Teachers should check facts when Berman addresses them

Who knew, but Tzeporah Berman and I have a lot in common.

We both love Canada and Alberta. We both have two sons.

And we have both recently received plenty of electronic hate mail.

“There has been a lot of attacks on social media … and there’s also been an enormous amount of support as well,” said the environmentalist who was the subject of controversy and vitriol last week as a result of being hired to be the keynote speaker at this year’s Alberta Teachers’ Association meeting.

“The attacks have been misogynistic, some were anti- Semitic,” said Berman via telephone from Vancouver.

“I think the thing that dismays me the most is people attacking me as anti-Albertan.

“I love Canada,” she declared. “I love Alberta. But the thing that dismays me is when you talk about the need to plan and reduce production you’re labelled as anti-Albertan or as some kind of enemy of the state,” she added. The attacks are shameful.

For people who make their living producing oil and gas — products Berman uses plenty of flying hither and yon to speak to paying groups — she does deserve legitimate criticism.

She’s clearly bright and articulate. But in our 50-minute chat together, she threw out a bunch of “facts” that simply aren’t factual.

And she’s speaking to Alberta teachers.

Berman says she intends to discuss “the new developments in climate science” with the teachers.

Wait a minute. I thought “the science was settled?” Isn’t that almost a mantra with people like Berman?

She also intends to discuss “the different projections of oil demand globally … since many countries have put in place policies to eliminate or ban the fossil fuel car,” she said.

Berman points to a study by Carbon Tracker, a non-profit company, that states solar energy could supply 23 per cent of global power generation in 2040 and 29 per cent by 2050, entirely phasing out coal and leaving natural gas with just a one per cent market share. ExxonMobil sees all renewables supplying just 11 per cent of global power generation by 2040.

Berman says the demand for oil is “softening,” that’s why Canada doesn’t need to build more pipelines, such as Northern Gateway, Energy East ( both killed by the Trudeau government) and Trans Mountain, which Ottawa purchased for $4.5 billion from Kinder Morgan.

The projections of renewable energy growth that Berman is relying on are based, in part, on promises made by politicians in several countries, including China and India, to phase out fossil-fuelled cars by 2040.

Politicians always live up to their promises, right?

For example, in 1997, thenprime minister Jean Chretien committed Canada to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions to an annual average of six per cent below 1990 levels of 611 megatonnes annually between 2008 and 2012.

When the Liberals lost power to Stephen Harper’s Conservatives in 2006, Canada’s emissions were 729 megatonnes annually, 118 megatonnes above Chretien’s Kyoto commitment.

“China’s goal,” says Berman, “is to move to 100 per cent renewables and they’re probably doing it faster than any other country in the world. I think 2016 was 35 per cent of renewable energy in the grid, which is astonishing,” she said.

She’s right. It is astonishing because it’s not even close to being true.

China’s National Bureau of Statistics’ most recent report on energy consumption states that: coal usage is at 60.4 per cent in 2017, “while clean energy, including natural gas and renewables,” rose 1.3 percentage points to 20.8 per cent from 2016,” states Reuters on the report.

Berman says the demand for oil will peak by 2022 — in four years.

Most analysts are predicting a peak in oil consumption in 2040 and some even in 2050. Wood Mackenzie, an influential oil consultancy, has the earliest credible date at around 2036.

If, as Berman says, Canadians need to show climate leadership and plan for a future without oil, shouldn’t we at least be realistic? Shouldn’t we put ourselves forward as the suppliers of the world’s growing oil needs rather than allow morally bankrupt places such as Saudi Arabia to ramp up production until oil peaks?

Berman is a true believer in what she is selling. She is sincere and we should listen to her respectfully and then challenge her on her facts, not on her gender or race.

When it comes to energy, Albertans share something in common with Berman. They are passionate about it.

The big difference is they are better informed.

China’s goal is to move to 100 per cent renewables and they’re probably doing it faster than any other country in the world.