Ksi Lisims LNG: the ugly truth

Despite overwhelming pushback of more than 500 public written submissions, the BC EAO (BC Environment Assessment Office) has fast-tracked approval for the proposed Ksi Lisims LNG project, promoted by the BC govt as a 'joint venture with the Nisga'a Nation' (but is in fact 100% owned by Texas-based Western LNG).  The Ksi Lisims project would be a floating LNG plant (built in Korea!) situated at the north end of Pearse Island in the Nass River estuary on Nisga’a land.

The plant requires the construction of a massive pipeline - the previously approved (but not-yet built) Prince Rupert Gas Transmission line (PRGT), which was originally intended to supply the Pacific NorthWest LNG project abandoned by Petronas - to transport fracked methane gas from northeastern BC to the terminal for liquefaction before shipment to Asian markets.

Methane, the primary component of fossil gas, emits fugitive emissions that rank as the second-largest contributor to rising global temperatures, following C02.  These emissions occur throughout the entire lifecycle of LNG, from fracking & flaring to the liquefaction process & transportation.

[To give an idea of the EAO's application requirements for large projects, check out this link & gasp in disbelief at the 100+ pages of details & oversights this project had to satisfy for approval:
FRX_DRAFT_Application_Information_Requirements_12Jan2026_PCP.pdf (skepticism allowed - nay, expected!)]

Feedback on the project's EAO includes:  Concerns over greenhouse gas emissions from the project, impacts on the marine environment & Nass River salmon, impacts of increased tanker traffic on whales & other environmental impacts.

As the PRGT pipeline crosses Gitksan Naton territory, the Gitksan Watershed Authorities' submission stands out: “The project application does not seem to have adequately addressed or even characterized the impacts to Gitksan interests & rights. Lacking proper aquatic baseline information for assessment and evaluation is a major concern. [..]  We call on the BC Environmental Assessment Office and the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada to take the time to engage with the Gitksan and address Gitksan Watershed Authorities concerns with this proposed project before approving it.”

The Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition wrote, “Approximately 150 annual tanker visits for LNG transport through the proposed facility pose potential risks to whale species in frequented waters."

In its submission, the City of Terrace’s Economic Development office says the LNG Canada development in Kitimat has resulted in increased economic activity for Terrace, but that it has generally been negative for the city, as the increased activity has strained city services without providing any additional revenue.

“The City of Terrace sees its role as a hub as detriment to Terrace and especially the quality of life for its residents,” the office writes in its submission. “Being the hub has allowed for massive inflation in professional and retail services, a strain on municipal infrastructure like roads, refuse disposal, lodgings and housing.

“Some might see this influx as a key economic driver but it has actually been the opposite.."

[EAO info from an article by Nelson Bennett at www.biv.com: 
B.C. environmental review gets earful against Nisga'a's Ksi Lisims LNG - Business in Vancouver]

Gitanyow Nation's input is even more pointedly critical of Ksi Lisims.  Quoted from their website ():  "This callous decision to proceed with the environmental review without adequate consideration of the project's potential impacts on salmon, climate, and Indige3nous sovereignty is a glaring betrayal of trust," said Simogyet Malii/Glen Williams. "British Columbia's refusal to engage meangingfully with our concerns and immediately participate in Gitanyow's Wilp Sustainability Assessment Process is an insult."  (For more info go to  www.gitanyowchiefs.ca)

Dogwood BC's website section on Ksi Lisims is equally scathing, as these articles show: B.C. can have affordable, renewable power – or LNG (with the sub-heading: "Clean energy offers peace, prosperity and political sanity.  Oil companies plan to steal it.") & Epstein, Trump … and Mark Carney’s Ksi Lisims LNG - Dogwood with the sub-heading "Backlash builds as Liberals try to fast-track American-owned gas project"  Their website includes letter-writing opportunities for public input to the BC Govt, eg. PM Carney: no taxpayer subsidies for American billionaires! - Dogwood - from which I include my own (edited) version here - & encourage you to visit & provide your own...

Dear recipient's full name will go here,

Please don’T give my tax $ to American billionaires!

I am appalled that the Wall Street sickos who bankrolled Jeffrey Epstein & Donald Trump are hoping for a special gift :  billions of dollars from Canada’s Liberal govt!!

The Ksi Lisims LNG project would be 100% American-owned & built in Korea, then floated over & hooked up to an American-built pipeline on the B.C. coast.  Since the project’s Texas owner is struggling to find buyers for the gas, or banks willing to loan money for construction, that’s where we come in.

By adding Ksi Lisims to his “fast-track” list, PM Carney hopes to “de-risk” this project with OUR tax dollars, & convince Wall St to invest!  It’s a plan that would steal money from job-creating projects in Canada, jack up our utility bills & increase U.S. control of our energy resources.

I can’t think of a worse use of public money than giving Wall Street billionaires huge subsidies for an American-owned gas terminal in BC!

Please confirm you will be opposing any taxpayer handouts to the Ksi Lisims LNG proposal.  Thank you very much.

