A team of climate scientists is warning energy minister Joe Oliver that his continued support of Canada’s oil and gas industry will have dire environmental consequences.
“We are concerned that the Minister’s advocacy in support of new pipelines and expanded fossil fuel production is inconsistent with the imperative of addressing the climate change threat,” economist Mark Jaccard wrote on his blog.
Twelve scientists, energy experts and economists signed the letter, which refers to the International Energy Agency’s 450 scenario, in which global policy choices “give the world a fair chance of avoiding 2˚C of global warming.
“In that scenario, world oil demand is projected to peak this decade and fall to 10% below current levels over the coming decades. The IEA concludes that, absent significant deployment of carbon capture and storage, over two-thirds of the world’s current fossil fuel reserves cannot be commercialized. Other experts have reached similar conclusions,” the letter states.
The letter warns Oliver that his support of oil and gas “at home and abroad” amounts to support of a more dangerous scenario.
