The Kinder Morgan pipeline will connect Alberta's oil sands deposits to Canada's Pacific coast. And now it also has the blessing of environmentalist leader Justin Trudeau.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has approved the construction of a major pipeline, Kinder Morgan, which will connect Alberta's oil sands deposits to the port of Burnaby in British Columbia's Pacific region. The project to build a twin pipeline, Northern Gateway, was rejected.
The approved pipeline will transport oil from oil sands deposits, which account for almost the entirety of Canada's oil wealth, with an estimated 1.7 trillion barrels of oil. In this area, extraction and export costs currently exceed revenues per barrel. It is precisely for this reason that the two pipelines (Northern Gateway and Kinder Morgan) were proposed — to try to reduce transport costs and allow Canadian oil to reach Asian markets more easily.
With the construction of the Kinder Morgan pipeline, the quantity of oil transported to the Canadian coast would triple. In approving it, Trudeau stated that it is "our duty to allow infrastructure to be built so that Canada's resources reach the market in a more environmentally responsible way, create jobs and help the economy," adding that this is important for the country's transition to clean energy. The Premier of Alberta, Rachel Notley, commented that the pipeline would benefit the province's economy, which is based primarily on oil and has been weakened by the fall in the price per barrel and the recent fires in the oil city of Fort McMurray.
The controversies surrounding the pipeline concern several issues. First of all, the idea that a transition to clean energy can be combined with the construction of pipelines has been criticised and described as unachievable and impossible. Environmentalists have also warned that the new tanker traffic would increase the risk of oil spills along the British Columbia coast.
The majority of First Nations groups, in fact, have opposed the pipeline in a movement linked to the Sioux protests against the Dakota Access pipeline at the Standing Rock reservation in the United States. Charlene Aleck of the Tsleil-Waututh group stated: "This isn't just about the backyard, it's right at the heart of our home. For us, this is the beginning of a long battle."
However, a third of the First Nations groups that were consulted declared themselves in favour of the pipeline. Indeed, 39 of them signed benefit-sharing agreements with the construction company (Kinder Morgan), which would compensate them for the risks they face as a result of the pipeline's construction. Jim Boucher, chief of the First Nations, stated at an assembly that the oil sands can bring economic benefits to Canada's Indigenous peoples.
In general, the controversies revolve around doubts about who will benefit, who will suffer, and what the long-term effects of the Kinder Morgan pipeline will be. Approval of its construction has damaged Trudeau's reputation as an environmentalist and underlines how Canada's and Alberta's economic reality remains heavily dependent on oil.
Translated by Camilla Soldati