Coal projects — such as the proposed Vista coal mine expansions — have no place in Canada’s future or a livable climate.
Thermal coal projects are an environmental issue, a social justice issue and a human health issue. Thermal coal is one of the world’s dirtiest fossil fuels, toxic to human health and disastrous for the climate. Burning coal accounted for over 40 per cent of the overall growth in global CO2 emissions in the last year and has no place in our future.
And yet, the proposed expansions to Vista, located in Alberta’s Rocky Mountains, would make it the largest thermal coal mine in Canadian history. The project is expected to result in the extraction of up to 15 million tonnes (MT) of coal per year. When shipped and consumed abroad, burning this much coal could lead to 33 MT of carbon annually.
Despite its enormous scale, Vista has slipped through the cracks and managed to avoid a federal impact assessment — a crucial step in the regulatory oversight process. If Vista’s expansions are allowed to move forward without an impact assessment, it could destroy critical fish and wildlife habitat, impact water quality, threaten Indigenous Peoples’ rights, and cause significant environmental harms.
That is why Ecojustice stepped up to represent our clients.
In 2020, with the help of 46 environmental, Indigenous, health, civil society and faith organizations, as well as tens of thousands of Canadians, Ecojustice and its clients scored an important victory when the Minister agreed to designate the Vista expansions for an assessment. Since that time we’ve stood behind our clients to defend the Minister’s decision at every step of the way. However, in October 2023 the Supreme Court of Canada announced that certain portions of the Impact Assessment Act (IAA) were unconstitutional, which resulted in revoking Vista’s hard-fought designation while the federal government amended the IAA.
Now, Coalspur is trying to bring Vista back from the dead — but we’re still fighting.
On behalf of Keepers of the Water and the West Athabasca Watershed Bioregional Society, two community groups living and working in the watershed where Vista is located, Ecojustice is demanding that the Minister of Environment and Climate Change redesignate the expansions for a federal impact assessment after recent amendments to the IAA.
Impact assessments are critical tools that help the government understand and limit harms to environment, endangered species, the climate, human health, and Indigenous Peoples and frontline communities.
We’re the last line of defense. Join us in demanding an impact assessment for Vista today.
