Microsoft Word - Letter to TrudeauClimateHealth2018

A letter from global health professionals to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urging the re-evaluation of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion (TMX) due to inadequate health and climate risk assessments.

• The authors argue that the National Energy Board (NEB) review process for the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion (TMX) is flawed, specifically noting that it failed to consider downstream greenhouse gas emission impacts and used an overly optimistic spill scenario.
• The letter asserts that the NEB's health risk assessment is inadequate because it ignores the global and local health threats posed by climate change, such as wildfires, heat events, air pollution, and food shortages.
• The authors highlight the specific dangers of diluted bitumen (dilbit), stating it is more toxic than crude oil and behaves unpredictably in water. They note that even best-case oil recovery for crude oil is only 5-15%, with bitumen likely being lower.
• The document claims the health impact assessment ignored the risks associated with benzene, a toxic component of diluted bitumen, including its link to childhood leukemia and vulnerabilities of special populations.
• The signatories criticize the NEB's health-related conditions as being limited to monitoring, which they describe as an unacceptable "count-the-bodies" approach.
• The authors call for a robust, independent health impact assessment of the TMX project, emphasizing that the assessment must be independent of the Canadian government since the government now owns the pipeline.

APA

Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (2018). Microsoft Word - Letter to TrudeauClimateHealth2018. https://cape.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Letter-to-TrudeauClimateHealth2018.pdf#new_tab

Chicago

Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment. Microsoft Word - Letter to TrudeauClimateHealth2018. 2018. https://cape.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Letter-to-TrudeauClimateHealth2018.pdf#new_tab.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment |title=Microsoft Word - Letter to TrudeauClimateHealth2018 |date=22 October 2018 |url=https://cape.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Letter-to-TrudeauClimateHealth2018.pdf#new_tab |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{canadianassociationofphysiciansfortheenvironment2018microsoft, author = {{Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment}}, title = {{Microsoft Word - Letter to TrudeauClimateHealth2018}}, publisher = {Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment}, year = {2018}, month = oct, url = {https://cape.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Letter-to-TrudeauClimateHealth2018.pdf#new_tab}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }