The most salient and striking part for me was how NRCAN completely fails to grasp that addressing climate change means getting off fossil fuels as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n\n
In the paragraph below we see NRCAN staffers briefing Natural Resources Minister Seamus O\u2019Regan and boasting about giving the oil industry new exploration subsidies. Reminder: Canada has committed to eliminating fossil fuel subsidies because they encourage<\/a> the production and use of fossil fuels that\u2019s driving the climate crisis.<\/p>\n\n Here they say we can\u2019t achieve net zero emissions without the oil and gas sector. But oil and gas is CAUSING the climate crisis. ? The majority of Canada\u2019s emissions<\/a> come from the production and use of oil and gas. We can\u2019t achieve net zero WITH the oil and gas sector.<\/p>\n\n Legitimate negative emissions, say from sustainable reforestation<\/a>, are scarce<\/a> and needed to compensate for emissions that are truly hard to eliminate such as some agricultural and industrial process emissions. Ideally they should also support going beyond net zero to achieving net negative emissions, to maximize our chances of not exceeding 1.5\u02daC warming. We should not forget that even 1.5\u02daC of warming poses major risks<\/a> for many communities and ecosystems, including coral reefs, small low lying island nations, and ice-dependent Arctic communities.<\/p>\n\n There simply aren\u2019t enough viable negative emissions out there to compensate for the oil and gas industry\u2019s massive emissions. Achieving net zero requires choosing truly zero emission options wherever possible.<\/p>\n\n The NRCAN briefing note says they\u2019ll do whatever it takes to support workers. But what if really supporting workers means a PLANNED transition out of the fossil fuel sector? Spoiler alert: it does. Yet the federal government refuses to go there, despite their green recovery promises<\/a> in last fall\u2019s Throne Speech.<\/p>\n\n NRCAN and Minister O\u2019Regan think oil and gas is the basis of economic recovery. They don\u2019t seem to realize over-dependence on oil is a key economic PROBLEM here. They seem set on making this problem worse, rather than focusing on diversification<\/a> away from the sunset industry of oil.<\/p>\n\n The Ministry of Natural Resources should be playing a central role in tackling climate change and guiding a rapid transition off fossil fuels, and it\u2019s a serious failure on their part that they\u2019re so captured by industry that they\u2019re actually working to slow and undermine the transition by promoting the subsidization, financing and expanded production of fossil fuels.<\/p>\n\n They say the success of the sector depends on continued exploration. But peak oil demand is upon us<\/a>, and we must plan for the new reality of declining oil demand, not the old world of increasing demand and unending exploration. The climate crisis and new technologies have fundamentally changed the landscape. The O&G industry has no successful future. <\/p>\n\n They go so far as to say they are PLEASED there are more subsidies for more fossil fuels to make the climate crisis worse! That, my friends, is the oil industry speaking through NRCAN. Greenpeace has previously criticized<\/a> the oil industry\u2019s attempts to get subsidies for expanding oil production in Newfoundland, but apparently NRCAN didn\u2019t get the message. We\u2019re still stuck with a petrostate.<\/p>\n\n NRCAN seems to think that because oil won\u2019t disappear overnight that anything goes, and that it\u2019s ok to compete for global oil market share by subsidizing oil exploration and production in Canada. But the world has already discovered<\/a> more oil than can be burned if we\u2019re to avoid climate catastrophe. Every dollar and ounce of talent spent exploring for oil increases our oversupply of oil and stranded assets, and steals money and talent needed for the transition. And as one of the richest and most polluting countries<\/a> in the world, we send a horrible message to others and undermine climate action globally when we fail to lead by example and transition away from fossil fuels as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/Vn5fTYDlIGRWYbu5AikFc4WrEuCjK4BWtAuxPdLJ8E4tdpZt_vsR5qhaRMUcAVO8S5MUJO7PC7z78twC7d_v_AqWzVqnp9RAJUhM-exG_VQsJouTFsfjQY2t4x0_fzDwUuHdrQGr\")
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