US Report Says as Much About Harper as Enbridge

The American Transportation Safety Board report that slammed Enbridge over the 2010 Kalamazoo River bitumen spill disaster in Michigan actually tells us as much about Harper and his EnviroShill Peter Kent as it does about Enbridge's miserable lack of fitness as a pipeline operator.

Kent has come to the defence of Enbridge and says the report will not change the Harper government's support for Enbridge and the Northern Pipeline.   Of course it won't.   Kent delivered his opinion while admitting he hasn't read the report.   Reports don't matter in Harperland.   They're just full of investigations and facts and findings which might be relevant to a reality-based world but, as we've seen repeatedly in the past, not to Harperland.

To Kent, the Michigan pipeline and the proposed Northern Gateway are apples and oranges.  "It is an older pipeline; it is a different set of geographic and technological realities from some of the new major projects being proposed."

Yes, Pete, it is different and, on balance, the differences are worse - far, far worse.   Michigan is relatively flat, open country.  It's fairly heavily populated with a dandy road system.   And it's seismically stable.   There's nothing flat about northern British Columbia.  It has a lot of mountainous territory.  It's sparsely populated and the road system is very limited.   And, unlike Michigan, northern B.C. is seismically active.   Even in the best of conditions pipelines can rupture and cause catastrophic spills.  Enbridge has a rich history to bear that out.   But the Northern Gateway is anything but the best of conditions.   Seismic events, particularly quakes and slides, can rip out entire tracts of pipeline in locations where it will be difficult to detect much less get emergency crews on site, especially in winter.

Peter Kent is an abomination, a disgrace to the country he has sworn to serve.   Then again, it's not Canada he serves.  No, Peter Kent serves one master, the Prince of Darkness himself.