Letter to Govt via Nature.com

You can write a letter too, @ this link:
NATURE.COM

Here's mine (cuz i care):


Dear Premier Rachel Notley and the Bighorn Country consultation team,

I’m writing you to express my grave concern for the future you wish to build --ie. Honing status-quo [harmful] fossil-fuel developmemt & tar sands expansion:  We are at a crossroads where protecting old-growth forests & wildlife habitat is critical to our future existence -- noT destroying them to make room for more of what is killing us, ie. the cumulative CO2, GHGs & pollution exacerbated by fossil fuel extraction, fracking, tar sands etc..

I am asking you, for the sake of all our futures, to stop supporting deadly polluting projects -- & instead support the creation of a new provincial park to protect Bighorn Country. I believe we need a Wildland Provincial Park designation in the area that prioritizes wildlife habitat and responsible recreation.

The current proposed park boundaries, from Banff and Jasper National parks in the west to the Forestry Trunk Road in the east, are the best way to safeguard the area from development pressure and protect species-at-risk like Grizzlies, Bull Trout and Wolverines. Preserving our wild rivers, forests and mountains is a legacy for all Canadians, & ought to be your govt's top priority -- rather than honing yet more building/mines for polluting tar sands development/ expansion :  THAT is unacceptable today given the tenuous climate we are facing, along with Canada's pledged goals thereto, largely caused by the ravages of unsustainable industries - e.g.. forestry, fossil fuels, mining - on our environment, health & our very future..

Thank you for listening, & for prioritizing this important project.  Real Canadians care about our parks & wilderness, & we take our job as stewards of the land seriously.  We can no longer keep ignoring the toxic wasteland that's replaced carbon-sequestering oxygen-rich forests/ wilderness by the tar sands industry:  ie.   ie. A mega-calamity that will (& already has) put us in dire straits vis-a-vis emissions targets, future prosperity  & renewable-energy goals if allowed to grow unchecked:  that's not climate action!

What we need now is real leadership - ie. helping us transition into thriving sustainability, of which protecting wildlife & their habitat is a key part.
Please protect Alberta wilderness by creating this new provincial park - which will not replace the precious old-growth forest further north, e.g.. The Boreal - along with the legislation/ policies to ensure their protection.

Yes it's time for our leaders to focus on strengthening Canada's wilderness/wildlife protection laws, which are a woeful testament to years of stodgy old-boy politics preoccupied largely with corrupt wealth accumulation of the few &  unsustainable resource mgmt instead of building a prosperous thriving province for all.  Please don't be another backward economic-growth-addicted self-serving premier leading this province into ruin at the expense of our natural environment's health, upon which our own depends:  we cannot afford such idiocy at this critical point..

Yours sincerely,

Sarah (Saz) Chesterman
Vancouver, BC, Canada

CLeanBC: GovT's iNTeNT 2 FAiL Us ALL [Updated Jan 2019]

[My response to The BC Govt's 'Clean Growth Intent Papers' -- rhetoric for 'Business As Usual']

'Clean growth' is a purely political term which impLies change without acTuaLLy disrupting the existing order. While the Papers' intro/ summaries suggest Govt 'intends' to transition away from fossil fuel/ polluting industries & toward decarbonization/ renewables, its contents propose few if any ACTUAL changes to the current status quo.

So much for the internationally- accepted UN-supported 2020 deadline for drastic reductions in our C02/GHG emissions..m?rr.n

Abstract mentions of a "climate response" aside,  there are no indications ANY Govt measures taken up until now have done anything but worsen BC's l))l recorded fact.  Yet this 'Intent Paper' proposes NO NEW LEGISLATION - NO SOLID MEASURES that will mitigate effects of continuing approval/ use of polluters such as fossil fuels as our main source of power in all sectors -- construction, industry & transportation.

BC's Intent is apparently to CLAIM (=PRETEND) to support low-emissions/ renewable energy while continuing to allow for expansion of Alberta’s oil sands & BC’s fracked gas industries via new bitumen pipelines & LNG terminals.  According to these Papers, BC intends to continue its lax hands-off-biz M.O. of taking NO REAL MEASURES to lower GHGs, reduce our reliance on polluting fossil fuels oR properly incentivize ACTUAL 'Clean' energy (eg. 100% renewable Geothermal?)  A huge mistake..

Not even ONE SMALL MEASURE is planned to address BC's #1 critically endangered rainforests, to put an immediate stop to logging precious old-growth forest & protect their giant carbon-sequestering advantage (which turns into emitted C02 when logged, something we cannot afford) for future generations' very SURVIVAL..?  WTF #BCNDP..?

One can only conclude that the kind of continued 'Growth' intended by the BC Govt is ever-rising emissions, fires & pollution.. along with increasing ruin of efficient carbon sinks like forests & wilderness. With this obvious INTENT TO FAIL --including failing their responsibilities to Canada's constitution as Stewards of Nature-- I propose this provincial Govt resigns & gives the BC GREENS a chance to improve BC's future outlook:  it's evidently the only way to save BC from certain RUIN as laid out by past Liberal & present [equally unfit] NDP Govts' dereliction of duty, of which these latest 'Intent Papers' = documented proof thereof!? UNBELIEVABLE..

UPDATE JAN.4 2019:
So it's been put thru as 'CleanBC' & here's Sierra Club's Hannah Askew's MiLD too-tame review..
CleanBC-SierraClub'sResponse

UEGENT CALL TO ACTION: SAVE BC's ENDANGERED OLD-GROWTH FORESTS!

