GINGER OSECKI TOOK PART IN AN OLD GROWTH PROTEST IN NELSON IN FRONT OF MLA BRITTNY ANDERSON’S OFFICE.
War in the Woods update, protest continues despite government and First Nations announcement. For the KCR Membership drive we talk to long-time member Colleen Doyle, from the Kootenay Carshare Coop, the sponors of The EcoCentric. Throwing our garbage away, somewhere away, is a big expensive deal for the RDCK. We talk to environmental coordinator Todd Johnston about Less is more!
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Environment News
Collated by Linn Murray
Turkey’s Marmara sea is in turmoil as huge algae blooms known as “sea snot” threaten marine ecosystems, and Turkish fisheries. Meanwhile President Erdogan pledged to save the sea from the algal explosion, blaming the outbreak on untreated water from cities, including opposition-run Istanbul.
Pollution and climate change are being blamed by turkish officials and scientists for causing the algal blooms. Marine experts are warning that the sea snot outbreaks are due to human waste and industrial pollution, thriving in unprecedented hot weather.
Scientists and divers are observing mass die-offs of fish, as well as coral and sponges as the toxic brown froth washes up across the shores of the Marmara sea.
https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2021/6/6/sea-snot-on-turkeys-shores-alarms-residents
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/6/7/climate-change-sea-snot-killing-turkeys-marmara-sea
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In the United States, the Biden administration has suspended oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, reversing one of the Trump administration’s most controversial environmental decisions to open the massive protected area up to drilling. The drilling mandate was included in a massive tax cut approved by congressional Republicans during Trump’s first year in office.
The new order was issued by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, who said the previous leasing program wasn’t properly reviewed for its environmental impacts. Environmental groups and Democrats cheered the Interior Department order, while Alaska’s all-Republican congressional delegation condemned it as misguided and illegal.
Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge stretches over 19.6 Million acres and is home to polar bears, caribou, and millions of migratory birds from 6 continents.
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In Minnesota, over 100 water protectors were arrested on Monday in an incident of mass civil disobedience aimed at halting construction of the Enbridge Line 3 pipeline. The event was titled the “Treaty People Gathering”, and was the largest display of civil disobedience in opposition to Line 3 yet. The protest was led by a delegation of Native American women leaders, who called on US President Joe Biden to suspend the pipeline permit before the project is complete.
If completed, Line 3 would carry more than 750,000 barrels of Canadian tar sands oil through Minnesota, which opponents say will worsen climate change and risk spills in sensitive areas.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2021/06/07/pipeline-protest-line-3-minnesota/
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In our ongoing coverage of the old growth logging protests in British Columbia, blockades continue while recent announcements have done little to sooth the concerns of activists.
Last week, Forest Minister Katrine Conroy and Premier John Horgan made a much anticipated announcement on old growth forestry. But no immediate solutions were presented, deferring action into 2023 and focused mainly on diversifying logging tenure holders instead of reducing the amount of old growth logging.
Meanwhile, on Monday the Pacheedaht, Ditidaht, and Huu-ay-aht First Nation Governments gave notice to the B.C. Government to defer old growth logging for 2 years in the Fairy Creek and Central Walbran areas. But Indigenous and non-Indigenous activists blocking the logging say the announcement is still too short on details, and it is unclear if ongoing logging and road building will actually be stopped.
So far more than 170 people have been arrested by RCMP on behalf of a court injunction belonging to the private logging company Teal-Jones. The company says it will abide by the requests of the First Nations, but it remains unclear whether police enforcement will continue. Meanwhile protests continue in communities across BC, as the wider issue of old growth logging remains by-and-large unsolved.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/6/8/inside-battle-to-save-canada-ancient-old-growth-forests
https://thenarwhal.ca/bc-pacheedaht-old-growth-logging-deferral-fairy-creek/
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A poll conducted by Sierra Club B.C. and Insights West to gauge public opinion around provincial forestry practices has found 78 per cent of British Columbians are concerned about old-growth logging.
The poll also found 74 per cent support the doubling of protected land in the province.
Additionally, the poll found that British Columbians are concerned about a long list of issues including Covid-19, poverty, and declining salmon stocks (all at 86%), while the Opioid crisis, single-use plastics, and the climate crisis also ranked high on people’s concerns.
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The British Columbia Premier John Horgan is coming under mounting pressure from legislators in the United States over the effects of BC mines on shared waterways.
In two letters, 33 lawmakers from Alaska and Washington state are renewing calls for British Columbia to strengthen its mining regulations to protect shared waterways. Concerns have been growing in the United States since the 2014 Mount Polly mining disaster spilled 20 million cubic metres of mining wastewater.
Premier Horgan said B.C. is making changes to mining policies after a 2016 audit found “monitoring and inspections of mines were inadequate to ensure mine operators complied with requirements,” increasing environmental risk.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-mining-regulation-us-pressure-1.6049958
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An order stopping tree cutting and grass mowing across the entire Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project was issued Thursday by the Canada Energy Regulator, the agency that enforces safety and environmental guidelines for pipeline projects across Canada.
A statement released by the CER said it issued the order to immediately stop all clearing activity “to prevent harm to nesting birds in the pipeline project’s right of way and to ensure Trans Mountain is correcting any issues it has in relation to contractor oversight and management.”
The delay comes as protests mounted yet again around Burnaby Mountain, at the terminal of the proposed expansion. Meanwhile Lloyd’s insurer Argo Group, has announced on Monday they will no longer be insuring the embattled Trans Mountain pipeline, joining the growing list of insurers who have backed out amid pressure from Environmental and Indigenous groups opposed to the project.
https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/international/2021/06/07/617671.html
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/trans-mountain-tree-clearing-order-environment-1.6053340
https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/trans-mountain-opponents-step-up-protests-as-new-construction-work-begins
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Extinction Rebellion protestors put their green hand prints on the windows of Brittny Anderson’s MLA Office in Nelson in another action against continued logging of old-growth trees in the province. At the Saturday, June 5th event, about 100 activists also paraded up and down Baker St. chanting hands-off old growth.
It was a deliberate act of civil disobedience, organizers said, and warned participants they could face charges if they put the green paint on the office window. In a posted release they said: “If Ms Anderson tells the police that she welcomes the painted hands as a wonderful artistic contribution to her window then police may choose not to proceed with any criminal charges.”
LV Rogers high school student Ginger Osecki who was arrested for blocking Columbia Avenue in Castlegar just days earlier on May 31, was the first to step up and press her hand to the window. She announced that the Premier’s office had called her that morning to schedule a meeting to discuss an end to old-growth logging.”
“Every child knows it is ridiculous to even consider cutting down a tree that is a thousand years old in order to make toilet paper,” she said.
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