ACTIVIST CLAIM: West Coast Environmental Law launches campaign to sue ‘Big Oil’ for environmental damages.
THE FACTS: Foreign-funded environmental law org rehashes old campaign to pressure B.C. municipalities to sue oil and gas companies using tragedies in B.C. and misinformation about the industry.
THE SOURCES:
Sue Big Oil
Here’s some facts and sources to have a reasoned conversation Canadian oil and gas:
- The Alberta Inquiry into Foreign Funding found that West Coast Environmental Law received foreign funding.
https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/3176fd2d-670b-4c4a-b8a7-07383ae43743/resource/f61d581b-e207-442c-8fd4-89e5178291d3/download/energy-report-public-inquiry-anti-alberta-energy-campaigns-sched-f-deloitte.pdf - West Coast Environmental Law has tried this campaign before but had little success.
https://www.osler.com/en/resources/regulations/2019/climate-change-litigation-arrives-in-canada - Canada is a world leader in carbon tech, investing heavily to reduce impacts of oil and gas production and maintain valuable benefits. According to the U.N.’s International Panel on Climate Change, carbon tech solutions will capture almost as many emissions as renewables will reduce by the end of the century.
https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/03/srccs_chapter8-1.pdf - Energy use and fossil fuel consumption is directly linked to an increased quality of life and a higher GDP.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/judeclemente/2015/03/15/the-true-link-between-carbon-based-fuels-and-quality-of-life/#12808be1628a - Hydrocarbons have been responsible for improvements in life expectancy, health, reduction in infant mortality, education, equality over the past 200 years. Our objective should be to keep these benefits while we reduce the impacts.
https://www.humanprogress.org/celebrate-the-industrial-revolution-and-the-fossil-fuels-which-drove-it/
https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2020/10/f79/Natural%20Gas%20Benefits%20Report.pdf
Stories that get it right
Key oil sands groups join forces under pathways alliance banner
Calgary, Alberta – Canada’s major oil sands producers today announced the combination of three existing industry groups, all focused on responsible development, into a single organization called the Pathways Alliance. The new organization incorporates the Oil Sands Pathways to Net Zero Alliance, launched in 2021, Canada’s Oil Sands Innovation Alliance (COSIA), created in 2012, and the Oil Sands Community Alliance (OSCA), created in 2013.