 

From our friends at Ancient Forest Alliance: ACTION ALERT: Support Expanded Protection of the Endangered Coastal Douglas-Fir ecosystem in British Columbia!

Link here:  https://www.ancientforestalliance.org/action-alert-support-expanded-protection-of-the-endangered-coastal-douglas-fir-ecosystem-in-british-columbia/

Please take just a couple minutes to WRITE to the BC government, telling them you support their proposal to expand protections in the endangered Coastal Douglas-Fir ecosystem on Vancouver Island and in the Gulf Islands!

The BC government is seeking the public’s input on their proposal to increase the amount of Coastal Douglas-Fir ecosystem protected on public (Crown) lands on Vancouver Island’s southeast coast and in the southern Gulf Islands.

The Coastal Douglas-Fir (CDF) ecosystem is home to the highest number of species at risk in BC, including Garry oak trees, sharp-tailed snakes, alligator lizards, and Vancouver Island screech owl and pygmy owl subspecies. With less than four percent of the region’s ecosystems currently protected by the province, the proposed protection measures are greatly needed and are a significant step forward, although by themselves are not sufficient to halt the loss of biodiversity from the region.

The BC government is proposing to protect 21 parcels of public land in Bowser, Qualicum Beach, Nanoose Bay, Gabriola Island, Ladysmith, Galiano Island, and Saltspring Island. The proposed new protected areas total 1,125 hectares and expands upon a similar process in 2010 that resulted in the issuance similar land use orders, which protected 2,024 hectares of public lands on southeast Vancouver Island the Sunshine Coast.
See:https://www.for.gov.bc.ca/TASB/SLRP/southisland/CDFAmendment.html

Please write to the BC government until Monday, January 15th 2018, to express your support for this proposal and for greater protection of the Coastal Douglas-Fir ecosystem.

Email your written comments toCDFOrderAmendment2017@gov.bc.ca and Cc Forest Minister Doug Donaldson at FLNR.Minister@gov.bc.ca and Environment Minister George Heyman at env.minister@gov.bc.ca.

Tell them:

1. You support the BC government’s full proposal to increase the amount of Coastal Douglas-Fir (CDF) ecosystem protected on Crown lands through their proposed Land Use Orders.
2. In addition, you also support the creation of a provincial land acquisition fund, which would allow the BC government to purchase and protect private lands of high conservation or recreational values to establish new protect areas in the CDF ecosystem and across BC. Because private lands constitute the vast majority of the region, this fund is needed to ensure the sufficient protection of the CDF ecosystem.
3. You recommend they read the report Finding the Money to Buy and Protect Natural Lands by the University of Victoria’s Environmental Law Centre, which details over a dozen mechanisms used in jurisdictions across North America to raise funds for protecting land (found online here:http://www.elc.uvic.ca/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/FindingMoneyForParks-2015-02-08-web.pdf).
4. You would like the province to consider a third phase of similar land use order protections on additional Crown lands in the Coastal Douglas-fir ecosystem.

*Be sure to include your full name and address so that they know you are a real person.

More details:

https://www.ancientforestalliance.org/action-alert-support-expanded-protection-of-the-endangered-coastal-douglas-fir-ecosystem-in-british-columbia/

See the Ancient Forest Alliance’s media release about the proposed expansion of Coastal Douglas-Fir zone protections at: http://ancientforestalliance.org/news-item.php?ID=1162

Letter to PM re. #StopKM (via 350.org)

The fight to stop the Kinder Morgan pipeline from being built is going strong as KM hurls toward their May 31st deadline to decide.  WE Cdns are cringing @ Justin Trudeau (ouR own PM!) desperately offering to bail out the Big Oil giant with billion$ of PUBLIC DOLLARS!  Disgusting.. (He's supposed to be on OUR SIDE!)

Here's what the pipeline is expected to support: (Expansion  of Tar Sands!)
Rainforest Rescue petition

THRU 350.ORG I wrote this letter to PM Trudeau:


PM Trudeau: Bailing out the Kinder Morgan pipeline = Canada's RUIN

Like many Canadians who wanted to 'Stop Harper', I was hopeful for a fresh, gReeneR way when you were elected Prime Minister.  What Canadian wasn'T excited about a platform that promised reaL action on climate change, reaL Reconciliation with First Nations & an end to fossil fuel subsidies?  Like the rest of the world, we've been waking up to the horrors humans conTinue to  inflict on our environment --& our future.  Science confirmed results of its most in-depth research on the past century of industry on the natural systems on which all life on Earth depends to live --30 years ago-- & we cannnoT aFFoRd to continue clearcutting life-sustaining forests & poisoning our air, earth & water by prevailing unsustainable means of agriculture, energy, industry, manufacturing ET AL..

We're now @ a critical crossroads --& YOU are the leader Canadians elected to take us out of the polluted darkness into the lighT:  AWAY from corporate-sponsored, unlimited (+ unlivable)  'convenience'/ 'growth'/ pollution/ profiTs/ waste.. & TOWARD livable, sustainable processes that put requisite RENEWAL/SOWING back into aLL WE REAP --before it's too late..

WE CANNOT ACCEPT that your government now wants to use biLLion$ of public dollars to build a massive climate-disturbing pipeline that supports toxic Tar-Sands expansion, withouT Indigenous consent!???

