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Canada’s Energy Ministers: Let’s Cook the Planet!
By Gillian McEachern, Environmental Defence Canada
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Read this blog post on the originating site
There are a lot of things we can be proud of as Canadians. Our record of peacekeeping. Our prized national parks and vast, pristine wilderness areas. Our cultural diversity. Our beer and hockey teams.
But, one thing that we should not be proud of is our role in pushing global warming through tar sands expansion. And unfortunately, that’s just what the new release from the energy and mines ministers supports.
It says “Alberta’s oil sands are a responsible and sustainable major supplier of energy to the world”. Yet, in a month when over 900 weather records have been broken in the U.S. alone, calling for more tar sands development is anything but responsible. The last thing the planet needs is more global warming pollution brought to it courtesy of Canada’s oil industry.
The ministers were gathered in Kananaskis, Alberta to discuss a national energy strategy. While the action plan that was released contains some promising steps – like working together on energy efficiency and smart grid technologies – the overarching message that comes through is that the world needs our energy, and that means more tar sands.
Yet, interestingly enough, that core assumption is flawed. The documents cite predictions by the International Energy Agency (IEA) to justify why the world needs more of Canada’s dirty oil as shown in the graph here. But, the numbers used to support that claim are based on an IEA scenario that would allow emissions to reach “a long-term level consistent with a temperature rise in excess of 6°C” (see page 383) rather than their scenario in which the world tackles climate change. To cut through the technical jargon, Canada’s energy ministers are working off the assumption that carbon pollution rises and the planet warms by three times the level thought to be safe from catastrophic climate change. Canada, under the Copenhagen Accord, supported the goal of limiting global warming to 2°C.
The political leaders at the meeting missed the boat. Canada can take advantage of the trillions of dollars of global investment in clean energy and chart a prosperous and clean energy future for the country. Some provinces are already doing that, like Ontario and Quebec.
We hope that leading provinces will become more vocal champions for the type of energy strategy we need.
Gillian McEachern
Program Manager, Climate and Energy
Tagged with: climate change, environmental defence canada, global warming, international energy agency
