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Nature Conservancy and Enbridge: partners in eco-crime

Nature Conservancy and Enbridge: partners in eco-crime
May 6, 2010

http://www.publiceyeonline.com/archives/004974.html

Call this a case of bad timing...or good timing, depending on your
perspective: yesterday, the Nature Conservancy of Canada announced Enbridge
Inc. would be donating $2.5 million to support its work. "We are proud
to partner with the Nature Conservancy of Canada and pleased that our
investment will help conserve some of Canada's best and most
ecologically important natural habitat," stated the pipeline firm's
president and chief executive officer Pat Daniel, in a news release.
But, a day later, Mr. Daniel also said - in the words of The Vancouver
Sun's Dina O'Meara - that Enbridge would be "plowing ahead with a
controversial pipeline stretching from Alberta's oilseeds to the inside
passage port of Kitimat to open new markets for Canada oil.

"The $5,5-billion Northern Gateway project faces heated opposition from
aboriginal and environmental groups because of the possibility of a
spill on land or sea - concerns that have deepened as bands of sticky
oil approach the U.S. Gulf of Mexico coastline following a deep-sea rig
explosion," Ms. O'Meara continued.

Asked whether the nature conservancy had a position on that project, its
chief communications officer Jane Gilbert told Public Eye, "It's not our
business. We're not in the energy business. We're not in the pipeline
business. It's not involving land that we're working on. It is
completely separate. That is Enbridge's issue."

But isn't the conservancy concerned it's bolstering Enbridge's
environmental credentials at a time when the firm is being opposed by
environmentalists?

"No. We don't comment at all on a corporation's core business or it's
business outside of it's dealing with us. In this case, Enbridge has
provided to us a gift - a donation - which we will then utilize in what
we think is a very productive, creative way to achieve solid
conservation success coast-to-coast. It's not regionally divided," she
responded.

"I won't comment though on Enbridge's business and what Enbridge may
say," Ms. Gilbert continued, when pressed about how Enbridge might use
that donation in future statements to the public and the press. "You
would have to talk to Enbridge about their own position. I'll talk about
the Nature Conservancy of Canada and what we're capable of doing with
donations that come to us."

Enbridge has not yet returned a request for comment placed earlier
today. The nature conservancy was the subject an earlier controversy as
a result of its work with Shell Canada Ltd. - a story reported
http://thetyee.ca/News/2008/05/01/ShellingOut/

The following is a complete copy of the aforementioned news release.

***

Nature Conservancy and Enbridge to partner on habitat protection

May 4, 2010

Nature Conservancy of Canada joins forces with Enbridge to protect
Canada's natural treasures

CALGARY, May 4, 2010 - John Lounds, President and CEO of the Nature
Conservancy of Canada (NCC), today joins Pat Daniel, President and CEO
of Enbridge Inc., to announce Enbridge's largest-ever community
investment: $2.5 million in support of NCC's work to preserve and
protect important and sensitive natural habitats across Canada.

Enbridge's investment will help conserve and care for more than 7,400
acres (about 3,000 hectares) of some of the best remaining wildlife
habitat in Canada. The investment is particularly significant at this
time because, thanks to matching funds from sources including the
Government of Canada's Natural Areas Conservation Program, it will
trigger a conservation impact of more than $10 million over the next
three years.

The investment aligns with Enbridge's Neutral Footprint program. Under
the program, the company will move toward having no net environmental
footprint from its future activities. The program comprises three
commitments: Enbridge will plant a tree for every tree it removes,
conserve an acre of natural habitat for every acre of habitat it
impacts, and generate a kilowatt of renewable energy for every kilowatt
of power its operations consume. Enbridge's investment in NCC will
enable it to meet its "acre for acre" commitment which, under current
estimates, requires the company to help conserve about 6,000 acres
(about 2,400 hectares) in Canada.

Enbridge will plant a tree for every tree it removes, conserve an acre
of natural habitat for every acre of habitat it impacts, and generate a
kilowatt of renewable energy for every kilowatt of power its operations
consume.

"Enbridge has taken a significant step toward conserving Canada's
special places. We are fortunate to live in a country that still has the
opportunity to protect the natural areas we love. If we are going to
have a healthy natural environment, we must act to conserve these
important places and the species they sustain." John Lounds, President
and CEO, the Nature Conservancy of Canada.

"We are proud to partner with the Nature Conservancy of Canada and
pleased that our investment will help conserve some of Canada's best and
most ecologically important natural habitat. NCC is a well-respected
organization with a great reputation for thoughtful, science-based
conservation work built over nearly 50 years." Pat Daniel, President and
CEO Enbridge.

The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) is the nation's leading land
conservation organization, working to protect our valuable natural areas
and the plants and animals they sustain. Since 1962 NCC and its partners
have helped to protect more than 2 million acres (800,000 hectares),
coast to coast, 178,000 acres (71,000 hectares), in Alberta. To learn
more visit, http://www.natureconservancy.ca/

Enbridge Inc., a Canadian company, is a North American leader in
delivering energy and one of the Global 100 Most Sustainable
Corporations. As a transporter of energy, Enbridge operates, in Canada
and the U.S., the world's longest crude oil and liquids transportation
system. The Company also has a growing involvement in the natural gas
transmission and midstream businesses, and is expanding its interests in
renewable and green energy technologies including wind and solar energy,
hybrid fuel cells and carbon dioxide sequestration.

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