Using carbon tech, Canadian oil and gas can achieve a pathway to net-zero emissions and remain a healthy part of our energy diet, which includes renewables, without massive societal disruption.

CLAIM: Op-ed from Clean Energy Canada makes the claim that the shift from oil to renewables is inevitable, imminent, and will be disastrous for Canada’s economy, so we should be heavily investing in renewable, not oil.

THE FACTS:  Using carbon tech, Canadian oil and gas can achieve a pathway to net-zero emissions and remain a healthy part of our energy diet, which includes renewables, without massive societal disruption.

THE SOURCES:

The fossil-fuel party is raging again, but Canada still needs a plan for the hangover to come

Here’s some facts and sources to have a reasoned conversation about carbon tech and oil demand:

• 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

• Every energy demand scenario still shows oil and gas as a major world energy source. As this demand grows, the world will need more of our responsible energy.
  https://research-ca.bmocapitalmarkets.com/documents/140A6529-CE63-4B90-A627-06768A001783.PDF

• The EU recently declared natural gas as a green energy source, and Canada has a lot of it.
  https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-02-02/eu-to-unveil-controversial-green-label-plan-for-gas-and-nuclear

• Countries that are shifting to more renewable power still need reliable energy sources as a backup in case the wind stops blowing and the sun stops shining as there is no viable storage capacity at the moment.
  https://www.ingaa.org/File.aspx?id=38583

• Even as renewables become a greater part of the world energy mix, there are also impacts that need to be addressed. Minerals such as lithium, graphite, nickel, and rare-earth metals rising by 4,200%, 2,500%, 1,900%, and 700%, respectively, by 2040. This would require mining around the world at a historically unprecedented scale requiring new discoveries and technology to manage the massive environmental and social impacts.
  https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/24d5dfbb-a77a-4647-abcc-

Stories that get it right

Clear The Road

Since Clear The Road launched to protest illegal road blockades, we have been inundated with stories and support. 

Here are recent examples of how foolish – and criminal – actions on BC highways are harming residents:

• “I work driving patients to and from dialysis and other appointments … yes, highway blockades have prevented us from getting to said treatments.”
  
  
• “I am a truck driver… All of our drivers are beyond frustrated with these protestors shutting down the highways. It has had a huge impact on our deliveries and caused most of us to work unnecessary overtime on the days there were protests.”