ADAM OLSEN -- This is the problem with the current debate around fossil fuels in our country. It's been politicized to the point that there is little honesty left in it
It’s mind-numbing to try
to keep up with all the decisions politicians in Ottawa made about the British
Columbia coastline last week.
First, on Monday the Members in
the House of Commons voted 186 to 63 to support a motion from Hon. Catherine
McKenna (Minister of Environment and Climate Change) declaring a national
climate emergency and recommitting Canada to the targets set in the Paris
agreement.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau announced that his government is approving the Trans Mountain
Pipeline Expansion Project, again. If you had concerns of the obvious
inconsistencies in these two announcements, fear not. The support of the
pipeline comes with a caveat that his government will invest all profits,
"every dollar" is the quote, on green energy projects.
Last Thursday, the Canadian
Senate's approval of Bill C-48, the Oil Tanker Moratorium Act, adds to the
confusion of the national news cycle. On one hand there is a national climate
change crisis ... and on another hand we will make the problem better by making
it worse through an approval of fossil fuel infrastructure ... and on the third
hand, (if you don't have three hands don't worry about it, suspend reality
to help you make it through this anyway) they are banning oil tankers over
12,500 metric tonnes from transiting Canadian waters north of Vancouver Island.
Guaranteed safety?
NDP MP Nathan Cullen tweeted that the
decision was a "guarantee that our coastline, communities and sealife will
be safe from a devastating oil spill." Except for the fact that in 2013
the Nathan E. Stewart, an
articulated tug and barge ran aground in Seaforth Channel spilling approximately
100,000 litres of petroleum products into the ocean.
These articulated tug and barge operations would not be affected by this
new ban. Just as they were allowed to continue under the previous moratorium.
This is the problem with the current debate around fossil fuels in our
country. It's been politicized to the point that there is little honesty left
in it. Follow the storyline.
Climate change is real, we are fighting it, look at our motion!
We are funding the fight with ramping up fossil fuel production and when
the
Prime Minister says we need to
transition away, he's forced to scramble back to safety, else the oil lobby's
grip tighten.
This is your brain when trying to understand politics |
And now with an oil tanker ban in place, politicians are promoting a
false sense of security.
If you don't have three
hands don't worry about it, suspend reality to help you make it through this
anyway
Don't get me wrong. The Oil Tanker Moratorium Act is important. However,
are oil tanker transports more dangerous to the pristine coastline of central
and northern British Columbia than they are in the Salish Sea?
Calling a national climate emergency is important. Although, haven't we
lost all credibility by piggy-backing that announcement with a massive public
subsidy of oil corporations?
Like I said, trying to understand the logic from the decisions in Ottawa
is enough to make your mind numb.
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