Pipeline Split Between BC and Alberta - Why Surrey Wants The Kinder Morgan Pipeline To Succeed
As a British Columbian, If I were to take an informal poll on The Kinder Morgan Pipeline expansion, I think these results would be pretty accurate:
30 percent want it.
30 percent don’t care or are undecided.
30 percent don’t want it.
One exception to this poll, is that In general, the City of Surrey wants it.
The Surrey board of Trade has come out in favor of it. Here’s the link:
https://businessinsurrey.com/2018/02/surrey-board-of-trade-says-pipeline-politics-needs-to-stop/
Why?
Surrey has the most to benefit from the pipeline and the least to lose. It is the fastest growing city in BC with 1,000 new residents arriving each month.
Surrey people don’t enjoy a view of Burrard Inlet from their home. They couldn’t see an oil spill with a telescope from there.
Surrey people have to drive for 40 minutes to get to the seawall in Stanley Park.
But first, they need to fill up on gas to drive 40 minutes to the sea wall. After leaving their house that is heated by gas. Almost every adult in Surrey needs a car because the transit in the city has not kept pace with the exploding population and is inadequate.
The youth in Surrey and their parents do a lot of driving. The pipeline supplies Canadian gas. They rely on gas for their transportation.
Premier Horgan removed the bridge tolls on the Port Mann Bridge, which enables Surrey residents to get in and out of Vancouver cheaply. The young population in Surrey makes up a large portion of the labour force for Vancouver.
Surrey has the largest youth population in the country. Those youth need the 15,000 jobs that the pipeline will provide. This provides an income for Surrey youth, some of which are involved with gangs and crime and drugs.
SURREY’S THE DIRTY ONE THAT WANTS TO MAKE THE PIPELINE HAPPEN.
Surrey is largely a blue collar city and is on pace to become the largest city in BC in the coming decades.
The youth of Surrey often still live with their parents (because they can’t afford to buy a single family house even in Surrey, where a townhome is $500,000.00). That’s why they want the 15,000 jobs from the twinning of the pipeline.
If the Greens and NDP approved the twinning of the pipeline and concentrated all their efforts on preventing an oil spill, everybody wins. British Columbia has increased trade in Canadian oil, Alberta’s economy is revived, Surrey’s youth are employed, and Vancouver gets the tourism spinoff business and the politicians are stewards of the environment.
What's the official/public response been from indigenous organizations and representatives of First Nations in the vicinity?
Is cheap fuel for a growing population a sound counter argument to the arguments against the development and implementation of the pipeline? Especially when it is contested, not on monetary/fiscal grounds, but rather on moral responsibility, environmental stewardship, and forward looking strategy?
Note: I'm not accusing you personally of supporting the pipeline. Instead, I'm hoping to continue the conversation you've started.
Good points here! The Govt of Canada has approved adding the 2nd pipeline, noting that some indigenous peoples are in support and some are opposed.
Is this for black tar sands oil?
Yes, but they are capped to limit carbon foot print at 100 megatonnes, making Alberta the only energy jurisdiction in the world to voluntarily limit emissions. I don't think the Keystone is capped like this
I don't think it is either. One of the big issues about Keystone are the spills that have already happened. Also, the native peoples.
I have no idea but I do see about the emissions cap thing.
Yes, they have agreements with some of the native peoples in place, but others are opposed. We don't have the infrastructure for electric cars or solar heat in place, and a growing population. There are a few random charging stations.
Yeah that's sad.
It's a vast topic and thank you for bringing up something so intricate and difficult. My son lives in a very depressed area and honestly the people up there seem doomed since the mills closed long ago, there is just nothing to live for and they have no direction. I have been hearing about this Canadian issue recently mostly about how bad that kind of oil is and how bad the production is for the environment and was presented with a petition to sign but I didn't because I don't have all the facts.
It's complicated. A lot of the kids from here go to Alberta to work in the oil sands or oil fields because there is not enough work here and we have some of the most expensive housing and rents in the world.