With the Paris Climate Agreement, leaders’ world-wide overwhelmingly accepted that human-caused climate change is real and, because the world continues to increase fossil fuel use, the need to reduce emissions is urgent.
Why are our politicians contemplating spending billions on pipelines when the Paris commitment means 75 to 80 per cent of known fossil fuel deposits must be left in the ground?
The drive to make Canada a petro superpower distorted the Canadian economy into greater fossil fuel dependence with catastrophic consequences when the price of oil collapsed. The lesson should have been learned long ago: dependence on a single revenue stream is hazardous if that source suffers a reversal in fortune like resource depletion, unanticipated cost fluctuations or stiff competition.
True national security would have Canada moving along a sustainable track, which considers the interests of all Canadians. Continuing to build fossil fuel infrastructure and strapping ourselves to a future of increasing global warming is a dangerous direction. Shifting to a 21st century clean-energy economy would create more jobs, unity and prosperity — not just in one region — than continuing to rely on a polluting, climate-altering dinosaur industry.
Dona Grace-Campbell, Kaslo
