Doctors, nurses post billboards near B.C. ferry terminal to warn of harmful impacts of liquefied natural gas
A group of B.C. doctors and nurses, who are concerned about the impacts of natural gas and fracking, have purchased billboard space to spread their message.
The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment and the Canadian Association of Nurses for the Environment have put up billboards near the BC Ferries’ Tsawwassen terminal, drawing attention to the fact that the company powers five of its 35 ships on liquefied natural gas (LNG).
“Natural gas has significant health impacts for those living close by the wells and for our global environment,” said Dr. Kevin Liang, a University of British Columbia family medicine resident and a member of the physicians for the environment society.
“(The concern) comes from seeing our patients being affected by climate change every single day – I’m a family medicine doctor in training, I'm a year away from being fully licensed, I'm already seeing the impacts of climate change, particularly this summer,” he said.
Hydraulic fracturing, commonly referred to as fracking, is a technique used to extract natural gas from shale rock.
“During the extraction and transportation processes, fracking and its infrastructure also pollute the air, land and water in the Peace region, use vast quantities of freshwater, overtake B.C.’s valuable farmland and worsen the health of families, farmers and Indigenous peoples locally and downstream,” reads a joint statement from the associations.
Liquefied natural gas pumped from wells across northeast B.C. fuels gas stoves, home heating and some B.C. ferries, but it is an “outsized climate-change culprit,” the statement continues.
The billboards are part of an advocacy and education campaign called Unnatural Gas, which seeks a moratorium on fracking expansion, a just transition for workers, a ban on natural gas hookups for new buildings starting in 2023 and an end to fossil fuel subsidies.
In an emailed statement from BC Ferries, public affairs director Deborah Marshall said the company would not comment.
“We don’t have any comment on the billboard,” she wrote.
Industry proponents have argued that natural gas is an environmentally-friendly alternative to coal, and that extracting and exporting natural gas to Asia would lower greenhouse gas emissions. However, critics, environmentalists and policy experts have long disagreed.
“LNG is energy intensive to move, requiring about 20 per cent of the gas to be consumed in the liquefaction, transport and regasification process,” reads a 2015 report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
“Coupled with life-cycle emissions of methane, which is a much more potent greenhouse gas than CO2, BC LNG imports to China would exacerbate emissions over at least the next 50 years compared to building state-of-the-art coal plants,” it continues.
With files from CTV News Vancouver's Angela Jung.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment which has been banned at Queen’s Park.
Mountain guide dies after falling into a crevasse in Banff National Park
A man who fell into a crevasse while leading a backcountry ski group deep in the Canadian Rockies has died.
2 teens charged in Halifax homicide: police
Two teenagers have been charged with second-degree murder in connection to an alleged homicide near the Halifax Shopping Centre earlier this week.
'Deep ignorance': Calls for Manitoba trustee to resign sparked after comments about Indigenous people and reconciliation
A rural Manitoba school trustee is facing calls to resign over comments he made about Indigenous people and residential schools earlier this week.
ByteDance prefers TikTok shutdown in U.S. if legal options fail, Reuters sources say
TikTok owner ByteDance would prefer to shut down its loss-making app rather than sell it if the Chinese company exhausts all legal options to fight legislation to ban the platform from app stores in the U.S., four sources said.
12-year-old hippo in Japan raised as a male discovered to be a female
When Gen-chan arrived at a zoo in Japan in 2017, no one questioned whether the then-five-year-old hippopotamus was a boy. Seven years later, zoo staff made a surprising discovery: Gen-chan, now 12, was female.
Here's why Harvey Weinstein's New York rape conviction was tossed and what happens next
Here's what you need to know about why movie mogul Harvey Weinstein's rape conviction was thrown out and what happens next.
Improve balance and build core strength with this exercise
When it comes to cardiovascular fitness, you may tend to focus on activities that move you forward, such as walking, running and cycling.
Legendary hockey broadcaster Bob Cole dies at 90: CBC
Bob Cole, a welcome voice for Canadian hockey fans for a half-century, has died at the age of 90. Cole died Wednesday night in St. John's, N.L., surrounded by his family, his daughter, Megan Cole, told the CBC.