In the Canadian petrostate, climate policies aiming to reduce domestic emissions are adopted time and again in exchange for more oil and gas exports. After all, the emissions when those fossil fuels are burned are not our problem. 🧵
Exhibit 1: Federal approval of #TMX pipeline in 2016 exchange for Alberta’s agreement to raise its carbon price from $30 to $50/tonne (agreement that was later withdrawn but wasn’t constitutionally required anyway.)
Exhibit 2: Never publicly confirmed but likely that federal approval of Pacific NW LNG was either a condition of or at least helped get BC to sign on to the carbon pricing plan in the Pan Canadian Framework.
Exhibit 3: My favourite. The Government of Canada declared a climate emergency, then purchased the TMX pipeline the next day. Bonus: "future profits" from the pipeline will all go toward climate action in Canada!
Exhibit 4: Today Newfoundland withdrew its moratorium on offshore wind. Hours later the fed govt approved the Bay du Nord offshore oil project. Probably just optics in that case, but can't hurt when 2 days before IPCC reiterated new oil/gas projects aren't consistent with 1.5C.
Sometimes these are openly presented as political concessions necessary to advance climate action. In other cases, I’m sure well-intentioned folks have told themselves it’s the political price that must be paid for climate action in Canada. And paid, and paid.
Maybe they’re right. Maybe the rest of the world will put our oil and gas industries out of business. I hope so. Because in the meantime Canada just keeps adding more fossil fuels to the global fire, even as we congratulate ourselves for climate leadership.
Correction, climate emergency declaration was before reapproval in 2019.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
