© Conservation Council of New Brunswick 2025
In this edition of EcoNews, we celebrate our recent win for accountability and climate responsibility as the Energy and Utilities Board (EUB) agrees to review the proposed Tantramar gas and diesel plant. We also share tools to track herbicide spraying, and invite you to speak up for stronger clean water and clean air protections across the province. Additionally, keep scrolling to see what advocacy events our staff have attended this month!
A win for accountability and climate responsibility
Our team is celebrating a key win for accountability, ratepayer protection and climate responsibility in New Brunswick. The Energy and Utilities Board (EUB) has rejected N.B. Power’s attempt to skip a review of the proposed Tantramar gas and diesel plant, ensuring the project will face full public scrutiny.
We worked incredibly hard to intervene at these hearings. But this is unfortunately only the tip of the iceberg in the battle against this shortsighted fossil fuel plant. We need to continue fighting, and we need your help to do it.
Consider donating today to help us continue this important work. Also, by becoming a Conservation Council member, you can strengthen our organization by adding your voice to call for a cleaner, better New Brunswick.
See where herbicide spraying is happening near you
Each year, we release herbicide hotspot spray maps so New Brunswickers can be informed about where herbicide spraying is happening. This year, we’ve partnered with Stop Spraying NB to develop our most accurate maps yet. Click below to visit our webpage about herbicide spraying, and scroll down and click on the dropdown menus to see the maps.
Also, feel free to click the link on the webpage to send your letter to provincial leaders calling for an end to the spraying of glyphosate-like herbicides in our forests.
Help shape the future of freshwater protection
Healthy watersheds mean healthy people. New Brunswick’s lakes, rivers and streams sustain our health, our communities and our economy — but only if we protect them. The government of New Brunswick is currently reviewing the Clean Water Act, and now is the time to speak up for strong laws and real enforcement.
Click below to take the survey, find an in-person engagement session happening near you or make a submission:
Your voice. Your power. Your future.
New Brunswickers are being called to shape the future of energy in our province. A major review of N.B. Power is underway to tackle rising rates, aging infrastructure and the path to clean, reliable electricity for all.
With public engagement sessions coming up in Miramichi, Edmundston, Bathurst and beyond, now is the time to speak up.
Don’t miss your chance to influence decisions that affect every home and business. Join the conversation, because energy affordability, reliability and a transition to clean energy start with you.
Click below to learn more and attend a session near you:
Organizing for change
Inequalities are deepening in New Brunswick and across the planet, which is why our team attended the Social Forum in Wolastokuk this month to connect with other activist organizations that have a strong commitment to fighting systems that divide and exclude people.
During the event, Dr. Moe Qureshi, our director of climate research and policy, ran an informative presentation on energy democracy alongside our board president, Tom McLean, who talked about the viability of renewable energy in New Brunswick.
Bev Gingras, our executive director, and Erinn Sharpe, our engagement co-ordinator, had a great time connecting with everyone who stopped by our event booth. Staying in touch with activists around the province and the Maritimes makes our movements all the stronger.
A big thank you to all of the organizers who put this event together. Click below to find out more about the social forum:
Powerlines, not pipelines
This month, our director of climate research and policy, Dr. Moe Qureshi, joined 17 organizations from across Canada, including labour unions, Indigenous clean energy leaders and environmental groups, in Ottawa to call for federal investment in a national east-west renewable electricity grid.
The coalition met with nearly 40 MPs, senators and staff to urge the federal government to treat a connected, renewable-powered grid as a nation-building project. The groups are calling for at least $20 billion in federal investment to expand interprovincial transmission lines, uphold Indigenous rights and energy sovereignty and create good-paying jobs in clean energy construction and manufacturing.
Click the button below to read the briefing note submitted by these organizations to federal officials:
We work hard to ensure a strong environmental voice is heard in New Brunswick’s print, radio and television media. Last year, our staff appeared in the media more than 50 times to shed light on ongoing environmental issues and success in New Brunswick. Here are some of the biggest stories Conservation Council staff have been called upon for expertise, analysis and commentary this year:
Conservation Council in the News
Oct. 29, 2025 | There’s a better path forward for our energy needs than a gas and diesel plant in Tantramar. In this story in Canada’s National Observer, our director of climate research and policy, Dr. Moe Qureshi, warns that building a new gas plant on the fragile Chignecto Isthmus is a step in the wrong direction for the province’s energy future. Dr. Qureshi explains that N.B. Power should be investing in battery storage and locally produced wind power instead of locking New Brunswick into more volatile and polluting fossil fuel dependence. He also pointed to Ontario’s Oneida battery project as an example of how renewable energy storage can provide reliable, affordable power without harming sensitive ecosystems. Read more.
Oct. 29, 2025 | In this Brunswick News story, Conservation Council senior communications co-ordinator Kyle Reid questions the government’s lack of transparency following the massive diesel spill at Murray’s Truck Stop in Woodstock and the slow release of information about its cause and cleanup. Kyle says that the high rate of violations uncovered at other gas stations shows serious gaps in oversight across the province. Read more.
Oct. 27, 2025 | In this Brunswick News story, Dr. Moe Qureshi airs his concerns about N.B. Power’s new $75-million deal with Ontario Power Generation’s subsidiary to improve the Point Lepreau nuclear plant. Dr. Qureshi emphasized that cleaner, cheaper options like wind and solar energy could be built much faster and at lower cost than continuing to invest in aging nuclear infrastructure. Read more.
Oct. 16, 2025 | Dr. Moe Qureshi has been hard at work intervening at EUB hearings to determine whether N.B. Power could skip a public review of the proposed Tantramar gas and diesel plant. In a big win for accountability, climate and ratepayers, the EUB has ruled that it does have jurisdiction to review N.B. Power’s plan. Dr. Qureshi spoke with several media outlets following the ruling. You can check out what he said about this big win by reading these stories covering the ruling: Read the coverage in Brunswick News. Read the CBC’s story. Read Bruce Wark’s story.
Oct. 4, 2025 | The NB Media Co-op has a full livestream available of the Social Forum in Wolastokuk. Our team was in attendance and presented at this fantastic gathering. Click here to check out the full event.
Welcome new members!
We’re always so excited to grow our Conservation Council community. Please join us in giving a warm welcome to our newest members:
Grace, Brenda.
Not a member? Join us today by clicking below!