Right now, on Vancouver Island, we have a chance to stand up against Dirty Coal. The proposed Raven Coal Mine just entered the environmental assessment public comment period. This is our chance to let government know what we think about this project.
Located just south of Courtenay in Fanny Bay, the Raven Coal Mine would have a devastating impact on many of the things people love about the West Coast. Heavy metal contaminants in drinking water and salmon streams, increased traffic, threats to shellfish jobs – these are just a few of the big problems associated with this project.
The local environmental impacts are numerous and of great concern, and on top of that the big picture consequences are huge. The idea of opening new coal mines in 2011 is absurd. Coal is the dirtiest fossil fuel, and has devastating global impacts when burned. The project would add millions of tonnes of climate change causing carbon dioxide into our atmosphere.
Stopping this project would be a huge victory for the climate justice movement. And it can be stopped, but we need your help. As many of you know Environmental Assessments very rarely turn down even very bad projects, but we can use the process to magnify our voices. Over the next 40 days we need to write thousands of letters and fill public meetings to let the BC government know that this project has a wall of opposition facing it.
If you live in one of the communities that will be directly impacted by the Raven Coal Mine, coming out to the public hearings is one of the most important things you can do. Here is the schedule of those meetings:
May 30th in Courtenay at Florence Filberg Centre (411 Anderton Ave.) from 6-10pm
June 2nd in Port Alberni at the Port Alberni Athletic Hall (3727 Roger St.) from 6-10pm
and on June 3rd in Union Bay at the Union Bay Community Club (5401 South Island Hwy.) from 6-10pm
If you don’t live in one of those communities but have friends or family that live in the area please forward them this message. Our Victoria Office will also be coordinating carpooling from Victoria for the June 2 meeting in Port Alberni.
The other important action you can take during the Environmental Assessment is to write a letter to the Environmental Assessment Office and Minister of the Environment and let them know how you feel about building new coal mines in British Columbia. We have set up a letter writing tool on our website to make it easy for you send in your comments.
Thank you for taking action, together we can stop this dirty coal mine from going forward.
Pacific Coast Campaigners
