Canada Seeks Alternatives to Transport Oil Reserves

By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL June 13, 2012

LONDON, Ontario — As the United States continues to play political Ping-Pong with the fate of the Keystone XL pipeline, Canadian officials and companies are desperately seeking alternatives to get the country’s nearly 200 billion barrels in oil reserves — almost equal to that of Saudi Arabia — to market from landlocked Alberta.

Oil companies complain that they are losing revenues from pipeline bottlenecks. So Canada is plunging ahead with plans to build more pipelines of its own.

To hasten development of new export routes, the Conservative government is streamlining permit processes by accelerating scheduled hearings and limiting public comment. The government has also threatened to revoke the charitable status of environmental groups that are challenging the projects. And Public Safety Canada, the equivalent of the United States Department of Homeland Security, has classified environmentalists as a potential source of domestic terrorism, adding them to a list that includes white supremacists.

After President Obama refused to grant a permit for Keystone XL in January, Stephen Harper, Canada’s prime minister, indicated that he would never again be “held hostage” to United States politics, saying that some Americans saw his country as “one giant national park.” He said Canada would redirect oil that had been destined for Gulf Coast refineries to other countries, particularly China.

To read the entire article go to: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/14/science/earth/canada-seeks-new-ways-to-get-oil-reserves-to-market.html?_r=1&ref=energy-environment

Energy lobby ‘pulling con job’ on shale gas fracking, Tom Mulcair says

Federal NDP Leader Tom Mulcair is accusing a national energy lobby group of "pulling a con job" when promoting shale gas fracking.

By The Canadian PressJune 11, 2012

ROTHESAY, N.B. - Federal NDP Leader Tom Mulcair is accusing a national energy lobby group of "pulling a con job" when promoting shale gas fracking.

Mulcair was in New Brunswick to boost the campaign of provincial NDP Leader Dominic Cardy in a byelection in the Saint John-area riding of Rothesay.

During his visit, Mulcair said the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers is deceiving the public when it says there are regulations to ensure that shale gas fracking is safe.

"I met with the leadership of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers who gave me a lovely brochure, colour, glossy, explaining that they had a policy that all companies doing fracking had to reveal the contents of the fracking fluid," Mulcair said Sunday.

"I said, 'But the companies aren't doing that.' You know what they said? 'Well, we can't force them, they're just our members.'

To read the entire article go to: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/energy%20resources/Thomas+Mulcair+accuses+energy+lobby+pulling/6763855/story.html

Cuomo Plan Would Limit Gas Drilling to a Few Counties in New York

By DANNY HAKIM June 13, 2012

ALBANY — Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s administration is pursuing a plan to limit the controversial drilling method known as hydraulic fracturing to portions of several struggling New York counties along the border with Pennsylvania, and to permit it only in communities that express support for the technology.

The plan, described by a senior official at the State Department of Environmental Conservation and others with knowledge of the administration’s strategy, would limit drilling to the deepest areas of the Marcellus Shale rock formation, at least for the next several years, in an effort to reduce the risk of groundwater contamination.

Even within that southwest New York region — primarily Broome, Chemung, Chenango, Steuben and Tioga Counties — drilling would be permitted only in towns that agree to it, and would be banned in Catskill Park, aquifers and nationally designated historic districts.

The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because the deliberations in the administration are still continuing.

To read the entire article go to: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/14/nyregion/hydrofracking-under-cuomo-plan-would-be-restricted-to-a-few-counties.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion

Los Angeles City Council members push fracking ban

June 13, 2012 |  6:19 pm

The fight over fracking has come to Los Angeles.

On Wednesday, three members of the Los Angeles City Council introduced a resolution that urges Gov. Jerry Brown and California regulators to impose a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing until the state determines that the controversial oil extraction procedure is "safe for public health, for the Los Angeles water supply and for the environment."

The measure, authored by councilmen Paul Koretz, Herb Wesson and Bernard C. Parks, comes as state regulators begin to draft rules for the process, which involves injecting chemical-laced water and sand deep into the ground to tap oil.

Environmentalists and community activists have raised concerns about potential environmental and public health hazards, including contaminated drinking water. The oil industry counters that firms have used fracking for decades without incident throughout California, including the Baldwin Hills area of Los Angeles, which is home to the largest urban oil field in the country.

To read the entire article go to: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/california-politics/2012/06/los-angeles-city-council-members-push-california-fracking-ban.html