Sincerely,

Saz Marguerite Chesterman
Vancouver, BC

This page's images are screenshots of others' websites, credited above - any copyrights belong to them. 

BC needs to REJECT Tilbury LNG!

In case you haven't heard, the BC govt. is considering a proposal by FortisBC to build new expanded LNG infrastructure @ Tilbury LNG -- another fraught political megaproject that promises increased shipping for the fracked gas along with risky methane emissions & outsize GHGs, as well as exacerbated Climate imbalance -- right between densely populated Richmond & Vancouver, on the Fraser River's threatened habitat of our last few orca & salmon populations.  While the public commenting period is over, the govt's decision is delayed -- so you can still express your opposition to this disastrous project thru StandEarth's letter page.. Click link:  

Tell the BC government to reject the Tilbury LNG jetty (stand.earth)

Here's my own edited letter -- unapologetically lengthy!  Cuz this BC govt needs to WAKE out of its corporate-captured fog & realize exactly what's being proposed by Tilbury LNG..

Dear {contact_data~salutation}{contact_data~lastName},

As a B.C. resident I am appalled that you & your government continue to ignore the overwhelming mass of evidence of the disastrous impacts that will -- not might -- result from approving the Tilbury LNG expansion project, for which this new tanker dock ('Jetty') awaits your immediate permission to ruin BC's future.

How is it that, having received reams of detailed expert opposition to this project's undeniable harms, your govt has not already rejected this proposal & denied FortisBC permits to build another ecocidal monument to climate catastrophe? 

I am tempted to reassert here -- again -- Tilbury LNG's significant cumulative effects & fundamental flaws (including:  Project splitting, Failure to address GHG targets, Methane emissions 86X deadlier than C02, Economic viability incl. dearth of data thereof, Marine shipping impacts incl. likely extinction of southern resident killer whales & salmon populations, Impacts on Indigenous rights & title incl. non-adherence to UNDRIP...) but blah blah right?  You've already read -- & apparently decided to ignore -- the numerous persuasive public comments detailing these ills, including my own posted input, on your govt.'s Tilbury LNG web page.

No, it's clear what you need to read -- not reported by our captured corporate media -- addresses your govt's baseless hopes that future LNG sales will justify BC's expanded natural gas production... & your repeated claims -- echoed by PM Justin Trudeau -- that BC produces “the world’s cleanest natural gas.”

*  *  *

The fiction of BC producing clean fossil fuel originated with Premier Christy Clark’s Liberals -- a claim as dishonest as the one about LNG rewarding the province with one trillion dollars in a “BC Prosperity fund.”  I.E. irrefutably FALSE...

National Geographic examined “the cleanest liquefied natural gas in the world” & concluded it was a hypothetical notion repeatedly promised by political leaders to build public support for the fossil fuel.. Quoted here:

"There’s no such thing as “clean natural gas.” It’s a fossil fuel, and it releases climate-disrupting greenhouse gases all the way up and down the chain of production, from the wellhead to the burners on your stovetop or in your furnace.

"This is especially true for LNG. In order to ship it, energy companies must first chill the gas to -160°C (-256°F) in giant coastal plants that are essentially industrial-size freezers. The process consumes vast quantities of energy. After it’s shipped across the sea, companies then return the LNG to its gaseous state before shipping it off to customers.

"Because of these extra steps, LNG carries a whopper of an energy and carbon footprint compared to unadulterated natural gas." [End National Geographic quote]

*  *  *

Both natural gas producers & transportation companies conceal the true climate impact of LNG. The New York Times reported that shipping produces as much C02 as all of America’s coal plants combined. The newspaper explained why regulation of shipping emissions by the powerful International Maritime Organization (IMO) is so ineffective:

"The I.M.O. is a regulatory body that is run in concert with the industry it regulates. Shipbuilders, oil companies, miners, chemical manufacturers and others with huge financial stakes in commercial shipping are among the delegates appointed by many member nations. They sometimes even speak on behalf of governments…

"Next week, the organization is scheduled to enact its first greenhouse gas rules since Paris — regulations that do not cut emissions, have no enforcement mechanism and leave key details shrouded in secrecy…

"Although some suggest LNG powered ships could moderate transportation harm, the International Council on Clean Transportation determined there is no climate benefit from tankers burning LNG, regardless of ship engine technology." [End New York Times quote]

*  *  *

The Natural Resources Defense Council states:

"Historically, gas has been considered a “bridge fuel”— cleaner and with lower carbon dioxide emissions than coal or oil— and a potential tool to help address climate change.

"However, LNG is neither clean nor particularly low in emissions. In addition, the massive investments in new infrastructure to support this industry, including pipelines, liquefaction facilities, export terminals, and tankers, lock in fossil fuel dependence, making the transition to actual low-carbon and no-carbon energy even more difficult.

