Poll shows B.C. public cool to pipelines
Public opposition to energy pipelines crossing British Columbia poses a growing challenge to two major projects by Enbridge and Kinder Morgan.
An Angus Reid poll of B.C. residents released Aug. 27 shows 49 percent of respondents view Enbridge’s Northern Gateway plan and Kinder Morgan’s proposal to expand its existing TransMountain system as a “bad idea that could lead to environmental disaster.”
Support was confined to 35 percent for the Northern Gateway link from the Alberta oil sands to the deepwater port at Kitimat for shipment to Asia and 32 percent for the proposal to expand TransMountain from Edmonton to the Vancouver area.
Angus Reid Vice President Mario Canseco said the mood probably reflects the BP well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico and Enbridge’s pipeline rupture in Michigan.
“The idea of something going wrong is right there,” he said.
Canseco said the respondents were asked to base their opinions on what they had “seen, heard or read.”
He suggested that not enough information has been provided to the public on spill-control mechanisms and spill prevention.
“The debate has been about money and sending oil to China,” Canseco said.
The poll of 804 adults is considered accurate within 3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
—Gary Park
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