Umpteenth plea to SAVE BC's FORESTS

Yup I was pushed --again-- to pen another impassioned plea to the BC Govt to save our priceless forest ecosystems -- which are dwindling disastrously due to cont'd CLEARCUT LOGGING:  THE major cause of worsened Climate catastrophes like the insane wildfires we saw this past summer!  No hyperbole needed - all is 100% verifiable.  You too can customize your own message, via https://sierraclub.bc.ca

                   Pic by me:

My fave old-growth

forest grove in BC

Dear Minister Ralston and Premier Eby, 

The 3-year anniversary of your govt's promises to implement all 14 recommendations of the Old Growth Strategic Report has come & gone without meaningful measures taken.  This is unacceptable, since the extreme Climate impacts of 2023 -- & cont'd clearcut logging -- have further imperiled BC's communities & globally-rare rainforest ecosystems.

It's now crystal-clear that protecting BC's last intact unlogged primary, old-growth & mature forests is crucial to maintain natural carbon sinks, reduce Climate impacts & protect biodiversity that depends on these ecosystems.

Yet your govt. has stalled progress on the most fundamental, urgent calls to action -- eg. petitioning the federal govt NOT to issue an Emergency Order to save the last critically endangered Spotted Owl in the Spuzzum watershed (!) -- & instead allowed catastrophic clearcutting of its essential habitat, highlighting your govt's sinister true intentions.      

* * * *

The double whammy of industrial logging & Climate impacts means our iconic forests -- i.e. the ecosystems that draw tourists from all over to experience "Super, Natural BC" -- are fast shrinking, while industrially-degraded forests become parched 'dead zones' that fuel fast-spreading wildfires & jeopardize whole communities as well as entire wild foodchains. 

All so logging corps can keep reaping their outsize profits while denying BCers our Constitution-backed rights to benefit from & steward these irreplaceable LIVING LEGACIES, without which our lives will drastically decline.

* * * *

Your govt. ought to resign 'en masse' for its cont'd failure/refusal to protect the public's interests!

* * * *

In just 50 years much of the interior’s once-bountiful forests are gone, with horrendous consequences for endangered wildlife species such as woodland caribou, who need all that the forest contains, & where a “low-quality” tree for lumber is the highest-quality tree for lichen, without which caribou cannot survive.

The additional forest losses associated with Climate change & its role in fueling more prolonged & intense wildfires, tree-killing droughts, insect attacks & tree diseases, are exacerbating this ecological & economic crisis.

Surely as BC's official representatives in charge of managing our most invaluable (PUBLIC) natural resources on our behalf, you recognize the sheer folly of stubbornly keeping the (obvsly broken, harmful & unfair) status-quo -- along with the urgent need to save what’s left of our critically key forest landscapes!??

By banning ecocidal clearcut logging, protecting & restoring existing forests, & reforming forest practices (for starters), your govt. has the power to fulfill its stewardship responsibilities of supporting critical biodiversity & the health & safety of BC communities!?

* * * *

Therefore I'm calling on you to ACT NOW on your govt's promises to implement aLL 14 Old Growth Strategic Review recommendations, before it becomes even harder to save (once-'Beautiful') BC's life-saving Lungs of the Earth.

The entire world is waiting & watching, in mortal dread of the consequences of cont'd ill-advised corporate ecocide on the futures of those who will inherit the worst of its inevitable disasters:  our kids, & their kids.. & the many priceless benefits BC's native (unlogged & unsprayed) forests bestow on aLL our lives.

Allowing them to be systematically wiped out -- along with their myriad life-sustaining benefits/ biodiversity -- by greedy polluting billionaire corporations (/for export!?) is a crime worse than demolishing the Great Pyramids for the price of their stones:  & one to which your dishonest money-grubbing govt. CANNOT POSSIBLY BE ENTITLED!

