UBCM calls for LNG tanker ban and GHG ban

Local government delegates attending the Union of BC Municipalities annual convention in Penticton this past week endorsed two resolutions put on the docket by the Powell River Regional District:

B76 calls on the provincial government to require zero greenhouse gases from new natural gas-fired generation plants.
http://ubcm.fileprosite.com/contentengine/launch.asp?ID=3884

At present, a new gas-fired plant must emit "net zero" greenhouse gases - which means that a plant can emit the GHGs into the atmosphere as long as it purchases carbon offsets or green credits. The policy for coal doesn't allow this - it says that no GHGs are allowed to be released. B76 would apply the uncompromising rule for coal, to natural gas.

B143 calls on the federal government to ban liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers in Georgia, Malaspina, and Haro Straits, and in Boundary Pass.
http://ubcm.fileprosite.com/contentengine/launch.asp?ID=3885

The LNG import terminal would entail 36 large tankers per year arriving at Texada Island. The safety and security issues with LNG tankers is serious stuff, not to be accepted with the blithe assurances offered by industry. US communities are strongly resistant to LNG import proposals, so coastal communities in Canada and Mexico are being targeted as neo-colonial doormats to satisfy US appetites for energy.

Powell River Regional District originated these resolutions in May 2008, in response to a proposal by WestPac LNG to build a LNG import terminal and a huge gas-fired generation plant on Texada Island. In the promoter's dreams, the generation plant could grow to 1200 megawatts - nearly five times the capacity of the Duke Point Plant which was cancelled by BC Hydro in 2005.

Both resolutions were supported by regional governments around Georgia Strait, including the Islands Trust, through the summer.

In the federal election, candidates will be asked: "Do you support a LNG tanker ban in Georgia Strait? Will your party work in Ottawa to implement a LNG tanker ban?”

You can help. If you are at an all-candidates meeting or other place where candidates are assembled, please ask them these two questions. And please let us know what they say.

The Alliance to Stop LNG is 15 environmental, labour, conservation and other public interest groups who came together in 2007. More info at www.texadalng.com.