Weakened Environmental Standards Promote Coal Mines, Climate Change
Thursday, March 11, 2010
The federal government’s announcement that it will “streamline” Environmental Assessments for the resource industry will spell disaster for the environment,” said Ben West, of the Wilderness Committee.
“Environmental assessments on major energy projects, including new coal mines, will no longer be handled by Environment Canada. Instead, the Canadian Energy Board and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission will take over those responsibilities, even though they lack expertise and their budgets are set to shrink over the next three years,” said West.
As the federal government moves to speed up the approval of coal mines the Wilderness Committee has written a report that explores what these new mines would mean for Canada. This new report entitled "Coal, Canada and Climate Change" examines the danger of increased coal mining and coal exports in the era of climate change.
“What the federal government is calling streamlining is shorthand for ‘lower environmental standards’ and will mean more industrial projects, including coal mines, being developed with less scrutiny. We are seriously concerned about the climate change implications of reducing environmental standards while expanding Canada's coal mining and coal exports," said West.
"Globally, Canada is increasingly seen as a bad guy in the fight against climate change, and our federal government’s decision to move faster to approve new coal mines is blatantly irresponsible. In this day and age we should be shutting down coal mines not greasing the skids for more," said West.
Coal is the most carbon intensive form of fossil fuel and BC’s Deltaport is the largest seaborne coal export facility in North America, currently exporting over 20 million tonnes of coal a year. Half of that coal is for energy production and the other half is for steel production.
The Wilderness Committee is calling for no new coal mines to be approved in Canada, as well as a phase-out of coal for energy production by 2020 and a phase-out of all coal mining and exports by 2050. These recommendations are intended to be in line with the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recommendations that we reach an 80-90% reduction in carbon emissions by 2050.
"There’s no way we can play a responsible role in the world and deal with the climate crisis if we are trying to profit off of the world’s dirtiest fossil fuels. The federal government needs to get serious about transition strategies for affected workers, and needs to start working on environmentally appropriate alternatives to coal right now," said West.
To read the Wilderness Committee Coal reports visit: wildernesscommittee.org/coal
-30-
For more information please contact:
Ben West – Healthy Communities Campaigner, Wilderness Committee – 604-710-5340
As the federal government moves to speed up the approval of coal mines the Wilderness Committee has written a report that explores what these new mines would mean for Canada. This new report entitled "Coal, Canada and Climate Change" examines the danger of increased coal mining and coal exports in the era of climate change.
“What the federal government is calling streamlining is shorthand for ‘lower environmental standards’ and will mean more industrial projects, including coal mines, being developed with less scrutiny. We are seriously concerned about the climate change implications of reducing environmental standards while expanding Canada's coal mining and coal exports," said West.
"Globally, Canada is increasingly seen as a bad guy in the fight against climate change, and our federal government’s decision to move faster to approve new coal mines is blatantly irresponsible. In this day and age we should be shutting down coal mines not greasing the skids for more," said West.
Coal is the most carbon intensive form of fossil fuel and BC’s Deltaport is the largest seaborne coal export facility in North America, currently exporting over 20 million tonnes of coal a year. Half of that coal is for energy production and the other half is for steel production.
The Wilderness Committee is calling for no new coal mines to be approved in Canada, as well as a phase-out of coal for energy production by 2020 and a phase-out of all coal mining and exports by 2050. These recommendations are intended to be in line with the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recommendations that we reach an 80-90% reduction in carbon emissions by 2050.
"There’s no way we can play a responsible role in the world and deal with the climate crisis if we are trying to profit off of the world’s dirtiest fossil fuels. The federal government needs to get serious about transition strategies for affected workers, and needs to start working on environmentally appropriate alternatives to coal right now," said West.
To read the Wilderness Committee Coal reports visit: wildernesscommittee.org/coal
-30-
For more information please contact:
Ben West – Healthy Communities Campaigner, Wilderness Committee – 604-710-5340