Sincerely,  

Sarah (Saz) Chesterman

CC: Minister of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship, Nathan Cullen; Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy, George Heyman

URGENT: SAVE BC's OLD-GROWTH FORESTS! (Letter #50 to Govt)

Photo (from TheNarwhal article): Northern Spotted Owl Breeding Program

Fellow BCers, it's become V. clear our Govt officials ("public servants") CANNOT be trusted to carry out their sworn duties as Stewards of our --globally rare-- ancient 1,000++-yr-old primary forests, as they continue to allow clearcutting & to violate all their Old-Growth agreements --eg. It's been 3 years since Premier Horgan made his election promise to implement their Strategic Old-Growth panel's 14 recommendations, & his Govt has yet to act.  The Narwhal recently updated the dire state of Spotted Owl habitat & the case in which Ecojustice, representing the Wilderness Committee, revealed the BC-NDP lobbied to prevent the federal Govt. from issuing an Emergency Order to #EndClearcutLogging to save the Spotted Owl from extinction.  Details on that key case here:

Canada’s last wild spotted owl gets its day in court | The Narwhal

Under the link below is my latest appeal to the BC govt - done via Sierra Club BC's letter-writing tool, which you can access to write one of your own at this link:

Tell the B.C. government to accelerate action on old growth protection - Sierra Club BC

Dear Premier Eby & Minister Ralston, 

I'm writing to express my utter disappointment in your Government's failure to protect BC's invaluable forests & act on the (urgent) Old-Growth Strategic Report of 3 years ago.

The resulting extreme impacts of continued clearcut logging across BC - as well as driving the last of our endangered Spotted Owl to extinction due to habitat loss - make the urgent need to save our forests impossible to ignore.

You ought to know by now that protecting primary, old-growth & mature forests is our best (if not only) hope to maintain natural carbon sinks, reduce climate impacts & protect the biodiversity that depends on these ecosystems. (Throwing $$ at more useless 'C02 capture' research is a proven waste of taxpayer dollars!)

Dismissing public concerns about worsening Climate catastrophes like wildfires, while continuing to serve the rapacious greed of industry co's, is a dereliction of duty by Govt. This summer's disastrous fires show we're facing an emergency that requires action to resolve!

The only way your Govt can show it cares about BC's communities & people is to DO ITS PART to prevent extreme Climate breakdown from wreaking unmitigated havoc throughout once-named 'Beautiful BC'.  Therefore I call on you to:

- Implement all 14 recommendations of the Old Growth Strategic Report, on this its milestone 3-year anniversary - IN ADDITION TO: 

- Immediately require all logging co's to harvest burned timber before allowing ONE MORE healthy intact forest to be clearcut!  (Must be done before the 2-year harvestable deadline).

It's no longer economically feasible to allow the status quo of existing preference given to logging co's over protection of the biodiverse-rich natural ecosystems that provide us all with invaluable services such as clean water, emissions reduction, fire prevention... the list goes on of reasons to protect BC's forests NOW.

Please follow through on your promise of Biodiversity & Ecosystem Health Framework legislation, with a clear timeline for at-risk ecosystems & critical species habitat.. PLUS provide transparent, detailed information on ALL BC forestry activity.

Our very survival depends on immediate application of these measures. 

Sincerely, 

Sarah (Saz) Chesterman

Vancouver, BC

CC: Minister of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship, Nathan Cullen; Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy, George Heyman

BC needs to REJECT Tilbury LNG!

In case you haven't heard, the BC govt. is considering a proposal by FortisBC to build new expanded LNG infrastructure @ Tilbury LNG -- another fraught political megaproject that promises increased shipping for the fracked gas along with risky methane emissions & outsize GHGs, as well as exacerbated Climate imbalance -- right between densely populated Richmond & Vancouver, on the Fraser River's threatened habitat of our last few orca & salmon populations.  While the public commenting period is over, the govt's decision is delayed -- so you can still express your opposition to this disastrous project thru StandEarth's letter page.. Click link:  

Tell the BC government to reject the Tilbury LNG jetty (stand.earth)

Here's my own edited letter -- unapologetically lengthy!  Cuz this BC govt needs to WAKE out of its corporate-captured fog & realize exactly what's being proposed by Tilbury LNG..

Dear {contact_data~salutation}{contact_data~lastName},

As a B.C. resident I am appalled that you & your government continue to ignore the overwhelming mass of evidence of the disastrous impacts that will -- not might -- result from approving the Tilbury LNG expansion project, for which this new tanker dock ('Jetty') awaits your immediate permission to ruin BC's future.

How is it that, having received reams of detailed expert opposition to this project's undeniable harms, your govt has not already rejected this proposal & denied FortisBC permits to build another ecocidal monument to climate catastrophe? 

