley was "grandstanding" in her refusal to accept the alliance formed between the NDP and the Greens in British Columbia. "Mark my words," Phillip said in response. "The Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project will never see the light of day."
The recent announcement by President Donald Trump that he will pull the United States out of the Paris Agreement. But world leaders were quick to condemn this decision [ https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... ders-react ]. German chancellor Angela Merkel, French president Emmanuel Macron and Italian prime minister Paolo Gentiloni released a joint statement pointing out that the President cannot renegotiate the agreement.
As reported in The Atlantic [ https://www.theatlantic.com/science/arc ... ew/529083/ ], Princeton scientist Michael Oppenheimer says that with the Trump decision, keeping the average global temperatures from rising more than two degrees is now "totally unrealistic". "This decision is just enough to push us over the edge, in my view."
It's time to show up and march for the future we want.
For more, please see:
Fredericton: Hands Across the Water Event - June 10, 2017
[ https://canadians.org/event/fredericton ... ater-event ]
Red Head, Saint John: Hands Across the Water Event - June 17, 2017
[ https://canadians.org/event/red-head-sa ... ater-event
(PHOTO CREDITS: Rosie Burgess, Lynaya Astephen and Mark D'Arcy)
Mark D'Arcy's blog
New Brunswick Energy East campaigner
[ https://canadians.org/blogs/mark-darcy ]
- Oscar
- Site Admin
- Posts: 9100
- Joined: Wed May 03, 2006 3:23 pm
Re: ENERGY EAST: "Hands Across the Water"
by Oscar » Thu Jun 15, 2017 6:20 pm
Hands Across the Water - Marching over the Nashwaak River for the Future We Want
[ https://canadians.org/blog/hands-across ... re-we-want ]
June 12, 2017 - 6:46 am
At the same time as oil prices continue to sink, people of all ages are speaking up louder and louder for leadership on climate change. Last Saturday, close to 90 people showed up in Fredericton, New Brunswick to march for the future they want, a future that includes a rapid transition to clean energy and efficiency.
This march was part of the 'Hands Across The Water' events held in June along the proposed Energy East tar sands bitumen pipeline route in New Brunswick. The Fredericton event was organized by the Fredericton chapter of the Council of Canadians. (The final march and picnic on the Bay of Fundy is in Saint John, New Brunswick this Saturday, June 17th.)
Video of the event was posted by Global News [ http://globalnews.ca/news/3518057/energ ... edericton/ ] and The Left Eye [ https://lefteyex.wordpress.com/2017/06/ ... ter-march/ ], including an interview with Mark D'Arcy on the secrecy and risks surrounding this type of pipeline. [ https://lefteyex.wordpress.com/2017/06/ ... u-to-know/ ]
Leading the march was Ron Tremblay, Grand Chief of the Wolastoq Grand Council, and people from the Wabanaki Men's Society. Their allies, including a large number of young people from as far away as Sackville and Saint John, followed in solidarity as the procession made it ways to the trail bridge over the Nashwaak River in Fredericton.
"There are 3 tributaries crossed by the pipeline at the head of the Nashwaak River," says Jean Louis Deveau, Chair of the Council of Canadians - Fredericton chapter. "A spill into any one of these in the middle of the night could go undetected, spreading quickly down the entire stretch of the Nashwaak River to Fredericton. There is no current technology that allows the tar sands bitumen to be captured by booms, and fully cleaned up from the bottom sediment where it sticks aggressively, as documented in the catastrophic spills in the North Saskatchewan River in 2016 and the Kalamazoo River in 2010."
The risks and consequences of a tar sands bitumen spill are simply too great for our watersheds and our homes. More than 380 waterways in New Brunswick would be crossed by the Energy East pipeline. If you live close to a stream, river, or bay where a bitumen spill would spread (releasing life-threatening toxic gas requiring immediate evacuation), the installation of early-warning air sirens, a 1.6km Emergency Evacuation Zone for all residents, and lowered property resale values would become the new reality for your home, cottage, or farm.
