Hurricanes, floods, and wildfires haven't changed Justin Trudeau's mind on Kinder Morgan pipeline

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      In 2009, famed and now retired NASA scientist James Hansen wrote a book that tried to wake up the world to the effects of global warming.

      Storms of My Grandchildren: The Truth About the Coming Climate Catastrophe and Our Last Chance to Save Humanity painted a stark picture of what was going to happen if fossil-fuel use continued unabated.

      This summer, we're getting a taste of what those storms are going to look like with Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma.

      Meanwhile here in B.C., a record number of hectares have been scorched by wildfires, and massive flooding occurred this summer in Ottawa, Montreal, and B.C.'s Okanagan Valley.

      But despite what's happening on the ground, the Trudeau government shows no indication that it will change its mind about the Kinder Morgan pipeline project.

      Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr is quoted on the CBC website saying the pipeline is in the national interest.

      And it's clear that fierce summer storms, floods, and wildfires have not moved his boss or deputy Liberal leader and Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale to reconsider.

      "Nothing that's happened since then has changed our mind that this is a good decision for Canada," Carr insisted to CBC. "The decision was made with all of the facts, with all the scientific evidence, with all of the input, and we believe we made it for the right reasons and we stand by the decision."

      In fact, the National Energy Board did not consider environmental and socioeconomic effects in its review of Kinder Morgan's application.

      The pipeline will triple diluted bitumen shipments to the Lower Mainland to 890,000 barrels a day and increase oil-tanker traffic in Burrard Inlet by nearly seven times.

      The NEB did require Kinder Morgan's subsidiary, Trans Mountain, to develop an offset plan for "entire direct construction-related greenhouse gas emissions".

      So while the actual construction of the pipeline may turn out to be carbon-neutral, the impact of emissions from shipped diluted bitumen are anything but that.

      According to Greenpeace, the pipeline will generate around the same amount of carbon dioxide as adding two million cars to Canadian roads.

      That's one of several reasons why there's going to be a large demonstration in Vancouver on Saturday (September 9) against the project.

      The science may be settled for Carr, Trudeau, and Goodale.

      But the timing of this protest, just as Hurricane Irma might be hitting the coast of Florida, will surely reinforce the message that Hansen was trying to get across in his book.

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