The health of our economy cannot be separated from the health of our environment.
The myth that we have to choose between the two is peddled by forces opposed to increased environmental protection and effective climate action—forces that stand to profit from destructive megaprojects and the endless extraction of finite resources.
And let’s face it—they have been quite successful at it: the myth endures.
So it’s worth asking ourselves, have we been unwittingly perpetuating it, instead of undermining it?
Even if twinning the Kinder-Morgan pipeline doesn’t go ahead, the Salish Sea will not be saved — unless something bold, principled and practical is done, and soon.
The endangered southern resident Orca whales, the depleting fisheries of Puget Sound, the sewage dumps into Juan de Fuca Strait, the toxic leachates from old mineshafts and coal-storage pits along the Island’s east coast, and the plans that would see industrial sites such as an LNG plant located in Howe Sound: these all point to incremental destruction. As it stands now a long, slow death awaits the Salish Sea.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, B.C. Premier Christy Clark and Alberta Premier Rachel Notley have cooked up a sweet deal. Trudeau and Notley get their pipeline to tidewater, while Clark gets federal approval for the Site C dam and the Petronas liquefied fracked-gas plant.
The three-way political backscratching has a high price, and the people of British Columbia will be paying it.
The incoming Trump administration is likely to see the greatest revival of environmentalism as a confrontational, grassroots, sometimes radical movement since at least 1970, when more than a million people took part in the first Earth Day.
West Coast Environmental Law reacts to federal marine safety announcement
VANCOUVER, BC, Coast Salish Territories – West Coast Environmental Law Association issued the following statement in response to the federal government’s announcement today regarding new marine safety initiatives:
A new wave of oil drilling threatens the Arctic – but today saw the start of the fight back. This morning a lawsuit was filed that could stop the expansion of this reckless industry northwards, and now we need your help to show that what happens in the Arctic matters to everyone everywhere.
