A new report from the Pembina Institute says that TransCanada’s Energy East pipeline could increase Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions by 32 million tonnes per year, surpassing estimates for Keystone XL. The new pipeline would have the capacity to transport 1.1 million barrels of crude oil per day from Alberta to New Brunswick. Terminals near Rivière-du-Loup and in Saint John would likely export crude by tanker. Climate Implications of the Proposed Energy East Pipeline argues that because the oil sands are “land-locked”, pipelines are a vital component of accessing international markets and are therefore directly linked to rising oil sands emissions. Pembina asserts that the National Energy Board should consider those “upstream” effects as part of Energy East’s environmental impact assessment, though it has neglected to do so for past pipelines.
See Climate Implications of the Proposed Energy East Pipeline and the media release at: http://www.pembina.org/pub/2519.