SOUTHERN INTERIOR, BC – The Wilderness Committee is launching a three-day tour of BC’s southern interior region this week, to hold a series of public forums that will tackle the growing issue of natural gas production in the province.

The first forum will be held this evening in Kamloops, with subsequent events on Tuesday, April 9th in Salmon Arm and on Wednesday, April 10th in Vernon. The discussions will address the serious environmental and social implications of hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”), a controversial method of extraction that has become increasingly prevalent in BC.

“Natural gas development is part of a critical conversation emerging here in BC, and it’s a conversation that all British Columbians should be a part of,” said Joe Foy, National Campaign Director with the Wilderness Committee.

Fracking operations have moved into the spotlight internationally in recent years, as more and more media attention is being paid to frightening impacts such as water use and contamination, human health hazards and greenhouse gas emissions. Here in BC, natural gas development is being heralded as a primary driver of the province’s economic future, with the provincial government hinging a large part of its resource development plans on liquefied natural gas (LNG) infrastructure and export terminals proposed for the BC coast.

“BC’s plans for natural gas and LNG development make a mockery out of the province’s 2007 greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets,” said Eoin Madden, the Wilderness Committee’s Climate Change Campaigner.

“Instead of charging ahead with these energy-intensive fossil fuel projects, BC should be supporting cleaner alternatives and green jobs to help steer us away from a climate catastrophe,” Madden said.

The series of public forums is being co-hosted by local groups in the region, including the Thompson Rivers University Faculty Association Human Rights Committee, Council of Canadians (Kamloops Chapter), KAIROS-Salmon Arm, Shuswap Environmental Action Society and the Sustainable Environment Network Society.

Event details:

Kamloops
Monday, April 8 – 7:00 p.m.
Thompson Rivers University, Room CT 200
900 McGill Rd.

Salmon Arm
Tuesday, April 9 – 7:00 p.m.
United Church Hall
450 Okanagan Ave. SE

Vernon
Wednesday, April 10 – 7:00 p.m.
Schubert Centre
3505 30th Ave.