Canada is going Fossil Free

Let’s move beyond the tar sands.

 

 

 

 

Photo Credit: Robert van Waarden | Survival Media Agency

As you read this, the largest open-pit tar sands mine ever proposed is under review: Teck Frontier.

The Teck Frontier mine would wreck the climate. Teck Frontier doesn’t fit Canada’s national climate plan or Alberta’s tar sands emissions cap. And it goes against Canada’s commitments under the Paris Agreement.

The Teck Frontier mine violates Indigenous rights. Teck Frontier would exploit lands that the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation has declared as off limits for any further tar sands development. Building this mine would explicitly violate Canada’s commitments to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).

The Teck Frontier mine review is under Harper’s rules. The project is being reviewed under a broken process that insufficiently addresses crucial issues like climate change and UNDRIP. Justin Trudeau promised to replace this broken review process back in 2015. 

We know Prime Minister Trudeau can keep this promise. If we all speak up together, a proper climate review for the Teck Frontier mine is possible. Let’s make it happen.

Sign the petition.

We demand a teck test.

As you read this, the largest open-pit tar sands mine ever proposed is under review.  

Teck Frontier is a massive $20-billion project that would dig up 260,000 barrels of tar sands oil per day for the next fifty years. Teck will fill tar sands expansion pipelines like Kinder Morgan and Keystone XL. Building this project will mean tar sands expansion beyond 2060 -- well past the point when we need have made the transition off of fossil fuels.

The Teck Frontier mine fails every single climate test. Building Teck doesn’t fit Canada’s climate plans. It doesn’t fit within Alberta’s tar sands emissions cap. And building it would lock us into the kind of fossil fuel expansion guaranteed to break our commitments under the Paris Agreement. That’s not all.

More than just locking us into tar sands expansion far past 2050, the Teck Frontier mine violates this government’s commitment to respect Indigenous rights.

If built, the Teck Frontier mine would violate a no-go zone north of the Firebag River in northern Alberta that the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation has declared as off limits for any further tar sands development. This project would destroy critical habitat, endanger the land and water, and violate Indigenous rights.

And, if all that isn’t enough, the Teck Frontier Mine is reviewed under the rules Stephen Harper set out in 2012.

These rules, which gutted Canada’s Environmental Assessment regime to make the review process faster and easier for Big Oil, mean that this review is going forward with a broken process that ignores crucial issues like climate change and Indigenous rights, a process that Justin Trudeau promised to replace when he elected in 2015.

Justin Trudeau and his cabinet have the power to fulfill their promise and ensure that the Teck Frontier Mine review considers the project’s massive climate impact and respects the rights of Indigenous peoples.

We know this can work. When thousands of people demanded a climate review of the Energy East pipeline, the National Energy Board implemented one, and the company behind the pipeline promptly dropped the proposed project.

Send a message to Prime Minister Trudeau and his key cabinet ministers demanding that the Teck Frontier Mine gets a real review that includes climate change and Indigenous rights.  

Dear Prime Minster Trudeau (cc: Catherine McKenna & Jim Carr)


I demand that you fulfill your promise to fix Canada’s broken environmental reviews and take steps to ensure a comprehensive climate review and respect for Indigenous rights are included in the review of Teck Resources Frontier Oil Sands Mine project.

Teck Frontier is a dangerous, unnecessary project being reviewed under the rules of your predecessor – Stephen Harper. This needs to change. Follow through on your campaign promise to fix Canada’s environmental review and give Teck Frontier a real review that considers climate change and Indigenous rights.  

Dear Prime Minster Trudeau (cc: Catherine McKenna & Jim Carr)

Hi !

We have your contact info saved from last time, just click the button below to continue.

Not ? Sign out

Millions of people are taking quick, simple actions for climate justice – be one of them. Can we send you emails about important campaigns, stories, and actions?

By taking this action, you are agreeing to our terms of service and privacy policy. You can unsubscribe at any time.

What does it mean for Canada to go Fossil Free?

Canada is home to one of the world’s largest and dirtiest oil reserves – the Alberta tar sands. Digging up all the carbon in this massive deposit of bitumen would completely go against Canada’s commitments in the Paris Agreement.

