Everywhere

Flood the Port! No Fraser Surrey Docks

#NoCoalExports

Tuesday December 17 2013 (All day)

Port Metro Vancouver is Big Coal’s last chance, and the train stops here!

Port Metro Vancouver (PMV) is poised to allow a massive expansion of the Fraser Surrey Docks coal terminal. If the project is approved, Vancouver would become the biggest coal exporter in North America, and the associated carbon emissions would be greater than BC’s current total annual carbon output.

Let’s flood the port with our opposition! Tell the port we say NO to Fraser Surrey Docks, NO to their sham review process, and NO to dirty coal – and we pledge to take to the streets if they try to expand Fraser Surrey Docks. 

Take the pledge now at www.risingtide604.ca!

Stricter regulations and fierce community resistance has American coal producers looking to BC ports for a way to ship their dirty coal overseas. By saying NO to the expansion of Fraser Surrey Docks, we are helping to ensure that coal stays where it belongs: in the ground, not polluting our lungs and our climate.

Right now, PMV is holding a 30-day comment period on the project’s environmental assessment. Both the assessment and the way it’s been run are fundamentally flawed, and have been criticized by everyone from health officers to local governments to impacted communities. 

So what’s the problem?
• Biased. The assessment was carried out by consultants hired by Fraser Surrey Docks. 
• Undemocratic. There have been no public hearings, and the comments submitted won’t be made public. 
• A done deal. It seems PMV has already made up its mind: 8 days in to the comment period, their CEO said he was satisfied with the assessment.
• The elephant in the room: The assessment doesn’t take climate change into account.

On December 17, the last day of the comment period, let’s flood the port, and make sure they hear us loud and clear.

Here’s how:

1. Send an email to the port via www.RealPortHearings.org (they’ll be counted as an official submission, but they’ll be made public, unlike the port’s own process). Our fact sheet has lots of info to help you write your email: www.risingtide604.ca

2. Tweet the port @PortMetroVancouver. Try something like: @PortMetroVancouver, we say NO to Fraser Surrey Docks. If you build it, we will block it. #nocoalexports

3. Pick up the phone and tell ‘em what you really think. Try Tim Blair, the person officially in charge of the assessment (604-665-9378); Darrell Desjardin, director of environmental programs (604-685-9334); or the community relations team (604-665-9179). 

4. If you can find one, go old school and send the port a fax! 1-866-284-4271. 

5. Hit the streets. Pledge to take action (at www.risingtide604.ca) if Port Metro Vancouver approves Fraser Surrey Docks. Here in BC, people are taking to the streets to stand up to Big Oil, and it’s high time we did the same to Big Coal. Let’s make sure the port knows just what kind of resistance they’ll face if they try to make Vancouver the biggest coal exporter in North America. Communities up and down the west coast have said NO to dirty coal – together, we will make sure that Fraser Surrey Docks never gets built. If you take the action pledge, make sure you tell the port when you phone or email them, so they know what they’ll be up against if they give the project a green light.