We've got work to do, Salish Sea Savers!

Year-end reviews are supposed to be positive and upbeat, as everyone heads into the holidays wanting to think of nothing more than festive parties, mulled wine and relaxing time off with family and friends.

But it’s hard to relax and stay positive when it feels like we are swimming against a tidal wave of fossil fuel developments that threaten to transform BC from a green leader to an environmental laggard.

Photo credit: Leadnow on Flickr

Especially when we have a week like this one. Monday, Kinder Morgan formally files their application to the National Energy Board to triple the capacity of the Trans Mountain pipeline. Tuesday, Port Metro Vancouver closes public comments on the environmental assessment of a new coal terminal in Surrey. (Incidentally, on the same day, a 3-week public comment period opened on the type of environmental assessment that should be required for a new LNG project that would ship 40 LNG tankers through Howe Sound each year). Thursday, the Joint Review Panel approves the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline.

Really? They couldn’t stagger their announcements and give us a chance to reflect before coming back the next day with another round of threats to our coast, communities and climate? Of course, even a moderate conspiracy theorist might suggest that the timing is deliberate, and fossil fuel proponents and governments are trying to bury controversial news in the midst of holiday madness.

Although Kinder Morgan’s mammoth application (2 metres tall if printed out, as their press department was keen to point out) will take time to digest, one or two deeply disturbing facts jumped out at me. For example, a spill off Salt Spring Island could coat 427 kilometres of our world-famous beaches in oil and even without a spill. And the impacts of routine tanker traffic resulting from the expanded pipeline on our southern resident killer whales will be “high magnitude, high probability and significant.” We responded to Kinder Morgan’s application by releasing the preliminary results of our Salish Sea Spill Mapping project with our partners at Raincoast Conservation Foundation, showing what a Kinder Morgan oil spill could look like. The bottom line is this: oil can cover long distances quickly, and a spill anywhere in the Salish Sea would impact much of the south coast: our beaches, our national parks, our waterfront property – and our killer whales.

Meanwhile, a coal terminal proposed in Surrey would send 8 million tonnes of coal each year on open barges down the Fraser River and through the Strait of Georgia to Texada Island, bound for export to Asian markets. When burned, this coal would be responsible for about 17 million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year – more than a quarter of BC’s total annual emissions.

And then we have Enbridge Northern Gateway, a project that would ship supertankers laden with toxic diluted bitumen from the tar sands through the largest intact coastal temperate rainforest on the planet. It’s also a project that is opposed by the majority of British Columbians, and that has been formally rejected by the Government of BC, the Union of BC Municipalities and over 100 First Nations. It has lit a fire in BC’s environmental movement that harkens back to the days of Clayoquot Sound, and faced massive community resistance from residents of Northern BC – many of whom are today vowing to do whatever it takes to stop Northern Gateway from being built.

And that’s why, dear readers, this will in fact be a positive post and will escape a title along the lines of “Merry Pipemas, Mr. Grinch”. All of these reckless projects are ultimately about using BC to export fossil fuels – and climate change – to the world in order to increase the profits of an already wealthy industry. BC carries the risk – to our environment, our economy, our communities, our health and our reputation – and doesn’t get the rewards. And for this reason and countless others, these projects have met with determined, diverse and organized opposition. British Columbians are standing up for themselves, and for this amazing corner of the earth we are so lucky to call home – and will continue to do so whatever politicians in Ottawa and Victoria decide. We have a different vision for our future and we will stand together to make it a reality.

So for our part, with our Save the Salish Sea campaign, we want to highlight the combined impacts of these projects: the risks from the sheer number of ships jostling for position in our crowded waters; of everyday impacts on marine life even in the absence of an accident; of the total ‘carbon spill’ that will result when all these fossil fuels are burned. It’s high time everyone – citizens, campaigners, and governments – paid more attention to that big picture threat.

I am grateful to all of you who are stepping up and getting involved, whether you’re sending emails to decision makers, coming out to town hall meetings, or quietly bending the ear of your neighbour at a holiday party. It all counts... and it all deserves a toast! So, here’s to you all! Wishing you and yours the very best for the holiday season, and we look forward to working together to Save the Salish Sea in the New Year.

