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Canada needs to say no to thermal coal, once and for all

Please, send a letter to Minister Guilbeault and call for a full ban on thermal coal in Canada.

The Honourable

Steven

Guilbeault

Government of Canada

Dear Minister Guilbeault,

I am writing to you because I am extremely concerned about the export of Canadian and American thermal coal through Canadian ports. I do not believe this toxic fossil fuel has a place in the world, and I am asking you to say no to it once and for all.

Even if we don’t burn this coal here, it will still hurt our shared climate when burned overseas. I know we have committed to “phasing out” burning thermal coal for electricity and that June’s federal announcement effectively signals the end of new coal mines in Canada, but that’s not enough.

Every year, Canada exports millions of tonnes of thermal coal through our West Coast ports, including shipments that arrive via train from the United States. This makes Canada an enabler of more dirty coal consumption and complicit in polluting the air in communities along the train routes.

Continuing to export thermal coal is fundamentally incompatible with your government’s promises to combat the climate crisis. According to the UN Environment Program, global coal development must decline by 11 per cent each year between 2020 and 2030 if the world is going to keep warming below 1.5 C. It makes no sense to put in the effort to phase out burning coal in Canada while we enable others to keep using it.

As Prime Minister Trudeau himself has said, “The atmosphere doesn’t care where carbon is emitted. It requires us to take action all around the world.”

Canada must do its part to help the world leave thermal coal behind. If we don’t, we will share the blame for the climate impacts worsening year by year, including rising sea levels, extreme weather events, forest fires, and other devastating effects on communities and human health.

As former environment and climate change minister Jonathan Wilkinson said, "there is no path to achieving the goals of Paris, nor to a liveable world for our children and for our grandchildren if we do not rapidly phase out the use of unabated coalfired power."

I urge you to follow-through on your own words and take steps now to ban thermal coal exports through and from Canada by 2024.

Thank you for your consideration,

{user_data~First Name} {user_data~Last Name}

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The world's dirtiest fossil fuel

It’s time for Canada to stop making the climate emergency even worse by shipping thermal coal overseas.

While a recent announcement from the federal government effectively signals the end of new coal mines in Canada, the fight is far from over:

Canada still exports millions of tonnes of Canadian and American thermal coal through our West Coast ports every year.

Thermal coal is so bad for people and the planet that Canada has already brought in regulations to stop burning it for electricity by 2030. So why are we continuing to export thermal coal to be burned in other parts of the world?

Canada needs to say no to thermal coal, once and for all.

Tell Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault and key cabinet members that you want Canada to ban thermal coal exports by 2024. Full stop.

For years, Ecojustice has worked with Indigenous Peoples, community groups, and environmental organizations to fight coal projects, in the name of protecting the climate and human health.

These efforts have led to important victories on a project-by-project basis – but we can’t keep playing whack-a-mole with the world’s dirtiest fossil fuel. We need a full stop on the burning, mining, and exporting of thermal coal.

Learn more about the federal government’s announcement on new thermal coal mine and expansion projects.

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Call for an end to thermal coal

Canada needs to say no to thermal coal, once and for all

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The world's dirtiest fossil fuel

Canada needs to say no to thermal coal, once and for all.

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Call for an end
to thermal coal