EcoWest News, September 23, 2025

Welcome to EcoWest News, a weekly round-up of news and resources that you can put to use in addressing environmental issues and protecting the wild in your community.

Across the West

The BC government has given the go-ahead for a large LNG facility on the north coast despite not receiving approval from many of the local First Nations. Billed as a green project, it will be powered by natural gas obtained through fracking, which is primarily methane, a greenhouse gas. The primary owner is based in Texas. [The Narwhal, The Narwhal]

The Blackstone Project, a proposed coal mine in Alberta’s Eastern Slopes overlaps with bull trout recovery areas and is within the source waters for Edmonton and many other downstream communities. [CPAWS-NAB]

Alberta Wilderness Association and the Northern Alberta Chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society have filed a case with the provincial court of appeal to argue that the energy regulator’s CEO overstepped his authority when he sided with Summit Coal Inc to cancel a public hearing. [CPAWS-NAB]

Across Canada

Small modular nuclear reactors are costly, complex, untested, and slow to deliver. They won’t provide cheap, low-emission electricity in time to address the climate crisis. [The Tyee]

Abandoned fishing gear is the leading cause of marine animal death. 143 projects cleaned up and repurposed the waste from 2019-24. Funding cuts both federally and provincially could spell the end of these programs. [CBC]

Around the World

Heat waves aren’t just natural disasters. “Half of the increase in heat wave intensity since pre-industrial times can be traced to the greenhouse gas emissions from just 180 fossil fuel and cement producers.” [Anthropocene]

Europe has 21 EVs selling for less than $40,000 Canadian. Only one is available in Canada. [Clean Energy Canada]

Making a Difference

A Saskatoon start-up is turning food waste into fertilizer. [Sask Today]

Vancouver Fire Hall No. 17 is Canada’s first Passive House fire hall. It reduces operational carbon emissions by 99.67% from the previous fire hall at that location. [PassiveHouse Canada]

They deconstructed a 40-year-old house, cleaned all the pieces, and used them to build a new home. 32 solar panels make the house carbon neutral. [Maclean’s]

One child can go through 6,000 diapers before they’re potty trained. While cloth diapers may be the most sustainable option, they’re not for everyone. A Washington state company provides and collects compostable diapers and turns them into biochar. [The Tyee]

There’s a climate generation gap, but it’s not what you might expect. Young people are turning to the courts to address the climate crisis, while older people are expressing themselves through voting and investments. [Anthropocene]

“You’re poisoning my child”: How Mamme No PFAS helped expose Italy’s PFAS pollution scandal. [Euronews Green]

Biodiversity

“Small organisms, such as insects, mites, and crustaceans … are the nuts and bolts of ecosystems: They produce soil, pollinate crops, and feed almost everything. And most of them have yet to be identified.” [bioGraphic]

The complex world of dead trees: “After the trees fall—unless they burn—they’ll probably remain intact on the forest floor for another few hundred years, housing bugs, remodeling the forest and eventually sinking softly into the contours of the new woodland, in the shadow of new giants.” [Scientific American]

Nature’s Wonders

Birds without borders. Audubon photography awards now showcase photos from North and South America. [Audubon]

Photo credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/apmckinlay/51286794627

EcoFriendly West informs and encourages initiatives that support Western Canada’s natural environment through its online publication and the Nature Companion website/app. Like us on Facebook, follow us on BlueSky, X, and Mastodon, or subscribe by email.