We have been keeping a close eye on the National Energy Board (NEB) review process for Kinder Morgan’s proposed Trans Mountain pipeline. As a registered intervenor in this process, the Wilderness Committee is proud to speak at the hearings on behalf of our members and supporters – many of whom were denied the right to participate. Many others were denied their preferred method of participation.

In May 2014, the City of Vancouver made a very important official submission to the NEB, pointing out an obvious flaw in the whole process. The NEB has been very clear all along about its intentions: anyone wishing to raise concerns about the enormous human and financial costs of climate change better think again.

The List of Issues the NEB is willing to address has been interpreted in their view to exclude the most pressing issue of our lifetime. Given the fact that the Trans Mountain pipeline will add over 100 million tonnes of climate-changing carbon emissions to the atmosphere every year, excluding climate change is ludicrous.

Luckily for you and me, the City of Vancouver sees it that way too! That’s why it demanded that the NEB widen its interpretation of the List of Issues to include a rational conversation about the climate risk the pipeline represents. In support of the City’s efforts, we decided to submit our own letter demanding that climate change be allowed into the conversation. We now await a response from the NEB – we’re not going to accept the exclusion of climate from these pipeline hearings without a fight!

We’ll keep you posted as this story unfolds over the summer, and will continue the good fight to keep the Salish Sea from becoming a carbon corridor. Stay tuned for more updates!

Click here to view the City of Vancouver's official letter to the NEB.

Click here to view the Wilderness Committee's official letter to the NEB.