When a Greater Victoria teenagersa国际传媒檚 petition against the Coastal GasLink pipeline got to 200 signatures last month, his aunt congratulated him on its progress. He responded by telling her he hoped it would reach 800 signatures by March.

A week later, was at 16,000.

sa国际传媒淚t totally blew me away,sa国际传媒� said Troy Patterson.

The Claremont Secondary School studentsa国际传媒檚 petition is now at over 23,000 signatures. The petition calls for construction of the pipeline to stop as Patterson is concerned about its potential impact on the Great Bear Rainforest and marine life.

sa国际传媒淭his is one of the last wild places in B.C.,sa国际传媒� Patterson said. sa国际传媒淚 thought sa国际传媒榃hat can I do as a youth?sa国际传媒� and I thought a petition would be the best way to go about that.sa国际传媒�

Patterson first got involved in environmentalism about a year ago, after he visited an old-growth forest. That interest in conservation has continued to grow as hesa国际传媒檚 currently taking a course in school that revolves around the environment.

The 15-year-old said environmental issues have fallen out of the spotlight during the pandemic.

sa国际传媒淚 needed to bring this back up so people can remember and start to make a change.sa国际传媒�

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Once completed, TC Energysa国际传媒檚 670-kilometre Coastal GasLink pipeline will transport natural gas from the Dawson Creek area to the LNG Canada export facility in Kitimat, where the company says itsa国际传媒檒l be converted into liquefied natural gas and shipped to global markets.

One of Pattersonsa国际传媒檚 main concerns is the impact on wildlife if LNG carrier-ship traffic increases in the provincesa国际传媒檚 northern waters. One species hesa国际传媒檚 worried about is the endangered fin whale sa国际传媒� which the federal government says can be found in some deep channels between islands along British Columbiasa国际传媒檚 northern coast.

sa国际传媒淭he marine ecosystem is much at stake here,sa国际传媒� Patterson said. sa国际传媒淭he tankers have to traverse some quite sharp turns and passages.sa国际传媒�

Patterson has reached out to Premier John Horgan, Environment Minister George Heyman, Forests Minister Katrine Conroy and several local MLAs to raise his concerns.

sa国际传媒淚 think in B.C. wesa国际传媒檙e quite connected to the environment with it all right in our backyard,sa国际传媒� Patterson said. sa国际传媒淚 would like to see the B.C. government recognize it too and push to a more sustainable future.sa国际传媒�

The provincesa国际传媒檚 Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy said the pipelinesa国际传媒檚 construction and operation sa国际传媒渨ill not involve any effects to marine life or marine traffic.sa国际传媒�

sa国际传媒淣or does the pipeline cross the Great Bear Rainforest and, as such, these effects were not assessed for the Coastal GasLink project,sa国际传媒� an email from the ministry said.

sa国际传媒漅egarding the LNG Canada project, impacts on marine shipping and marine life were considered through the environmental assessment certificate process.sa国际传媒�

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