Kinder Morgan: Putting the Salish Sea at Risk
Straddling two countries, the Salish Sea is one of the world’s largest inland seas. Weaving through an archipelago containing hundreds of islands, the mixing of large freshwater rivers with marine waters in basins, bays and straits has created an ocean rich with life that is surrounded by outstanding natural beauty. It is also a desirable place for fossil fuel exporters to link together their numerous proposals to ship non-renewable, and typically dangerous, hydrocarbons to foreign markets.
One of these proposals is Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain expansion, which would effectively triple their existing pipeline output from current levels to 890,000 barrels of tar sands oil per day. The consequent increase in oil tanker traffic would result in more than 400 tankers travelling the Salish Sea every year – a 500% increase from 2010. However, this figure might be an underestimate: increases in pump capacity could deliver more than one million barrels per day, requiring up to 475 tankers every year…
The full version of this article was first published on the Seaside Magazine Website.
We are so excited to share our annual report – Tracking Raincoast Into 2023 – with you! Tracking gives you highlights from the year, our science, flagship projects, as well as a peek at what’s in store for the coming year.
Dive into Tracking and learn more about our work safeguarding coastal carnivores in the Southern Great Bear Rainforest tenure. We are currently raising funds to stop commercial trophy hunting in more than a quarter of the Great Bear Rainforest in British Columbia. Now is a good time to sign up and stay connected to our community of researchers and change-makers.
