We cannot stop fossil fuels on the supply side. #itsthedemand

‘Pipeline or rail, the oil will flow’, say Alberta oil industry and Canada’s government | Vancouver Observer: "The pressure to expand oil-by-rail is relentless. The trade in North America has grown from near nothing in 2009 to a projected movement this year of 150,000 rail wagons in Canada and some 400,000 in the U.S.[i] Now two new plans are hitting the news.
A Denver-based company, Omnitrax, wants to ship fracked oil from North Dakota and Saskatchewan across the vast stretch of northern Manitoba to the port of Churchill on Hudson’s Bay. Tankers would then move the oil through sub-Arctic waters to North American refiners.[ii]"

Supply-side environmentalism will fail, is failing, has failed. Economics is driven by demand. If we sufficiently reduce demand for fossil-fuels, then supply will stop.

B.C. First Nation takes Trans Mountain expansion to court

CBC News: "A First Nation from British Columbia's southern Interior is taking the federal government and an oil company to court over plans to almost triple the capacity of an oil pipeline that crosses its reserve."

'via Blog this'

Oil companies try to buy off aboriginal people

Questions over oil donations | Vancouver 24 hrs: "But Squamish Nation activist Khelsilem Rivers criticized donations from Kinder Morgan to the commission and TransCanada to Reconciliation Canada. He wants the money returned.

“There's a real contradiction,” Rivers said. “What kind of reconciliation is being promoted, if these types of companies – that are currently attempting to destroy what (aboriginal) people are fighting to protect – are partnering with them? It makes it very difficult for community members to participate in a meaningful way.”"

'via Blog this'

Elephant in room becoming more apparent

Penticton Western News: "The supposed 100 year supply is a fraud, the cost to drill the majority of these tight wells falls between three and six million dollars, they produce 80 to 100 barrels a day and have a decline rate of 40 to 60 per cent per year with some wells declining up to 90 per cent.

With those decline rates companies are forced to drill more holes thus investing bigger chunks of capital and energy into extraction. Current estimates have the supply of shale gas peaking within the decade.  Shale gas, offshore deep water drilling and the oil sands don’t disprove peak oil theory, they confirm it.  Peak oil doesn’t mean running out of oil, it means running out of cheap, easily accessible oil, the very lifeblood of growth economics.

...But here’s some things you can do: buy more local food from the farmers market, walk or bike to work more, conserve energy and water, plant a big garden, learn how to can, buy locally made goods and properly insulate your house.

These are just some of the ways you can prepare for the energy crunch. You should also lend support to any Transition Town Initiatives and the Penticton Urban Agriculture Association. The response to peak oil is going to have to come from the ground up."

I Love Transit 2013: An Interview with Brent Toderian

The Buzzer blog: "Our household went car-free in 2009, and we rarely used our car before that. Transit and walking are our primary ways of getting around–it helps that we deliberately chose a home that’s beside a SkyTrain station! For most of our daily needs, we can actually get to them by walking, which is our preference. With a compact, mixed-use neighbourhood, even transit isn’t necessarily needed every day, and that’s a very good thing. It’s what I call “the power of nearness.”"

Transportation subsidies promote unsustainable choices

Vancouver Sun - Letters: "Stephen Hume advocates for ferry subsidies because roads are subsidized. He should argue for an end to all transportation subsidies. Subsidies create unhealthy distortions in human behaviour, leading people to make economically unviable choices that will require subsidies into eternity.

Transportation subsidies ramp up carbon dioxide emissions and other environmental problems like sprawl. Some argue sprawl is a market condition, but the sprawl that demands subsidies was created by subsidies in the form of undervalued roads, bridges and municipal infrastructure.

If everyone had to pay the true cost of driving and ferrying we would have a much more efficient economy and higher density in walking-, cycling- and transit-friendly cities making public transit competitive without subsidies.

We’d all have a lot more money in our wallets and more farms and green space nearby.

RON VAN DER EERDEN, Vancouver"

Manifesto of the Vancouver Public Space Network from 2008

We envision Vancouver to be a city in which it is safe to walk and cycle for residents of all ages and abilities, including children. Public transit should be efficient and convenient, and prioritized over automobile
traffic. Where automobile traffic needs to take place it should be a “last option” and should be undertaken
in a fashion that encourages vehicle-share (such as car co-ops) and respects existing traffic and noise by-laws.

Prioritizing public transit, cycling, and pedestrianism in practical terms would enhance public space and
quality of life. Investing in this infrastructure will help facilitate a shift towards the mainstream acceptance
of sustainable transportation as a means of mobility.

Read more here