I am tempted to reassert here -- again -- Tilbury LNG's significant cumulative effects & fundamental flaws (including:  Project splitting, Failure to address GHG targets, Methane emissions 86X deadlier than C02, Economic viability incl. dearth of data thereof, Marine shipping impacts incl. likely extinction of southern resident killer whales & salmon populations, Impacts on Indigenous rights & title incl. non-adherence to UNDRIP...) but blah blah right?  You've already read -- & apparently decided to ignore -- the numerous persuasive public comments detailing these ills, including my own posted input, on your govt.'s Tilbury LNG web page.

No, it's clear what you need to read -- not reported by our captured corporate media -- addresses your govt's baseless hopes that future LNG sales will justify BC's expanded natural gas production... & your repeated claims -- echoed by PM Justin Trudeau -- that BC produces “the world’s cleanest natural gas.”

*  *  *

The fiction of BC producing clean fossil fuel originated with Premier Christy Clark’s Liberals -- a claim as dishonest as the one about LNG rewarding the province with one trillion dollars in a “BC Prosperity fund.”  I.E. irrefutably FALSE...

National Geographic examined “the cleanest liquefied natural gas in the world” & concluded it was a hypothetical notion repeatedly promised by political leaders to build public support for the fossil fuel.. Quoted here:

"There’s no such thing as “clean natural gas.” It’s a fossil fuel, and it releases climate-disrupting greenhouse gases all the way up and down the chain of production, from the wellhead to the burners on your stovetop or in your furnace.

"This is especially true for LNG. In order to ship it, energy companies must first chill the gas to -160°C (-256°F) in giant coastal plants that are essentially industrial-size freezers. The process consumes vast quantities of energy. After it’s shipped across the sea, companies then return the LNG to its gaseous state before shipping it off to customers.

"Because of these extra steps, LNG carries a whopper of an energy and carbon footprint compared to unadulterated natural gas." [End National Geographic quote]

*  *  *

Both natural gas producers & transportation companies conceal the true climate impact of LNG. The New York Times reported that shipping produces as much C02 as all of America’s coal plants combined. The newspaper explained why regulation of shipping emissions by the powerful International Maritime Organization (IMO) is so ineffective:

"The I.M.O. is a regulatory body that is run in concert with the industry it regulates. Shipbuilders, oil companies, miners, chemical manufacturers and others with huge financial stakes in commercial shipping are among the delegates appointed by many member nations. They sometimes even speak on behalf of governments…

"Next week, the organization is scheduled to enact its first greenhouse gas rules since Paris — regulations that do not cut emissions, have no enforcement mechanism and leave key details shrouded in secrecy…

"Although some suggest LNG powered ships could moderate transportation harm, the International Council on Clean Transportation determined there is no climate benefit from tankers burning LNG, regardless of ship engine technology." [End New York Times quote]

*  *  *

The Natural Resources Defense Council states:

"Historically, gas has been considered a “bridge fuel”— cleaner and with lower carbon dioxide emissions than coal or oil— and a potential tool to help address climate change.

"However, LNG is neither clean nor particularly low in emissions. In addition, the massive investments in new infrastructure to support this industry, including pipelines, liquefaction facilities, export terminals, and tankers, lock in fossil fuel dependence, making the transition to actual low-carbon and no-carbon energy even more difficult.

"Our analysis shows that using LNG to replace other, dirtier fossil fuels, is not an effective strategy to reduce climate-warming emissions..." [End NRDC quote]

*  *  *

Your govt. is therefore considering inflicting a dirty polluting megaproject on hapless Lower Mainland residents, which will undoubtedly cause health problems & bring deadly risks into the lives of already-stressed BCers.  How grossly unfair..

Clearly, FortisBC don't care!

You must also realize that the EAO has taken steps to ignore clear evidence of project splitting & has accepted unsubstantiated & misleading representations made by FortisBC about the supposed climate benefits of the Jetty.

I implore you to take into account all of the information before you, to arrive at the only decent decision:  for all these reasons, Tilbury LNG (& this Jetty) should be assessed as NOT in the public interest & should be denied all permits. 

Thank you very much.