New Brunswick and Indigenous communities have been left in the dark about the route and the risks of the Energy East tar sands pipeline project. Since 2014, there have been no public meetings (except one in Edmundston over the pipeline risk to their drinking water), no Provincial Environmental Impact Assessment, no community notices along the pipeline route, and no readable maps.
Since 2015, both the City of Fredericton and the Council of Canadians - Fredericton chapter have asked TransCanada to hold a public meeting for Fredericton residents and conduct a spill modelling study of a tar sands bitumen pipeline spill into the Nashwaak River. We are still waiting two (2) years later.
"It's our future too", says Tina Oh, a recent recipient of the Starfish 'Canada's Top 25 Environmentalists Under 25'. "Canada will be unable to meet our greenhouse gas climate targets for 2030 if we build these tar sands pipelines. Young people, your children, don’t want runaway climate change. We don't want survival. We deserve more than that. We want our future to include a clean & just transition for workers & communities."
Tina Oh and friends from Mount Allison University have started a social media campaign to show support for these anti-Energy East events this month. They are asking people to post a photo of yourself or with friends with a sheet of paper(s) saying 'the future I want includes'…." #HandsAcrossTheWater
We are in the midst of an energy revolution with the price of wind and solar now cheaper than fossil fuels, yet our New Brunswick and Canadian governments continue to lobby for tar sands infrastructure. Now these politicians are faced with the drop in global oil prices that will make the energy-intensive extraction of tar sands bitumen even less profitable than it already is.
(CHART: Light Sweet Crude Oil Prices - July 2012-June 2017, Globe and Mail, chart retrieved June 9, 2017)
Roger McKnight, chief petroleum analyst at En-pro International [ http://www.bnn.ca/commodities/video/ple ... st~1143167 ], predicted on Business News Network that "crude is sitting at about $45, $46 a barrel now, probably goes down to $40 with the collapse of OPEC. So I can only see in late summer, early fall, prices lower than what they are today, significantly." And Gene. McGillian, research manager at Tradition Energy, told the Wall Street Journal that "Unless OPEC wants to do something else, the idea of $50 or $55 oil is basically not realistic.” [ http://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-Gener ... istic.html ]
Now is the time to transition aggressively to renewables. Stanford University's Dr. Mark Jacobsen says Canada can transition to 100% renewables by 2050 and employ hundreds of thousands of Canadians with 40-year jobs [ http://globalnews.ca/news/2753959/canad ... professor/ ]. Christine Lins, executive secretary of REN21, says “the renewables train has already left the station and those who ignore renewables’ central role in climate mitigation risk being left behind. [ https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... obal-boost ]
(The Solutions Project, Dr. Mark Jacobson, Stanford University. Retrieved at http://thesolutionsproject.org/why-clean-energy/)
The final Hands Across The Water event is next Saturday, June 17th in Red Head (Saint John). Starting at 1:00 pm, the 2nd 'March to the End of the Line' starts at intersection of Red Head Road and Hewitt Road, the parade takes ~ 30 minutes, and arrives at Anthony's Cove Road for a picnic on the shore of the Bay of Fundy. This family event ends at 4:00 pm. This event is organized by Red Head Anthony's Cove Preservation Association.
Mark D'Arcy's blog
New Brunswick Energy East campaigner.
[ https://canadians.org/blogs/mark-darcy ]
[ https://canadians.org/blog/hands-across ... re-we-want ]
June 12, 2017 - 6:46 am
At the same time as oil prices continue to sink, people of all ages are speaking up louder and louder for leadership on climate change. Last Saturday, close to 90 people showed up in Fredericton, New Brunswick to march for the future they want, a future that includes a rapid transition to clean energy and efficiency.
