Tens of thousands resist LNG expansion during Tilbury Expansion comment period

VANCOUVER / UNCEDED xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh AND səlilwətaɬ TERRITORIES — Over 14,000 people across B.C. have signed a petition opposing the Tilbury LNG project in Delta on the Fraser River. 121 people voiced their concerns at the public consultation, while hundreds more wrote letters to the Environmental Assessment office (EAO) against the expansion. The public consultation closed last Monday at midnight.
Thousands of members of the public have raised their concerns and said no to Tilbury LNG: will the EAO and the B.C. government listen?” - Isabel Siu-Zmuidzinas, Climate Campaigner.
Anna Barford, Canada Shipping Campaigner with Stand.earth, based in Vancouver said, "Concerned community members have unequivocally sent a message that banking on LNG is too risky. Expanding tanker traffic through Tilbury LNG will lock in worldwide use of highly polluting fossil fuels for decades to come, and needs to be stopped. Now that this EAO comment period is completed, it is time to let your elected representatives and the banks know that LNG is a disaster-in-waiting.”
Dr. Melissa Lem, President of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) said, “The rapidly expanding liquefied natural gas industry in B.C. is already having negative effects on health and healthcare access, putting people in this province on the losing end. If the BC government continues on the path of benefitting major polluters, with approvals for projects like Tilbury LNG, we need to be collectively preparing for crippling healthcare and climate costs that will far exceed any potential short-term LNG revenue.”
“In the face of U.S. tariffs, B.C. has a real opportunity to build a diverse and resilient economy. Tilbury LNG takes us in the wrong direction. Moving forward with this project will only commit us to more climate disasters, raise our bills and leave us dependent on a dying and destructive sector. Thousands of members of the public have raised their concerns and said no to Tilbury LNG: will the EAO and the B.C. government listen?” asked Isabel Siu-Zmuidzinas, Climate Campaigner with the Wilderness Committee.
Methane, a fossil fuel, is the primary constituent in LNG and is responsible for one third of global warming. Fracking contaminates vast amounts of B.C. freshwater in an already water-stressed region and harms public health.
There are the six proposed LNG export projects in B.C. – at various phases in the regulatory or construction process – as well as the associated pipelines needed to transport fracked gas to the export terminals.
Natural gas is a fossil fuel and methane is the main component. Methane is the second-largest contributor to climate warming after carbon dioxide, but it’s 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide over a 20-year span. LNG is gas that has been supercooled into its liquid form, so it can be exported on tankers to other jurisdictions where it is re-gasified and burned.
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For more information, please contact:
Isabel Siu-Zmuidzinas | Climate Campaigner, Wilderness Committee
(781) 572-2795, isabel@wildernesscommittee.org
Anna Barford | Canada Shipping Campaigner, Stand.earth.
(604) 757-7029, anna@stand.earth (Pacific Time)
Arin de Hoog | Communications Specialist, Oil, Gas and Shipping, Stand.earth.
(646) 197-329, arin.dehoog@stand.earth