Sincerely,

Sarah (Saz) Chesterman

PS. For more complete & updated info about methane, check out this article on Norm Farrell's excellent 'In-Sights' blog:

in-sights.ca/2022/02/08/economic-interests-rank-higher-than-human-life/

Time's running out for systemic changes to make aLL BC sectors eco-safe & sustainable -- not just talk about 'Just Transition' while pushing status quo, as BC NDP & BC Liberal Party do (& BC Conservative Party treat #ClimateAction like the joke THEY are). In case you didn't notice, the BC Green Party -- led by Sonia Furstenau, MLA for Cowichan Valley -- is the sole entity to consistently hold Govt. to task on its #ClimateAction failures, proving she & her Greens work tirelessly for US & not wealthy corps driven solely by profits. So Sonia & Co. deserve our support -- & esp. our VOTES -- for the chance to deliver Greens' Science-backed V I S I O N for #RealReconciliation & the sustainable future we aLL want!! So E M E R G E from your #MSM-fed FOG & learn the DISCONCERTING TRUTH of the BC Govt's 150 years of abrogation of duty, bigotry & malfeasance--->that still prevails today with ecocidal policies that promise only fast-tracked Climate disasters (heat domes, wildfires➕➕) boosted by increasingly corporate-aligned press. Despite #MSM's baseless derision, the BC Green Party stands out with the integrity & smarts to lead BC out of this mess & transition to a livable, prosperous future for every BCer: Science says so, & science doesn'T lie..🐸🐛🐝🦉

🤞

BC's CLimate iNaCTion wiLL BURN us aLL..

Half-baked plans won’t cut it in a #ClimateEmergency! Pls. join me in using #SierraClubBC's letter-writing tool to tell #bcndp that BC desperately needs effective actions to combat #ClimateChange B4 deadly effects worsen.. Click link:

Tell your MLA we need a full climate plan for B.C.! - Sierra Club BC

My (edited) letter using the tool:

Dear [Premier Horgan, Mr. Heyman],

I am writing to you today to express my dismay at the BC Government’s woeful lack of action to combat Climate change, "the Challenge of our times" according to experts, leading financial institutions & the scientific community at large.

Therefore I strongly support Sierra Club BC's Ecojustice-backed legal action against the BC Govt for failing to devise & implement legislation to achieve the targets set out in its own Climate change plan.  And I'm calling on your help to ensure Premier Horgan moves quickly to protect us from worsening Climate risks.  

With the increased frequency of deadly Climate events like floods, landslides & wildfires, anything less than a plan without blind spots & loopholes is unacceptable.  Govt's 2021 report on the Climate Change Accountability Act falls short by failing to include a plan for 2025, 2040 & 2050 targets -- & by omitting plans to cut GHG pollution from the O&G sector.  

The latter is a real worry, due to BC Govt's ongoing support for fracked gas/ LNG projects.  Also missing is the C02 footprint of BC Forestry, which continues to deplete our critically key -- globally rare -- C02 sinks/ wildlife habitats at an unsustainable rate. 

Without addressing these top risks, we have no reason to trust our Govt is serious about taking action to combat dangerous -- increasing -- Climate.catastrophes.

BC brags about being a "Climate leader", yet continues to emit more [cumulative] C02/GHG pollution as Climate effects batter our province.

How many more deadly “atmospheric rivers"/ "heat domes" will it take for the Govt to realize that claims about "bold Climate action" without implementation is an abrogation of its basic duty to keep all BCers safe in an emergency? Claims that "BC's Climate plan is the best in North America" -- if even true -- mean NOTHING without actual emissions reductions.  ESP. if our emissions counts exclude the very industries that continue to make BC a significant material contributor to Climate change!!?

IPCC scientists have warned Canada -- & specifically BC -- are failing by continuing to invest in GROWING Climate-wrecking, ecocidal industries like LNG & Tar Sands pipelines (fossil fuels) & logging.. as well as rewarding them with tax breaks that belong to renewable, sustainable new operations.  Such clear neglect of public duty (Govt malfeasance) -- aided by an equally ethics-light MSM -- keeps Cdns misinformed in endless loops of Govt 'announcements'/ 'decisions'/ 'goals' etc. --> momentary public appeasement/ distraction/ doubt --> exposure of Govt corruption/ inaction/ ineptitude--> helpless hand-wringing at yet another after-the-fact done deal turned deadly resulting from Govt's undying (inexplicable & inexcusable) loyalty to corporate/ industrial status-quo profiteering at BCers' expense, eg. Deadly fires/ mining disasters/ Salmon & Species-At-Risk die-off/ Watershed contamination --> Deafening Govt silence over their utter dearth of trust-buildibg action/ fines --> Public despair --> Back to more Govt plans/ platitudes (& still no actual progress bringing us a Just Transition!!?)