This march was part of the 'Hands Across The Water' events held in June along the proposed Energy East tar sands bitumen pipeline route in New Brunswick. The Fredericton event was organized by the Fredericton chapter of the Council of Canadians. (The final march and picnic on the Bay of Fundy is in Saint John, New Brunswick this Saturday, June 17th.)
Video of the event was posted by Global News [ http://globalnews.ca/news/3518057/energ ... edericton/ ] and The Left Eye [ https://lefteyex.wordpress.com/2017/06/ ... ter-march/ ], including an interview with Mark D'Arcy on the secrecy and risks surrounding this type of pipeline. [ https://lefteyex.wordpress.com/2017/06/ ... u-to-know/ ]
Leading the march was Ron Tremblay, Grand Chief of the Wolastoq Grand Council, and people from the Wabanaki Men's Society. Their allies, including a large number of young people from as far away as Sackville and Saint John, followed in solidarity as the procession made it ways to the trail bridge over the Nashwaak River in Fredericton.
"There are 3 tributaries crossed by the pipeline at the head of the Nashwaak River," says Jean Louis Deveau, Chair of the Council of Canadians - Fredericton chapter. "A spill into any one of these in the middle of the night could go undetected, spreading quickly down the entire stretch of the Nashwaak River to Fredericton. There is no current technology that allows the tar sands bitumen to be captured by booms, and fully cleaned up from the bottom sediment where it sticks aggressively, as documented in the catastrophic spills in the North Saskatchewan River in 2016 and the Kalamazoo River in 2010."
The risks and consequences of a tar sands bitumen spill are simply too great for our watersheds and our homes. More than 380 waterways in New Brunswick would be crossed by the Energy East pipeline. If you live close to a stream, river, or bay where a bitumen spill would spread (releasing life-threatening toxic gas requiring immediate evacuation), the installation of early-warning air sirens, a 1.6km Emergency Evacuation Zone for all residents, and lowered property resale values would become the new reality for your home, cottage, or farm.
New Brunswick and Indigenous communities have been left in the dark about the route and the risks of the Energy East tar sands pipeline project. Since 2014, there have been no public meetings (except one in Edmundston over the pipeline risk to their drinking water), no Provincial Environmental Impact Assessment, no community notices along the pipeline route, and no readable maps.
Since 2015, both the City of Fredericton and the Council of Canadians - Fredericton chapter have asked TransCanada to hold a public meeting for Fredericton residents and conduct a spill modelling study of a tar sands bitumen pipeline spill into the Nashwaak River. We are still waiting two (2) years later.
"It's our future too", says Tina Oh, a recent recipient of the Starfish 'Canada's Top 25 Environmentalists Under 25'. "Canada will be unable to meet our greenhouse gas climate targets for 2030 if we build these tar sands pipelines. Young people, your children, don’t want runaway climate change. We don't want survival. We deserve more than that. We want our future to include a clean & just transition for workers & communities."
Tina Oh and friends from Mount Allison University have started a social media campaign to show support for these anti-Energy East events this month. They are asking people to post a photo of yourself or with friends with a sheet of paper(s) saying 'the future I want includes'…." #HandsAcrossTheWater
We are in the midst of an energy revolution with the price of wind and solar now cheaper than fossil fuels, yet our New Brunswick and Canadian governments continue to lobby for tar sands infrastructure. Now these politicians are faced with the drop in global oil prices that will make the energy-intensive extraction of tar sands bitumen even less profitable than it already is.
