January 4, 2013

Happy New Year to all of you! 2013 will be full of climate wins – I can feel it! This month the Enbridge Northern Gateway hearings come to Victoria and Vancouver, and we will have a chance to have our voices heard, both inside and outside, on the disastrous impacts of this pipeline project. We wrapped up 2012 with seven successful town hall meetings throughout the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley, where community members came together to discuss the dangers of the Kinder Morgan pipeline project. The momentum is rising against this pipeline project and we know we can stop it.

At the same time, this year is not starting without some sadness. Ben West, the Wilderness Committee's Healthy Communities Campaigner and the lead on our climate-based work, is leaving the organization after five great years. For many of you, hearing Ben speak or seeing him on the news is what motivated you to get involved. Ben was here when we first found out that tanker traffic in the Burrard Inlet was scheduled to triple with no public input. Ben got us all riled up at Earth Day rallies and Climate Justice events about the deadly impacts that tar sands expansion and newly proposed pipelines would have on our lands and waters.

These are big shoes to fill – there is no doubt about that! However, we look forward to working side-by-side with Ben in the future as he continues to do critical work within the environmental movement in BC. And we look forward to the opportunity to hire someone new, as we to continue to grow and strengthen the movement in this province opposing these types of development projects.

To you, our climate supporters, we will continue to bring you the latest information and provide you with more opportunities to take action and help stop the road to climate destruction. Now, more than ever, we can see a win on Kinder Morgan and Enbridge in our future – and we need everyone we can get to come on side.

Thanks to all of you for your continued support, here's to 2013!

Joe Foy | National Campaign Director

Photo: Ben West speaks on stage at the Defend Our Coast rally in Victoria, BC, October 2012.