WE ARE DEPENDING ON YOU, JUSTIN TRUDEAU & Co., to act in OUR best interests & serve YOUR public as promised!  If you continue to back this destructive project, you wiLL LOSE THE RESPECT, SUPPORT & TRUST OF THE CANADIAN PUBLIC..

OUR EYES ARE OPEN:  this generation is NOT FOOLED BY YESTERDAY'S STATUS-QUO/ BIG-BIZ BS:  OUR SUSTAINABLE FUTURE STARTS NOW --by transitioning out of Climate-warming GHG-emitting processes like deforestation & fossil-fuel extraction/ use into renewable-energy innovation & reduced-footprint sustainability-- OR NEVER.. (Please DO NOT let us down!)


You can write a letter too -- @ this link:
Act.350.org/letter/no-big-oil-bailout/#action-

STEPS to SUCCESSFUL ACTIVISM

Being an activist, participant & supporter of many grassroots campaigns (successful & not), the blow of losing the #StopSiteCDam fight despite strong campaign & overwhelming support has weighed heavily. Time to step up my game --& that of fellow activists-- & prioritize WINNING causes/fights we believe in! Borrowing heavily from the huge volume of advice on the timely topic, i've started this Work In Progress - a 'must-do' list:

●(Feb.14) To offset Site C disappointment & celebrate a long-awaited victory re. Prosperity Mine's rejection (Article: Taseko Loses Court Battle Over New Prosperity Mine), I'm adding this one at the top of list:  PERSEVERANCE.. along with a link to my original letter to CEAA (ya it's good.. & long!) with strong arguments opposing Taseko's first bid for Prosperity Mine: Letter to CEAA: Prosperity Mine

●Face-to-face
You can write all the scathing tweets & heartfelt FB posts you want, but the truth is rhetoric rarely persuades. The way to change minds is through face-to-face engagement. This is what President Obama meant when he said he won Iowa in 2008 because he “spent 87 days going to every small town, fair, fish fry & VFW hall.” Similarly, progress on LGBT rights has not been made just because of eloquent arguments, but because of all the many personal interactions between straight people & their gay friends, neighbors & colleagues.

●Listen & Learn
Talk to those around you; actively hear their stories & learn how the issue affects their lives. By listening, you show the fight isn't just about you --  & you build relationships & trust.  History has shown lasting change is made collectively not individually, by groups/communities with a common belief at their core & a bond of trust among participants.

●Simplify
The more complicated a strategy or tactic, the harder it is to carry out, and the less likely it'll be successful. You can ask a few people to do a lot of things, particularly if they’re committed activists. If you want hundreds or thousands to participate in a campaign, you need to ask the majority of them to do just one thing @ a time, together.

●Common interest
Most people are motivated primarily by self-interest. As a creative community organizer, you must try to figure out people’s common self-interest, the glue that binds political organizations & movements. (Eg. Huge wave of support against our City Council's plan to shut down Insite is what kept Insite open in the end.)

●Create a clear goal
One of the greatest reasons for the DAP protesters’ success was the adherence to a clearly outlined goal & reasons for it:  ie. do not construct this pipeline, as it will infringe upon sacred sites & jeopardize Native Americans’ necessary water supplies

●Social media
Social media has expanded membership bases & enlarged participant pools by proving itself to be a constant means of spreading news & gaining supporters.

●Diversity
The key to any movement’s success is variety in its participants. Because DAP hosted everyone from Vietnam vets to Lissa Yellowbird-Chase (Murdoch-Crane’s guide through the encampment) to multiple sectors, it boasted the multiplicity in its membership that ensured success.

●Connect with other groups
While we usually notice successful movements after they have begun to attract large crowds & hold massive demonstrations, those are effects, not causes, of successful mobilization. It is when small groups connect --which has become exponentially easier in the digital age-- that they gain their power.

So like, STOP the fucking Seal Hunt NOW!?

[First, the FACTS - please read:
http://liberationbc.org/issuescat/the-canadian-seal-hunt/ ]

Second - SO U know:  i'm a diehard activist/ animal-rights advocate/ 'Earth-warrior'/ eco-activist whose first forays into activism over a decade ago began with the Stop Canada's Seal Hunt campaign -- which i've been actively supporting ever since.. (Doesn't say much for my activist's skills i realize.. but I'm still learning - ALWAYS learning!) but this issue has almost every activist/citizen/animal-lover STUMPED: WHY IS THIS DISGUSTINGLY CRUEL, ATROCIOUS, POINTLESS EVENT KEEP HAPPENING DESPITE BANNED MARKETS WORLDWIDE & GLOBAL PROTESTS BY MILLIONS?  OUR GOVT. NEEDS TO STOP SUBSIDIZING THESE SADISTIC 'HUNTERS' (they aren't even human!?) & END IT!

In light of news that Polar Bears (whose preferred prey = seals) are starving due to polar ice regression, those same useless 'fishermen' (= welfare bums who mostly just rely on Govt. handouts now, having over fished the seas to death) could migrate seals north-wards to let Nature take its course.. NO Canadian has the right to murder wildlife, let alone in such a cold-blooded & demeaning manner:  our Constitution says we must be STEWARDS OF OUR LAND & WILDLIFE! & the Seal Hunt violates these tenets X10 - as well as the laws of decency.. It's wrong & must end!

