Yes! A setback for the Oil Patch, finally.
A Federal Court justice has put Imperial Oil's Kearl tar sands project on hold, ordering the company to explain how it concluded that intensity-based targets will reduce the potentially damaging effects of the project's greenhouse gas emissions to a level of insignificance.
Justice Daniele Tremblay-Lamer obviously wasn't impressed with Esso's hogwash. From The Edmonton Journal:
"The evidence shows that intensity-based targets place limits on the amount of greenhouse gas emissions per barrel of bitumen produced. The absolute amount of greenhouse gas pollution from oil sands development will continue to rise under intensity-based targets because of the planned increase in total production of bitumen. The [environmental assessment] panel dismissed as insignificant the greenhouse gas emissions without any rationale as to why the intensity-based mitigation would be effective to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions, equivalent to 800,000 passenger vehicles, to a level of insignificance."
Counsel representing the environmentalist groups who opposed Imperial were more than pleased with the result:
It sends a clear message that environmental assessments must be open, honest and transparent, said Sean Nixon, a lawyer for Ecojustice, formerly called the Sierra Legal Defence Fund.
Ecojustice represented the Pembina Institute, the Sierra Club of Canada, the Prairie Acid Rain Coalition and the Toxics Watch Society of Alberta.
"It will be interesting to see if the panel can explain in a rational way how intensity-based measures can lessen the impact of greenhouse gas emissions," Nixon said.
A Federal Court justice has put Imperial Oil's Kearl tar sands project on hold, ordering the company to explain how it concluded that intensity-based targets will reduce the potentially damaging effects of the project's greenhouse gas emissions to a level of insignificance.
Justice Daniele Tremblay-Lamer obviously wasn't impressed with Esso's hogwash. From The Edmonton Journal:
"The evidence shows that intensity-based targets place limits on the amount of greenhouse gas emissions per barrel of bitumen produced. The absolute amount of greenhouse gas pollution from oil sands development will continue to rise under intensity-based targets because of the planned increase in total production of bitumen. The [environmental assessment] panel dismissed as insignificant the greenhouse gas emissions without any rationale as to why the intensity-based mitigation would be effective to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions, equivalent to 800,000 passenger vehicles, to a level of insignificance."
Counsel representing the environmentalist groups who opposed Imperial were more than pleased with the result:
It sends a clear message that environmental assessments must be open, honest and transparent, said Sean Nixon, a lawyer for Ecojustice, formerly called the Sierra Legal Defence Fund.
Ecojustice represented the Pembina Institute, the Sierra Club of Canada, the Prairie Acid Rain Coalition and the Toxics Watch Society of Alberta.
"It will be interesting to see if the panel can explain in a rational way how intensity-based measures can lessen the impact of greenhouse gas emissions," Nixon said.
Esso in Canada is Exxon-Mobile isn't it? Hmmmmm!! I wonder what Tim Mellon thinks of Canada now. Cheers
ReplyDeleteYou got it, one and the same, the scourge of Prince William Sound, the outfit that still owes many billions in damages to the people of Alaska. A very responsible outfit.
ReplyDeleteI met the man on several ocassions. He is a great friend of my sister and her husband.... why I'll never know but they have the bucks to match his. I just didn't like the man at all. Especially with rotting box cars with chemicals stored in them on railways lines in Pittsburge and he wouldn't do any clean-up. His wife was doing some volunteer work at a day care located near the site. Some children got out and one died due to getting into the chemicals. His wife at the time, decided to find out who owned it and discovered it was her husband. She left him taking Shell with her because he wouldn't do anything about it. That's the kind of person who continues to be obscenely wealthy and doesn't give a hoot for the environment. Cheers
ReplyDeleteAnon, I take it your observations are about Sean Nixon, the only guy mentioned in the post.
ReplyDeleteInteresting observations.
Not to disillusion anyone but you're apt to find this sort of thing among the ranks of lawyers. But, who knows, maybe working for the cause is his way of atoning for what he may have done in the past? It sounds like he did a fine job in any case.
The owner of Exxon-Mobile and Esso in Canada is none other than Tim Mellon... Cheers
ReplyDelete