The mission of Fossil Fuel Resistance (FFR) is to oppose the expansion of fossil fuel infrastructures by countering disinformation, raising awareness of the harm that Enbridge is causing in our community, calling out the destructive policies of our provincial government, promoting alternatives to gas appliances, and working with partner organizations towards increasing the production of renewables in Ontario.
In the past, we have coordinated with other organizations to successfully stop an Enbridge pipeline which would have crossed through the Beverly Swamp in rural Hamilton, and are still monitoring the situation.
Getting Off Gas
FFR is the lead action group for the Getting Off Gas campaign. Background information about that campaign can be found here.
In this section, we will provide updates from Fossil Fuel Resistance action group meetings, details of planned events, and news items relating to the campaign.
Current Actions
Carbon Budgeting & Accounting at the City of Hamilton
We are happy to see the city is finally bringing forward a carbon budgeting and accounting framework at this week’s General Issues Committee meeting on May 27th! This plan will make sure every city department is keeping track of greenhouse gas emissions and ramp them down to meet our climate commitments. Please reach out to your councillor or send a letter in to the clerk by Tuesday May 26th at noon to tell them you’re glad to finally see this climate policy after more than a decade of community advocacy to get serious climate action in Hamilton.
And while we support the work of the Office of Climate Change Initiatives, of course we wish it were even stronger!
The proposed carbon offset policy still leaves the door open to buying widely discredited carbon credits, we would like a firm commitment that every climate dollar spent be invested directly into cleaning up and greening our city, and absolutely not investing in firms selling carbon accounting schemes.
We also hope the city will use these carbon budgeting and accounting tools to evaluate private companies and institutions getting money or waived fees from the city to ensure they are reporting their emissions and making progress in reducing their climate pollution.
And finally we hope that successful adoption of this carbon budgeting and accounting framework will only be the first half of the story, and that the climate office will be directed to start work on a similar tool for climate impact adaptation. Hamilton’s Climate Action Strategy addresses both the need to reduce emissions and to adapt our city to the rapid increase in extreme conditions that are already locked in. All city departments should have this kind of budgeting and accounting tools available to see how investments and infrastructure today are likely to hold up in the long run, and where it will save Hamiltonians money to do things right the first time instead of risking emergency repairs later.
Please take a minute to write in and share with our city council that you support climate action, and this carbon budgeting accounting framework is a good start but there is more to be done!
Agenda: Carbon Budgeting and Accounting Framework – May 27th GIC
Contact City Council: handy Stop Sprawl how-to guide
Other issues
Green Steel in Hamilton
We continue to advocate for a phase-out of fossil fuel powered steel making in Hamilton and a transition to green steel production!
Progress on ArcelorMittal Dofasco’s decarbonization plans have stalled despite $950 million dollars in public subsidies on the table.
Hamilton 350 has long been critical of Enbridge’s role in the original plan, essentially getting a free pipeline that they would own and pollute from indefinitely, all at public expense. We are hopeful that any future plans coming forward to decarbonize Hamilton’s steel industry will move directly to green (a.k.a. fully electric power inputs, no burning of methane “natural” gas involved”) steel making right here in our city instead of a pipeline to buy fracked gas from the United States.
Province-wide resistance to Doug Ford
Doug Ford has propped up fossil fuels, particularly fracked gas monopoly Enbridge, at every turn, from overturning the Ontario Energy Board trying to remove public subsidies from the corporate giant, to stopping municipalities from creating green building standards, to ripping out renewable energy infrastructure and encouraging dirty gas plants over new, cheap wind & solar.