Third - this article was originally posted same day in 2013:  & STILL NOTHING'S CHANGED!  I'm FURIOUS!  FUCK THIS GOVT.. & #FuckTrudeau! (=Yet another Cdn. PM unfit for office..)

I just received an[other] email from one of the big non-profits of which i am a member, requesting [yet more] $upport to stop Canada's Commercial Seal Hunt  --decorated with a disturbingly familiar photo of a bloodied east-coast ice field covered with the butchered bodies of darling baby seals:  their distressed mamas (who are forced to watch) not in view-- & i began to FUME [again].  WHAT ABOUT PROMISES OF AN 'IMMINENT' SHUT-DOWN?  WHAT WAS DONE WITH ALL THE SUPPORT FROM LAST YEAR?  THE YEAR BEFORE?? (Must add up to MILLION$+!!  NO EXAGGERATION)

SO now --provoked to seething, wounded rage (hence a flurry of activism --giving, giving til i'm only good for hangin ouT 2 dry)-- i recall this time last year 'they' had virtually guaranTeed success via Senator Harb's bill proposing buy-outs of those soulless Newfie sadists.  Instead?  I'm forced to guess that Harbie's bill did NOT go thru --WHAT?  WITH ALL THAT BACK-UP? (YES the seal 'hunt' iS one of non-profits' biggest campaigns guaranteeing donations in the thousand$, if not million$, & signatures from 90,000+ people on at least 5 petitions/year:  uh-huh A LOTTA peops want it to end!!)  Doesn't take me long to figure that the wrenching turmoil of another bloody season of heartbreak & indignities inflicted on Canadian wildlife is imminent.. & there's nothing i --nor apparently anyone from PETA, IFAW or any other group 'committed' to ending this ATROCITY-- can do to convince my Govt. to stop the suffering before it starts again..

Now i'm really stressed.. & for the first time since joining that organization i find myself doubting their commitment to this wrenching cause. (cuz i just saw Iggy Pop renouncing it on TV!!?)

So I wrote them a letter - now featured on my Care2.com page:

http://www.care2.com/c2c/share/detail/3555079

Feel free to sign any or all of the petitions shown in that article!

[Photo of Brigitte Bardot with seal pup courtesy Paul Watson of SeaShepherd]

Liberation BC's About the Seal Hunt

HeLp STOP SITE C DAM: Key LiNKS

I urge all my fellow BCers to join the fight opposing Site C dam, a massive wasteful harbinger of doom.  The research is too compelling to ignore:  heRe are just some of the key articles, links, sites + updates with which to become informed on this travesty that is Site C:

Aug. 2016 Article by Emma Gilchrist for DeSmog.ca

OPEN LETTER Re. Economic Reality of BC HYDRO's vis-a-vis SiTE C

Peace Valley Landowners Association FB page

Probing Dereliction of Duty in Site C Approval by MLA Andrew Weaver

Article: BC govt. should have deferred Site-C dam decision

BC's Failure to Investigate Alternatives to Site C

BC BIZ COMMUNITY SLAMS ASTRONOMICAL COST of BUILDING SITE C

MAKE FOOD NOT DAMS: Collection of Arguments + Links to STOP SITE C

PHOTOS: Site C dam would flood this valley

[Please use 'Search' option @ top of page to find all my blog posts on this + other topics]

MARINE GATEWAY.. 2 HELL {updated}

This coulda been our nod to native roots, a Musqueam Memorial Park that honoured our 1st Nations' history with a proper 'GreenestCity' gateway.. as I discovered upon seeing a fascinating documentary on Channel 5 (Knowledge Network) aLL about the Musqueam Nation's efforts to honour their ancestors, whose remains were unearthed AT THIS VERY SITE -- THEIR VIGILS TOOK PLACE JUST DOWN THE ROAD, IN AN EMPTY PARKING-LOT!  The heartbreaking missed connection/opportunity to stop this wrongful development is tragic, looking back.. 

See original timeline via photos of my attempts to save this urban parkland: FLicKR.com/ParkInPeril/.

I'm revising this post's date to put it closer to the top:  Key lesson --that trying & failing is, still, FAiLing! Grr..

[Jan. 2012]  I've been away - head in the clouds (well, on the Island actually).  Which i regret.  Cuz meanwhile, Vancouver's City Council has APPROVED another massive concrete 'mixed-use' tower complex called 'MARINE GATEWAY' @ Cambie & SW Marine (the 'Marine Drive' Canada Line station).  I was there for the first time in months recently, & my heart froze @ signs showing what's in store for this gallant patch of green...

Situated smack on traffic-heavy S.W. Marine, in a rare relief of sloping parkland, at least 30 thriving old-growth trees - some towering 4-5 storeys tall - silently await their fate,  as advertised on giant billboards littering the park.  Their replacement is depicted as a glittering urban centre bustling with nightlife:  a  slap in the face for residents of Marpole, one of Vancouver's MOST TRAFFIC-CONGESTED spots where air quality is saved onLy by this tranquil urban park..

So THAT's what Vision Vancouver's future 'GREENEST CITY' is about?  'DE-greening' would more accurately describe what's been proposed here -- if not TOTAL DISREGARD FOR OUR 'PROTECTION OF TREES' BYLAW:
http://vancouver.ca/your-government/protection-of-trees-bylaw.aspx
This news article clarifies some facts:  
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2011/05/10/bc-vancouver-cambie-development.html 

I went back & photographed this pending death-zone so you could see the stately elders that have outlived their human counterparts (ie. our ancestors, @ least those of us from BC) & provided countless benefits -- including mitigating nearby industry pollution -- as Marpole's only park oasis..

