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This week Harper's Natural Resources Minister, Joe Oliver announced that new legislation to splinter the current environmental review process will be tabled very soon. Maybe it will be just in time for Earth Day!
Ottawa (19 A
pril 2012) – The Harper government appears to be set on pushing through oil and gas projects regardless of how Canadian's feel about the risks.
This week Harper's Natural Resources Minister, Joe Oliver announced that new legislation to splinter the current environmental review process will be tabled very soon. Among the changes, federal reviews will only be held for what Oliver states are “major projects” and of “national significance”.
Where as many as 40 federal departments could have been engaged in environmental reviews - now only three will take part: the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission and the National Energy Board.
For all other projects, the provinces will be responsible for environmental assessments.
Keith Stewart, Climate and Energy Campaigner for Greenpeace noted in his blog, “Cabinet will now be able to overrule a negative decision from the National Energy Board from a hearing like the one happening right now on Enbridge’s tar sands pipeline through BC.”
Strict time limits have been put on both provincial and federal reviews of 12 months and 24 months respectively. This will curtail important research and data collection, and public engagement. In fact, the federal process will even limit who can intervene at environmental assessment hearings.
It would seem that we will spend this year's Earth Day wondering what earth we may have left once the estimated 500 major energy and mining projects that Oliver said are waiting in the wings are fast tracked.
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