Media Releases

VANCOUVER, BC, Coast Salish Territories – Environmental lawyers are celebrating the news that Bill C-48, the Oil Tanker Moratorium Act, has passed the House of Commons.

Topics: Strong Environmental Laws, Healthy Waters, Climate and Energy, Tar Sands, Pipelines & Tankers, Marine Protection, Protected Areas, Great Bear Sea

VICTORIA – On Saturday, April 14, 2018, the Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities (AVICC) voted to send a climate accountability letter to Chevron, Exxon and 20 fossil fuel companies.

Topics: Climate and Energy, Sue Big Oil

Local government association to vote on climate accountability

Topics: Climate and Energy, Sue Big Oil

VANCOUVER, BC, Coast Salish Territories - Lawyers from the West Coast Environmental Law Association applaud the Liability for Climate Harm Act, 2018, introduced today in the Ontario Legislature today by Peter Tabuns, MPP, the Environment and Climate Change Critic for the Ontario NDP.

Topics: Climate and Energy, Sue Big Oil

VANCOUVER, BC, Coast Salish Territories – Today, 45 leading organizations and public interest advocates from a broad range of sectors published an open letter welcoming the BC Attorney General’s commitment to enact legislation to protect British Columbians from strategic lawsuits against pub

Topics: Strong Environmental Laws, Environmental Legal Support, EDRF Legal Aid Fund, Legal Advice

VANCOUVER, BC, Coast Salish Territories - Today, the BC government announced that it is initiating a reference case to confirm the scope of provincial authority to protect BC from the risks of a diluted bitumen spill.

Topics: Strong Environmental Laws, Climate and Energy, Tar Sands, Pipelines & Tankers

Amendments needed to fulfill government’s promise to restore public trust in environmental decisions

Topics: Strong Environmental Laws, Canada's Environmental Reviews, Environmental Assessment, Lands & Forests, Fish & Wildlife, Healthy Waters, Climate and Energy

VANCOUVER, BC, Coast Salish Territories – West Coast Environmental Law applauds a new provincial plan announced today to restrict the transportation of diluted bitumen in BC unless the science shows that spills can safely be cleaned up.

Topics: Strong Environmental Laws, Climate and Energy, Tar Sands, Pipelines & Tankers

VANCOUVER, BC, Coast Salish Territories – Today’s announcement that New York City is suing fossil fuel companies for local climate impacts is a “game changer” for climate accountability, says West Coast Environmental Law.

Topics: Climate and Energy, Sue Big Oil

VANCOUVER, BC, Coast Salish Territories – West Coast Environmental Law Association is pleased to see today’s announcement that the BC government has refused to grant an environmental assessment certificate for the proposed KGHM Ajax open-pit gold and copper mine.

Topics: Strong Environmental Laws, Environmental Assessment, Lands & Forests, Indigenous Law, Indigenous Law, Environmental Legal Support, EDRF Legal Aid Fund

VANCOUVER — BC’s Oil and Gas Commission withheld a report from the public for four years showing that 900 gas wells could be leaking methane - a finding that highlights why a public inquiry into oil and gas industry fracking operations is needed. 

Topics: Strong Environmental Laws, Lands & Forests, Healthy Waters, Climate and Energy

VANCOUVER, BC, Coast Salish Territories – Lawyers with Vancouver-based West Coast Environmental Law congratulated Peruvian farmer, Saul Luciano Lliuya, for yesterday’s court win against German coal giant, RWE.

Topics: Climate and Energy, Sue Big Oil

VANCOUVER – A promised “review” of natural gas industry fracking operations should be broadened to a full Public Inquiry that examines all aspects of the dangerous gas extraction technique, says a coalition of community, First Nation and environmental organizations.

Topics: Strong Environmental Laws, Lands & Forests, Healthy Waters, Climate and Energy

VICTORIA, BC – Last night the City of Colwood became the fourth municipality on southern Vancouver Island to demand accountability from fossil fuel companies for local climate impacts.

Topics: Climate and Energy, Sue Big Oil

VICTORIA, BC – Last night the City of Victoria voted nearly unanimously to send a "Climate Accountability Letter" to 20 of the world's largest fossil fuel companies, asking the companies to pay their share of the municipality's climate costs.

Topics: Climate and Energy, Sue Big Oil

Vancouver, BC, Coast Salish Territories – Today environmental leaders from across Canada will converge at ground zero for the Kinder Morgan pipeline and tankers project, on the water in Burrard Inlet.

Topics: Strong Environmental Laws, Climate and Energy, Tar Sands, Pipelines & Tankers, Indigenous Law, Indigenous Law

Unceded Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver BC - British Columbians deserve the same federal climate review for the Kinder Morgan pipeline project as was promised for Energy East, says a diverse group of BC First Nations, local groups and citizens.

Topics: Strong Environmental Laws, Canada's Environmental Reviews, Environmental Assessment, Climate and Energy, Tar Sands, Pipelines & Tankers, Indigenous Law, Indigenous Law

SMITHERS, BRITISH COLUMBIA – Today a broad range of groups including northerners, Indigenous organizations, local governments, labour unions and environmental groups, are sending a strong message of support for Bill C-48, the Oil Tanker Moratorium Act.

Topics: Climate and Energy, Tar Sands, Pipelines & Tankers, Marine Protection, Protected Areas, Great Bear Sea

VICTORIA, BC – Last night the Council of the District of Saanich voted unanimously (7-0) to send a “Climate Accountability Letter” to 20 of the world’s largest fossil fuel companies, asking the companies to pay their share of the municipality’s climate costs.

Topics: Climate and Energy, Sue Big Oil

VANCOUVER, BC, Coast Salish Territories – The BC government has revealed a series of steps aimed at defending the coast and communities from the Kinder Morgan pipeline and tanker project, with a focus on ensuring that the Province meets its constitutional obligations to consult and accommodate In

Topics: Climate and Energy, Tar Sands, Pipelines & Tankers

VICTORIA, BC – The West Coast Environmental Law Association applauds the District of Highlands, a Southern Vancouver Island municipality, for sending a “Climate Accountability Letter” to 20 of the world’s largest fossil fuel companies.

Topics: Climate and Energy, Sue Big Oil

VANCOUVER, BC, Coast Salish Territories – A new backgrounder released today by West Coast Environmental Law Association outlines concrete legal strategies that British Columbia could employ to stand up to Kinder Morgan and defend the environment, communities and the climate from the risks associa

Topics: Climate and Energy, Tar Sands, Pipelines & Tankers

VANCOUVER, BC, Coast Salish Territories – The Tsleil-Waututh Nation has launched a new campaign targeting potential investors in the Kinder Morgan pipeline highlighting the legal and political risks of the proposed Kinder Morgan pipeline ahead of the company's IPO.

Topics: Climate and Energy, Tar Sands, Pipelines & Tankers, Indigenous Law

VANCOUVER – Environmental lawyers are congratulating the federal government on the introduction in Parliament today of the proposed Oil Tanker Moratorium Act, which marks a critical step forward in efforts to protect the north Pacific coast from the risk of oil spills.

Topics: Climate and Energy, Tar Sands, Pipelines & Tankers