Surfrider Foundation Urges the Federal Government to end the Trans Mountain Pipeline Project

Surfrider Foundation urges the federal government to end the Trans Mountain Pipeline project as another commitment to solving the climate emergency, announced on June 17th, 2019.

British Columbia - In conjunction with the federal government’s announcement to ban single-use plastics as early as 2021 and conduct scientific research on plastic through the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, the need to transition from fossil fuels to renewables is critical.According to Lilly Woodbury from Surfrider Foundation Canada, “Plastic pollution and climate change are an interconnected crisis, which depends on the extraction, production, and transportation of fossil fuels. The linear management of plastics is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions as 8 billion dollars worth of plastic material is discarded every year in Canada, and the manufacturing of new virgin materials is needed to replace this lost resource.”The Trans Mountain Pipeline guarantees a seven-fold increase in oil tanker traffic, expanding tanker traffic from 60 vessels to more than 400 per year. This means targets set out by the Paris Accord Agreements will not be met, and thus, the urgent goals of the climate emergency will also not be fulfilled. In addition to adding fuel to the climate crisis fire, this will threaten the Southern Resident Orcas and many other species like salmon, as well as put the coast at risk of an oil spill, threatening marine ecosystems which the residents and visitors of coastal British Columbia depend on.Surfrider Foundation Canada campaigns to eradicate unnecessary single-use plastics; supports a circular economy and extended producer responsibility for Canada; as well as calling for plastic waste to be determined as a toxic substance under schedule 1 of the Environmental Protection Act.Surfrider Foundation Canada mission is the protection and enjoyment of ocean, waves, and beaches through a powerful activist network. We advocate the right to a healthy coastline for the people of today and future generations, therefore we stand in solidarity with First Nations who have been successful stewards of the land for thousands of years, and all other citizens who oppose the Trans Mountain Pipeline in their unceded territory.