NationTalk: Gitanyow Lax’yip, March 14, 2024: Premier Eby’s push for the expansion of LNG development directly contradicts his promises on climate action, exacerbating the very crisis he claims to combat. The Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs (GHC) condemn the Premier’s hypocrisy and dismissal of their plea to assess the impacts of the Ksi Lisims LNG project thoroughly.
“This callous decision to proceed with the environmental review without adequate consideration of the project’s potential impacts on salmon, climate, and Indigenous sovereignty is a glaring betrayal of trust,” said Simogyet Malii/Glen Williams.
“British Columbia’s refusal to engage meaningfully with our concerns and immediately participate in Gitanyow’s Wilp Sustainability Assessment Process is an insult.”
Last month, the GHC challenged Ksi Lisims LNG to prove its greenhouse gas reduction promises and urged the British Columbia Environmental Assessment Office (BCEAO) to halt the project review. The chiefs demanded that critical studies be completed before advancing the mega fossil fuel project.
The GHC outlined their concerns to Ksi Lisims LNG on potential impacts to fisheries and the project assessment’s asymmetrical scoping, emphasizing the need for a comprehensive evaluation that includes upstream natural gas development, pipeline emissions, and hydroelectric development.
The proposed Ksi Lisims LNG project plans to produce 12 million tonnes of LNG annually from two floating LNG production and storage facilities situated at the northern tip of Pearse Island in the Nass River estuary. The project requires the construction of a massive pipeline to transport fracked methane gas from northwestern B.C. to the terminal for liquefaction before shipment to markets in Asia.
Methane, the primary component of fossil gas, emits fugitive emissions that rank as the second-largest contributor to rising global temperatures, following carbon dioxide. These emissions occur throughout the entire lifecycle of LNG, from fracking and flaring to the liquefaction process and transportation.
“Intense mega-fires are predicted for this summer, and Indigenous communities bear the brunt,” said Naxginkw, Tara Marsden, Wilp Sustainability Director for the Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs.
“At this critical time, transparency and honourable leadership are imperative. Instead, we are met with hollow climate and reconciliation promises from both the BC NDP and Trudeau’s Liberals.”
Gitanyow’s call to pause the government’s review of Ksi Lisims LNG is endorsed by the David Suzuki Foundation, Dogwood, STAND.earth, Sierra Club BC, Wilderness Committee, Northwest Institute, and three thousand concerned citizens and allies who wrote to George Heyman, B.C.’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy.
As climate policy experts emphasize, governments must acknowledge the profound global and human rights consequences directly associated with the exportation of fossil fuels and their emissions.
“We must continue fighting for environmental justice, Indigenous rights, and a sustainable future. We are not giving up,” declared Marsden.