B.C.’s powers to protect key wildlife areas have been chiselled away by a government directive intended to placate private power companies, according to two environmental groups.
“What you see is the ministry of environment no longer having the ability to uphold protection of endangered species if it stands in the way of independent power,” said Jessica Clogg, senior counsel for West Coast Environmental Law.
The document in question is a confidential ‘decision note’ signed by environment deputy minister Doug Konkin on March 18, 2009. It appears to remove the authority of the Ministry of Environment to block industrial developments – such as independent power projects (IPPs) – that could impact protected wildlife areas.
The current government has touted IPPs, such as run-of-river hydro projects, as a green source of energy. But many groups fear the private developments destroy river ecologies and encroach on wilderness areas with roads and power lines.
Any IPP capable of generating more than 50 megawatts must be approved by the BC Environmental Assessment Office. Sometimes the projects get approval even though they could impact protected wildlife areas that are home to endangered species.
In those cases, the private company applies to the Ministry of Environment for an exemption to the rules. Previously, it was up to a regional manager to decide whether a project got the go-ahead.
But the March 18 decision note – made public by the Wilderness Committee – suggests the provincial government wants to change the process.
“Government does not want to create a situation where an exemption is withheld after [an environmental assessment] Certificate has been issued,” the decision note reads.
The document recommends that regional managers no longer be given the authority to say ‘no’ to a request for an exemption.
“If a Regional Manager does not wish to issue the exemption it would elevate to the Minister,” it reads. The document argues this option is “likely to be perceived well” by the proponents of industrial developments.
“Behind the scenes, we can see in the language of this thing how the Ministry of Environment seems to be mostly concerned with keeping the private power guys happy,” the Wilderness Committee’s Joe Foy said.
Though Foy was concerned about the document’s implications, he wasn’t sure if its recommendations had actually been implemented. Environment ministry spokesperson Kate Thompson refused to comment on confidential documents.
“All we can deal with as bureaucrats is what’s published and publicly available,” she said. Environment minister Barry Penner did not respond to The Tyee’s phone calls Thursday .
Geoff Dembicki reports for The Tyee.
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gamedev
3 years ago
David Suzuki? Tzeporah Berman?
These pseudo environmentalists that are supporting the BC Liberals are losing more and more support each time a document like this, a news article like the CBC one on the run of the rivers, and countless others appear. They sit quietly, thinking of future benefits they may get if the BC Liberals are re-elected.
How dare they subvert the good will toward real environmentalists, garnered over decades of hard work, to try to help the BC Liberals sell our province and destroy our environment! They should be ashamed of themselves.
What would it take to get you two off your collective asses? Would a half dozen new coal fired generating plants do it? No? Yeah, thats what I thought. You're "busy" that day...
seth
3 years ago
Pirate Power Ripoffs
The NDP has no better issue than IPP's to show that Gordon Campbell may actually have the record for the worst financial manager in Canadian history beating even Joey Smallwood for stupidity by throwing away as much as 50 billion dollars in taxpayers money. That’s four convention centre cost overruns every year for forty years.
Why is it that the NDP and media pundits are not shouting these numbers from the rooftops, in political speeches, in newspaper, radio and TV ads? Instead NDP silence on these issues confirms in people’s minds the BCLiberal’s financial expertise myth when the truth is these rubes couldn't run a lemonade stand.
Check this out for details.
http://publicpowerissues.blogspot.com/
Plutonic’s $4 billion Bute inlet project which produces 3000 Gwh annually at an average annual cost of to ratepayers of 400 million dollars. Running that $4 billion at BC Governments 4% 30 year bond issue rate comes out to 200 million a year - half the cost.
Campbell’s innovative Buy High Sell Low power policies buying power at 12 cents a kwh and selling it at 2 cents will force our power rates to almost triple over the next three years to cover BCHydro's up to 50 billion in IPP losses. And Gordo promises to keep buying. Will that be 50 billion be 100 billion by the next election?
BCHydro sells its own surplus power during the spring freshette and buys during in the off peak markets at low rates. Now it has to dump up to15000gwh of IPP power that it buys at as much as 12 cents and must sell at 2 cents or less for an estimated loss of $1400 million every year.
During the forty year IPP contract timeframe keeping spot prices low, we have solar PV power in the California desert at 1.7 cent a kwh dropping to .8 within a few years, nuclear power at 2 cents dropping to one cent in five to ten year time , and to a tiny fraction of a cent when nuclear fusion might just rear its ugly head in the ten to fifteen year time frame.
Today the spot market reflects fuel saving energy producers can realize by buying off the sport market and slowing or shutting down there coal and gas generators. With a nuclear/wind/solar environment in the US there are no fuel savings so producers will be a lot less likely to buy off the spot market. Prices will drop to peter to almost nothing over the near/long term making it likely BCHydro will be able to use any of its IPP power in the five to ten year time frame of its 40 year contracts.
So in the last days "Get on it" Start shouting these numbers from the rooftops, in political speeches, in newspaper, radio and TV ads.
Hugh
3 years ago
From their 2008 Annual
From their 2008 Annual Report, BC Hydro said it was a net seller of 1,161 GWh of electricity in fiscal 2008. P. 17.
http://www.bchydro.com/etc/medialib/internet/documents/info/pdf/info_annual_report_2008.Par.0001.File.info_annual_report_2008.pdf
Private IPP power is unnecessary, expensive, and environmentally destructive. Hydro is adding power to its own existing generators.
SharingIsGood
3 years ago
NAFTA the other issue
The other main issue with the Run of Rivers is NAFTA:
Read the entire article to see how Campbell has made sure your great grandchildren will be paying money to wealthy Americans for power generated in BC rivers:
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/bcvotes2009/realitycheck/2009/04/is_run_of_the_river_running_aw_1.html
G West
3 years ago
Hugh
You're absolutely correct...and, if you add the power sales of Alcan, Teck Cominco and Fortis to the mix BC is ALWAYS a net exporter.
The light my pants on fire manufactured crisis over electricity shortage was never anything more than a typical Campbell con job to do a reach-around to some more of his corporate buddies.
G West
3 years ago
The decision note
and its implications are clear...the government is taking more local (and or regional) authority from the professionals on the ground (who generally know best) and moving the decision making authority up the chain of command where environmental concerns may well be trumped by political and commercial interests.
And, it will be, as the note says 'perceived well' by the interests the Executive Council and the Premier want to impress.
Doug Konkin is a career civil servant and professional forester - I doubt he's the force behind this decision...for that, you have to look a little higher up the food chain…the fact this wasn’t done by either order in council or legislation is also interesting – and typical of the behavior of this government in the last two months….