Clark’s U.S. coal ban finds rare ally
Liberal leader wants to stop product from reaching B.C.’s ports and environmentalists agree
Liberal Leader Christy Clark’s call to ban U.S. thermal-coal exports through B.C. ports has made her, suddenly, an unlikely ally of environmentalists.
Clark made the request to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Wednesday in retaliation for the U.S. imposing preliminary tariffs of about 20 per cent on B.C. softwood lumber exports to the states.
But Clark’s provincial election campaign move — one she touted during Wednesday’s televised leaders debate — has invigorated environmentalists who have been fighting expansion of U.S. thermal-coal exports to Asia through B.C. for several years.
Their most recent target has been the Australia-based Macquarie Group’s $15-million coal terminal at Fraser Surrey Docks over climate change, pollution and health concerns.
“She said (thermal coal) is the dirtiest fossil fuel ... It’s a big deal. It’s a game-changer in terms of political debate about thermal-coal exports in B.C.,” Voters Taking Action on Climate Change (VTACC) spokesman Kevin Washbrook said Thursday of the wording in Clark’s letter.
“How can she possibly walk this back and say at some point, ‘Well, it’s not that big of a deal,’ ” he said, calling her move bold and courageous.
Added Dogwood Initiative coal campaigner Ariel Ross: “This is a great opportunity for all the parties to join the 21st century and close the chapter on this dying industry.”
American Midwest coal producers have increasingly looked to B.C. as an outlet for their thermal coal, used to produce electricity, because U.S. West Coast export terminals have been rejected or withdrawn.
The Fraser Surrey Docks terminal, approved in 2014, hasn’t moved ahead while VTACC leads a Federal Court fight challenging Port Metro Vancouver’s approval.
The case is scheduled over three days starting May 17. Opponents signed onto the challenge include the City of Surrey, City of New Westminster and the Communities and Coal Society.
In her letter to Trudeau, Clark said thermal coal isn’t good for the environment and is the most carbon dioxide-intensive form of conventional fossil-fuel energy production. She said she hadn’t pressed the issue before because friends and trading partners co-operate.
It also pits the Liberal leader against business interests that normally are supportive of her party. Surrey Fraser Docks and the Macquarie Group have donated more than $35,000 to the Liberals over the past decade. Most U.S. thermal coal now moves through Tsawwassen’s Westshore Terminals, which also backed the Liberals with donations of $28,000. B.C. billionaire Jimmy Pattison, a major shareholder of Westshore, has contributed through his companies more than $283,000 in the past decade, according to a Postmedia News analysis published earlier.
Westshore, whose shares dropped about 12 per cent after Clark’s announcement, condemned the call for a thermal-coal export ban from B.C. ports.