Plan for the Northern Gateway Pipeline
Photo Source: Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline. <http://www.northerngateway.ca/ >
In Sabryna Ko’s UBC blog she writes about how Premier Christy Clark wants a fair share of the revenues from Enbridge’s proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline. This pipeline, which would run from Alberta to the west coast of B.C., has been the center for much controversy. Sabryna explains in her blog that the project would “help the Canadian economy” yet “also poses a threat to (British Columbia’s) environment”.
Personally, I am greatly opposed to the idea of a major twin pipeline running through the city. Enbridge has been responsible for 804 spills between 1999 and 2010, which released 168, 645 barrels of oil into the environment1. The landlocked area proposed for the pipeline means that a spill could not be readily flushed out and the shoreline would require manual clean up. The risk of damage to our ecosystems as well as the clean up costs greatly outweighs the potential economic benefits for the project.
The topic of the Northern Gateway Pipeline is constantly being debated. What would your perspective be? Is a boost in the economy worth the potential threat of an oil spill?
More information here.
1 “Enbridge”. Wikipedia.com. September 18, 2012. September 30, 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enbridge >