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This research on flaring was conducted by scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and the University of Southern California (USC), and published in Environmental Health Perspectives in 2020. While it has not been evaluated in relation to proposed fossil fuel facilities such as Woodfibre LNG, experts believe the impacts would be similar.
The BC government issued Woodfibre LNG’s environmental assessment certificate (EAC) in 2015, before research on the health impacts of flaring existed. In 2020, BC’s Chief Executive Assessment Officer renewed Woodfibre LNG’s EAC without having evaluated the then-new research on the health impacts of oil and gas flaring.
We need immediate, independent research on the health outcomes of flaring in BC and close monitoring of communities near existing oil and gas sites where flaring takes place.
In addition to the deeply alarming risk Woodfibre LNG poses to pregnant people in BC, its impact on the climate crisis – and associated local wildlife and flooding hazards – is another reason for serious reconsideration of the BC NDP's promotion of fracked gas and LNG.
Continuing to expand fossil fuel infrastructure that poses a serious risk to human health and exacerbates climate change is the opposite of the leadership British Columbia needs.
Stand with us to call on the BC NDP to:
- Immediately pause plans for Woodfibre LNG
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Conduct independent research on the potential regional health impacts of the proposed project's flaring outcomes and closely monitor communities near existing LNG facilities where flaring occurs
- Cancel Cedar LNG, following through on their commitment of no new fossil fuel infrastructure
- Recognize that the BC government is long overdue on its promise of stopping fracked gas projects
- Invest in the transition to clean energy
