Carol Linnitt Posts

The provincial government did not fulfill its legal obligation to consult with First Nations on the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline, the B.C. Supreme Court ruled Wednesday. The case, brought forward by the Gitga’at and other coastal First Nations, argued the province erred when it handed over decision-making authority for the project to the federal government under a provincial-federal Joint Review Process managed by the federal National Energy Board.

A coalition of vulnerable countries is pushing the global community to adopt a new 1.5 degree global warming target at the ongoing climate talks in Paris. The group of countries, known as the Climate Vulnerability Forum, argues current efforts to limit global temperature rise to two degrees Celsius is insufficient to protect many nations from the dangers of climate change. The group came to this conclusion, which was announced on the first day of the climate talks, after two years of expert review and diplomatic consultations.

While Jim Prentice and his Progressive Conservative cadre lick their wounds after last night’s landslide victory by the New Democratic Party and leader Rachel Notley, punditry about the oil industry’s place in the transformed province is in full force.

The White House confirmed today that President Obama will veto Congressional legislation designed to greenlight construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, the contentious project first proposed six years ago to carry more than 800,000 barrels per day of Canadian oilsands crude from Alberta to refineries and export facilities along the Gulf of Mexico.

On July 6, 2013, one year and one day ago today, a train carrying oil derailed in the sleepy Quebec town of Lac-Mégantic, resulting in an explosion so wild and so hot it leveled several city blocks and incinerated the bodies of many of its 47 victims. The accident put the tiny town on the international media circuit and dragged a new social concern with it: oil trains.

If you’ve come across any of the recent headlines on the release of the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, you’re probably feeling pretty low. The doom and gloom levels were off the charts. And understandably so. However, there is some good news in the report and here are 10 such items on how to make positive changes for the future of humanity.

After City Council members unanimously voted to ban the practice within city limits, fracking for oil and gas will not be happening in Los Angeles any time soon. The vote passes the motion to the City Attorney's office where it will be rewritten as a zoning ordinance before returning to City Council for a final vote. LA is now the largest city in the U.S. to refuse the dangerous extraction process.

A decision on the proposed northern half of the Keystone XL pipeline — under review since 2008 — hinges on a final environmental review by the State Department now taking into consideration the importance oil-by-rail transport might have on growth of Alberta's tar sands. U.S. officials are evaluating the impact Keystone XL will have on expansion of the tar sands and whether or not the pipeline will worsen climate change.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper recently took a trip to the Big Apple to tout the controversial Keystone XL pipeline. Unfortunately, Canadian citizens were on the hook for this lobbying trip - to the tune of $65,000.

The largest onshore oil spill in U.S. history just got an official price tag when, ironically enough, the company behind the environmental disaster released an application to expand another of its pipelines. The billion-dollar cost includes $3.7 million in fines, but not the untold costs for the Kalamazoo River in Michigan, which was flooded with 3 million liters of tar sands diluted bitumen.

Travel Alberta is not pleased with Andy Cobb and Mike Damanskis, two L.A.-based comedians raising funds to travel to the province’s tar sands, the world’s largest industrial project. Today, Travel Alberta filed an official complaint with YouTube, claiming the comedy duo’s crowdfunding pitch video “Welcome to Fort McMoney” was in violation of copyright law for commenting on segments of the tourism board’s “Remember to Breathe” advertisements. YouTube has since removed the video.

The company responsible for a massive ongoing spill on the Cold Lake Air Weapons Range in Alberta, Canada, released a public notice last week claiming the release was “secured” and that “clean-up, recovery and reclamation activities are well under way.” However, a spokesperson for the country's regulatory agency said that Canadian Natural Resource Limited has yet to bring the release under control.

A tax loophole exempting tar sands pipeline operators from paying an eight-cent tax per barrel of oil they transport in the US is costing the federal Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund millions of dollars every year. W

A bizarre technicality allowed Exxon Mobil to avoid paying into the federal oil spill fund responsible for cleanup after the company's Pegasus pipeline released 12,000 barrels of tar sands oil and water into the town of Mayflower, Arkansas.

According to a 30-year-old law in the US, diluted bitumen coming from the Alberta tar sands is not classified as oil, meaning pipeline operators planning to transport the corrosive substance across the U.S. - with proposed pipelines like the Keystone XL - are exempt from paying into the federal Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund.

As Think Progress has just reported, a bizarre technicality allowed Exxon Mobil to avoid paying into the federal oil spill fund responsible for cleanup after the company's

Yesterday hundreds of indigenous and non-indigenous Canadians stood on Parliament Hill in Ottawa to greet the Nishiyuu walkers - a group of First Nations marchers who have gathered along the 1500 kilometre route between Whapmagoostui in Quebec's James Bay Treaty a

A Sunday report from the Globe and Mail gives a rather undersized account of what prominent environmental organizations are calling the

The British Columbia government has plans to double or even triple the amount of natural gas produced in the province in order to meet growing international demand. Although the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline is a key issue of concern to British Columbians, widespread fracking for unconventional gas presents another significant challenge th...

Despite claims by TransCanda they are using "top quality steel and welding techniques" on the Keystone XL pipeline, activists released images of what they claim are improperly welded pipeline seams.

“If people don’t speak out there will never be any change,” says the University of Victoria’s award-winning climate scientist Andrew Weaver. 

And the need for change in Canada, says Weaver, has never been more pressing.

“We have a crisis in Canada. That crisis is in terms of the development of information and the need for...