An open letter to Abbotsford City Council from Greg McKone on behalf of Fraser Valley Climate Action.
There is an opportunity here that Abbotsford Council needs to understand and seize. Otherwise at a time when household budgets are stretched thin, residents will be saddled with increased taxes to pay for the climate change related damages and adaptations that Big Oil has caused.
“We recognize that climate change impacts like droughts, extreme heat waves and storms, wildfires and sea-level rise are unbelievably expensive and that communities themselves cannot afford these costs alone,” said Fiona Koza, Climate Accountability Strategist at West Coast Environmental Law, which is the Secretariat to the Sue Big Oil campaign. “Sue Big Oil community groups across the province are demanding that their local governments protect them from climate costs while holding major polluters accountable. Our team is here to support all municipalities and regional districts interested in supporting this class action lawsuit.”
Many Abbotsford residents, including myself and our Fraser Valley Climate Action members, were disappointed by the recent rejection of the city’s application for federal Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund funding for critical flood infrastructure. According to Abbotsford Mayor Ross Siemens, the 2021 flood caused extensive damage to regional and provincial transportation infrastructure, properties, and businesses. It severely affected healthcare services and business operations in the area. Additionally, over 630,000 animals perished in the Sumas Prairie flooding, impacting Canada’s most productive agricultural region. As we contend with the realities of climate change, we are now tasked with shouldering the expenses of adaptation.
Through my volunteer work with Fraser Valley Climate Action, I’ve discovered that climate attribution science enables us to quantify how human-induced climate change has heightened the likelihood and intensity of events such as the 2021 heat dome and atmospheric river. It’s clear that climate change significantly amplified the probability and severity of these events. The relevant study can be viewed here: https://esd.copernicus.org/articles/13/1689/2022/esd-13-1689-2022.pdf
If we listen to scientists, we must admit we’re heading towards more extreme weather. This means more heatwaves, wildfires, heavy rains, and floods. How will we pay for these costly climate problems with our city’s limited tax money? Especially when inflation and high housing costs are already squeezing residents. We can’t just keep raising city taxes. Personally, we’re already paying more for things like insurance, air conditioning, and health issues from wildfire smoke. Plus, we pay provincial taxes to fix local roads. It’s not fair for the city and its people to bear all these costs. Waiting for other levels of government to help isn’t a strong plan either.
Fortunately, there is a promising solution that is being pursued by many forward-thinking BC municipalities.
Burnaby City Council recently voted 8-1 to support a class action lawsuit initiated by BC local governments against major fossil fuel companies, recognizing the significant climate costs borne by communities. Their aim is to recover crucial resources for BC communities and hold these companies accountable for their contribution to climate change. Burnaby joins six other BC municipalities — Port Moody, Squamish, Gibsons, View Royal, Slocan, and Qualicum Beach — in committing to allocate $1 per resident towards this lawsuit and collaborate with other local governments. Additional municipalities are also considering joining.
Burnaby is encouraging other large BC municipalities with populations over 150,000, such as Abbotsford, Kelowna, and Richmond (with its low elevation), to participate in this initiative. Given the severe impacts of climate change on our cities it would be prudent for Abbotsford to join forces with Burnaby and others in seeking compensation for climate-related costs from the world’s largest polluters. Not only for damages, but for the cost of adapting to a warmer world with more severe weather.
Suing major corporations for damages has been done before. Successful class action lawsuits have targeted the tobacco, pharmaceutical, and asbestos industries, making these companies pay heavily for the harm they caused. Seventy cities and states in the US, including Chicago, New Jersey, Vermont, and California, are also suing Big Oil.
Why sue Big Oil? For over 50 years, the oil industry has known that burning fossil fuels releases CO2, causing global warming and climate change. Instead of reducing pollution, they profited and misled the public with greenwashing, making us dependent on cheap natural gas. Rather than caring for their customers’ health, they spread misinformation and undermined climate science to create confusion and slow down progress toward cleaner energy and less pollution. THEY KNEW.
Fossil fuel emissions are undisputedly the largest cause of climate change. We recognize that each of us has some responsibility to take for stopping climate change and adapting to a changing climate. As individuals we are already paying the price. The city of Abbotsford has been impacted more directly and dramatically in recent years than other municipalities. Abbotsford residents can either:
– ‘Look forward to’ increased taxes and insurance costs.
– OR we can join this class action lawsuit to make Big Oil pay its fair share.
Sue Big Oil is a collaboration of ordinary British Columbians concerned about climate costs facing our communities. It is supported by the non-profit organization West Coast Environmental Law and 40 other organizations in BC, as well as over 11,000 British Columbians. To show your support, you can sign the Sue Big Oil Declaration at www.suebigoil.ca
Abbotsford city leaders! Act now, take up Burnaby’s challenge and join the Sue Big Oil campaign!