December 06, 2010
Feds should be planning for a greener energy future, now
The following editorial by Nathan Cullen appeared in the December 6, 2010 issue of the Hill Times newspaper
By NDP MP NATHAN CULLEN
For the vast majority of countries, whether they are net importers or exporters of energy, the policy decisions they are making right now will form the basis of their ability to thrive or even survive in the coming decades. Those governments that are unable or unwilling to strategically manage their energy resources will be cursed by future generations, while those that do will position their countries for economic and environmental success and be hailed as visionaries.
In Canada, successive governments have remained locked in a backwards-looking time warp when it comes to questions of our energy resources. Fears of overstepping provincial rights have kept the federal government on the sidelines. Rather than emphasizing cooperation, involvement, and agreement between federal, provincial/territorial and aboriginal governments, Ottawa has actively avoided any discussion of a national vision since Pierre Trudeau’s ill-conceived National Energy Program.
As a result, the strategic development of our energy resources has been replaced instead by the narrow ambitions of certain industries and favoured companies.
This failure to lead has left Canada stumbling down a path of increasingly dangerous and unconventional sources of oil and gas. We are rapidly leaving the era of cheap, plentiful, easy fossil fuels and moving into a time of dirty, dangerous and expensive sources like offshore drilling, tar sands, and shale gas fracking. Oil companies have figured out how to continue to make record profits in this new reality, while Canadians are left with higher energy prices, and enormous environmental liabilities.
We have seen the environmental and economic costs of a future based on the rapid expansion of unconventional fossil fuel development. The devastation of BP’s offshore blowout in the Gulf of Mexico, tailings ponds full of dead ducks, and First Nations communities with soaring rates of cancer are all warnings of the high stakes of failing to address energy needs in a responsible manner. As policy-makers, we must recognize that a Canadian approach to energy security requires balancing our energy needs with the protection of our environment and the sustainability of our communities.
Other countries have shown a clear understanding of what is at stake and are moving forward with aggressive strategies to build greener, more competitive energy infrastructure. Countries such as the U.K., though wracked with more severe economic turmoil than Canada, have shown leadership and commitment to promoting energy security while addressing climate change and attracting investment through intelligent, targeted support for the development of domestic renewable energy capacity.
If we compare Canada’s action to the U.S., as this government is so fond of doing, we see that last year alone, the United States invested 18 times more in green energy per capita than Canada did. These choices have hard consequences for the Canadian economy: it’s estimated that Canada’s failure to keep up with the global shift towards greener economies cost us as many as 60,000 potential jobs.
Canada isn’t just standing still as the world passes us by. Regrettably, under this Government’s leadership we are moving in entirely the wrong direction. The cancelling of successful ecoENERGY for Renewable Power program leaves Canada without any major support for renewable energy. At the same time, the federal Government continues to subsidize the fossil fuel industry to the tune of $2.5-billion in tax breaks per year, in spite of signing on to an international commitment to phase out these counterproductive subsidies entirely.
To make matters worse, this government refuses to take meaningful action on climate change. In November they used the unelected Conservative-stacked Senate to kill the Climate Change Accountability Act (Bill C-311) and thus embarrass Canada on the world stage by showing up to the United Nations conference in Cancun with no policy framework or legislative commitment to address climate change. Further still, internal documents reveal that the Conservatives have directed diplomats to collude with big oil to sabotage other countries’ efforts to move forward on climate policy and greening their economy.
New Democrats believe that it is time to think beyond the next news clip or election cycle and engage in a difficult but essential conversation that will define our country’s future. The world has indeed entered a new reality, one that requires a fresh approach to the challenge of securing Canada’s energy future. A practical approach would require a national discussion about the best uses for our non-renewable and renewable energy resources. It would also look at the real cost of each resource, taking into account all associated expenses, including environmental and health costs, that are implicit in its production. Finally, such an approach would set out realistic timelines for the transition to a green energy economy.
Without some strategic vision, we will continue to struggle down the path of risky energy that will leave a devastating environmental and economic legacy for which future generations. We have another option: we can make the responsible decision to engage head on with the challenges of energy policy, making targeted and intelligent investments, and planning now for a greener energy future.
If Canada is to assume and maintain its position as an energy superpower (including our vast wind, geothermal, and solar resources), we need to make the investments and decisions now to position ourselves for the low-carbon economy that is a global necessity.
NDP MP Nathan Cullen, who represents Skeena-Bulkley Valley, B.C., is his party’s natural resources critic.
The Hill Times
http://hilltimes.com/page/printpage/cullen-12-6-2010
