Atlantic Activist
I want to share some surprising news with you: Nova Scotia’s Environment Minister, Tim Halman, has finally acknowledged the Donkin coal mine’s enormous carbon footprint, referring to it as the second-largest emitter in the province. In a CBC report, Minister Halman claims to have been saying it all along 🤣
Anywho, as many of our readers know, Sierra Club Canada has long been calling attention to the Donkin mine’s harmful impacts on the environment, community health, and the province’s climate change goals.
That was the good news. The bad news is that Nova Scotia Environment and Climate Change (NSECC) recently renewed Donkin mine’s industrial approval, allowing the company to mine coal until 2030! It’s not only massive quantities of fugitive methane emissions from the mine’s operation that are at stake. The mine has destroyed wetlands and local ecosystems, and may have contaminated nearby watersheds and soil. It has also exposed local residents to harmful industrial noise pollution and airborne contaminants, and is jeopardizing their personal safety with transport truck traffic on public roads.
The community isn’t taking this lying down, and neither are we. We’re appealing the industrial approval given to Kameron Coal.
Stay tuned for updates.
To all of you who are doing whatever you can to protect nature and your communities from the endless onslaught of big extractive industries, thank you for all you do. We know there are more hard days than good ones, but your efforts matter.
Tynette Deveaux and the Beyond Coal Atlantic team
Media Release: Sierra Club Appeals Province’s Decision to Mine Coal until 2030
To read the appeal submitted to Minister Halman: click here
If you’re able to donate to the campaign, please click on the link below (you can indicate that you’d like your donation to go to the Beyond Coal Atlantic campaign in the Comments box), or reach out to us by email: Atlantic@sierraclub.ca.
The Atlantic Chapter of Sierra Club Canada is located in the territory of the Mi’kmaq, Passamaquoddy, Wolastoqiyik, Beothuk, Innu, and Inuit. We stand in solidarity. Find out more at Let’s Talk About Land Acknowledgments – Beyond Climate Promises
