Wilderness Committee Climate Campaigner Ben West says that the proposed Raven mine should be seen as a litmus test for whether the BC government under Christy Clark is serious about taking action to prevent climate change. The Raven Coal development is being put forward by Vancouver-based Compliance Energy and is currently in the comment period of environmental assessment. This week there have been packed public meetings about the project in both Courtenay and Port Alberni showing strong local opposition to the project. The last of three public meetings takes place tonight in Union Bay, close to the proposed site of the mine.

"Having been at all the public meetings on Vancouver Island this week, it's clear that local opposition to the proposed Raven Coal Mine is through the roof," said Tria Donaldson, Pacific Coast Campaigner for the Wilderness Committee.

"You can't say both that you are serious about stopping climate change and that you support expanding coal mining - this is the dirtiest of the fossil fuels and it needs to be left in the ground, it's just that simple," said Ben West.

The Raven Coal project alone would result in 80 million tonnes of carbon emissions into the atmosphere. According to a recent Canadian Centre for Policy Alternative report entitled 'Peddling Carbon': "more than 25 million tonnes of coal left BC ports in 2008, which count for another 52 megtonnes (Mt) of CO2 emissions in export markets (BC's own emissions total 97.3 Mt of CO2) ... a report for the BC government cites 20 billion tonnes of coal reserves in BC, equivalent to another 41.5 gigatonnes CO2".

"To put that in perspective, every person in Victoria and Nanaimo would need to drive hummers all the way around the world at the same time to release the same amount of carbon dioxide as this one stupid coal mine," said West. "If this goes ahead, it indicates that the Clark government doesn't take its responsibility to tackle climate change seriously. Most people would expect a lot better from the home of North America's first carbon tax," said West.

The Wilderness Committee is urging people from around BC to weigh in with their concerns regarding this project. Almost 2000 letters have already been written during the federal component of the environmental assessment, many of which highlighted the need to play a responsible role in the world in light of concerns related to climate change.

"This is also an issue that should concern everyone in BC - it's about whether or not the province takes seriously its global responsibilities and commitments to act on climate change," said Donaldson.

The International Energy Agency reported this week that global CO2 emissions last year were the highest ever on record.

Stills and B- Roll footage from Friday's Public meeting will be available upon request.