Canada’s energy policy – a double standard

Canadians political leaders, including Greg Thompson, member of Parliament from New Brunswick, and New Brunswick Premier Shawn Graham, are pushing for the province and Saint John to become an “energy hub.” This includes a liquefied natural gas facility, new oil refinery, a second nuclear power reactor, new coal-fired power plants and a high-voltage power transmission line to the United States.

All these projects are highly dependent upon exports to the United States, as is much of the economy of New Brunswick.

The state of Maine has been a very good economic and energy partner for the province and Canada. For more than 50 years, almost daily crude oil tankers have transited through the waters of Casco Bay each year to offload in Portland Harbor at a pipeline that sends all of its oil to refineries in Quebec.

This energy partnership also was certainly evident during the recent visit of Gov. Baldacci to New Brunswick where he expressed support for Premier Graham’s energy exports.

Given all this, the current attempts of both the provincial and federal governments to block an open and transparent review of our proposed LNG project in Maine is incredibly disingenuous.

Canadian politicians say Head Harbor Passage is unsafe and that LNG ships will somehow destroy tourism and fisheries, yet large ships headed to the New Brunswick port of Bayside transit these very same waters every week carrying dangerous cargoes such as ammonium nitrate, and no one in Canada complains.

Ironically, the Canadian government doesn’t require pilots on ships going through Head Harbor Passage, which they say is dangerous to navigate, yet they do require pilots on ships headed to Saint John, the location of the Irving LNG terminal, which they say is a much safer route. Go figure.

And while they are trying to block Maine projects, they easily approve LNG terminals on their own side of Passamaquoddy Bay. The provincial environmental review process for the Irving LNG facility drew a surprisingly simple conclusion regarding its impact: “the project will not result in likely significant adverse environmental effects.” That’s it.

So much for a rigorous environmental review process – should one assume the same level of review for the proposed new oil refinery, a project that could double the volume of crude oil tankers plying the Bay of Fundy?

And here is something else to think about. The Atlantic Institute for Market Studies, based in Halifax, last year completed a study, Casting a Cold Eye on LNG: The Real Possibilities and Pitfalls for Atlantic Canada (January 2006), that reached some stark conclusions.

It stated “without access to U.S. markets, none of the LNG projects proposed for Atlantic Canada would be feasible.” More to the point, “the presence of any LNG terminal in the U.S. side of the border seriously threatens the commercial viability of the Canadian terminal projects.”

What should we draw from these conclusions? It’s pretty simple: the Canadian objections to LNG in Washington County don’t really have much to do with navigation or the environment or safety. Their objections come down to two issues: NIMBY and protecting Canadian energy projects.

The Downeast LNG project will provide a much-needed source of clean-burning natural gas to Maine and the Northeast, at rates much cheaper the gas coming from New Brunswick. It is a safe and environmentally sound project that will create good paying jobs and provide sustainable economic development in Washington County. But it is a threat to Canadian business interests, so their government lines up to block it.

The Canadians have drawn a line in the sand, and it is time for Maine’s leaders to step across it. Left unchallenged, the Canadians will continue to create a one-way road south, complete with one set of rules for Canadian interests and another set for Maine companies.

If Maine and New Brunswick are going to continue to be genuine energy partners, it’s high time for Canada to demonstrate that they are in fact worthy of the relationship.

Dean Girdis is the president and founder of Downeast LNG in Robbinston.