As I posted previously, the biggest take-away message for Canada and BC from the BP oilspill in the Gulf of Mexico is that oil and gas development at sea is so inherently risky that even strong environmental laws regulating the activity cannot remove the risks of a catastrophic oil spill. In an isolated, pristine ecosystem the best environmental law would be a ban on any drilling or transportation of oil.
West Coast Environmental Law Association was lucky to have four talented students join us this summer from law schools across the country. As the season winds down, our summer law students share their reflections on an exciting few months learning about the ins and outs of environmental law.
Alex Kirby
As Shakespeare wrote more than 400 years ago, “Action is eloquence.” And now we see some eloquent action, more than forty years since the first Trudeau government declared a moratorium on oil tanker traffic for British Columbia’s North Coast. We think it’s poetic justice that this year the new Trudeau government has promised to make the protection permanent.
I started as a summer student at WCEL in the beginning of May, and quickly found out how fast things move here. Within days of starting, I was working on a project related to the controversial Kinder Morgan pipeline and much criticized National Energy Board hearings. The work was perfect for me.
In December 2012 the Environmental Law Centre at the University of Victoria published a collection of environmental law reform proposals, with contributions from a variety of leading environmental lawyers, which included a number essays from West Coast Environmental Law.
Summer can be a time of renewal and relaxation. Kids have a break from school. Teachers get a break from kids. Families go on vacation – camping, fishing and swimming in lakes, rivers or oceans. People test their will against the sun (and the sun always wins).
To what extent does our society afford us a right to freedom of expression?
There is nothing but bleak news in the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico currently destroying livelihoods and the environment in Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana and possibly beyond. There are reports circulating that that spill could quickly become much worse – and we must hope that these scenarios do not materialize and that the well is quickly capped. Our thoughts are with ecosystems, as well as with the communities and livelihoods, that are being devastated.
It’s budget season, and federal government departments are releasing reports on their spending for 2014-15 and projections for what they plan to spend in 2015-16. Public Works and Government Services Canada’s annual report on federal advertising activities, released April 2nd, is making headlines across the country.
On May 18, the BC government announced that a mobile air quality monitoring station has arrived in Peace River Country. Here’s more about the Mobile Air Quality Monitoring Laboratory (MAQML). Surprisingly, the release came from the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, and not the Ministry of Environment, which is responsible for protecting air quality.