Even though water has been at the heart of logging conflicts in BC for many years, it is very rare that logging companies are actually made to pay financially when they harm watercourses. That’s why a rare out-of-court settlement announced this past week between logging giant, Tolko Industries, and Chilcotin Rancher, Randy Saugstad, is goo
Environmental Law Alert Blog
Through our Environmental Law Alert blog, West Coast keeps you up to date on the latest developments and issues in environmental law. This includes:
- proposed changes to the law that will weaken, or strengthen, environmental protection;
- stories and situations where existing environmental laws are failing to protect the environment; and
- emerging legal strategies that could be used to protect our environment.
If you have an environmental story that we should hear about, please e-mail Andrew Gage. We welcome your comments on any of the posts to this blog – but please keep in mind our policies on comments.
We’ve written a lot about the need for our communities to adapt to climate change.
The governments of both British Columbia and Alberta are currently consulting the public as they develop “climate leadership plans.” Here in BC the deadline for
Earlier this month, Peter Frumhoff, Richard Heede and Naomi Oreskes published an exciting article entitled “The climate responsibilities of industrial carbon producers” in the journal Climatic Change, suggesting t
Discussions of climate change tend to be predicated upon some far-off future. When reading about sea level rise, feedback loops, or other ramifications of global climate change, I often find myself honing in on timelines. I’m comforted by the hope that the dystopian future will be after I’m dead. Or so I like to think.
The summer is quickly coming to a close, and the West Coast Environmental Law (WCEL) summer law student volunteers want to take this opportunity to thank our friends and mentors at WCEL for their support and guidance during the course of this amazing experience.
The 10th annual Paddle for the Peace was the most emotional I've witnessed since joining the annual solidarity float down northeast BC’s majestic Peace River in protest of the proposed Site C dam.
I started as a summer student at WCEL in the beginning of May, and quickly found out how fast things move here.
In June 2014, the federal Cabinet issued an order approving Enbridge’s Northern Gateway pipelines and tankers project. Eight First Nations, four environmental organizations and one labour union have launched legal challenges to the federal government’s approval of the Project.
On June 18, the West Coast Environmental Law Association hosted a telephone town hall on what the rolling back of Canada's environmental laws means for oil tankers and the health and security of BC's coast.