West Coast Environmental Law Association, along with a great many other Canadians, is disappointed that Bill C-38, the Budget Implementation Act, with its various attacks on Canada’s environment and the laws that protect it, has passed the House of Commons.
It has become a platitude to call transparency and accountability cornerstones of democracy, but the extent to which these “cornerstones” are respected under Canada’s and B.C.’s environmental assessment laws will be put to the test in four legal challenges to last month’s approvals of BC Hydro’s proposed Site C dam.
Some dam background
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| Photo credit Graham Osborne |
Recently the BC Water and Waste Association (BCWWA) posted a video of a short talk that West Coast Staff Lawyer, Deborah Carlson, gave last June to their Climate Change Committee. The talk, which is intended to be a first video resource for the planners and engineers that are members of the BCWWA, looked at the question: are local governments and professionals dealing with water management more likely to be sued if they seriously examine for climate impacts?
Several people have asked us what the proposed Water Sustainability Act (on which the BC government is consulting the public until this Friday, November 15th) says about hydraulic fracturing (a.k.a. fracking). The Water Sustainability Act is about deciding how water should be used and protected in BC. So hydraulic fracturing – which uses and pollutes a whole lot of water – should certainly be a major discussion point within the public consultations on a new Act.
According to the BC Government, the Mountain Pine Beetle epidemic – a direct result of climate change – cost British Columbia billions in lost timber value alone – not counting environmental and other damages.
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| Chief Martin Louie of the Nadleh Whut'en First Nation addresses reporters |
Earlier this month, Peter Frumhoff, Richard Heede and Naomi Oreskes published an exciting article entitled “The climate responsibilities of industrial carbon producers” in the journal Climatic Change, suggesting that fossil fuel companies need to take greater responsibility for the harm caused by climate change.