The Green party -- STILL -- provide the only voice of reason, responsibility & sound solutions -- studiously ignored by the vastly inferior duds in office.. (whether Liberal, NDP or -- god help us -- Cons)

Canada's outsize contributions to Climate change NEED to be exposed & curtailed -- INCLUDING exported GHGs via shipped Coal, LNG & pipelined TarSands oil.. as well as raw logs from our criminally CLEARCUT FORESTS -- sold to foreign corps for unsustainable uses, which further lock in global rising GHGs..

Anything less than proactive legislation that restores healthy ecosystems & forests, & works at meeting Paris-Agreement targets in every sector, is bound to fail:  Science says so, & Science doesn't lie..

The stakes couldn't be higher for ensuring a livable & prosperous future for all BCers! 

I expect you, my elected representative, & the B.C. Govt to take this emergency to heart & UPGRADE -- IE. implement effective Science-led Climate actions NOW

Thank you very much, 

Sarah (Saz) Chesterman

CC: Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy, George Heyman and Premier John Horgan.

Spotted owl, endangered & unprotected native of BC

& here's my comment on this relevant article at Falcon calls B.C. NDP economic plan ‘propaganda document’ – Nelson Star

Saz Sarah Chesterman

The fact that BC recently emerged -- not unscathed-- from 2 consecutive climate-brought calamities (last summer's extreme heat-dome that directly claimed 60 deaths + 1,000s of hectares of wildfires accelerated by rampant dried-out clearcuts; AND Nov's catastrophic floods/ landslides that crippled our key agriculture industry) would be #1 URGENT priority in a budget drawn by Greens, the only BC party with the brains, guts, heart & science-backed souL needed to tackle this overriding 'Challenge of our Time' that's hit BC -- smack on schedule, as shown by every scientific study of the last 30+ yrs (which inform the Greens' initiatives..)

ALAS-! My fellow BCers have glibly -- infuriatingly -- decided 'en masse' that we don't DESERVE Greens' carefully-considered, in-depth expertise.. & so by default, THIS 'LACK OF' [EVERYTHING WE NEED TO SUCCEED] is what we get -- in a majority, no less. AGAIN. Only now, it's heating up 4ReaL.. & we need to GET THINGS RIGHT to make any inroads at all reversing these unlivable extremes-!?

BCers' profound ignorance of all but what they read/see on #MSM isn't helping, as unfortch Premier Horgan's BC-NDP is failing hard at every turn -- this budget included++ -- but confidently claims/ looks otherwise: HOW do the majority of BCers NOT SEE THRU this Govt's double-speak, promising all kinds of high-sounding Climate ACTIONS but delivering only more inaction & ineptitude?

EG. Agreeing with scientists in words is 1 thing -- saying THIS should alert most peops we've psychopaths in Govt:
"Science shows fossil fuels burning/ use is a major driver of climate change.. but we're going forward on/ funding massive NEW clean [= dirty: LNG isn'T clean OR renewable!!?] energy 'projects' like LNG/ TMX to RAISE REVENUE FOR THE 'JUST TRANSITION' WE'RE PLANNING FOR.." 

WHEN? 2030?? 2050??? That's too late - esp after locking ourselves & all Earthlings into polluting fossil fuels for another decade or 2!!??

THAT'S NOT A SOLUTION -- it's trying to quit smoking using cigarettes, & BCers' ever-compliant silence at these constant Govt INSULTS [implying our weak-&-easy acquiescence of same-old junk/ inaction] means MORE & WORSE CLIMATE CRISES are coming -- & even scarier, our Govts don't CARE they're leading us like lemmings off the cliff -- rather than improving our prospects for success!!?

At this late hour, only the latter will do - the rest simply deserves NO CONFIDENCE in this Govt's ability to lead us into an ACTUAL 'JUST TRANSITION' (starting with protecting all our intact OldGrowth forests from being clearcut, as our last & only C02-sinking saviours -- our 'Lungs of the North' which BC govts from day 1 have permitted the wholesale destruction thereof)

It's clear this govt has no interest in protecting our best interests or the natural features that make BC 'Beautiful':  we're losing the crucial fight of our lives -- & only the Greens have what it takes to lead us into actual, measurable, real-life success.