Rural landowners and a First Nation are up in arms of the appointment of Gerry Protti, former Encana executive and founding member of Canadian oil and gas lobbying group CAPP, to the office of Alberta Energy Regulator. The regulator also has environmental responsibilities. [Calgary Herald]

British Columbia Premier Christy Clark is pushing to finalize a taxation and power-supply arrangement for LNG export plants in a bid to push final investment decisions on proposed west coast export projects. Canada really, really needs to find new export markets for its gas, because the US has plenty of its own. [WSJ]

TransCanada has opted out of installing the latest in oil spill leak technology, like infrared sensors and fiber-optic cables, on the Keystone XL pipeline from Alberta to Texas. “Instead of tools that can find even the smallest leaks, TransCanada will search for spills using software-based methods and traditional flyovers and surveys.”  If the company is hoping to exacerbate rather robust environmental opposition to the project, that’s probably an effective way to do it. [Bloomberg]