Risks and consequences of increasing fossil fuel transport in the Salish Sea

• Main Author: Buffum, Stephanie
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Western CEDAR 2014
• Subjects: Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology; Orca
• Online Access: https://cedar.wwu.edu/ssec/2014ssec/Day1/95

This special session is on the theme of energy and the Salish Sea. The oil and coal export projects currently proposed for the region carry a range of impacts to the Salish Sea marine environment and our global climate. This session will assess the changes in type and quantity of fossil fuels being transported through the Salish Sea, and the environmental and economic risks of new fossil fuel export projects proposed for the region. Presenters will be invited to reflect on the political, economic, health and social issues that are raised when individual projects are cumulatively reviewed at the Salish Sea regional level. Presenters will discuss lessons that can be learned from and for environmental assessment regimes on both sides of the border, as well as for transboundary efforts that are underway to raise awareness of these combined risks among decision-makers and members of the public.1. Overview of marine impacts of the Salish Sea. Stephanie Buffum, Friends of the San Juans – Moderator.2. Combined carbon impacts of new fossil fuel projects proposed for the Salish Sea. Eric De Place, Sightline Institute. 3. Vessel Traffic Risk Assessment: summary of results. Fred Felleman, Friends of the Earth.4. Fate and effects of types of oil transiting through the NW Straits: how it behaves in a spill and how it affects the environment. Gary Shigenaka, NOAA. 5. Impacts of underwater noise from increasing vessel traffic on orca. Scott Biers. 6. Building a cross-border movement to protect the Salish Sea from the risks of increasing fossil fuel transport. Alexandra Woodsworth, Georgia Strait Alliance.