(CHART: Light Sweet Crude Oil Prices - July 2012-June 2017, Globe and Mail, chart retrieved June 9, 2017)
Roger McKnight, chief petroleum analyst at En-pro International [ http://www.bnn.ca/commodities/video/ple ... st~1143167 ], predicted on Business News Network that "crude is sitting at about $45, $46 a barrel now, probably goes down to $40 with the collapse of OPEC. So I can only see in late summer, early fall, prices lower than what they are today, significantly." And Gene. McGillian, research manager at Tradition Energy, told the Wall Street Journal that "Unless OPEC wants to do something else, the idea of $50 or $55 oil is basically not realistic.” [ http://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-Gener ... istic.html ]
Now is the time to transition aggressively to renewables. Stanford University's Dr. Mark Jacobsen says Canada can transition to 100% renewables by 2050 and employ hundreds of thousands of Canadians with 40-year jobs [ http://globalnews.ca/news/2753959/canad ... professor/ ]. Christine Lins, executive secretary of REN21, says “the renewables train has already left the station and those who ignore renewables’ central role in climate mitigation risk being left behind. [ https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... obal-boost ]
(The Solutions Project, Dr. Mark Jacobson, Stanford University. Retrieved at http://thesolutionsproject.org/why-clean-energy/)
The final Hands Across The Water event is next Saturday, June 17th in Red Head (Saint John). Starting at 1:00 pm, the 2nd 'March to the End of the Line' starts at intersection of Red Head Road and Hewitt Road, the parade takes ~ 30 minutes, and arrives at Anthony's Cove Road for a picnic on the shore of the Bay of Fundy. This family event ends at 4:00 pm. This event is organized by Red Head Anthony's Cove Preservation Association.
Mark D'Arcy's blog
New Brunswick Energy East campaigner.
[ https://canadians.org/blogs/mark-darcy ]
- Oscar
- Site Admin
- Posts: 9100
- Joined: Wed May 03, 2006 3:23 pm
Re: ENERGY EAST: "Hands Across the Water"
by Oscar » Mon Jun 19, 2017 3:21 pm
Hands Across the Bay of Fundy for the Future We Want
[ https://canadians.org/blog/hands-across ... re-we-want ]
June 19, 2017 - 3:52 pm
Heavy rains and winds could not dampen their commitment to protect their community and the Bay of Fundy. Approximately 80 people braved the adverse weather on Saturday, June 17th and took part in a rally and picnic at Red Head, New Brunswick organized by the Red Head Anthony's Cove Preservation Association. This was the final 'Hands Across The Water' event held in the province over the month of June.
"This gathering is about the future of our communities and the future of our young people," says Lynaya Astephen, spokesperson for Red Head Anthony's Cove Preservation Association. "We want to live in a safe, healthy community and we want to prevent runaway climate change. A rapid transition to clean energy and efficiency will create more jobs and local prosperity than oil and gas."
Red Head is the terminal point for the proposed Energy East tar sands bitumen pipeline. Up to 13.2 million barrels would be stored in the middle of this rural community at the shore of the Bay of Fundy, and over 280 supertanker exports would cross the Bay of Fundy and Gulf of Maine on their way to U.S. refineries in New Jersey, Louisiana, and Texas.
The rally and picnic on the beach took place beside Anthony's Cove Road, near the location for the proposed tank farm. TransCanada is proposing to level the hill and forest seen here in the background. A total of 22 storage tanks is proposed to be built here for the tank farm, each one approximately 18 m high and 62 m in diameter. This industrial landscape would dramatically alter the quiet, picturesque neighbourhood of homeowners and threaten their safety.
"I’m worried about the prospect of a spill or fire at the tank storage farm," says Lynaya Astephen. "The deputy fire chief in Burnaby, B.C., has issued a scathing report [ https://www.burnaby.ca/AssetFactory.aspx?did=16919 ] on the risks presented by a similar oil tank storage facility on the West Coast [ http://www.nationalobserver.com/2017/05 ... n-approval ]. The chief warned that a fire at the expanded tank farm could create a “nightmare scenario” resulting in a massive urban evacuation."
In solidarity with the local lobster fishermen, there was a maritime lobster boil on the beach to remind everyone of the importance of the Bay of Fundy that supports thousands of fishery jobs. Both fishery and tourism jobs would be in jeopardy if there was a spill of tar sands bitumen in the Bay of Fundy, waters which have the highest and fastest tides in the world.
