Environment, resources & sustainability

A flood of questions: As southern BC reels from epic flood, former provincial flood official says independent expert needs to investigate

Dec 1, 2021
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Work at British Columbia’s River Forecast Centre is a little like trench warfare, long stretches of waiting followed by heart-racing action.  As a fresh recruit at the forecast centre, Allan Chapman’s first big action occurred only months into the job. In October 2003, an atmospheric river or “pineapple express” slammed into the southwest coast hitting… View Article

LNG exports will doom BC’s emissions reduction goals

Nov 26, 2021
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When the provincial government announced its CleanBC Roadmap to 2030 on Oct. 25, conspicuously absent was any mention of BC’s LNG export aspirations, which will increase emissions from the oil and gas sector and likely doom any chance of meeting BC’s emissions reduction targets. The LNG Canada project under construction in Kitimat includes a gas-fired… View Article

BC oil and gas royalty review seriously flawed without consideration of water

Nov 25, 2021
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Open letter to the provincial government As prospects grow for intensified gas extraction in our province, we applaud the provincial government’s decision to review British Columbia’s decades-old oil and gas royalty regime. This once in a generation review is essential, given the significant threats posed to the climate and the environment by continued fossil fuel… View Article

Old-growth deferrals and the elephant in the room: we’re out of trees to cut thanks to failed provincial policies

Nov 12, 2021
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No one should be surprised that the British Columbia government’s decision to potentially defer logging in 26,000 square kilometres of old-growth forest angered many and pleased few. First Nation leaders were highly critical of the incredibly short, 30-day turnaround that the government imposed on them to respond to the deferral proposals, the paltry funding provided… View Article

A challenge to the 44th Parliament: Make the global fossil fuel phase-out your legacy

Oct 28, 2021
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In the past five years, the federal government has brought in important climate policies — including a national carbon price and coal power phase-out — that have helped flatten Canada’s emissions curve. On the other hand, this government has championed fossil fuel extraction at home and abroad, exemplified most clearly by the purchase of the… View Article

Five lessons from BC’s horrific wildfire season

Oct 7, 2021
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In British Columbia, climate change is no longer something abstract for the future. The late June heat dome event—that claimed 500-600 lives—and the wildfires that followed confirm that climate change is a clear and present danger that’s not going away any time soon. As of September 28, some 867,000 hectares of land had burned, making… View Article
Smoke stack

For climate’s sake, Canada Pension Plan needs to take a serious look at its investments

Sep 10, 2021
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The Canada Pension Plan (CPP) manages the pensions of 20 million Canadians. In a recent Corporate Mapping Project report, we found that the CPP has increased the number of shares it owns in fossil fuel companies since Canada signed the Paris Agreement five years ago. The CPP’s total fossil fuel investments across its entire portfolio… View Article

More than intentions needed for BC forests

Jun 29, 2021
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So, our provincial government “intends” to do something about the sorry state of our forests and forest industry. It intends to protect more old-growth forests. It intends to see more high-value wood products made in British Columbia. It intends to make rural communities more secure. And it intends to do all this while ending practices… View Article