The Trans Mountain pipeline will never be built. Acknowledging this reality should be the
starting point any further discussion on the subject between Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau and his cabinet. With last week’s Federal Court of Appeal
decision leading to the immediate suspension of pipeline construction, Trudeau
has been handed a singular opportunity to reverse course on his
anti-environment agenda. He can finally get with the program that he campaigned
on in 2015: to hold global warming to just two degrees C.
By purchasing Kinder Morgan’s leaky pipeline for $4.5
billion, Trudeau has mocked his own government’s Pan-Canadian Climate Change
plan. The Trans Mountain pipeline has a single
purpose – to allow the expansion of the Alberta tar sands. What has become clear is that the actions of Trudeau
and his Liberal government are severely at odds with the commitments to the
planet made by those same Liberals in Paris in 2015.
Trudeau and the Liberals also committed to getting serious
about protecting endangered species, like B.C.’s southern resident killer
whales. But it may take a court action
filed by conservation groups this week to spur the Liberals into finally taking
their legislated obligations seriously (see: “Lawsuit demands federal departments act to protect southern resident killer whales,” CBC News, September 5, 2018).
The Federal Court of Appeal was explicit that the National Energy Board
made a critical error in failing to assess the impacts of increased marine
shipping on killer whale habitat. It was an error that could have been avoided
had the NEB listened to conservation experts who raised this issue first back
in 2014 (see: “Tories deny responsibility for 'critical' Trans Mountain mistake made under Stephen Harper's watch,” the National Observer, September 4, 2018).
Trudeau and the Liberals also committed to implementing the
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), but instead
found itself unable to meet its existing constitutional obligations to consult
and accommodate First Nations impacted by Trans Mountain. UNDRIP includes the principle of obtaining
the ‘free, prior and informed consent’ of indigenous peoples where resource
development projects are proposed, potentially a more robust obligation than
consultation and accommodation (see: “Collaborative nation-to-nation decision-making is the way forward,” Martin Papillon, Policy Options, September 5, 2018).
Trudeau and the Liberals campaigned on reducing greenhouse
gas emissions, calling Stephen Harper’s National Energy Board process
inadequate. On the campaign trail,
Trudeau vowed to change the rules for pipeline assessments so that upstream and
downstream impacts would be included. In
office, the Liberals mandated these new requirements, but allowed the Trans
Mountain assessment to proceed without a more robust analysis of climate change
impacts (see: “Trudeau’s plan to kill Energy East without getting caught,” the Financial Post, September 19, 2017).
Taken together, climate change, indigenous rights and
endangered species leave no way forward for the Trans Mountain project. If Trudeau and the Liberals have the courage
of their own convictions, they will acknowledge this reality, and seriously
begin embarking on the overdue process of transitioning our economy off of
fossil fuels – something a growing number of jurisdictions are already
doing. California is about to join
Hawaii on the road to carbon neutrality by 2045 (see: "California lawmakers pass bill to phase out fossil fuels by 2045," engadget, August 30, 2018). There is no reason we here in Canada should
be continuing to argue about how to get a bitumen pipeline built.
Tar sands players are even extending Trudeau a helping
hand. Suncor just announced that it
won’t expand crude production, due to pipeline uncertainty. Decisions like this create opportunities for
the governing Liberals to get serious about renewable energy, a sector of the
economy that is significantly outperforming fossil energy job creation (see: “Renewable Energy Continues to Beat Fossil Fuels,” Time, February 8, 2017). Fact is, if we are going to hold global
warming to just 2 degrees C, most of the oil locked in tar sands is going to
have to stay in the ground anyway (see: “Most of Canada’s oilsands must stay in ground if world to limit global warming: report,” Global News, January 7, 2015).
There’s still plenty of time for the Liberals to convince
voters that, despite their recent flirtations with a sunsetting fossil energy
sector, that they really are serious about doing all of those good things they
said they’d do in 2015 to fight climate change (see: “Why Ottawa should step away from Trans Mountain,” Sarah Mason-Case, Catherine Potvin, Catroiona Sandilands, Policy Options, August 29, 2018).
Let’s see if Trudeau and the Liberals will rise to the
challenge.
(opinions expressed in this blog are my own and should not be interpreted as being consistent with the views and/or policies of the Green Parties of Ontario and Canada)
Originally published as "May: Pipeline decision an opportunity for Liberals to go green"," in the Sudbury Star, September 8, 2018.
Background:
“Lawsuit demands federal departments act to protect southern
resident killer whales,” CBC News, September 5, 2018. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/killer-whales-lawsuit-conservation-fisheries-environment-1.4811356
“Tories deny responsibility for 'critical' Trans Mountain
mistake made under Stephen Harper's watch,” the National Observer, September 4,
2018. https://www.nationalobserver.com/2018/09/04/news/tories-deny-responsibility-critical-trans-mountain-mistake-made-under-stephen
“Collaborative nation-to-nation decision-making is the way
forward,” Martin Papillon, Policy Options, September 5, 2018. http://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/collaborative-nation-nation-decision-making-way-forward/
“Trudeau’s plan to kill Energy East without getting caught,”
the Financial Post, September 19, 2017. https://business.financialpost.com/opinion/ted-morton-trudeaus-plan-to-kill-energy-east-without-getting-caught
“Renewable Energy Continues to Beat Fossil Fuels,” Time, February
8, 2017. http://time.com/4662116/renewable-energy-fossil-fuels-growth/
“Most of Canada’s oilsands must stay in ground if world to
limit global warming: report,” Global News, January 7, 2015. https://globalnews.ca/news/1761096/most-of-canadas-oilsands-must-stay-in-ground-if-world-to-limit-global-warming-report/
“Why Ottawa should step away from Trans Mountain,” Sarah
Mason-Case, Catherine Potvin, Catroiona Sandilands, Policy Options, August 29,
2018. http://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/august-2018/why-ottawa-should-step-away-from-trans-mountain/
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