From our friends at NO ENERGY EAST MB
What you can do right now to help stop the Energy East pipeline.
TransCanada has submitted their application for Energy East to the National Energy Board (NEB). The clock is now ticking – once the NEB decides that the project application is complete, it has 15 months to make its final decision. We need to intervene now.
Full information and documentation for the Energy East Project can be found on the NEB website.
There are five things you can do right now (hyperlink to each):
(1) Sign these letters (below)
(2) Join our mailing list and Facebook page
(3) Join 350.org Energy East Action Network
(4) Apply to be an intervenor in the National Energy Board review process (See below)
(5) Get your business, organization, religious community, or professional association to sign on to our open Letter (below)
What is wrong with the NEB process?
The NEB hearing process is rigged. Even the former chair of Manitoba Hydro thinks so.
The NEB is leaving impacts of the tar sands on climate change out of the review process. The scope of the Board’s assessment will be limited to Physical Facilities Matters – Part III of the NEB Act and Commercial and Financial Matters – Part IV and V of the NEB Act.
On its website the NEB states that “The Board does not have regulatory authority over upstream or downstream activities associated with the development of oilsands, or the end use of the oil to be transported by the Project. Therefore, the Board will not consider these issues.”
Without assessing the pipeline project in the context of wider tar sands development we cannot actually understand the effects of this project on our atmosphere. We need to demand the NEB assess the cumulative effects of fossil fuel developments, not just the greenhouse emissions from construction and operation phases of the project.
It is also likely that many of the people affected by this pipeline will be shut out of participation in the NEB hearing. The Board will only hear from the people “who stand to be directly impacted” by the project, or from those who have “information and expertise” that could help the panel gain a greater understanding of the project.
We know that everyone is directly impacted by this project, because everyone is directly impacted by climate change and by the many other impacts on our waterways. Still, it is widely believed that the Board will take a very narrow definition of “directly impacted” to reject hundreds if not thousands of applications by individuals and groups to participate in the hearings.
We need to apply to participate in this process to put political pressure on the government and on the NEB to recognize that we are all affected by this project. We need to demand the NEB consider the climatic effects of the development of the tar sands. If the NEB does not allow us to talk about the tar sands we will join 350.org in a campaign to oppose the NEB.
How can I participate in the NEB process?
Step One
To participate in the NEB process is to fill out this subscription form to receive news and up-dates related to the hearing process.
Step Two
You must also participate in an NEB information session.
These “NEB 101” sessions are between 30 and 40 minutes and are followed by a question period. The sessions will give you a general background to the NEB and the hearing process and will include information specific to the Energy East project.
The sessions are offered on line, or you can participate by phone and follow along with an English or French pdf of the presentation that can be found on the NEB website. You can call 1-877-413-4781, and use the access code 7592393.
By signing up for up-dates from the NEB you will have immediate access to news and developments regarding TransCanada’s application.
You can familiarize yourself with the hearing process by reviewing the NEB Hearing Process Handbook.
Where do I find the letters to sign?
There are many letters you can sign to the NEB.
350.org, the Council of Canadians, and Lead Now are all asking people to sign letters in support of a better NEB process. 350.org is encouraging people to join them, and they have a letter campaign encouraging NEB Chair Paul Watson to include climate impacts in the review. Send your letter here: Give Energy East a People’s Intervention.
The Council of Canadians has launched Our Risk: Their Reward, and has a similar letter campaign that you can find here: We need a fair pipeline review. Lead Now’s No Legitimacy campaign is here.
No Energy East Manitoba Open Letter (directly below)
We will be launching an open letter from Manitobans to the National Energy Board on December 8th. Please sign on to this letter pushing NEB Chair Paul Watson to include upstream and downstream effects of the tar sands in the review.
If you have any questions or want more information please check out our website or email us at noenergyeastmb@gmail.com
______________________________________________________________________
To Peter Watson, Chair of the National Energy Board of Canada
Re: An Open Letter to the National Energy Board on TransCanada’s Energy East Pipeline
Dear Mr. Watson,
We, the under signed, are writing to urge the National Energy Board to amend its review of TransCanada’s proposed Energy East pipeline. We believe that the review process must consider the full scope of the proposed project’s environmental and human impacts, including upstream and downstream effects. Any regulatory review should include not only the impact of the pipeline itself, but also the cumulative impacts of producing, refining, and burning the oil that would flow through it, if the project were approved.
If the NEB continues to refuse to assess upstream and downstream impacts you are leaving essential questions unanswered:
- What are the global climate impacts of burning the oil this pipeline carries?
- Understanding that this project would enable tar sands expansion, what consequences would Energy East have on the world’s ability to keep global average temperatures below a 2 degree Celsius temperature rise?
- What would be the economic and health effects of increased tar sands production on communities, including First Nations communities, near the tar sands and along the pipeline?
- What are the projected economic costs of the national and global climate impacts associated with any project which increases tar sand production? Who would be most likely to bear these costs?
- What kinds of climate adaptation plans would be required based on the climate impacts of this proposed project? Who would develop them? Who would pay for them, and how?
Without a full and transparent accounting of the global climate impacts and associated economic and health costs of this project, we cannot in good conscience consider the National Energy Board to be acting in the best interest of Canadian families. Without including these critical questions, how can we believe the NEB to be undertaking a legitimate review of the proposal?
It is in your power to add these areas of concern to the “list of issues” for consideration. If it is currently outside the scope of the regulatory powers of the NEB to address these questions, we urge you to exercise exemplary moral leadership and refuse to review this pipeline and petition parliament to grant you the legal authority to do so.
For a resilient and stable future,
No Energy East Manitoba – Energy Justice Coalition
Idle No More Winnipeg
The University of Winnipeg Students Association
350.org
The Council of Canadians – Winnipeg Chapter
Winnipeg Indigenous Peoples Solidarity Movement
Boreal Action