Premier Ed Stelmach delivered his last throne speech on February 22, saying the province will increasingly focus on tapping growing economies in Asia.
The premier proposed the creation of the Asia Advisory Council Act, which will guide “how to best tap into the tremendous opportunities available throughout the region.”
One of those “opportunities” includes shipping more of the province’s oilsands to energy-hungry Asian markets, which account for almost $7 billion of Alberta’s total exports.
Doing so would require more pipelines, such as Enbridge’s proposed 1,170-kilometre Northern Gateway Pipeline Project, to carry oilsands to B.C.’s West Coast.
However, more than 60 of B.C.’s First Nations strongly opposed Enbridge’s pipeline, fearing a spill would devastate local wildlife and fisheries.
In July 2010, an Enbridge pipeline spilled more than 20,000 barrels of diluted oilsands bitumen into Michigan’s Kalamazoo River. The company had been warned in January 2010 the pipeline no longer met U.S. federal standards.
Last week, the Natural Resources Defense Council released a scathing report suggesting diluted bitumen is more corrosive than conventional oil and could lead to more leaks.
“The question isn’t really ‘if’ we’re going to have an environmental catastrophe if this pipeline is built, but 'when,’” says Mike Hudema, climate and energy campaigner for Greenpeace’s Alberta chapter.
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