When a government minister stamps on a plastic object in a press conference, you know that something major is going on.
And so it is! On April 1, 2009, Minister Pat Bell announced that the BC government has fulfilled its pledge to protect the Great Bear Rainforest, the world's largest temperate rainforest and home to the mysterious "Spirit Bear." To drive his point home, Minister Bell stamped on a ticking clock that we sent him two years ago to remind him of the March 31, 2009 deadline.
We are thrilled that the BC government's promise has become a reality. So what does this mean?
“The Great Bear Rainforest is now the most protected forest region of British Columbia," said Jens Wieting, coastal forest campaigner for Sierra Club BC. "But we must continue to meet key milestones we've set to achieve our long-term goals of full ecosystem health and thriving local communities." Read the backgrounder.
Sierra Club BC and two other environmental groups worked with the BC government, First Nations and industry leaders to ensure that agreements made in 2006 would be kept. Major milestones included the legislation of protected areas half the size of Switzerland, $ 120 million funding to First Nations to help kick-start a new conservation economy, and the establishment of lighter-touch logging, called Ecosystem Based Management, outside of protected areas.
So what happens now? Find out more.
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It’s time to build Alberta’s future.
Sierra Club’s Prairie Chapter released a groundbreaking report on April 22nd, Earth Day.
The report, Green Jobs: It’s time to build Alberta’s future, was commissioned by Sierra Club Prairie, Greenpeace and the Alberta Federation of Labour and outlines a strategy for creating green jobs in Alberta.
Environmental problems are increasingly seen as challenges to be overcome, and as opportunities to create good jobs cleaning up the environment.
The report demonstrates that the days are numbered for the myth of jobs vs the environment.
The emerging cooperation between labour and environmental groups is creating a new way to see the environment and the economy.
About 20,000 new, green jobs could be created in Alberta this year and 200,000 jobs could be created over time through the strategy in the Green Jobs report. |
This month is a critical time for Bill C-311, the Climate Change Accountability Act.
The bill passed second reading on April 1, and it is now before the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development.
We need Parliament to pass Bill C-311 as soon as possible, to commit Canada to science-based targets for reducing emissions of greenhouse gases.
The climate crisis is the most urgent challenge of our time.
However, the Environment committee has been dithering, unable to reach a decision on when to schedule debate on the bill.
We need your help to ensure that the Climate Change Accountability Act becomes law.
Please contact members of the Environment committee to voice your support for Bill C-311.
Sign an online letter addressed to political leaders and members of the committee. Phone or meet Members of Parliament.
Ask them to act now, to ensure that Canada does its fair share to tackle climate change.
For more ideas about how you can take action, visit Sierra Club Canada's Climate Crisis Blog. |
