Category: Pipelines

Oil tankers in Burrard Inlet

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Proponents of the Transmountain Pipeline Expansion (TMX) promise about 34 Aframax tankers will depart each month from the Westridge Marine Terminal on the Burnaby section of Burrard Inlet. After TMX comes on stream, the number of Aframax or Panamax oil tankers visiting Vancouver will rise from about 32 to an estimated 380 Panamax and Aframax tankers or just over one per day. But, can we trust anything Trans Mountain tells us?

Questions

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Does Justin Trudeau identify with the thousands of people who demonstrated in opposition to Kinder Morgan’s pipeline expansion or the handful of people who showed up to an industry sponsored counter protest?

Would 7¢ fines deter improper acts by citizens?

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A fine of $100,000 to Enbridge is equivalent to a fine of 7¢ to a Canadian earning median income. Looking at net assets, a fine of $100,000 to Enbridge is equivalent to a fine of 45¢ to a person at the Canadian median. Finland is a nation that believes in both progressive taxation and progressive punishment. A millionaire businessman was fined €54,000 ($73,000 CAN) for speeding. It is part of a tradition of “progressive punishment” that considers ability to pay.

Truthiness – UPDATED

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The bright minds at Kinder Morgan have re-refined advertising in their effort to build support for the inner harbour of Vancouver becoming a site for major bitumen exports. Now the tag line used is: “Committed to safety since 1953.” Of course, this remains fundamentally false since the Trans Mountain pipeline, built in the mid 20th century, was not acquired by Kinder Morgan until 2005. Previous pipeline operators may have been committed to safety but those people are long gone. Today, Kinder Morgan chooses not to stand on its own record across North America; they prefer to appropriate the reputation of Trans Mountain’s departed owners…