Canada Pushes Forward With New LNG Despite Dangerous Climate Impacts

SEATTLE (Oil Monster): Clean energy hit a major milestone in 2024, accounting for more than 40 percent of global electricity generation, driven largely by rapid growth in solar and wind power. Yet even as the world moves decisively toward renewables, the Canadian government continues to back new fossil fuel development—projects that raise questions about a lack of long-term vision.

On November 13, 2025, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a raft of so-called projects of national interest, most of which promote a fossil fuel agenda. One of the approved projects, Ksi Lisims LNG, is facing criticism on a number of fronts, including its potential threat to the British Columbia coastal ecosystem and its heavy investment in fossil fuels—an approach that could lock in emissions at a time when the entire planet needs to change course, and fast.

The approved project would establish a floating net-zero liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility—designed to convert natural gas into liquid—on Canada’s northwest coast. The project would be co-developed by US-based energy developer Western LNG, the Nisga’a Nation, and a consortium of Canadian gas producers. Operations are planned to commence by 2028 and could facilitate the transportation of 12 million metric tons of gas stored on a floating platform and loaded onto tanks to ship overseas. 

“Ksi Lisims is 100 percent American owned,” said Christina Smethurst of the Dogwood Initiative, who questions how a project can be in the national interest while also being an American project. He noted that stakeholders in the project include Wall Street billionaires such as Stephen Schwarzman, a Donald Trump donor and an adviser in his first administration.

The project has the support of the Nisga’a Nation, one of the proponents of Ksi Lisims, in whose territory it will be located. The First Nation sees it as an economic opportunity that could benefit their community and beyond. Eva Clayton, president of the Nisga’a Lisims Government, described it as a transformative project that would meet high environmental standards. “The Ksi Lisims LNG and PRGT projects are the next step on our journey,” said Clayton in a statement. “We're showing BC, Canada, and the world what Indigenous economic independence and shared prosperity can look like.”

However, the majority of First Nations in British Columbia who were consulted as part of the provincial environmental assessment process are opposed, two of which have launched lawsuits or filed for judicial review in federal court. Of the 10 Indigenous nations participating in the provincial environmental assessment, only two—Gitga’at First Nation and Kitselas First Nation—formally consented to the Ksi Lisims LNG project. The Metlakatla First Nation and Lax Kw’alaams Band cited unresolved concerns ranging from marine impacts to greenhouse gas emissions. The Gitanyow Nation cited threats to salmon in the Nass watershed, severe climate impacts, inadequate consultation, and the absence of Indigenous consent. 

Smethurst agrees, explaining that an increase in tanker traffic along the coast is a major concern, as is the project’s floating LNG infrastructure and its impact on marine ecosystems in the Nass River estuary and surrounding coastal waters.

Courtesy: www.sierraclub.org.com