A proposed pipeline linking the oilsands to the B.C. coast would have severe negative consequences on Alberta’ ecosystem, warns Calgary-based Pembina Institute.
The environmental think tank says Enbridge’s 1,200-km, Gateway pipeline could transport an additional 525,000 barrels of oil per day — a 30 per cent increase in production, which would boost Alberta’s annual greenhouse gas emissions by 6.5 million tonnes. This number flies in the face of the province’s goal to cut five million tonnes of emissions using carbon capture and storage technologies, says Pembina, which is calling for an approval freeze of new oilsands projects until systems are in place to address the environmental impacts.
“It’s amazing that very significant projects like this proposed Enbridge pipeline are proceeding in a piecemeal fashion,” says Simon Dyer, Pembina’s oilsands program director. “Despite the negative attention the oilsands are receiving in the media there is still virtually no substantive policy debate on oilsands development.”
Pembina estimates 74 billion cubic feet of natural gas — more than one-third of B.C.’s annual consumption of natural gas — would be burned to accommodate the oil production increase.
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