 

A month or 2 after these were taken, this site had fast degraded to become a dumping-ground of advertising, billboards (more than what you see here), litter and random equipment such as excavators.

Here are PCI's heLLish plans for Marine Gateway:

http://pci-group.com/works/marine-gateway-on-canada-line/ 

& the City of Vancouver's Marine Gateway planning page: 

http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/planning/rezoning/applications/8430cambie/index.htm

[Nov. 16, 2012:  i cried my eyes out when, some months later, i drove past Cambie & Marine & looked to where those carbon-catching wonders had been bulldozed off the map as feared, along with every wild lifeform they'd supported, & replaced with the relentless snarling grind of construction --  our new concrete 'gateway' into a fictional 'Greenest City' -- CouveNiRs,  city of lost yesteryears.  My heart's still heavy with the weight of faiLing Mama NaTuRe (CRIES!) but I won't give up -- just need to find others who GET IT & work together to LEGiSLATE protection from govt. corruption/ heritage destruction..]

UPDATE:  City Hall enquiry underway -- click on FLICKR. com/ParkInPeril/7)

Act NOW on Site C - beFore it's too LATE!

Just got this important email from PVEA incuding info for sending letters to government - please send one soon + help impact BC's sustainable future!

                                                                  Photo:  Garth Lenz
Dear Sarah,

Our efforts to stop Site C dam are having a strong impact!

“Site C isn’t a fait accompli…we’ll only decide to recommend it to cabinet if it is the best way to respond to (electricity) need. “  BC Minister of Energy, Bill Bennett, September 10, 2014,Vancouver Sun.

Clearly Minister Bennett is starting to see the light when it comes to Site C due to the information he is being presented with by a multitude of sources including you.  Last week, a consortium of interests, representing industry, valley landowners as well as municipal, regional and First Nations governments held a press conference to inform government and British Columbians that Site C is NOT in their best interests!

“It’s going to have a legacy of wealth destruction…It’s going to sap the province’s ability to raise money and borrow money;  to do other things, such as infrastructure, hospitals, schools – all the things we need to do.”  Dan Potts, former executive director of the Association of Major Power Users of BC

Let’s build on this momentum!  Let’s ensure that both the provincial and federal governments reach the right conclusion on Site C before it’s too late!

A decision on the environmental assessment for Site C is expected this fall.  We need to make sure we’re heard NOW!

Please send a letter to Premier Christy Clark and Prime Minister Stephen Harper to ensure their governments say “NO” to Site C...

Say “NO” to:

• Wasting taxpayers’ money on a project that isn’t needed
• Destroying over 30,000 acres of unique Peace River Valley agricultural land that can feed a million British Columbians and will replace traditional food producing lands, now drought-ridden
• Expropriating multi-generational farm families from their homes and way of life
• Flooding First Nations’ gravesites and significantly impacting their ability to carry out rights guaranteed in their treaty
• Destroying over 17,000 acres of boreal forest plus wetlands, home to wildlife and migratory birds, some of which are endangered species
• Causing the complete loss of three species of fish in the Peace River and its tributaries
• Leaving future generations with a legacy of environmental destruction and massive debt

Send your letters to:

Prime Minister Stephen Harper

80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A2
Fax: 613-941-6900
Email: stephen.harper@parl.gc.ca

Premier Christy Clark

PO Box 9041
Stn Prov Govt
Victoria, BC
V8W 9E1
Email: premier@gov.bc.ca

Thank you so much for your continuing support.  Please send your letter NOW before it’s too late! 

For the Peace,

Andrea Morison, Peace Valley Environment Association (PVEA)

Stop Site C http://www.stopsitec.org/

Letter from GREENPEACE re. Arctic drilling..

Dear Sarah, At last! Shell has left Canadian Arctic waters! Two months ago, I wrote to you with the news that Shell was trying to block the creation of a protected area in Lancaster Sound, Nunavut -- using oil exploration permits that expired in the 1970s. What’s worse, Shell said it wouldn’t give up its expired permits and allow the region to be protected, unless it could carry out seismic blasting there first. But today, I have good news: Shell has finally given up its dodgy oil permits in Lancaster Sound! Public controversy around Arctic oil and a lawsuit that was launched to force them to give up the permits have worked. Share the news and call on Trudeau to protect this region for good.  With Shell once again fleeing the Arctic with its tail between its legs, the way is finally cleared for this very important area to be protected. Lancaster Sound, located in the Northwest passage of the Canadian Arctic, is a stunningly beautiful landscape home to a spectacular array of wildlife including polar bears, seabirds and narwhals. Local Inuit - who depend on the region for their food, livelihoods and culture - have been fighting to protect this region for decades! It’s now up to the Trudeau government to protect Lancaster Sound permanently. Share the news and call on Prime Minister Trudeau stand up for Indigenous rights by protecting the Arctic.  Every day we’re seeing more indications that Arctic oil has no future. In order to fight climate change and safeguard the livelihood of millions around the planet, the Arctic must be protected. Working together I know we can secure permanent protection for this amazing region. In solidarity, Alex Speers-Roesch Arctic Campaigner, Greenpeace Canada P.S. Prime Minister Trudeau has pledged to protect the Arctic, defend Inuit rights and take leadership on climate change. Let's hold him to that promise.

