Vancouver Fossil Fuel Ordinance

Urge the Vancouver Planning Commission and City Council to require facilities converting to cleaner fuels to get a conditional use permit.

Dear Members of the Vancouver City Council, Members of the Planning Commission, and Staff:

Thank you for your commitment to protecting community health and safety by pursuing a permanent ordinance prohibiting new or expanded large-scale fossil fuel facilities. I urge you to continue to move this work forward and ensure that this policy centers frontline communities already facing disparate environmental health and safety impacts created by fossil fuel facilities.

The current moratorium appropriately prohibits any new or expanded bulk fossil fuel projects on the basis of a wide range of health, safety, and quality of life concerns created by the storage, transfer, processing, and handling of fossil fuels in the City. The proposed permanent fossil fuel ordinance must safeguard community safety and health by avoiding loopholes that allow for fossil fuel expansions.

I urge the Planning Commission and City Council to require facilities converting to cleaner fuels to get a conditional use permit. This review process provides important safeguards for addressing seismic risks, public safety hazards, and averting fuel spill impacts. The public deserves to have a say in any flammable, toxic fuel storage near Vancouver’s neighborhoods and the Columbia River.

By passing this ordinance, Vancouver can avert dangerous facilities like LPG train terminals, LNG train terminals, or coal facilities. I support the ordinance moving forward.

Thank you,