Tag Archives: BC

Cost of Climate Change

What Climate Change May Bring To The West Coast

By Roy L Hales

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The situation in California is intensifying. More than half of Oregon is now officially in extreme drought conditions. Washington’s snowpack has disappeared and more than a quarter of the state’s rivers are at record time lows. Though the emergency has not yet reached British Columbia, the province predicts “some regions will likely experience significant water supply shortages.” The drought shows us what Climate Change could bring to the West Coast.

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Environment

Vancouver’s Second Oil Spill of the Year

By Roy L Hales

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Within hours of Vancouver’s second oil spill of the year, BC’s Minister of Environment  announced the province will move ahead on plans for a World-leading spill response team.

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Forests

The Ministry’s Answers

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By Roy L Hales

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One June 8, Sierra Club BC released their report  BC forest wake-up call.  I responded by requesting an interview with Jens Wieting, of the Sierra Club, and shooting off a list of questions to the Ministry of Forests. As I published my interview with Wieting yesterday, it seems appropriate to publish the Ministry’s answers as a Q&A today.

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Forests

BC’s Forests Produced 256 Million Tonnes of CO2

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British Columbia could be emissions free. The province’s forest cover is vast enough to absorb more carbon than we actually need to use. Unfortunately, the Ministry of Forests has not been doing a good job since the Liberal Government took power. Instead of storing carbon, BC’s forests now emit carbon. So many trees have been clear cut, infested by Mountain Pine Beetles or burned in forest fires, that BC’s forests produced 256 million tonnes of CO2 in the decade following 2003.

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Environment

The CEAA Has Not Been Taking Comments

By Roy L Hales

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The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency’s (CEAA) 20-day comment period for a proposed mega-sized LNG terminal in Delta, BC, began on May 22. If the WesPack Tilbury Marine Jetty is built, it can bring up to 120 LNG tankers and 90 LNG  carriers to the Fraser River every year. This might have totally escaped our notice, if someone from Voters Taking Action On Climate Change (VTACC) hadn’t seen a notice a notice about the proposed LNG facility on the British Columbia’s Environmental Assessment Office’s (BC EAO) website. That was last week. Today, a day before the comment period officially ends, word came that the CEAA has not been taking comments.

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