We don't accept any money from companies or governments so we can be independent and challenge anyone who threatens the planet or peace. To help us keep fighting climate change, defending our oceans and protecting ancient forests, please make a regular donation. Thank you! Greenpeace Canada, 33 Cecil Street, Toronto, ON M5T 1N1

GATEWAY: BAD NEWS for BURNS BOG

Burns Bog (Maqwum) - also known as the "Lungs of the Lower Mainland" - is a huge (40 sq.km.) peat bog occupying about a quarter of Delta, BC, the largest domed peat bog on the west coast of North America. Maqwum is its indigenous name.

Burns Bog is globally unique on the basis of its chemistry, form, flora and size. Despite significant disturbances to the ecosystem - including development, extensive peat mining and fire - Burns Bog remains an important contributor to the region's ecology and sustains a wide variety of flora and fauna, including many rare species.  Its nickname 'the Lungs of the Lower Mainland' refers to the bog's role as a climate regulator, as well as its function as an effective carbon sink (absorbing carbon from the atmosphere and lowering C02 levels).  Numerous zoning codes have been enacted to protect the bog from development and retain its original state, in hopes of preservation for future generations.

According to Environment Canada and other groups, the bog ecosystem is under threat from the proposed South Fraser Perimeter Road, a new 4-lane expressway that is part of the BC Ministry of Transportation's Gateway Program currently under construction (expected to be completed by 2013).

One of the main objectives of the Gateway Program is to reduce congestion-related idling by freeing up the traffic movement south of the Fraser River.  Although the Province's environmental assessment projects that SFPR will reduce congestion-related pollution, overall pollution as well as truck traffic will be significantly increased. This is a deep concern for many citizens and local environmentalists pushing for a decrease in our greenhouse gas emissions.

While the SFPR does not go through the Burns Bog Ecological Conservancy Area, there is concern that it will adversely affect the Conservancy area and surrounding hydrology.  In response to the mitigation measures proposed by the SFPR Project, the Environmental Stewardship Branch of Environment Canada wrote that "... the changes are not sufficient to alleviate its concerns related to the impacts of the Project on Pacific Water Shrew (PWS), hydrology, aerial deposition, and ecological integrity of Burns Bog.".*

Burns Bog has been listed as threatened by the International Mire Conservation Group because of the impacts of the SFPR.

Burns Bog Conversation Society is working to protect this globally unique ecological wonder in Delta, BC

SIGN THIS PETITION:  Burns Bog UNESCO World Heritage Site designation - HERE:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/burnsbogunesco)

PUBLIC COMMENTS:Here's my signature:
Name: Sarah Chesterman on May 22, 2011
Comment: This precious ecosystem must be protected! Its importance as a carbon sink and the "lungs of the Lower Mainland" have already been recognized and established, and the detrimental effects of paving it over would be catastrophical - not only for the health of all Lower Mainland residents, but for the wildlife species at risk that rely on its riches. Restoring this bog ecosystem and preserving its integrity - keeping in line with the tenets outlined in www.smartgrowth.bc.ca - are the only actions that serve the public's best interests, along with addressing and shouldering our global responsibilities. Ignoring opportunities to respect the land that feeds us and become sustainable would be BC's greatest downfall of all... "We cannot change the past but we can shape the future by our actions."
 .
LINKS:
* Info from http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/
Burns Bog Conservation Society:  http://www.burnsbog.org/bog//
The Corporation of Delta's Burns Bog site:  http://www.burnsbog.ca/

[Pics from Flemming's Churchill Fellowship blog, http://flemmingulf.wordpress.com/]

[This article first posted same day 2011]

URGENT: BLOCK RAVEN COAL MINE

[UPDATE May 17, 2013]

Proving 'Time Flies' even when you're noT having fun, it's hard to believe my blog post vigorously opposing Compliance Coal Corporation's Raven Coal Mine proposal was written two years ago, on June 27 2011 - & the Wilderness Committee's tireless campaign against the heinous project dates back even further...

The good news is that B.C.'s Environmental Assessment Office (EAO) has rejected an application for the Raven Coal Mine. - here's a link to this news item in The Tyee: Raven Coal Mine.

However, as the article states, yesterday (May 16th) the EAO sent a letter to Compliance president and CEO John Tapics stating that the application didn't include all the information required and would therefore not proceed to the next stage: a more detailed review followed by a public comment period.

As The Tyee's Colleen Kimmett reports, "According to the EAO's evaluation, the application was missing information on key areas, including local drinking water impacts, consultation with First Nations, and plans for mine decommissioning and site remediation.

"Compliance has the option of re-submitting its application, but for now, Wilderness Committee campaigner Torrance Coste is calling this 'another indication that this mine doesn't belong on Vancouver Island.'"

Please visit the Wilderness Committee to become more informed - & involved - on issues crucial to the future health of all British Columbians...


Here's my letter to the Provincial Government:

TO:  BC Minister of the Environment
RE:  FANNY BAY RAVEN COAL MINE PROJECT

A born-and-bred British Columbian with family ties to Fanny Bay and an active interest in sound ecological/environmental initiatives, I was distressed to learn of Compliance Energy's plans to build Raven Coal Mine in this idyllic spot.