Well water from Red Head was served at the picnic to highlight their concerns for their water. Unlike conventional oil, tar sands bitumen in a water spill will form tar balls and sink to the bottom. Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre stressed that the cost of a major spill in the Metropolitan Montreal region could reach $10 billion. And a 2013 consultant's report [ http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/main/west-coas ... 130717.pdf ] for the BC Ministry of Environment estimated that a bitumen spill on the salt-water ocean would leave more than 50% of the volume of oil in the water, due to viscosity, sinking and submergence of the tar.
The critically endangered North Atlantic Right Whale would also be in jeopardy if the Energy East project was approved. These and the other magnificent whales in the Bay of Fundy and Gulf of Maine would suffer the fate of increased noise/disturbances, ship strikes, and whale entanglement from fishery gear loss [ https://canadians.org/blog/magnificent- ... nergy-east ]. A dramatic increase in supertanker traffic would result in more encounters with fishing gear that can cut the ropes. Fishing gear loss is a major mortality factor to whales in the Bay of Fundy and Gulf of Maine. The pieces of fishing gear silently move through the water and can travel for large distances.
We also stood in solidarity with our Quebec communities that are also opposing the Energy East pipeline, as well as the rail transport of tar sands bitumen, including the proposed oil-by-rail marine export project ending in Belledune, New Brunswick. Three cheers to Coule pas chez nous! [ https://www.coulepascheznous.com/action ]
Here is a video of Mark D'Arcy [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbFqlw0CrMo ] and a video of Alma Brooks [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_2gq3_e6yI ] delivering speeches during the picnic. (Many thanks to blogger Charles Leblanc for covering this event.)
Clanmother Alma Brooks read the Water Declaration on behalf of Grand Chief Ron Tremblay, Wolastoq Grand Council. The Energy East pipeline would cut across the entire length of their ancestral territory, a territory based on the watershed boundaries of the St. John River Basin.
"We call on Canadian Federal, Provincial, territorial, and municipal governments to change their laws and regulations to accommodate the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples," says Clanmother Alma Brooks. "These laws and regulations must take into account sovereign Indigenous title - absolute title - of the Wolastoqiyik, involving our inherent and inalienable rights, including among others their right to exercise free, prior, and informed consent and our right to participate in economic development that affects the water."
"We will stand shoulder-to-shoulder to protect the water to secure a future for our children and our grandchildren that is healthy." says Clanmother Alma Brooks.
For more on the Council of Canadians campaign to stop the Energy East pipeline, please click here:
[ https://canadians.org/energyeast ]
(CREDITS: Photographs were taken by Mark D'Arcy, Charles Leblanc, and Lynaya Astephen)
Mark D'Arcy's blog
New Brunswick Energy East campaigner
[ https://canadians.org/blogs/mark-darcy ]
[ https://canadians.org/blog/hands-across ... re-we-want ]
June 19, 2017 - 3:52 pm
Heavy rains and winds could not dampen their commitment to protect their community and the Bay of Fundy. Approximately 80 people braved the adverse weather on Saturday, June 17th and took part in a rally and picnic at Red Head, New Brunswick organized by the Red Head Anthony's Cove Preservation Association. This was the final 'Hands Across The Water' event held in the province over the month of June.
"This gathering is about the future of our communities and the future of our young people," says Lynaya Astephen, spokesperson for Red Head Anthony's Cove Preservation Association. "We want to live in a safe, healthy community and we want to prevent runaway climate change. A rapid transition to clean energy and efficiency will create more jobs and local prosperity than oil and gas."
Red Head is the terminal point for the proposed Energy East tar sands bitumen pipeline. Up to 13.2 million barrels would be stored in the middle of this rural community at the shore of the Bay of Fundy, and over 280 supertanker exports would cross the Bay of Fundy and Gulf of Maine on their way to U.S. refineries in New Jersey, Louisiana, and Texas.
