{"id":43575,"date":"2020-10-07T08:35:13","date_gmt":"2020-10-07T12:35:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/?p=43575"},"modified":"2020-10-07T08:35:17","modified_gmt":"2020-10-07T12:35:17","slug":"leaked-document-details-industrys-secret-plan-to-defeat-clean-fuel-standard-fighting-climate-change-is-a-losing-battle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/press-release\/43575\/leaked-document-details-industrys-secret-plan-to-defeat-clean-fuel-standard-fighting-climate-change-is-a-losing-battle\/","title":{"rendered":"Leaked document details industry\u2019s secret plan to defeat Clean Fuel Standard: \u201cFighting climate change is a losing battle\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<\/p>\n\n

7 October 2020<\/p>\n\n

TORONTO – Greenpeace Canada has obtained a leaked copy of a confidential strategy designed to undermine support for the federal government\u2019s proposed Clean Fuel Standard (CFS). The \u201canti-CFS campaign strategy\u201d seeks to convince Canadians that it isn\u2019t worth increasing fuel costs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions because \u201cfighting climate change is a losing battle.\u201d <\/p>\n\n

\u201cEvery individual and organization involved in the campaign against the Clean Fuel Standard should take a long, hard look in the mirror,\u201d said Keith Stewart, senior energy strategist with Greenpeace Canada. \u201cThey should ask themselves if they really want to convince Canadians that \u2018fighting climate change is a losing battle\u2019 because that is the ultimate self-fulfilling prophecy.\u201d <\/p>\n\n

The strategy document (Canadians for Fairness in Clean Fuel Policy<\/em><\/a>) was prepared in January 2018 by the public relations firm Navigator, which bills itself<\/a> as “Canada\u2019s leading high-stakes strategic advisory and communications firm” and has a registered trademark tag-line of \u201cwhen you can\u2019t afford to lose\u201d. The document does not name Navigator\u2019s client but proposes to build a \u201cbroader than Big Oil\u201d coalition to oppose the CFS by recruiting industry associations, companies, think tanks, labour groups and the opposition Conservatives. It proposes a \u201cSecondary role for industrial players (not front and centre): Industry must be present, but efforts should appear organic and not stage managed.\u201d <\/p>\n\n

See backgrounder below for evidence of the strategy\u2019s implementation.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n

\u201cLooking at this strategy and how the anti-CFS strategy has played out over the last two years, it is clear that the opposition was never about a good-faith effort to amend the Clean Fuel Standard, but rather an underhanded attempt to kill it completely. While the rest of us do our part to reduce emissions, Big Oil and its behind-the-scenes partners are once again resisting doing the bare minimum,\u201d said Stewart.<\/p>\n\n

Following lobbying<\/a> by the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers in March, the federal government delayed the implementation of the CFS, which would require fuels like gasoline and diesel to burn more cleanly. New proposed regulations are expected this fall.<\/p>\n\n

-30-<\/p>\n\n

For more information, please contact:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Jesse Firempong, Communications Officer,  Greenpeace Canada<\/p>\n\n

+1 (778) 996-6549 or jesse.firempong@greenpeace.org<\/p>\n\n

BACKGROUNDER<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

The Canadians for Fairness in Clean Fuel Policy <\/em>strategy<\/a> has three main components: <\/p>\n\n

  1. to launch a \u201ccounterpunch\u201d after the draft regulation is released;<\/li>
  2. to build a coalition \u201cbroader than Big Oil\u201d so other voices can carry the campaign\u2019s messages; and <\/li>
  3. to foster an \u201cappreciation that fighting climate change is a losing battle\u201d by convincing the public that the costs of the CFS aren\u2019t justified .<\/li><\/ol>\n\n
    \"\"\/
    Screenshot of the three key strategy components developed by Navigator (see pg. 17)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

    The campaign proposes a clever but deceitful strategy. Participants are urged to support the general aims of the federal climate change plan (\u201cQuietly support government\u2019s climate change agenda\u201d on page 18) while opposing a key measure that would accomplish those aims (on page 4, the Navigator document acknowledges the Clean Fuel Standard is \u201cthe single biggest piece of its [the federal government\u2019s] carbon reduction strategy\u201d).<\/p>\n\n

    The campaign would use cost arguments to kill (not modify) the Clean Fuel Standard, while downplaying the possibility\/desirability of fighting climate change overall: <\/p>\n\n

    \u201cEngaging the government in a discussion about potential alternative strategies will require a dedicated campaign to initiate a conversation about: <\/p>\n\n