The B.C. government will redefine natural gas as a clean energy source – but only if it's used to generate power for liquefied natural gas in northern B.C, says Premier Christy Clark.
"I think there is a really strong recognition among the established environmental groups that because it's offsetting really dirty power elsewhere there's a really positive net impact," said Clark.

Clark made the announcement at a conference of energy sector companies on Thursday.
The plants, planned for Kitimat, B.C., as early as 2017, will use tremendous amount of electricity, more than what is currently produced by BC Hydro.

The B.C. Chamber of Commerce says the move will be a boost to the energy industry and means BC Hydro, public producers or even the liquiefied natural gas plants themselves could generate power to fuel LNG operations.

Province backing off greenhouse gas goals, say critics

But critics are disappointed by the move because they say the government is moving away from its goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
"It's clearly going to increase global warming pollution in British Columbia, which will take us further away from our laws that really did show lot of leadership when it comes to the issue of climate change," said Ian Bruce, the David Suzuki Foundation's clean energy and climate change specialist.

Professor Marc Jaccard of Simon Fraser University agrees, saying simply calling a fossil fuel "clean" doesn't make it so.

"I believe this shift, this new policy direction is a complete betrayal of the families Christy Clark says she cares about."

In 2010 the province's new Clean Energy Act outlined 16 objectives, including a plan to "to generate at least 93 per cent of the electricity in British Columbia from clean or renewable resources and to build the infrastructure necessary to transmit that electricity."

It went on to say that " 'clean or renewable resource' means biomass, biogas, geothermal heat, hydro, solar, ocean, wind or any other prescribed resource."

Natural gas was not included as a clean energy source.

With files from the CBC's Jeff Davies

 Source:
 http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2012/06/22/bc-lng-clean-natural-gas.html?cmp=rss



Comment:

 Along with the new LNG terminal in Kitimat will come the already-approved 463km Pacific Trails LNG pipeline, bringing pressurized natural gas from the Northeastern part of the province. A lot of that gas will be extracted using the now-controversial fracking method:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2011/11/09/bc-fracking-greenhouse-gas-policy-alternatives.html

But if Clark says it's "clean", then it must be OK to go ahead and build the infrastructure to increase the LNG exports to Asian markets in the coming years. But just remember Premier Clark, this will ramp up the pressure to allow the NG pipeline to be built, will would run almost through the same swath of wilderness that the LNG pipeline will be running.
You can't allow one type of fossil fuel to be transported to Kitimat, and then block all other fossil fuels from the same transport without feeling the "heat".



Beautiful B.C.


 Bighorn Ram

Bighorn Ram

May 15, 2012  |  Location: Radium Hot Springs  |  Submitted by Oldboy1945

Bighorn Ram grazing near Radium Hot Springs. Radium is their winter feeding grounds and is located at the west entrance to Kootenay National Park.
Tags: Bighorn, Ram, Sheep, feeding, animal, Radium