1754 replies to this topic

[Victoria Watcher]

Washington state building code officials voted Wednesday to delay the first statewide mandate for electric heat pumps in new buildings, dealing a blow to a landmark restriction on natural gas.

The decision comes after a federal court overturned the nation’s first gas ban for new buildings, which was passed in 2019 in Berkeley, Calif. That court — the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals — also handles appeals from Washington.

The Washington State Building Code Council voted 8-2 to delay the mandate for 120 days. It also approved a second motion to begin the process of revising the building codes to reduce the risk of them being overturned.

https://www.eenews.n...ndmark-gas-ban/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 25 May 2023 - 09:06 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Norway’s government said on Wednesday it has given approval for oil companies to develop 19 oil and gas fields with investments exceeding 200 billion Norwegian crowns ($18.51-billion), part of the country’s strategy to extend production for decades to come.

 

Norway’s parliament in 2020 introduced temporary tax incentives to encourage petroleum investment at a time of low activity, triggering a rush of applications from energy companies.

 

 

https://www.theglobe...ion-in-oil-gas/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 29 June 2023 - 05:17 AM.

[Mike K.]

A carbon offset company has been charged by Alberta for allegedly not providing the services it was selling.

Alberta's Ministry of Environment and Protected Areas filed 25 charges against Amberg Corp., an environmental services company, and Olga Kiiker for not following environmental legislation, according to a June 23 statement.

The charges, filed at the Alberta Court of Justice in Calgary, include providing false information, providing functions of a third-party assurance provider without the required qualifications and breaching other rules related to auditing and verifying carbon offsets, according to court records.

- https://www.cbc.ca/n...-firm-1.6903889

[Mike K.]

Not much of a surprise, but Alberta’s premier is not having the fed’s new oil and gas targets.

From Danielle Smith via Twitter (which after vowing not to use a few months ago, BC journalists are now posting up a storm on Twitter, not liking Meta):

I was disappointed to read comments federal Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault made to a reporter about his intention to see the federal government impose a net-zero electricity mandate on all provinces for 2035 and that he continued to reference Ottawa’s planned de facto oil and gas production cut.
 
Not only are the contemplated federal targets unconstitutional, they create investor uncertainty and are extremely harmful to the Alberta and Canadian economies.
 
I was also alarmed to read the minister’s belief that oil and gas production is likely to be reduced by 75 per cent by 2050.
 
This belief does not align with any credible forecast of future world energy consumption, which continue to see oil and gas dominating the energy supply mix for decades to come.
 
Instead of seeking ways to sow investor uncertainty and reduce support for Canadian energy globally, the federal government should focus on partnering with Alberta and investing in our national energy sector to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 while simultaneously increasing energy production, jobs and economic growth for Canadians.
 
Further, if the minister is truly committed to reducing emissions around the world, he should busy himself with assisting Western Canada to replace emissions from coal, wood and dung in Asia and Africa with clean Canadian LNG. This would result in the lower worldwide emissions he claims to want. His referenced planned phaseout of Alberta’s oil and gas sector will only result in higher net worldwide emissions, along with serious poverty and energy insecurity in Canada and abroad.
 
Alberta will not recognize any federally imposed emission-reduction targets for our energy and electricity sectors under any circumstances unless such targets are first consented to by the Government of Alberta. Nor will Alberta recognize any right of the federal government to legislate or regulate in this exclusive area of provincial jurisdiction, or any area of shared constitutional jurisdiction, without the explicit approval of Alberta.
 
As we commence the federal-provincial working group on aligning Ottawa’s climate efforts with Alberta’s emissions reduction and energy development plan, I hope the Prime Minister will instruct his involved ministers to respect the rights and jurisdiction of all provinces on this and other related matters, and to do a more effective job of building investor confidence in Canada’s oil and gas sector as profitable, certain and the most environmentally responsible on Earth.
 
Because it is.

[Nparker]

Sometimes you just have to love Alberta.

[Mike K.]

An unconfirmed volume of oil was spilled this morning in Nanaimo Harbour, from the Maipo River cargo ship.