No decision on this should be made without knowledge of the area to be affected.  Anyone unfamiliar with Fanny Bay ought to be required to bring it up on Google Maps' 'street view' and navigate throughout the region – an exercise that would highlight the mind-boggling perversity of choosing Fanny Bay as the location for a coal mine.  Its tranquil setting – which has become a valuable vacation destination as well as a favoured retirement haven – could not be more UNSUITED to having a mine operating in its midst.



 Fanny Bay, BC

 

The detrimental effects of such a project on nearby/neighbouring ecosystems and environmental quality would be catastrophic and irreversible – and must be considered in assessing the viability of Raven Coal Mine. The far-reaching, well-documented dangers and health risks of coal mining – including devastating ecological, economic and social impacts – would have lasting consequences on the Comox and Alberni Valleys.

The whole Baynes Sound watershed would be adversely affected by this operation. Heavy metal leakage and acid rock drainage would threaten aquatic life and the important local aquaculture industry, which employs more than 600 residents and relies for its very existence on the health of its waters. Toxic waste substances deposited directly into the environment would impact local drinking water, salmon bearing streams and marine health. Such deleterious effects could not be mitigated or reversed. GHG's, including the release of methane gas, would add over 80 million tonnes of polluting gases to Earth's atmosphere – unsustainable by all accounts. To put an entire community through this amount of hardship/stress is not only unethical, but irresponsible.

Clean, sustainable alternatives to high-impact operations like coal mining must be implemented now in order to have clean air, clean water and a healthy natural environment. Allowing a coal mine to be built, armed with contemporary knowledge of coal mining's predictable effects on our planet's human, plant and wildlife populations, is tantamount to genocide by poisoning the land/water via what ought to be considered an obsolete process.

SARAH CHESTERMAN

For more information and/or to help influence decisions:

• Check out this website http://www.wildernesscommittee.org/stopcoal
• Submit comments online at http://www.eao.gov.bc.ca/pcp/forms/Raven.html
• Twitter this topic like crazy (#stopcoal #ravencoal)

[This article was first posted here same day in 2011]

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Letter to GovT: Please uphold the ban on Seal-Hunt products!

{i'm on a ROLL}  YOU oughta write one too -
Use this link:  HSI Letter  


                                                                (from Humane Society website)

This is what i added (inside HSI's intro & ending in blue):

SUBJECT:  Please withdraw Canada's WTO challenge

Dear Decision Maker,
I am writing to express my strong opposition to Canada's request for a dispute panel to be established at the World Trade Organization in response to the European Union ban on seal product trade.

After a decade of increasingly active campaigning opposing Canada's Commercial Seal Hunt, i have come close to despair at Government's strange refusal to even acknowledge its rising swell of opposition - despite record-breaking numbers joining in the rally to 'Stop the Seal Hunt!', via numerous petitions boasting 100's of 1,000's of signatures, global high-profile celebrity appeals & involvement by virtually all large animal-welfare non-profits besides HSI:  PETA, IFAW, WSPA & many others.  I've watched wistfully as other, smaller, campaigns achieve results... cheered when the EU seal-products ban was announced... & cried tears of joy when Putin banned all seal-hunt trade in Russia.  Yet --still-- we Canadians are forced to suffer the shame of seeing our public servants (INEXPLICABLY) dig in their heels, refuse to compromise & stubbornly support the Seal 'Hunt' using lies, misinformation & misnomers via mainstream media.

On video-streaming websites like YouTube, the general public can see exactly what this appalling event is about.  If you have never seen it (& it seems that is the case), i recommend you view for yourself exactly WHO & WHAT you are supporting using OUR tax dollars, against most Canadians' wishes.  You will see why much of this footage comes with warnings of its graphic nature 'not suitable for children'.  You will see that, contrary to what you may be told, there's NOTHING noble, 'traditional' --or even HONEST-- about this supposed 'way of life' (which First Nations don't even support).
Full info @ this link:  The Cdn. Seal Hunt

NOBODY I know (including me) WANTS to watch filmed footage of the Seal 'Hunt':  the most disturbing, sadistic display of cowardly violence i have ever had the misfortune to witness.  Even if the Seal 'Hunt' WERE economically sound, sustainable & humane (which it's clearly NOT), the extreme distress inflicted so brutally would, for most Canadians, cancel out any benefits.  As with other questionable stances taken by Govt. recently, it appears we're being led away from future self-sufficiency/ sustainability, against the wishes of 86% of citizens & against our constitution (which asks us to be 'wildlife stewards') while condoning abuse of young wild seals in their own native habitat (which our constitution says must be protected) in a remote community that becomes more of a burden/drain each year...
[WE MUST DEFEND OUR WILDLIFE, NOT KILL THEM!]

PM Harper's reckless WTO challenge to the EU ban would cost Canadian taxpayers an estimated $10 million --yet another subsidy to the sealing industry stolen from the overwhelming majority of Canadians who want it to end-- just as Canada attempts to negotiate a trade deal with the European Union reportedly worth $12 billion annually to our economy.   It seems incomprehensible to risk beneficial relations with our second largest trading partner (leaders in sustainable technologies as well as our key source of ecotourism) while rushing to push through a dodgy deal (FIPPA) with an undemocratic republic (China) whose environmental record is already the world's WORST! These are not the sound moves of a well-informed government.

I implore you to consider the many benefits of upholding/ respecting EU's ban - aside from purely economic ones, which are no-brainers. We must see this ban as a blessing, an opportunity to free Canada from unnecessary dependencies & thus pave the way for modern, streamlined, sustainable technologies that don't involve destroying crucial wildlife ecosystems, disrespecting other life forms or polluting our environment.

