Dear colleagues, 

This letter was previously distributed. A colleague inquired about who might signed.  

This letter is open for signature by any climate expert from any nation.  The lead group is from Canada, and the letter you see addresses the grave concerns that many Canadian climate and environment related researchers have with the process of pipeline review in Canada.  BUT any and all global colleagues are invited to review the letter and add your signature to the letter if that is possible.  

Please do this as soon as possible as we plan to submit the letter to the Prime Minister very soon. I expect the letter will be released to the media.

Warm regards,

Jim Byrne 

Dear friends and colleagues,
 
We, the undersigned natural and social scientists, are writing to invite you to consider being a signatory on a letter to Prime Minister Harper. The letter calls for PM Harper to reject the Joint Review Panel (JRP) report on the Northern Gateway Pipeline (NGP). The Prime Minister’s office is expected to announce a decision on the NGP imminently (within weeks), so the timing is critical. To ensure that we precede the federal decision, the sign-on letter will close on May 23.

The letter begins as follows below. In short, we are stating that the JRP report is flawed in five important ways, such that it is insufficient as basis for a federal decision. Note that we are not calling for the PM to reject the NGP; we are restricting our critique to the evidentiary basis for such a decision in the JRP report.
 
The questions surrounding natural resource development and transportation are complex and multifaceted, involving economic, ecological and social considerations. We find the report flawed in a diversity of these dimensions. While, none of us alone can speak to all of these flaws, we can collectively assess and address specific issues given our areas of expertise. In an effort to communicate a clear and succinct message, the letter details five fundamental flaws among many.
 
You can sign onto the letter at: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/scientists-reject-northern-gateway-jrp-report
 
The pdf of the full letter can be downloaded at: http://www.Chanslab.ires.ubc.ca/?attachment_id=2611   
 
Sincerely,
Kai MA Chan, Associate Professor, University of British Columbia
Anne Salomon, Assistant Professor, Simon Fraser University
Eric B Taylor, Professor, University of British Columbia

Together with:
Elena Bennett, Professor, McGill University
James M Byrne,Professor, University of Lethbridge
Michael Barkusky, Founding Director, Pacific Institute for Ecological Economics
Suzanne Bayley, Emeritus Professor, University of Alberta
Ratana Chuenpagdee, Professor, Memorial University
Simon Donner, Associate Professor, University of British Columbia
Edward Gregr, Professional Biologist / Recovery Plan Author, University of British Columbia
Eric Higgs, Professor, University of Victoria
George Hoberg, Professor, University of British Columbia
Kathryn Harrison, Professor, University of British Columbia
Don Jackson, Professor, University of Toronto
Mark Jaccard, Professor, Simon Fraser University
Jeremy Kerr, Professor, University of Ottawa
Ken Lertzman, Professor, Simon Fraser University
Sarah Otto, Professor, University of British Columbia
Evgeny Pakhomov, Professor, University of British Columbia
Paul Paquet, Assistant Professor, University of Victoria
Wendy Palen, Assistant Professor, Simon Fraser University
David Schindler, Professor, University of Alberta
Douw Steyn, Professor, University of British Columbia
Boris Worm, Professor, Dalhousie University