As communities contend with the growing threat of wildfires, heat waves, floods and other climate impacts, the costs of climate change continue to become clearer – and more alarming – to Canadians. Just this summer, we mourned with the residents of Jasper after the wildfire that burned through the iconic mountain town.
With taxpayers likely to be on the hook for a substantial amount of the costs of rebuilding Jasper, Lytton and other impacted communities, it’s time to ask: can we afford the financial and human crisis that is climate change?
The Sue Big Oil campaign is a collaboration of British Columbians concerned about the harmful impacts of climate change on BC communities and the skyrocketing costs for local governments and taxpayers. Given the role of the fossil fuel industry in knowingly causing climate change and blocking policies and actions to address it, we urge our local governments to take legal action to force the world’s largest fossil fuel companies to pay their fair share of climate costs.
We’ve seen how lawsuits against tobacco and pharmaceutical giants have protected taxpayers and changed public attitudes towards cigarettes and opioids. Suing the world’s largest oil companies will ensure that BC communities and local governments have the resources needed to pay for rising climate costs, while making the fossil fuel industry limit its climate-destroying practices.
The campaign is going into its third year this summer, and we asked Andrew Gage – Staff Lawyer at West Coast Environmental Law who is leading the Sue Big Oil campaign – about the pressing climate-related costs facing BC communities, the progress and potential of the campaign, and the immediate actions and strategies planned to accelerate this critical initiative. Here's what he had to say:
What are the most pressing climate-related costs facing BC communities that the Sue Big Oil campaign aims to address, and how would holding Big Oil accountable benefit taxpayers and local governments?
The ways that climate change is harming our communities, here and now, are many. The disasters we’ve seen in recent years – floods, wildfires, heat waves – are the most visible and frightening. They are very expensive, and it’s almost always more expensive to clean up after disasters than to spend the money needed to keep us safe in the first place.
One of the challenges of preparing our communities for climate change is that we often can’t predict which climate impacts will hit us first. That’s part of the hidden urgency. For example, if you had asked me in the spring of 2021 whether heat waves were an imminent risk for most of BC, I would definitely have said no. But in June of that same year, we had 600+ people die due to extreme heat, mostly in the Lower Mainland. The economic costs to British Columbians of 2021 are in the $10-15 billion range.
There’s a lot of variation between communities. Wildfire safety is front of mind in many communities, while others are already dealing with coastal erosion costs that they would not have but for climate change.
One largely invisible climate cost that most communities are facing in the near future is completely rebuilding their stormwater systems – but without major upgrades, we’ll be facing widespread flooding in many communities. Storms that previously came once every 500 years are now coming every few decades. That’s why we need to install much larger storm drains, at a cost running into the billions of dollars in many communities.
Can you share a recent milestone that highlights the progress and potential of the Sue Big Oil campaign, and what excites you most about its future?
The City of Burnaby signing on was hugely exciting. This is not just because it is by far the largest city to do so, but also because initially Council was skeptical about joining, and joined after doing the hard work to understand the campaign. This win emphasizes that elected officials are well placed to understand the costs of climate change, and when you explain to them that we really do have a chance to hold fossil fuel giants accountable – not just Canadian companies but the global ones – they are often ready to be leaders.
I’m also so excited by the passionate volunteers who are talking to their neighbours, meeting with local councillors and working to identify the climate costs that their communities cannot afford to pay. They understand that solving climate change requires us to challenge the illusion that fossil fuel companies are profitable.
What immediate actions and strategies are planned to accelerate the Sue Big Oil campaign, and how crucial is donor support in ensuring its success?
We will be running a Sue Big Oil 101 session in late October to bring yet more volunteers in to help on the campaign. If you sign up to volunteer, you’ll receive an invite.
Volunteers have arranged to present to the Municipality of North Cowichan in August, and in Nelson in September. Other regional action teams are meeting with their elected officials and educating their neighbours about the need for legal action against major fossil fuel companies.
Burnaby has given us momentum in larger municipalities, and we are working with our existing volunteers in Surrey, Coquitlam and Vancouver to continue building support. We are also hoping to launch new teams in Richmond, Abbotsford and elsewhere in the near future.
Big Oil should not profit while we pay the price in heat waves, floods and wildfires. Help us hold top climate polluters accountable for the damages caused by their products.
Find out more at www.SueBigOil.ca
Your support is crucial in helping us push forward with these plans and ensuring the success of the Sue Big Oil campaign. Please make a donation today to help us keep the momentum going. Thank you for standing with us in this fight for climate justice.
West Coast Environmental Law Program Spotlight Series:
- Strong Canadian Environmental Laws with Anna Johnston
- Liveable Sustainable Communities with Deborah Carlson
- Sue Big Oil with Andrew Gage