Gaia
22nd November 2017, 17:12
Almost a decade ago, the territorial government said the $300-million project to build an all-weather road to the isolated community of Tuktoyaktuk would make exploration for oil and gas in the region more efficient and therefore more profitable. The territorial government coughed up $99 million, in addition to $200 million in federal dollars, to connect the town of Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk, population 900, with the 138 kilometre road.
While there was an ice road for four months every winter, in the warmer months, the only way in and out of Tuk was by plane. Now, after four years of construction, the Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk Highway, finally opened last week. The Department of Infrastructure estimates future maintenance on the road will cost about $12,000 to $15,000 per kilometre, which adds up to about $1.5 million to $1.9 million per year.
The road’s future is also unclear, as it sits atop permafrost that is unpredictably thawing as climate change accelerates. It may even warm faster in parts now that the road sits above it. Oil companies probably also won’t be turning up in numbers any time soon thanks to the low price of oil and the moratorium on Arctic offshore drilling enacted by current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Follow the money:
The Mackenzie Gas Project also known as the Mackenzie Valley pipeline. If it ever happens, the proposed project would transport natural gas about 1,200 kilometres from fields in the Mackenzie Delta near Tuktoyaktuk, along the Mackenzie River Valley to northern Alberta.
The pipeline was sanctioned by the National Energy Board on the condition that construction begin by the end of 2015, but that deadline has been extended to 2022.
One question remains: who did we fund by building this highway through the taxes of Canadians?
http://www.neb-one.gc.ca/pplctnflng/mjrpp/mcknzgsxtnsn/index-eng.html
http://naturecanada.ca/what-we-do/naturevoice/our-beliefs/the-mackenzie-gas-project/
http://spectacularnwt.com/story/follow-first-ever-highway-to-arctic-ocean
While there was an ice road for four months every winter, in the warmer months, the only way in and out of Tuk was by plane. Now, after four years of construction, the Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk Highway, finally opened last week. The Department of Infrastructure estimates future maintenance on the road will cost about $12,000 to $15,000 per kilometre, which adds up to about $1.5 million to $1.9 million per year.
The road’s future is also unclear, as it sits atop permafrost that is unpredictably thawing as climate change accelerates. It may even warm faster in parts now that the road sits above it. Oil companies probably also won’t be turning up in numbers any time soon thanks to the low price of oil and the moratorium on Arctic offshore drilling enacted by current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Follow the money:
The Mackenzie Gas Project also known as the Mackenzie Valley pipeline. If it ever happens, the proposed project would transport natural gas about 1,200 kilometres from fields in the Mackenzie Delta near Tuktoyaktuk, along the Mackenzie River Valley to northern Alberta.
The pipeline was sanctioned by the National Energy Board on the condition that construction begin by the end of 2015, but that deadline has been extended to 2022.
One question remains: who did we fund by building this highway through the taxes of Canadians?
http://www.neb-one.gc.ca/pplctnflng/mjrpp/mcknzgsxtnsn/index-eng.html
http://naturecanada.ca/what-we-do/naturevoice/our-beliefs/the-mackenzie-gas-project/
http://spectacularnwt.com/story/follow-first-ever-highway-to-arctic-ocean