Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault’s decision not to assess the impact of a massive thermal coal mine expansion is “cowardly” and “colossal backtracking” on Canada’s commitments to stop exporting this dirty fossil fuel, says an environmental advocate.
On Dec. 6, the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC) decided Coalspur’s Vista Coal mine expansion in west-central Alberta will not be subject to a federal impact assessment.
“Over the last two years, we’ve seen zero progress on the thermal coal export ban, and now we’re seeing Canada move in the opposite direction by refusing to even assess the impacts of a major expansion of Canada’s largest thermal coal mine,” Julia Levin of Environmental Defence told Canada’s National Observer in a phone interview.
The federal government promised to end thermal coal exports by 2030, but Coalspur’s mine expansion project would operate for 11 years, until at least 2036.
Currently, the Vista open-pit coal mine, located 10 kilometres east of Hinton, …