Newfoundlanders say they want transition to green energy
Divert oil subsidies into support for workers before the world forces us to: advocates
A public opinion poll released Monday by a number of climate-action groups suggests politicians and oil lobbyists in Atlantic Canada are out of sync with the population’s views on the fossil fuel industry and the need to transition away from it.
The poll, conducted by The Atlantic Quarterly and commissioned by the Council of Canadians, the Sierra Club Canada Foundation and the Ecology Action Centre, showed widespread support for moving away from fossil fuels toward renewable energy and energy efficiency.
Specifically, 85 per cent of Nova Scotians and 80 per cent of Newfoundland and Labrador residents support initiatives that would see training and income support for affected workers.
The poll also found almost 80 per cent of people in both provinces supported intiatives that would provide more equitable opportunities for women, people of colour, Indigenous people and other groups made vulnerable by the current economy.
“What I think it indicates is that local citizens are aware of the need for change and they are more realistic,” said Angela Carter, a political science professor at the University of Waterloo in Ontario.
“Local people are less swayed by the rhetoric of the oil industry, which the government of Newfoundland and Labrador has very much aligned with.”
Carter, author of “Fossilized: Environmental Policy in Canada’s Petro-provinces,” says the world is changing, and even the oil companies realize it.
“Citizens are ready for the transition and want that future-proofing to happen, want government to take leadership, but we’ve got a disconnect.”
The European Union plans to spend €100 billion over the next six years in what is referred to a “just transition”
away from fossil fuels by making sure workers don’t get left behind.
Fatih Birol, executive director of the normally pro-development International Energy Agency, said last month that any money put into new oil development now would be “junk investments.”
MISLEADING
In Newfoundland and Labrador, the government has rationalized continued oil and gas development in order to help fund transition away from it.
Carter says that makes no sense given the need for continued
subsidies just to keep the industry afloat.
Last week, Suncor Energy and its partners received more than $500 million in deferred royalties and federal funding to keep the troubled Terra Nova project pumping oil.
“If the oil and gas sector was so strong, why is it that it continues to need so many public bailouts?” Carter said, questioning the industry line that the world will still need oil.
“If that’s true, then it should be able to stand on its own two feet, and it shouldn’t need government bailouts, certainly not the tune of … half a billion dollars.
“That is a logical disconnect.”
Charlene Johnson, CEO of the Newfoundland and Labrador Oil and Gas Industries Association (Noia), was not available for comment Monday, but the association issued a statement on her behalf.
“Noia members are continuing to work toward lowering carbon emissions throughout the industry and Noia is collaborating with the Newfoundland and Labrador Environmental Industries Association (NEIA) to study
ways this can be achieved through electrification of offshore facilities with power from shore or using offshore wind,” the statement said. Carter calls that a “ruse.” “That is approaching a problem with one eye closed. Because it doesn’t matter how you might extract that oil, high carbon or low carbon, you’re still extracting oil,” she said in a phone interview from Conception Bay, where she is working remotely. “The emissions end up in our global atmosphere regardless where that takes place.”
The term “clean oil” is akin to calling cigarettes “health smokes,” she said.
In Nova Scotia, Robin Tress says that province’s government is also throwing good money after bad by investing in exploration even though it has no operating offshore facilities.
“There’s a sea change in the energy economy globally right now, and I think it’s irresponsible for governments to carry on as if old economic development strategies can apply now and into the future,” said Tress, climate and social justice campaigner for the Council of Canadians.
“It’s better for workers when we plan in advance, when we make a clear path, when we give them the supports they need to make that shift, rather than waiting, pretending that it’s not a problem, and then we’re in a real pickle five or 10 years down the road.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised during the 2019 election to implement a Just Transition Act, but has rarely mentioned it since.