First, a little music to set the mood:
Ah, that was lovely. Now, the story:
Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his wife Laureen were awakened by a major earthquake as they overnighted in Chile’s capital of Santiago.
Buildings shook throughout the city at around 12:50 a.m. local time in what the United State Geological Study rated as a 6.5 earthquake centred 112 kilometres from the city.
Harper’s director of communications, Andrew MacDougall, said the prime minister and his wife remained in their rooms and were fine.
Still, the event shook up the media and delegation travelling with Harper who were wrapping up a four-day trip to Colombia and South America.
It shook up the media, but no word on what it did to ShitHead. Probably nothing. Maybe because he’s a robot?
Meawhile, on a related note, we have this:
Two separate studies are providing insights into the earth-shaking consequences of the controversial gas extraction process known as fracking.
Both studies confirm that hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, can trigger manmade earthquakes when water, sand and chemicals are blasted deep into the ground to fracture rock to obtain oil and natural gas.
Energy companies are increasingly using the technique across Canada, including in B.C. where there is already regular seismic activity and an ever looming threat of various sized tremors.
The U.S. Geological Survey is set to release its findings Wednesday that a “remarkable” increase of quakes in the U.S. midcontinent since 2001 is “almost certainly” the result of oil and gas production.
And also, disgustingly, this:
The federal government will limit the ability of environmental groups to intervene in reviews of major resource projects, as it moves to speed up approvals for pipelines and other resource projects.
Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver said Tuesday that Ottawa will soon table legislation that will reduce the number of projects that undergo federal environmental assessment by exempting smaller developments completely and by handing over many large ones to the provinces.
Mr. Oliver said the government will also bring in new measures to prevent project opponents from delaying the assessment process by flooding hearings with individuals who wish to speak against the development.
The Conservative government was dismayed when the National Energy Board extended its hearings on the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline, which would carry oil-sands bitumen to the British Columbia coast for export to Asia by super-tanker. The regulator was responding to requests from more than 4,000 individuals to give oral testimony at hearings now under way.
After railing for months against radical environmentalists bent on blocking resource development, the Natural Resources Minister signaled Tuesday the government will cut them out of the assessment process unless they can prove they would be directly affected by the project.
Hmmmmm. You don’t suppose FRACKING projects could be among those, do you?
And if an earthquake in the Andean nation of Chile can’t shake Harpo’s complacency about THAT, nothing can. And that should worry us all.
