It鈥檚 time for a wake up call when it comes to examining the extraction and export of shale gas 鈥撎齛lso known as fracked gas 鈥� from British Columbia, according to award-winning author and journalist Andrew Nikiforuk.
Nikiforuk is speaking next Thursday (Sept. 25) at Quest University at 7 p.m. on the current provincial, national and global state of shale gas development and its impacts on democracy, environmental justice and economic resiliency, as well as the implications of having a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Squamish.
The event is hosted by My Sea To Sky, a group created 鈥渋n response to growing concerns about the proposed Woodfibre LNG project,鈥� according to their website.
鈥淭here are a slew of issues British Columbians have not paid enough attention to concerning the rapid development of shale gas in their province,鈥� said the investigative reporter from his home in Calgary. 鈥淭his is a radically important issue for British Columbians 鈥撎齩ne they should be very familiar with.鈥�
Nikiforuk says we鈥檝e been down this road before. Both the forestry and mining industries are excellent examples where 鈥渘othing was saved and nothing was gained.
鈥淚t鈥檚 too rapid. There are scientific uncertainties 鈥撎齝limate issues and water issues and other unknowns. It鈥檚 high risk and the province of 小蓝视频 has no expertise in this,鈥� he said, explaining that more research needs to be done and information shared with residents of the province.
鈥淭he government of 小蓝视频 should build a small LNG terminal, get experience and then decide how it wants to proceed. They should first be concerned about guaranteeing the best outcomes for 小蓝视频 and British Columbians should be asking questions as to how they will do that.鈥�
鈥淭he idea they are operating on is that they have to capture high prices in the Asian market,鈥� he said, adding there is no guarantee what the market will offer by the time any of the 13 proposed 小蓝视频 LNG terminals are complete.
鈥淭his resource belongs to the people of 小蓝视频 but the people have not been given enough information. They鈥檝e been given no options 鈥� the government says they want to sell to Asia, but maybe that鈥檚 not the best way, maybe it鈥檚 too fast. There has been an absence of good public discussion, of good public reporting.鈥�
Nikiforuk is also skeptical about what he calls a 鈥淭hird World extraction program.鈥�
鈥淭his program is much like a third world model of development like the kind we are seeing in Papua New Guinea. It鈥檚 not what you would expect,鈥� he said, adding that Australia is a leading exporter of LNG with a great deal of infrastructure 鈥撎齛nd its own share of contention between government and residents.
Nikiforuk questions the business partnering between the provincial government and Petronas LNG, a state-owned company he says reports solely to the Malaysian prime minister. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 even report to a parliament.鈥�
鈥淧etronas is behind Woodfibre LNG. We need to ask about its transparency and its credibility.鈥�
Nikiforuk also calls into question the ethics and even the prudence surrounding the support 小蓝视频 Liberals have given to the industry.
鈥淭he 小蓝视频 government has an odd approach to shale gas development: incentives, low royalties to companies, free geological information and studies鈥� the state is actively subsidizing the development and the only [fiscal] plan is to tax the gas as it leaves the province 鈥� initially at one per cent. Maybe that could go up to seven per cent, but it could also go down.
鈥淎re British Columbians getting their fair share of this? I don鈥檛 think so.鈥�
The impact both globally and closer to home concerns Nikiforuk, whose latest book, The Energy of Slaves: Oil and the New Servitude, argues that the energy institution of slavery has shaped our careless use of fossil fuels. The radical treatise calls for a moral revolution in our attitudes towards energy consumption.
鈥淲e should act as owners,鈥� he said, giving a nod to an eco-mantra he shares on his website. 鈥淪ince 2008 I have advocated for a national debate about the pace and scale of tar sands development.
鈥淎nd since 2010 I have endorsed a conservative and Norwegian-like solution to Alberta鈥檚 chaotic bitumen development. It was first articulated by former [Alberta] premier Peter Lougheed and includes the following principles: Slow down, behave like an owner, collect our fair share, save for the rainy day, approve one project at a time, clean up the mess, add value to the resource. To Lougheed鈥檚 original list, I would add a national carbon tax.
鈥淥wners control pace and scale of development. Brute force mining extraction technologies are rapidly approaching a time where it will be more difficult to extract hydrocarbons. And all of this leaves a huge carbon footprint and a constellation of issues: It has catastrophic effects on global health including the acidification of our oceans.鈥�
Nikiforuk says a slowdown is in order, that investment in alternative energy resources should be a priority, and as consumers we need to change our energy consumption patterns and habits.
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鈥淲e are too fossil fuel dependent yet we live in a fossil fuel economy. It鈥檚 the energy monopoly of the government and we are locked in the moment of a dangerous situation.鈥�
Nikiforuk says we must change how we use fossil fuels top to bottom.
鈥淭he depletion rate of conventional fossil fuels is four per cent a year. We should put four per cent into energy programs and incentives. It takes an enormous amount of leadership 鈥� which we don鈥檛 have 鈥� to make a change like this. But in 30 years we could be much less fossil fuel dependent.
鈥淚t鈥檚 going to take radical changes in consumption.鈥�
