Climate and Energy

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Campaign Update

The Sue Big Oil campaign builds on West Coast’s earlier Climate Law in our Hands initiative, which sparked a public conversation in BC about holding major global polluters accountable for their role in the climate crisis.

Since the campaign launch in June 2022, thousands of people have signed the Declaration to Sue Big Oil, asking BC local governments to demand accountability from global fossil fuel companies for climate harms facing communities across British Columbia.

Read about other exciting developments below:

Whose (pipe)line is it anyway? Adventures in jurisdictional wonderland

“Politicians grant the permits, but communities grant permission.” – Justin Trudeau

Eco-lawyers: BC communities should follow New York City’s lead and sue fossil fuel companies

VANCOUVER, BC, Coast Salish Territories – Today’s announcement that New York City is suing fossil fuel companies for local climate impacts is a “game changer” for climate accountability, says West Coast Environmental Law. Following New York’s announcement, West Coast reiterated its calls for BC local governments to take action against fossil fuel companies, including by launching a similar class action.

Climate change culture shift: What if we fought climate change with the passion of the “war on drugs”?

Imagine for a moment that the so-called “war on drugs” focused entirely on addicts, with the manufacturers and sellers of street drugs celebrated as productive members of society who are “just providing a product.”

It’s a fair guess that the manufacturers and sellers of the drugs would advertise their products, spread misinformation about the health risks of the drugs and lobby against restrictions on their use. They would oppose any suggestion that they should help pay for the resulting public healthcare costs, which would eat into their profits.

Climate change culture shift: Talking about Exxon’s share of climate costs increases its financial risk

In 2017 four BC municipalities took the unprecedented step of sending Climate Accountability Letters to Chevron, Exxon and 18 other fossil fuel companies – demanding that these companies pay a fair share of local climate costs.

So what? Isn’t this basically symbolic?

Not if our goal is to make the dramatic culture shift that’s needed to tackle the immense challenge of climate change.

Suppressed report shows hundreds of BC’s fracked gas wells may leak methane, underscores need for public inquiry

VANCOUVER — BC’s Oil and Gas Commission withheld a report from the public for four years showing that 900 gas wells could be leaking methane - a finding that highlights why a public inquiry into oil and gas industry fracking operations is needed.

The Commission published the December 2013 report on its website on November 20 after a copy of the document was leaked.

The document shows that nearly 50 fracked gas wells were leaking methane, a potent greenhouse gas, and that up to 900 gas wells could be leaking and potentially contaminating groundwater sources.

Wildfires & Wild Foods - A night for climate justice

“WE STILL HERE!” belts out JB the First Lady in the Wise Hall. “WE STILL HERE!” echoes the audience. JB, a fierce Nuxalk poet, rapper, singer and activist, was headlining our recent “Wildfires & Wild Foods” fundraiser, a concert and dance intended to raise money to support the Yunesit’in community in Tsilhqot’in Nation territory.

The science behind BC’s forest fires

The 2017 wildfire season in BC was the worst on record, both in terms of the total area burned and the costs associated with fire management and suppression. Many have argued that we should expect to see more forest fire seasons like this past one, due to rising global temperatures, while others argued that there was no proven link between climate change and BC’s forest fires.

Where are the salmon? Orcas want to know

Here we are in the Lower Mainland of BC, on the river that has been referred to as “the world’s greatest salmon river,” a.k.a. the Fraser – or to use one of its more venerable names, the Stó:lō. Salmon and humans have coexisted here for millennia, for hundreds and hundreds of human generations prior to the arrival of European settlers.

NAFTA and climate change: We’ll always have Paris?

This post is Part 2 in a series about NAFTA and its implications on the environment. Read Part 1 here.

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