Friday, February 21, 2014 When U.S. President Obama met with Prime Minister Harper earlier this week, he highlighted the importance of considering climate change in key energy decisions, like the Keystone XL, but was polite enough not to highlight that Canadian energy decisions do their best to ignore climate change.
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Environmental Law Alert Blog: How Pioneer Forest was saved
Thursday, February 20, 2014 In June 2012 word went around our community that Pioneer Forest park – heavily used from 1966 – was going to be sold. The information about the pending sale of the park found its way to some concerned citizens who were not about to let this
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Park Amendment bill paves the way for industrial exploration?
Friday, February 14, 2014 The BC Parks Service says that the provincial parks and conservancies are a “public trust” for the “protection of natural environments for the inspiration, use and enjoyment of the public.” These noble sentiments are difficult to square with Bill 4, the “Park Amendment Act, 2014”, introduced
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Strict timelines for environmental assessments, but not for government
Friday, February 14, 2014 It feels a bit like déjà vu. Once again we’re faced with a federal government study that was highly relevant to the environmental assessment of the Enbridge pipelines and tankers project, but which was not considered in the assessment because it was released too late. Like
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: The world is better when charities are heard
Friday, February 7, 2014 You may have heard our sister organization, the West Coast Environmental Law Research Foundation, mentioned last night on CBC’s Power and Politics; Power and Politics discussed whether current audits of environmental charities were politically driven. In the current political climate it is important to remember that
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: On a “recycling facility”, Hazardous Waste and the Fraser River
Friday, February 7, 2014 Tuesday night (February 4th) the City of Chilliwack passed a bylaw intended to allow the development of a controversial hazardous waste recycling facility immediately adjacent to the Fraser River. That’s a mistake on so many levels – but the law allows local governments to make mistakes.
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Some applause for administrative penalties
Tuesday, February 4, 2014 A current BC Ministry of Environment public consultation on "administrative penalties" under the Environmental Management Act and the Integrated Pest Management Act is a good thing for environmental enforcement in BC. Administrative penalties fill a gap between the government's main enforcement tools – charges and tickets.
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Engineers leading the way on climate change
Monday, February 3, 2014 Our 2011 report, Professionals and Climate Change, made the case that climate change fundamentally impacts the work and ethical obligations of many different types of professions, and that the professional associations that govern those professions need to recognize that. We are excited to see two recent
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Why the NEB downplayed the impact of a major bitumen spill
Wednesday, January 29, 2014 So how did the National Energy Board’s Joint Review Panel (JRP) considering Enbridge’s proposed pipelines and tankers project conclude that a catastrophic spill of diluted bitumen (untreated oil sands oil, diluted so that it can be transported by pipe) on BC’s North Coast would only have
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: BC government’s forestry inspections target the little guy
Thursday, January 23, 2014 When the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations (FLNRO) tries to detect violations of BC’s forest laws, do they put their efforts into detecting violations by large logging companies or small-scale operators? It turns out that small-scale operators and individuals get over half of
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Canadians have a right to know about fracking, tar sands chemicals
Friday, January 17, 2014 Canadians may soon know more about the chemicals being used to extract bitumen from Alberta’s tar sands, thanks to West Coast Environmental Law and our colleagues at Environmental Defence and the Association Québécoise de Lutte Contre la Pollution Atmosphérique (AQLPA). But, unless the federal government can
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: NEB’s thumbs up ignores wall of opposition that will stop Enbridge
Thursday, January 16, 2014 The National Energy Board Joint Review Panel, in its recent report endorsing the Enbridge Pipelines and Tankers Project, argued the economic benefits of the project would trump the risks to the envrionment and all the public and First Nations opposition. But the fact is that it
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Three New Year’s resolutions for the Earth
Monday, January 6, 2014 The beginning of the year is a good time for planning, setting goals. And with 2014 shaping up to be an important year for environmentally minded Canadians, here, briefly, are our top 3 resolutions for the coming year. The beginning of the year is a good
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Forestry in BC – few inspections, low consequences
Friday, December 20, 2013 We’ve reviewed the Ministry of Forest, Lands and Natural Resource Operations Compliance and Enforcement Annual Reports from 1998 to 2012. And what we've found raises a whole lot of questions – dramatic declines in inspections and in the fines imposed on the forest industry, but stable
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: BC government outs environmental debtors
Thursday, December 12, 2013 The BC government yesterday released the names of 18 businesses and 155 individuals who have not paid court fines for environmental offences committed between 2004 and 2012. Collectively, these individuals owe $1.54 million that the courts ordered paid to the Province or the Habitat Conservation Trust.
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Info Commissioner says environmental info should be more available
Thursday, December 5, 2013 If a disaster strikes in the forest, the question is not does it make a sound, but does the government have a legal duty to tell someone? Commissioner Elizabeth Denham deserves credit for her recent report examining the obligation of government to release information that is
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Who is responsible for climate change?
Thursday, November 21, 2013 A new paper from noted climate scientist, Richard Heede lists 90 privately and publicly owned fossil fuel and cement companies, and a handful of nation states, that are collectively responsible for 2/3 of the total global emissions of greenhouse gases to date. We may all be
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Canada gutting its international reputation along with its environmental laws
Thursday, November 14, 2013 Last month, Anna Johnston joined policy makers, government officials, lawyers, academics, and professionals from across the continent at a session held by the commission in Washington, D.C. The hot-button issue? How Canada’s weakening of its environmental laws is flouting its legal obligations under the environmental side
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Should industry frack with our water?
Thursday, November 14, 2013 Hydraulic fracturing – which uses and pollutes a whole lot of water – should be a major discussion point within the public consultations on a new Water Sustainabilty Act (taking place until this Friday, November 15th). BC’s Environment Minister, Mary Polak, has argued that the provincial
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Who benefits from water in BC?
Friday, November 8, 2013 The current public consultation on a new BC Water Sustainability Act represents a perfect opportunity to ask: who should benefit from BC’s water? Because right now the proposed Water Sustainability Act focuses on ensuring that private benefits from using water continue, locking in a private-interest focus
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