Live reports from the Castlegar protest, including the arrests of 4 protestors, and an interview with one of them, Ginger. The protest lasted over 6 hours altogether, including a march by well over 100 protestors who had massed in front of Forestry Minister and MLA Katrine Conroy’s office.
Also: an update interview with Nelson forester Dr. Rachel Holt who, along with colleagues, has prepared a new map of old-growth forest in BC that should be immediately protected according to the province’s OWN guidelines.
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Environment News
Collated by Linn Murray
Two key decisions spelled a dark day for the world’s major oil companies on Wednesday.
In the Netherlands, a Hague district-court ordered Royal Dutch Shell to cut its emissions by 45% by 2030 in what is seen as a huge win for environmental activists around the world.
On the same day, shareholders in US-based ExxonMobil secured a resounding win against the company’s management by electing two climate-friendly candidates to the company’s board.
The dual defeats show a groundswell of support for more investment in renewable energy and opposition to further development of fossil fuels.
Meanwhile, concerns are growing as state-owned firms from authoritarian regimes in Russia and Saudi Arabia threaten to fill in the void left by private companies. That is if oil demand does not decrease rapidly with the development of renewable energy infrastructure in western nations.
https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2021/5/28/black-gold-blues-climate-wins-signal-sea-change-for-big-oil
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/shell-dutch-court-ruling-emissions-1.6040842
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A landmark report by the International Energy Agency, the world’s leading body on Energy Policy, says that the world’s governments must immediately move to block all new oil, gas, and coal projects if earth is to avoid the worst effects of climate breakdown.
The IEA states there must be no new investment or expansion in fossil fuels by the end of 2021, and companies need to focus on how to reduce emissions from their existing projects.
Oil, gas and coal projects would need to be phased out as quickly as possible in order to have a chance of limiting global heating to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and averting the worst effects of the climate catastrophe.
The report signals a definite shift in the global energy market towards rapid adoption of renewables, as the International Energy Agency calls directly on world leaders to reduce global emissions to net-zero by 2050.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/energy-climate-change-iea-1.6030771
https://thetyee.ca/News/2021/05/21/International-Energy-Agency-Annihilates-Chance-Fossil-Fuel/
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In Ottawa, the Federal NDP are ensuring the survival of a key piece of Liberal legislation aimed at keeping Canada accountable to its target of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, while former Green Party leader Elizabeth May mounts a last-ditch effort to strengthen the bill.
Bill C-12, the Trudeau government’s signature climate policy, is currently being discussed by parliamentarians at a committee voting around proposed changes. If passed, it would see Canada set rolling five-year targets to slash greenhouse gas emissions through 2050.
The Federal New Democrats say the proposed climate targets cannot wait, and have pledged to work with the Liberals to get C-12 through the House of Commons, and into the Senate, before this parliamentary session concludes.
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CN Rail has been fined $100,000 for spraying harmful pesticide over 150 kilometres of track in northwestern B.C., damaging vegetation near the Skeena River.
The railway pleaded guilty on Thursday for failing to get proper authorization to spray the herbicide between Terrace and Prince Rupert in August 2017, according to the B.C. Conservation Officer Service.
Photos from environmentalists who spotted the damage showed what appeared to be a line of dead vegetation crossing creeks and waterways along the shore of the Skeena River. Under CN Rail’s Pest Management Plan, the company was required to leave a buffer of five metres between non-selective pesticide applications and bodies of water with fish species.
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Hundreds of forest protectors flooded back into the blockades at Fairy Creek in southern Vancouver Island yesterday, revitalizing the protest camps which have been stalling old-growth logging in the Fairy Creek watershed for months.
RCMP has spent weeks trying to clear protesters to enforce a B.C. Supreme Court injunction on behalf of the Teal-Jones forestry company, making 142 arrests so far and sparking widespread protests across British Columbia over old growth logging and police conduct. Activists face the potential of jail time and stiff fines if they are found in contempt of court for not obeying the court-ordered injunction.
The forest protectors say they are willing to defy the injunction to protect old-growth trees in the area, as a coalition of environmental groups are calling on Premier John Horgan and Forests Minister Katrina Conroy to place a moratorium on old growth logging altogether in order to preserve the dwindling ecosystems.
Both the Premier and Ministry have announced there will be a live press update held later today at 2pm discussing proposed updates to BC forestry legislation.
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In the Kootenays, the Nelson Star is reporting that Nelson City is set to pave the Lakeside waterfront pathway.
City planner Sebastian Arcand told council that a paved pathway would be more accessible to wheelchairs, strollers, and those who face mobility challenges.
Having already been approved by council earlier in 2021, the original proposal hinged on a $140,000 grant which Nelson did not receive. City staff are now recommending council to use the federal and provincial governments’ recent doubling of their Community Works grant.
Concerns were raised by councilors concerning how paving the path could lead to increased bike traffic and impact drainage, but City Council ultimately approved this change of funding on May 25th.
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And Nelson Farmers Markets are back in town. Markets run every Saturday from 9am-2pm, and every Wednesday from 12pm-6pm at Cottonwood Park
Since 2020, Nelson City has taken away operation of the farmers markets from the West Kootenay EcoSociety and Jordan Martin, manager of the Nelson and District Youth Centre, says markets will not be moving back to Baker St. this year even if public gathering restrictions are lifted.
Week of June 1, 2021
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