Response to request for comments on the Woodfibre LNG development in BC

Members of the Impact Agency of Canada,

I write as a concerned BC  citizen living on Bowen Island, in close proximity to the proposed new Woodfibre LNG facility.  Equally importantly, my home looks across Howe Sound/Atl'Ka7tsem.  From my viewpoint the sound is perhaps 3Km wide, meaning that a large LNG vessel can be no more than 1.5 Km from the populated shores on either side.

To begin, I understand that the limitations that apply to various aspects of the construction at the Woodfibre site are still being debated and that the company is asking that restrictions should be reduced for their convenience and to their advantage.  In  particular, the proponent has apparently requested that the monitoring area for underwater noise impacts to seals and sea lions be reduced from 7,322 metres to just 125 metres during construction.  Considering that this site has been historically heavily contaminated by prior industrial activity, I believe that further disruption of the area, both above and below sea level will have potentially damaging effects on flora and fauna both immediately and potentially kin the long term.  It is therefore critical that Woodfibre LNG be held to the highest standards, and must employ the precautionary principle to minimize impacts to wildlife and ecosystems.

I also write to express my concerns about general aspects of this new industrial in this location.  I therefore ask you to fully consider a number of hazards associated with the proposed facility and to assess these hazards in the context of the on-going and dramatically worsening scenarios envisioned by climate scientists.  Since this facility was first conceived, our collective understanding of the risks of continuing to use fossil fuels has increased considerably and the risk of continuing on our current human trajectory has increased dramatically.  All the science points to the fact that we have to REDUCE our reliance on fossil fuels and do so as rapidly as possible.  The further EXPANSION as proposed by Woodfibre and other ventures in BC is moving in diametrically the wrong direction.  Because our knowledge has increased at such a significant pace, this Woodfibre proposal should be assessed on the basis of current knowledge in 2023 and not on out-dated and now substantially irrelevant beliefs dating back a decade or more.  Let me phrase this in a more personal manner.  If you were about to buy a new vehicle, would you be closely examining the safety and performance information about vehicles manufactured in 2022 or those manufactured in 2012?  Similarly, we should be judging the merits of Woodfibre LNG on the basis of what we know in 2023 and not on what we once believed to be the case a decade ago.

I would like to express my concerns in the form of questions that I believe a review panel should honestly consider:

1.  In light of the voluminous and well validated climate science, please explain how expansion of fossil fuel production, as with Woodfibre, can make any sense or be justified in any way.  If you choose to trot out the specious argument that "if we don't satisfy the demand using BC resources, some other even dirtier player will do so", please realize this is a morally bankrupt way of thinking.

2.  What exactly are the financial benefits to citizens of BC or Canada, for that matter?  As I understand it, Woodfibre is a Vancouver-based subsidiary of Singapore’s Pacific Energy Corp.  It will engage Houston (Texas) based McDermott International to build the facility in Howe Sound, south of Squamish.  Where, exactly will any profits accrue?

3.  Please consider that the Woodfibre LNG “development” will take place in Howe Sound (Squamish name = Atl’ka7tsem) which is now designated as a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve.  Please explain how a fossil fuel facility has any place in a World Biosphere Reserve.

4.  Please explain how it can be safe for massive vessels carrying potentially explosive materials to pass within very short distances of populated coastlines.  It is my understanding that, for example, no such passage would be allowed in US waterways

5.  A personal question to any panel members.  Do you have children and grandchildren and do you consider their futures?  I ask this question because decisions such as the approval for Woodfibre LNG form part of the essential fabric of the legacy we leave our children and grandchildren.

In the past couple of years (five of the last six being the hottest ever recorded on earth during human habitation) here in BC we have witnessed an entire town, many other homes and countless thousands of square Km of trees destroyed by fire.  Hundreds have died in periods with unprecedented high temperatures.  The health costs associated with so many people having to breathe sustained high concentrations of smoke and there particulate materials present are likely to be enormous and long-term.  

We have witnessed the most devastating floods that anyone can remember.  The storms and their many consequences have displaced and/or destroyed the lives and livelihoods of many thousands of families.  We still have no idea what the economic costs will be, never mind the incalculable human costs.  It is clear that even the crude monetary costs will be many billions of dollars. 

Imagine what we could achieve if we were to invest those billions dollars in helping individuals and communities transition away from the most destructive ways to earn a living and instead move towards sustainable lifestyles?  In fact, what if we were to IMMEDIATELY cease subsidies and supports for the “fossil fuel industry” we could already generate much of that needed investment without even allocating new funds.  

In conclusion I would like the review panel to consider the fact that humanity has dug itself into a planet-destroying hole.  When you know you have dug yourself into a deep hole, the first priority is to stop digging.  How can we possibly persist with further developing initiatives such as LNG which we now know with real certainty will add further misery in the very short term as well as the long term?  Are we so disconnected with reality that we have abandoned all feeling for the potential of the lives of our children and grandchildren?

Yours sincerely

Roger Brownsey

Professor Emeritus, UBC

On behalf of my children and grandchildren.