Ecojustice files application for emergency protection, is prepared to go to court for caribou
CALGARY — Three environmental groups have joined with four Alberta First Nations to urge the federal environment minister to provide emergency protection for caribou herds in northeastern Alberta, Ecojustice said today.
As the Alberta government ramps up its oil sands public relations campaign, AEN member groups weigh in, and call on the government to focus on action rather than advertising. The Pembina Institute's Danielle Droitsch suggests that Alberta should pay heed to the mistakes made by BP and direct its energies towards aggressive action rather than public relations:
In the case of oil sands, public relations will go only so far to countering a growing image problem. It will likely take a dramatic gesture as suggested by the premier's council for the public in both Canada and the U.S. to take notice.
John Bennett, Executive Director of Sierra Club Canada, suggests that:
If the Alberta government really wants to change public perception it will take a lot more than an ad campaign and a website. Actions speak louder than words.
Greenpeace Canada, Sierra Club Prairie, Keepers of the Athabasca and Global Forest Watch Canada today released two databases compiled by prominent scientist Dr. Kevin Timoney, one with more than 6,500 incidents, regarding tar sands operations that raise serious concerns about how the Alberta government allows oil companies to operate in this province.
Despite the opposition of public interest groups, including AEN members Ecojustice, Sierra Club Canada, and the Environmental Law Centre, and a recommendation from the Senate Finance Committee, the Senate voted to pass the budget bill (C-9) including provisions to weaken the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act. The Environmental Law Centre's Adam Driedzic weighs in on the impacts on the environmental assessment process and the "exclusion of the public from decision-making on matters of public interest."
You don’t have to be an environmentalist to be concerned with this one. For the second straight year, the federal budget bill passed with Trojan horse provisions unrelated to the budget. The perennial target is the federal environmental assessment regime, but the real victim is the public.
OTTAWA – Today, Sierra Club Canada wrote to the Canadian Chamber of Commerce asking it to withdraw the template letter it recently distributed to its members. Chamber members were asked to send the letter to Senators urging them to oppose Bill C-311, the Climate Change Accountability Act. The letter is a classic example of doublespeak. While it claims "we must respond to climate change," it suggests Canada do it by developing our energy sector. In other words, vote against science-based emissions targets because we must expand oil, gas, coal and the tar sands.
Sierra Club is hosting a fundraiser music event where local artists, musicians, poets, and community members will unite to celebrate and advocate holistic integration between art/music, social justice and green living.
Assessment law loopholes need to be closed, not created
OTTAWA — Canada’s environmental assessment law should be reformed through a scheduled parliamentary review, not weakened through piecemeal amendments buried in a budget bill, Ecojustice and Sierra Club Canada said today.
“Parliament should close loopholes in environmental laws, not create new ones to suit the tar sands and other extractive industries,” said Stephen Hazell, Ecojustice lawyer. “The Senate Finance Committee has an opportunity to avoid creating new legal loopholes and prevent catastrophes such as Deepwater Horizon from happening in Canada.”
EDMONTON - Despite widespread concerns about treaty rights violations, health concerns and environmental impacts from existing Tar Sands projects, the government of Alberta will be considering once again another proposal for a huge tar sands mine and toxic tailings lake. The project, proposed by oil and gas giant TOTAL, is set to go to hearing on September 21st, 2010.
AEN members weighed in on Friday's guilty verdict in the Syncrude ducks case. Both Sierra Club Canada and Ecojustice applauded the verdict, suggesting that the verdict further confirms the need to eliminate the toxic tailings ponds. The Pembina Institute's Simon Dyer, while calling the verdict "significant" and "positive", raises questions about the deterrent value and impact of the verdict in the broader context of the oil sands tailings ponds:
Since the incident, the amount of tailings (the toxic liquid waste produced by the oil sands extraction process) has steadily increased in volume by 200 million litres, or 80 Olympic-sized swimming pools, every day to now cover an area of 170 km2. It raises the question: Did the ducks die in vain?
OTTAWA – Syncrude Canada Ltd. was found guilty today on federal and provincial charges and may now face fines of up to $800 000.
“It is great to see Syncrude charged as guilty under federal and provincial laws," said Sheila Muxlow, Interim Director of Sierra Club Prairie. "I just hope the federal and provincial governments see that it's time to shut these projects down and begin the transition towards a clean, green, renewable energy economy."
