ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how the Liberal government of British Columbia, industry stakeholders, and their civil supporters crafted a multifaceted storyline to justify large-scale liquefied natural gas development in British Columbia. The storyline portrays shale gas as morally acceptable by branding it as a clean fossil fuel and highlighting the province’s strong environmental record. In addition to being deceptive about the negative social and environmental impacts of fracking, the storyline has another glaring flaw: the high production cost of shale gas renders its economic foundation fragile. In short, economic benefits promised by the development of liquefied natural gas projects are unsustainable from both economic and environmental perspectives.