The rally and picnic on the beach took place beside Anthony's Cove Road, near the location for the proposed tank farm. TransCanada is proposing to level the hill and forest seen here in the background. A total of 22 storage tanks is proposed to be built here for the tank farm, each one approximately 18 m high and 62 m in diameter. This industrial landscape would dramatically alter the quiet, picturesque neighbourhood of homeowners and threaten their safety.
"I’m worried about the prospect of a spill or fire at the tank storage farm," says Lynaya Astephen. "The deputy fire chief in Burnaby, B.C., has issued a scathing report [ https://www.burnaby.ca/AssetFactory.aspx?did=16919 ] on the risks presented by a similar oil tank storage facility on the West Coast [ http://www.nationalobserver.com/2017/05 ... n-approval ]. The chief warned that a fire at the expanded tank farm could create a “nightmare scenario” resulting in a massive urban evacuation."
In solidarity with the local lobster fishermen, there was a maritime lobster boil on the beach to remind everyone of the importance of the Bay of Fundy that supports thousands of fishery jobs. Both fishery and tourism jobs would be in jeopardy if there was a spill of tar sands bitumen in the Bay of Fundy, waters which have the highest and fastest tides in the world.
Well water from Red Head was served at the picnic to highlight their concerns for their water. Unlike conventional oil, tar sands bitumen in a water spill will form tar balls and sink to the bottom. Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre stressed that the cost of a major spill in the Metropolitan Montreal region could reach $10 billion. And a 2013 consultant's report [ http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/main/west-coas ... 130717.pdf ] for the BC Ministry of Environment estimated that a bitumen spill on the salt-water ocean would leave more than 50% of the volume of oil in the water, due to viscosity, sinking and submergence of the tar.
The critically endangered North Atlantic Right Whale would also be in jeopardy if the Energy East project was approved. These and the other magnificent whales in the Bay of Fundy and Gulf of Maine would suffer the fate of increased noise/disturbances, ship strikes, and whale entanglement from fishery gear loss [ https://canadians.org/blog/magnificent- ... nergy-east ]. A dramatic increase in supertanker traffic would result in more encounters with fishing gear that can cut the ropes. Fishing gear loss is a major mortality factor to whales in the Bay of Fundy and Gulf of Maine. The pieces of fishing gear silently move through the water and can travel for large distances.
We also stood in solidarity with our Quebec communities that are also opposing the Energy East pipeline, as well as the rail transport of tar sands bitumen, including the proposed oil-by-rail marine export project ending in Belledune, New Brunswick. Three cheers to Coule pas chez nous! [ https://www.coulepascheznous.com/action ]
Here is a video of Mark D'Arcy [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbFqlw0CrMo ] and a video of Alma Brooks [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_2gq3_e6yI ] delivering speeches during the picnic. (Many thanks to blogger Charles Leblanc for covering this event.)
Clanmother Alma Brooks read the Water Declaration on behalf of Grand Chief Ron Tremblay, Wolastoq Grand Council. The Energy East pipeline would cut across the entire length of their ancestral territory, a territory based on the watershed boundaries of the St. John River Basin.
"We call on Canadian Federal, Provincial, territorial, and municipal governments to change their laws and regulations to accommodate the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples," says Clanmother Alma Brooks. "These laws and regulations must take into account sovereign Indigenous title - absolute title - of the Wolastoqiyik, involving our inherent and inalienable rights, including among others their right to exercise free, prior, and informed consent and our right to participate in economic development that affects the water."
"We will stand shoulder-to-shoulder to protect the water to secure a future for our children and our grandchildren that is healthy." says Clanmother Alma Brooks.
For more on the Council of Canadians campaign to stop the Energy East pipeline, please click here:
[ https://canadians.org/energyeast ]
(CREDITS: Photographs were taken by Mark D'Arcy, Charles Leblanc, and Lynaya Astephen)
Mark D'Arcy's blog
New Brunswick Energy East campaigner
[ https://canadians.org/blogs/mark-darcy ]
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