For Our Kids Burnaby is starting 2024 with a bang, getting involved in the Sue Big Oil campaign. They'll be campaigning the City of Burnaby to support a class action lawsuit that will hold fossil fuel companies accountable for climate impacts, following in the footsteps of Slocan, Qualicum, Squamish, Gibsons, and View Royal.
Burnaby parents join the Sue Big Oil campaign
Take Part:
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Contact Burnaby City Council. Send an email to Council directly using this online tool or even better, write your own letter. Here are some instructions: talking points, sample letters and council email addresses.
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Spread the word. Share these posts and this video on social media to help build the movement. Don’t forget to tag @suebigoil.
What's the campaign all about?
Environmental devastation is gaining momentum as floods, wildfires and heat domes cause health hazards and infrastructure damage. As a result, the cost of repairing the damage and protecting residents from climate calamities is skyrocketing, including here in Burnaby.
The fossil fuel industry is fuelling this climate chaos, but who is on the hook to pay for this damage? Right now it is us - Burnaby’s residents and taxpayers (and we are already struggling with the soaring cost of living)! Big Oil has known for decades about the terrible harms caused by their products, but instead of acting to reduce emissions, they spread misinformation and blocked climate action.
The good news is that Burnaby has an opportunity to make polluters pay for the harms they are causing. We are encouraging the City of Burnaby to join the municipalities of Squamish, Gibsons, View Royal and others in signing on to a class action lawsuit to sue Big Oil and hold the world’s largest oil companies accountable for a fair share of the damage they are causing to our communities.
There is already considerable support for this among some Burnaby City Councillors, but we need to demonstrate that there is also widespread community support for making polluters pay. Building on the momentum of California and Maui launching similar climate lawsuits, this is an important opportunity to ensure that the fossil fuel industry pays its fair share of climate costs.
“It’s increasingly obvious that a class action lawsuit by BC’s local governments against fossil fuel companies is the fiscally responsible option for communities like Squamish, which are facing massive bills as a direct result of climate change,” said Fiona Koza, Climate Accountability Strategist with West Coast Environmental Law speaking after her presentation to Squamish Council. “These companies knew in the 1950s and 60s that their products would cause climate change, and they chose to aggressively expand while fighting tooth and nail to prevent consumers and governments from moving away from fossil fuels. They must pay their fair share.”
