Canada's Conservatives Downgrade Humpback Protection to Move Forward with the Northern Gateway Pipeline

Canada's ruling Conservatives have bent every rule so that they can move forward with tar sands expansion. One of the most egregious and cynical moves involves the downgrading of the protections afforded the North Pacific humpback whales. They are doing this to make it easier to proceed with the $7.9 billion Northern Gateway pipeline project which would ferry tar sands bitumen to transpacific oil tankers off of Canada's ecologically sensitive West Coast.

If it goes forward, the pipeline will transport crude oil from Alberta to Kitimat in British Columbia where hundreds of oil tankers will transport the bitumen overseas.

The humpback whales status has been downgraded from "threatened" to a "species of special concern" under the Species At Risk Act (SARA). This means that the humpbacks, one of the world's largest mammals, are no longer afforded the protections that they had as a threatened species.

As a "threatened" species the humpback would have been a serious obstacle to the building of the pipeline project. As stated in the legislation, "no person shall destroy any part of the critical habitat of any ... listed threatened species".

The humpback is only one of many species at risk from the pipeline. However, whales are in greater danger because of the number of large vessels that could collide with the whales. Whales will also have to contend with oil spills and excessive noise.

© 2014, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

Related Articles
Historic Canadian Supreme Court Ruling Dis-empowers Fossil Fuel Industry
A Not So Happy Canada Day for the Environment
Good News for the Environment on Canada Day
Canadian Conservatives Undermine Democracy and Environmental Protections
The Merits of Carbon Pricing in B.C.
Top Canadian Environmental Defense Issues in 2013
Harper Government's Tragic Environmental Record is Cause for National Shame
The Tar Sands Have Higher Emissions Profiles than Previously Thought
Increases in Tar Sands Production Will Guarantee the Worst Impacts of Climate Change
The Tar Sands and IEA's Three Climate Change Scenarios
Scientists and Activists Hold US Press Conference on Conservatives' Tar Sands Agenda
Canada's Ruling Conservatives at War with Science
Canadian Conservatives Cut Research Funding but Spend on Fossil Fuel Pipeline
Taxpayers Money to Promote Fossil Fuels Brought to you by Canada's Ruling Federal Conservatives
Canadian Government Uses Security Agencies to Target Environmental Opposition
Canadian Energy Espionage in Support of the Tar Sands
Video - The Tar Sands Give Canada the Worst Climate Record in the Western World

SHARE

Melili

• 
• 
• 
• 
•