"Our analysis shows that using LNG to replace other, dirtier fossil fuels, is not an effective strategy to reduce climate-warming emissions..." [End NRDC quote]

*  *  *

Your govt. is therefore considering inflicting a dirty polluting megaproject on hapless Lower Mainland residents, which will undoubtedly cause health problems & bring deadly risks into the lives of already-stressed BCers.  How grossly unfair..

Clearly, FortisBC don't care!

You must also realize that the EAO has taken steps to ignore clear evidence of project splitting & has accepted unsubstantiated & misleading representations made by FortisBC about the supposed climate benefits of the Jetty.

I implore you to take into account all of the information before you, to arrive at the only decent decision:  for all these reasons, Tilbury LNG (& this Jetty) should be assessed as NOT in the public interest & should be denied all permits. 

Thank you very much.

Sincerely,

Sarah (Saz) Chesterman

PS. For more complete & updated info about methane, check out this article on Norm Farrell's excellent 'In-Sights' blog:

in-sights.ca/2022/02/08/economic-interests-rank-higher-than-human-life/

Time's running out for systemic changes to make aLL BC sectors eco-safe & sustainable -- not just talk about 'Just Transition' while pushing status quo, as BC NDP & BC Liberal Party do (& BC Conservative Party treat #ClimateAction like the joke THEY are). In case you didn't notice, the BC Green Party -- led by Sonia Furstenau, MLA for Cowichan Valley -- is the sole entity to consistently hold Govt. to task on its #ClimateAction failures, proving she & her Greens work tirelessly for US & not wealthy corps driven solely by profits. So Sonia & Co. deserve our support -- & esp. our VOTES -- for the chance to deliver Greens' Science-backed V I S I O N for #RealReconciliation & the sustainable future we aLL want!! So E M E R G E from your #MSM-fed FOG & learn the DISCONCERTING TRUTH of the BC Govt's 150 years of abrogation of duty, bigotry & malfeasance--->that still prevails today with ecocidal policies that promise only fast-tracked Climate disasters (heat domes, wildfires➕➕) boosted by increasingly corporate-aligned press. Despite #MSM's baseless derision, the BC Green Party stands out with the integrity & smarts to lead BC out of this mess & transition to a livable, prosperous future for every BCer: Science says so, & science doesn'T lie..🐸🐛🐝🦉

🤞

LeTTeR to my BC MLA Re. GOVT. FRACKING SUBSIDIES

I am writing to express my  extreme dismay over the tax breaks Premier Horgan is committing to BC's LNG industry, as if this industry has been properly  researched & found to be a low-C02 answer to the climate emergency now underway:  it hasn't -- & it isn't.

The most recent IPCC report gives us only a decade to cut global carbon pollution in half.  But LNG Canada would be the most polluting project in BC, requiring thousands of new fracking wells in the northeast, as well as raising our GHGs to dangerous levels. CleanBC is clearly inadequate, as I & others loudly protested in vain, as it virtually guarantees BC will miss its targets if the expansion proceeds as planned.

While I work hard to reduce my carbon pollution & that of others, including switching to a 100% vegan diet & campaigning against mining/ logging/ plastics/ pollution, the provincial government wants to undo my efforts by building LNG Canada!?  What an insult to those of us who keep informed & updated of our province's progress..

In light of recent news about Canada's fracking/ pipeline/ waste woes --in addition to our poor performance re. climate issues-- giving huge tax breaks to establish a new fossil fuel industry is irresponsible -- if not utterly genocidal.

Please stand up to Premier Horgan & tell him to withdraw these insane subsidies to the fossil fuel industry --the very sector scientists blame for the climate crisis upon us!  Look up Genus (fossil-free) Capital & see examples of positive corporate change among us --& ask Premier Horgan to step up to the task at hand, per his sworn duties as Premier!

Personally, I don't know ONE person who thinks this Govt's reckless approval of new fossil fuel projects bodes well for BC's future/ economy.  Govt. needs to stand up to polluters & demand they pay for our necessary transition to clean renewable energy.. NOW NOT LATER!

Pandering to polluting fossil fuel corps is completely out of step with our commitments & requirements going forward, & holds us back from climate recovery & a sustainable future!  Informed BCers oppose such misuse of tax dollars as ominous assurance of failure to deal with the challenges & looming disasters plaguing our future sustainability. We feel helpless when all we can do is frantically write letters while watching our future health & prosperity --& those of our kids-- go up in smoke..

I therefore beseech you to use your position as MLA to effectively put forth these serious concerns & oppose any further spending on fossil fuels, esp. LNG.  Furthermore, it's noT unreasonable to take these polluting corps to court & enforce payouts due, for causing this climate hell that promises to worsen if we don't act now!  It's the very least we should do in our lifetime, while we still have a chance to turn things around..

(The alternatives are truly unthinkable. And Govt has run out of chances to right those wrongs & protect the people's interests..)

Thank you for your consideration & time, & in advance for taking action while  still in office..

(The Green Party is coming --to undo the Cons/ NDP/ Liberals damage that's led to this shameful point in history, due to reaping without sowing Nature's now-sorely-degraded resources --which our native First Nations had stewarded successfully for millennia:  SHAME!)