The New Brunswick Election is September 24 (Early polls September 15, 17) and hydraulic fracturing is once more an issue of interest to New Brunswickers.
Before you vote, consider this: There are many issues to be considered when choosing how to vote. Sometimes we have to choose between two parties, each of which has some positions you support, and some you don’t.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Fredericton, NB (April 26, 2018) – It was with great surprise and disappointment that the New Brunswick Anti-Shale Gas Alliance learned that the Progressive Conservative Party has decided to make shale gas an issue in the 2018 election.
“There is absolutely no basis on which to reconsider the current moratorium,” says spokesman Jim Emberger. “There is not a single one of the five conditions for lifting the moratorium that can be met.” He also noted that a partial lifting is illogical saying, ”the problems associated with shale gas do not stay local. The air and water pollution, health problems, earthquakes and climate change effects of shale gas travel far from the well, and further than originally thought.”
Jim Emberger & Stephanie Merrill
The struggle to keep unconventional gas and oil development (UNGOD) out of New Brunswick is a story filled with many actors, heroes and organizations, each playing important and vital roles.
However, for many of us involved in that struggle, the seeds for our victory were largely sown by a single person – Stephanie Merrill, the Water Specialist at the Conservation Council of New Brunswick. What follows is our special tribute to Stephanie, who is now heading out to share her expertise with the Global Water Futures program at the University of Saskatchewan.
Kenneth Francis accepting solidarity statement on Aboriginal Title Claim from Jim Emberger, NBASGA @ NBEN Annual Meeting (photo Mark D’Arcy)
The New Brunswick Anti-Shale Gas Alliance is proud to support the lawsuit filed by Elsipogtog First Nation, on behalf of the Mi’kmaq Nation, to claim Aboriginal title to the Mi’kma’ki district of Sikniktuk in New Brunswick.
Our support is grounded in many things. In recent history we have been allies against a common enemy that threatened all of us with the contamination of our water, air and land. Many of our members, both Anglophone and Francophone from around the province, stood with the people of Elsipogtog as they peacefully defended their land. Some were arrested alongside them and still others sent money and supplies to support the cause.
We are happy to announce that NBASGA spokesperson, Jim Emberger, has won the first annual Beth McLaughlin Environmental Journalism Award for his extensive reporting on the dangers of hydraulic fracturing.
The panel of judges, selected by the Southeast Chapter of the Conservation Council of New Brunswick, cited Emberger’s extensively researched writing for focusing attention on a significant environmental issue and helping to deepen public understanding of it.
On Friday, May 27, 2016, the Brian Gallant Liberal government announced that the moratorium on hydraulic fracturing would continue indefinitely. Below are links to NBASGA’s official Press Statement on the extended moratorium, and comments from spokesperson, Jim Emberger, as well as congratulatory notes from our supporters around the world.
This is a good day for the People, the Province, the Planet…and for our Democratic Process.
by Tom Richmond, Yorkshire Post, 27 May 2016
INTERNATIONAL support is growing for Ryedale’s anti-fracking movement as Energy Minister Andrea Leadsom claims that the extraction of shale gas in North Yorkshire is “an opportunity we can’t afford to miss” if UK energy supplies are to be secured. A week after more than 850 elected civic leaders from New York State urged North Yorkshire County Council to reject Third Energy’s application for a test site at Kirby Misperton – a plea that fell on deaf ears on Monday night – opponents in the Canadian province of New Brunswick are the latest to lend their support.
The following letter was sent to New Brunswick Premier Brian Gallant and members of the Liberal Caucus on 22 February 2016.
Dear Premier Gallant:
The Commission on Hydrofracking will soon submit its report and the government will make its decision on the future of shale gas in the province. We have to ask: “After 5 years of examining the pros and cons, what evidence has accumulated to support each side?”
To answer this question we have put together a short summary of the latest news and scientific information on a few of the major issues at the heart of the discussion. We hope you will take the ten minutes necessary to read the attached document.
The executive summary follows.
JIM EMBERGER COMMENTARY
The Miramichi Leader, 19 February 2016
The Commission on Hydrofracking will soon submit its report and the government will make its decision on the future of shale gas. After five years of examining the pros and cons, what evidence has accumulated to support each side?
If a solid economic case for shale gas ever did exist, it has now evaporated. It is now common knowledge that to offset the rapid depletion of shale gas wells, producers continuously drilled more of them.
On October 3, 2015, NBASGA member, Liane Thibodeau, presented ‘Green Energy Solutions‘ to an appreciative audience at the Union of Municipalities of New Brunswick Annual General Meeting in Fredericton, NB. Thanks to Rob Turgeon (Apple Hill Video), we are able to provide the full presentation for you here.