I am asking that you immediately withdraw the WTO challenge against the EU & do everything in your power to put a final end to 'Canada's Shame', the Commercial Seal Hunt.

Sincerely,
Sarah Chesterman
Vancouver, BC

Oppose SITE C DAM-age to BC {Part II}

Part I here:  Oppose SITE C DAM-age to BC {Part I}

As an addendum to my (April 5th) post on this crucial BC matter - to which all BCers would be unequivocably opposed if properly informed of Site C dam's repercussions, i.e. its resulting degradation of BC's air/ land/ water quality (eg. our precious natural resources, without which we have a 3rd-world future) - via the letter template found @ StopSiteC.org hsent to relevant government officials...

I am extremely concerned about Site C's effects on the following:

- Hundreds of productive working farms in this fertile region would literally be washed away by flooding, along with their invaluable, sustainable food-security benefits & services! To even contemplate such irreversible destruction of BCers' livelihoods & future self-sufficiency - which could not be mitigated - is a terrifying testament to BC's inept (if not willfully corrupt) business/government/utility leaders re. environmental/ resource mgmt. protection issues impacting this province.  NONE OF THESE ENTITIES have the constitutional right to green-light such misuse of our province's human/natural resources without due process comprising carefully considered analysis of any such project's effects.

- My fellow BC citizens operating viable agricultural outfits in the Peace River Valley - many for several generations - are naturally concerned that Site C Dam would forever RUIN not only their own livelihoods but those of BC's richly fertile agricultural industry as a whole & the Peace River Valley's prolific part in it.  Such a prospect is not merely conjecture but an inarguably predictive adjunct of Site C's development, which would turn longtime Peace River inhabitants out of their established farms/homes & render them refugees in their own province - as well as turning one of the world's richest agricultural oases into a derelict floodplain (i.e. adding to unsustainable waste production) NOT TO PROVIDE FOR BC'S ENERGY NEEDS BUT TO SERVE INCREASED FOSSIL-FUEL/ FRACKING/TARSANDS PRODUCTION FOR EXPORT TO CHINA, ALREADY THE WORLD'S WORST POLLUTER.  Thousands of BCers have expressed repeated opposition to this appalling direction & called for transition to clean, renewable energy production in the face of government's negligent disregard for its own citizens' futures.

I.E. Building Site C Dam would entail AN ENSUING DISASTER SITUATION OF CATASTROPHIC PROPORTIONS FOR BC'S LAND & PEOPLE. This is irresponsible, short-sighted & unacceptable...

- Further deleterious effects of Site C Dam include putting BC's indigenous wildlife species in peril, include destruction via flooding of already-diminished critical habitat which would further limit access to the ecosystems on which wild species such as Cariboo, Grizzly Bear, Coyotes, Wolves & many others depend for their survival.  Such serious threats to BC's healthy biodiversity (= also a measuring-tool of human health) are significant.  Yet Site C's proposal looms over this precarious balancing-act as a very real threat highlighting another foreboding aspect of governmental ignorance that would signal failure to meet their most basic pledges dedicating allegiance to BC's best interests - which includes protecting BC's precious wildlife species, along with their habitats & our province's healthy biodiversity in general.

- The above points do not even take into consideration  Site C Dam's necessary destruction (through flooding) of First Nations heritage sites, including burial grounds & places of cultural/spiritual significance along with their low-footprint way of life which they have sustained (& which have sustained BC's natural riches) for centuries.  Such disgraceful (mis)treatment of our native people ought to be deal-breaking grounds for refusal by ANY assessment panel. If Government were smart, & forward-thinking, our First Nations would rightfully hold top consulting positions in all land management matters & our required critical transition to clean-energy/sustainable technologies which need to take place NOW, as per global directives on climate-change & emissions reduction. THAT is the forward-thinking business of any modern government entity, in order to secure futures - the LEGACIES to which Ms. Clark referred so frequently in her recent electoral campaign.  If there are to be any 'legacies' for BCers then economic returns must be bolstered by smart, sustainable resource management - i.e. safeguarding our forests, lakes, mountains, rivers etc. from unsustainable development/ industry.  If we don't, pollution will poison our fresh-water sources & cripple any chances of providing legacies for future generations. Building Site C Dam would further contribute to environmental damage via rising carbon emissions, in polar opposition to NASA's warnings that these levels MUST decrease to reverse global warming trends...

- FOR ONCE let's be smart vis-a-vis conservation of BC's precious native fauna/ flora (= the bulwarks of future survival/ sustainability) & respect for our First Nations, without whose knowledgeable/ skillful preservation of its ongoing bounty/ renewal BC's valuable forests & natural resources would be non-existent today.  Building Site C Dam would degrade both, jeopardizing BC's health & the lives of future generations.

  

- The financial cost to B.C. taxpayers, who would have to shoulder this $8 billion megaproject - NOT for the purpose of domestic consumption but to facilitate further unsustainable fossil-fuel/operations & increased pollution - makes this proposed project that much more untenable to BC & our future as a thriving province.

Why is BC, apparently a wealthy part of the world (for many), so desperate to continue favouring big-money POLLUTERS??

STEP IT UP -- & STOP SITE C DAM, BC!!

(photo by Graham Osborne of WildernessCommittee.org)