On May 24, Woodfibre LNG made another presentation to Bowen Island Mayor and Council asking for support for the proposed LNG terminal to be built in Squamish. It is to be noted that our Council has opposed supporting this project twice before: in February, 2015 and again in May, 2020.
According to Woodfibre LNG's enthusiastic PR team, there is no downside and no risk to Bowen Island, in fact, supporting this project is our chance to be both environmentally sustainable and socially responsible. In return, Woodfibre LNG promises to be the “greenest LNG facility in the world,” and could provide “family supported good paying jobs” to Bowen. A failure to support this project is “a missed opportunity to offset global omissions.”
I don’t know about you, but something doesn’t seem quite right here. Take a look at the great Ron Woodall’s cartoon of the LNG tanker in the May 26 edition of the Undercurrent if you really want a good idea of what they are trying to sell us. Is this 280 metre long (their description) ghastly tanker really what we want towed through our precious Howe Sound, newly designated a UN World Heritage Site and now home to dolphins, sea lions, anchovies and whales who have recently returned Howe Sound to a beautiful and healthy ecosystem after decades of environmental destruction?
Do we really want this monster tanker’s route a mere 1.6 km off the east shore of Bowen every eight days or so for the next 40 years? My daughter, now 24, will be 67 when they wrap up! Was there a mention of the potential for a tanker accident? No. Was there a mention of the pollution caused by LNG export tankers that will pose a new threat to critically endangered Chinook salmon and southern resident orcas which are already on the brink of extinction? No. The list is endless.
Please take the time to write to our Mayor and Council before their Council meeting on June 13 when they are expected to vote on whether to uphold their opposition to LNG Woodfibre once again. Insist that they continue to vehemently oppose this egregious LNG project. It’s not a win-win for Bowen Island or the planet. Woodfibre LNG certainly doesn’t need our permission for this to go forward, but we need to tell Mayor and Council that we are in the midst of a planetary climate disaster and that they shouldn’t count on Bowen Island’s support now or in the future.
- Heather Hodson
