Environmental Law Alert Blog

Through our Environmental Law Alert blog, West Coast keeps you up to date on the latest developments and issues in environmental law. This includes:

  • proposed changes to the law that will weaken, or strengthen, environmental protection;
  • stories and situations where existing environmental laws are failing to protect the environment; and
  • emerging legal strategies that could be used to protect our environment.

If you have an environmental story that we should hear about, please e-mail Andrew Gage. We welcome your comments on any of the posts to this blog – but please keep in mind our policies on comments.

2020 Canadian Law Blog Awards Winner

Denmark, and in particular Copenhagen, is the world’s poster-child for bicycle-friendly transportation.   But that’s partly because they have aggressive goals for what transportation should look like.  Have a look at Copenhagen’s Transportation Pyramid, which prioritizes biking and walking over all other modes of transportation.&n

When a politician says that his report is about the science, and not about the politics, it’s probably wise to take that claim with a grain of salt.  That’s made crystal clear by two studies released in the last month about the risks of pesticides – one written by politicians, and the other by scientists. 

As the BC Legislature’s Special Committee on Cosmetic Pesticides grapples with the question of whether to ban the use of cosmetic pesticides, a recent report by Health Canada seems to confirm that humans, pets and the environment have something to fear from

Reflections of two legal interns from Australia

Revelations on Sunday that Enbridge had actively, and successfully, lobbied the federal government to walk away from an agreement that was central to a decade long planning proc

The Public Interest Environmental Law Conference held each year in Eugene Oregon is, perhaps, the Mecca of environmental lawyers.  It brings together literally thousands of lawyers, law students, community activists, and others to discuss whether and how the law can be used to prote

Nicole Peterson is a legal intern with West Coast Environmental Law who is participating in the Osgoode Aboriginal Clinical Intensive Program.  She writes:

Public participation in the BC government’s recent public consultations on cosmetic pesticides exceeded all expectations, with an all-time record 8,700 people telling the Legislative Committee what they

December 1st marked a turning point in the effort to protect the Pacific coast and the watersheds that we all depend on from the threat of oil spills.