Beyond that, if extracted and burned, the tar sands alone would ensure the planet crosses the most dangerous climate thresholds.That’s why going Fossil Free in Canada means freezing the expansion of the tar sands. We can do this by stopping massive export pipelines, like the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline, and also, by stopping tar sands at the source by ensuring new projects, like the Teck Frontier mine, are rejected because they put our climate at risk and violate the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Why is the Teck Frontier Mine important for the fight against tar sands?

Teck Frontier is a massive open-pit tar sands project that would dig up 260,000 barrels of tar sands oil each and every day for the next fifty years. Building this project will mean tar sands expansion beyond 2060 — well past the point when we need have made the transition off of fossil fuels. This mine will fill major tar sands expansion pipelines like Kinder Morgan and Keystone XL.

Building Teck doesn’t fit Canada’s climate plans. It doesn’t fit within Alberta’s tar sands emissions cap. And it would lock us into the kind of fossil fuel expansion guaranteed to break our commitments under the Paris Agreement and burn up far more than Canada’s fair share of the global carbon budget.

Why is the current review process for the Teck frontier mine broken?

The Teck Frontier Mine is being reviewed under the rules Stephen Harper set. These rules, which gutted Canada’s Environmental Assessment regime to make the review process faster and easier for Big Oil, mean that this review is going forward ignoring crucial issues like climate change and Indigenous rights. This is a process that Justin Trudeau promised to replace when he was elected in 2015.

But it doesn’t have to be this way.

Justin Trudeau and his cabinet have the power to fulfill their promise and ensure that the Teck Frontier Mine review considers the project’s massive climate impact and respects the rights of Indigenous Peoples.

How does the Teck Frontier Mine violate Indigenous rights?

More than just locking us into tar sands expansion far past 2050, the Teck Frontier mine violates this government’s commitment to respect Indigenous rights.

If built, the Teck Frontier mine would violate a no-go zone north of the Firebag River in northern Alberta — an area that the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation has declared as off limits for any further tar sands development. This project would destroy critical habitat, endanger the land and water, and building it would violate Indigenous rights, breaking Justin Trudeau’s promises for reconciliation and to ratify the UN Declaration on the rights of Indigenous Peoples.

How do we know we can win?

Earlier this year, the National Energy Board announced that the Energy East pipeline would face a comprehensive upstream and downstream climate review. This came after more than 100,000 people across Canada demanded a climate review of the pipeline, and after thousands applied to speak on climate change in the NEB review. When faced with this kind of reasonable test for the project, in line with Canada’s climate obligations, TransCanada cancelled the project.

We also know that, when pressured by the UN’s World Heritage Commission, Justin Trudeau and his government have already amended the review of the Teck Frontier Mine to include a review of the project’s impact on Wood Buffalo National Park.

Past Campaigns to keep fossil fuels in the ground in Canada


People vs Kinder Morgan

Since March 10th 2018, the movement to stop the Kinder Morgan tar sands pipeline has taken unprecedented action all across Canada. In solidarity with Coast Salish spiritual leaders who are on the forefront of resistance on Burnaby Mountain, people across Canada have risen up to show the Trudeau government the political cost of building the Kinder Morgan pipeline.   More →


Stop(ped) Energy East

In 2017, the movement for climate justice and Indigenous rights in Canada stopped the largest tar sands pipeline ever proposed. Check out our timeline to find out more about how we got here. More →


Big Oil has no place in Canada’s museums.

Thanks to people power, Canada’s most iconic cultural institution — the Museum of History — cut its ties to the dirtiest Big Oil lobby group in the country: the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. More →


Follow

350 Canada on Facebook  350 Canada on Twitter  350.org on Instagram 

Resources:

Fossil Fuel Divestment:  Are you interested in resources for a fossil fuel divestment campaign? You can find a suite of global divestment resources here, and if you’re part of a campus divestment team, our friends at the Canadian Federation of Students can offer additional campaign support. Contact the CFS at campaigns@cfs-fcee.ca.


Climate Science Basics: Needs to make the case about action on climate change to family or friends? Here are some basic climate facts.


350 Trainings Resources: Share knowledge, build resources, and run effective workshops to build capacity in the climate justice movement.


Raise a Paddle Film: Watch this film learn more about how the fight against tar sands connects Indigenous communities across the world.


More coming soon

#fossilfree on Social Media

FacebookTwitter