Weigh In On OCS Today!

World News.  If approved, the 1,200-kilometre pipeline would run from the Beaufort Sea and through the N.W.T.’s Mackenzie Valley to northern Alberta, where it would connect with existing gas networks. (CBC) The Mackenzie Valley natural gas pipeline should go ahead, whether the last holdout First Nation has a settled land claim or not, says Inuvialuit leader and former N.W.T. premier Nellie Cournoyea (NGP Photo)….  (Comment:  For the sake of the people of the Territories, the health of oil sands production, the throughput of the TransCanada system, the sustainability of Northern cultures and the livlihoods of future generations of children who depend on the good decisions of their elders, we heartily agree with Nellie.  Enough frivolous delay.  -dh)

CBC.  The National Energy Board must now decide whether to approve a natural gas pipeline through the Northwest Territories’ Mackenzie Valley, after it wrapped up its final hearings Thursday in Inuvik, N.W.T.

ADN, Senator Mark Begich (NGP Photo) Op-ed.  President Obama surprised many when he recently gave the green light for offshore oil and gas development along the East Coast, Gulf of Mexico and in Alaska.  …I’ll insist that some of the proceeds from OCS development be directly shared with affected coastal communities and the state of Alaska. Last July, I introduced legislation (S.1560) to do exactly that in my package of seven bills to address the impacts of climate change on Alaska.  (As we have observed, President Obama gave a green light to some Alaska OCS work, but red and yellow lights to most other new OCS projects around the Nation, including Alaska.  See our editorials of last summer.  -dh)

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