The greenest city… or the biggest coal exporter in North America?

Port Metro Vancouver is currently considering an application from Fraser Surrey Docks to build a coal facility at its terminal in Surrey, designed to handle coal from United States producers who are struggling to find export routes south of the border. 

When complete, the coal terminal would be responsible for about 17 million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year – more than a quarter of BC’s total annual emissions. Combined with an already approved expansion at the Neptune facilities in North Vancouver and recent upgrades at Delta’s Westshore Terminal, a green light for Fraser Surrey Docks would make Metro Vancouver the biggest coal exporter in North America. Pretty hard to reconcile with the vision many of us share for Vancouver: a clean, healthy and beautiful city and a global environmental leader.

The Fraser Surrey Docks project will directly threaten the health of our communities with coal dust and diesel particulates from the coal trains and barges that will transport the coal through the Lower Mainland, and past the Sechelt Peninsula, the East coast of Vancouver Island, Denman, Hornby and Lasqueti Islands, on its way to a new coal transfer facility on Texada Island.

The project has faced significant opposition from concerned citizens, local governments, health authorities and environmental groups – about both the impacts of the proposal itself, and the flaws in Port Metro Vancouver’s review of it. Find out more about Georgia Strait Alliance’s concerns in our letter to the Port. 

Port Metro Vancouver has given the public 30 days to comment on the Fraser Surrey Docks environmental impact assessment, and we are urging people to use this opportunity to share their concerns about the project.

Together with our partners at the Wilderness Committee, we've created a handy letter-writing tool for you to use. Please take action now, and ask Port Metro Vancouver to say no to the Fraser Surrey Docks proposal, for the sake our climate and our communities.

Kick-starting cross-border organizing to protect the Salish Sea

I’m writing this from a ferry in the middle of the Georgia Strait, on my way back to Vancouver from our cross-border town hall about fossil fuel exports in the Salish Sea.

Talking at the town hall, with the tanker route
and the San Juan Island meeting in the background
Photo by Megan Spencer

A few hours ago, I was standing on a bluff just outside Victoria overlooking Haro Strait, speaking to concerned residents about the Kinder Morgan pipeline. At the same moment, allies across the border were holding their own town hall meeting about fossil fuels, just 13 kilometres across the Kinder Morgan tanker route, on San Juan Island in Washington. 

We were there to highlight the combined impacts of all the fossil fuel projects currently proposed for the Salish Sea, learn lessons from campaigns on both sides of the border, and kick-start a new wave of cross-border organizing to prevent the Salish Sea from being turned into a global carbon corridor.

We heard from Eoin at the Wilderness Committee about how community campaigns against coal in the Lower Mainland have blossomed in recent months, inspired by successes south of the border. I spoke about the environmental impacts of an oil spill in the Georgia Strait, and how unprepared we are to deal with a major spill of conventional crude at current levels of traffic, let alone a six-fold increase in tankers carrying diluted bitumen. A Victoria whale watching company, Orca Spirit, expressed their concerns about increasing tanker traffic, given their reliance on a vibrant, healthy ocean for their income. Torrance from the Wilderness Committee emphasized that the Salish Sea is one ecosystem and one climate, and we need to treat it that way if we are to be successful in our organizing.

Signing the petition to Premier Clark & WA Governor Inslee
Photo by Megan Spencer

We then made a cross-channel phone call to Stephanie from Friends of the San Juans, who shared the inspiring story of how a diverse coalition managed to defeat 3 coal export projects in the Pacific Northwest, and mobilize 100,000 people to speak out against the expansion of the Gateway Pacific Terminal at Cherry Point. Folks in Victoria shared stories and asked questions of their counterparts on San Juan and vice versa.

We wrapped up by pledging to continue to work together and find new ways to link up citizens who share these concerns to take action and put pressure on decision-makers on both sides of the border, and signing a petition to Premier Christy Clark and Washington Governor Jay Inslee, asking them to work more closely together to protect the Salish Sea. Watch this space to find out how you can sign it and get involved.

It was a really inspiring day, and a perfect way to launch our Save the Salish Sea campaign on Vancouver Island!

PS. Check out some more lovely photos from the meeting on our Facebook page.