Spill response and coast guard are on scene.

[Mike K.]

BC is going to have a huge deficit, after natural gas royalties plummet due to low global demand.

Aren’t we trying to look the natural gas industry? Meanwhile, we’re banking on billions in royalties, which won’t come this year.

[Victoria Watcher]

Victorians woke up Thursday to find the price for a litre of gasoline had jumped 13 cents overnight — the highest spike in the country.

 

The price for a litre of regular gas, which had been $1.999 for about a month, is now $2.129 at most gas stations in the capital region.

 

 

https://www.timescol...-prices-7616446

[Matt R.]

Yes, two long weekends coming up, of course prices went up. The expert says otherwise, as expected.

[Victoria Watcher]

The coming startup of the Trans Mountain pipeline will help boost Canadian oil production to an all-time high within the next two years, according to a new report.

The report by Deloitte Canada said the extra capacity created by the currently ongoing pipeline expansion is expected to boost Canadian production by about 375,000 barrels a day over the next two years.

That represents an eight per cent increase from the previous production high set in November 2022, and a nearly nine per cent increase from the 4.18 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil that Canada produced in June of this year — the most recent month for which statistics are available through the Canadian Centre for Energy Information.


https://www.cheknews...report-1171938/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 05 October 2023 - 05:37 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Since 2019, four energy mega-projects – Site C dam, the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, LNG Canada and Coastal GasLink pipeline – have been under construction, boosting B.C.’s economy with thousands of construction jobs and billions spent on procurement and wages.

 

With a total capital spend estimated to be roughly $100 billion, these four projects alone were estimated to have provided 19,000 to 20,000 construction jobs in B.C. in 2022.

 

But all of these projects are now in the home stretch, and construction will soon begin winding down.

 

B.C.’s Major Projects Inventory – which lists private and capital projects over $15 million – notes a $22 billion drop in activity between the first quarters of 2022 and 2023 – from $388 billion in Q1 2022 to $366 billion in Q1 2023.

 

The two pipeline projects – the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion (TMX) and Coastal GasLink pipeline (CGL) – are expected to be finished by the end of this year. LNG Canada and Site C have roughly another year to go. The TMX project’s workforce was expected to peak this year at 10,500 – 11,000. In June this year, a little more than 6,000 people were employed on the Site C dam.

 

 

https://www.timescol...pletion-7692553

[Nparker]

I am sure there are plenty of lucrative jobs waiting in the every growing poverty industry.

[Mike K.]

Trudeau has lifted the carbon tax on home heating oil in the Maritimes, for three years.

[Victoria Watcher]

Trudeau has lifted the carbon tax on home heating oil in the Maritimes, for three years.

 

https://www150.statc...02/t002-eng.htm

 

[Mike K.]

But we're still carbon taxing British Columbians, who heat with natural gas at the same rate Nova Scotians heat with oil.

[lanforod]

If PP gets elected and fully scraps the carbon tax, BC will be somewhat* of an indicator of whether that actually works to lower inflation because I don't foresee BC following suit.

 

*We don't operate in a bubble, I think carbon tax removal in Alberta and Saskatchewan would still help BC food prices drop, for example, if fuel costs for farmers and partly for truckers drop.

[Mike K.]

Saskatchewan will illegally stop collecting natural gas carbon taxes on January 1st, after Premier Moe says Trudeau cancelling the tax on home heating oil in the Maritimes proves his tax is punitive, and now unfair to the rest of Canada.

[dasmo]

“Illegally.” Our leaders have stated multiple times that Supreme Court rulings are opinion. This is how it’s done. Make them force you.

[Matt R.]

https://www150.statc...02/t002-eng.htm

2011?

[Victoria Watcher]

2011?

 

Unless the Maritimes have new natural gas pipelines I'm unaware of, the numbers have not likely changed much.  It takes 25 years at least to change out your home heating system fleet.

 

I grew up in a Victoria house with heating oil fuel and last I checked that same house, 25 or 30 years later, still has oil as the primary heat source.  

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 31 October 2023 - 01:23 AM.