SierrAction! April 2009

– Recycled and forwarded from the Sierra Club of Canada.

Federal Environmental Assessment Laws Gutted
The Conservative government is moving quickly to eliminate laws requiring environmental assessments of developments such as dams, pipelines, tar sands mines and nuclear reactors that need some federal approval.

First, John Baird, the Minister of Transport, was given authority under the budget legislation approved by Parliament in March to evade environmental assessments of projects (such as dams and bridges) that may obstruct navigation. Then Jim Prentice, Minister of Environment, announced new regulations-without any public or industry consultation-excluding 2000 "economic stimulus" projects per year from environmental assessment.
Developments funded by federal economic stimulus funds need to be "shovel-worthy" not merely "shovel-ready". And that means that the environmental impacts of these developments need to be understood before the bulldozers start digging.

Minister Prentice also is planning to introduce a bill into Parliament removing all remaining requirements that environmental assessments be conducted. He would have unfettered discretion to determine if any federal environmental assessment for a federally authorized project is to be conducted-whether the project is a bench in a National Park or a multibillion dollar oil pipeline.

Please write to Environment Minister Jim Prentice and tell him to stop wrecking Canada’s environmental assessment laws. Also tell him to allow the House of Commons to its job in discussing improvements to these laws without his interference!

Protect our waterways
Environmentally harmful amendments to the Navigable Waters Protection Act (NWPA) were recently passed as part of the Budget Implementation Act, Bill C-10.
The budget bill was rushed through for political reasons, but we haven’t given up repealing these harmful amendments, and thanks to your over 3797 emails (!), many senators and MPs have expressed their support for our position, and the amendments to the NWPA have now been sent to a committee in the Senate for further study, which will result in a report this June.

We hope that this report from the "Chamber of Sober Second Thought" will provide the grounds for repealing the amendments next parliamentary session.
Thank you so very much for spreading the word and sending those emails! It’s not over yet; we will keep fighting this!

For now, we ask one last thing. A personal and uniquely-worded letter or email makes more of an impact than a form letter. Please take a few minutes to write the Senate’s Standing Committee on Energy, the Environment, and Natural Resources and the clerk to thank them for committing to examine the recent amendments to the NWPA in further depth.

Tell them you hope they will conduct more adequate stakeholder consultation than was done in the past, and that their report has the potential to make a huge difference and could very well be the first step towards repairing the damage done to the NWPA while still updating the Act where necessary.

Parliament Acts on Climate Change
On April1, Members of Parliament came together to support BillC-311, the Climate Change Accountability Act. The bill passed second reading, with 141 votes in favour and 128 against. Sierra Club Canada congratulates the Liberal, NDP and Bloc Québécois MPs who voted for the bill.

Many thanks to everyone who contacted MPs.
If Bill C-311 passes third reading and it is approved by the Senate, it will commit Canada to firm targets for reducing emissions of greenhouse gases. The bill incorporates recommendations of the Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

The IPCC is urging developed countries to reduce emissions by at least 25% below 1990 levels by 2020, and at least 80% by the year 2050. These reductions are needed to avoid the most dangerous impacts of climate change.

TAKE ACTION!
We need your help, to ensure that the Climate Change Accountability Act becomes law.