We wouldn’t want a consortium of car manufacturers writing the laws on vehicle safety or an alliance of pharmaceutical companies determining the health benefits of medications. So why would we put the future of climate change in the hands of an association of oil and gas companies whose products are the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the world?
Climate change is caused by greenhouse gas emissions, and the fossil fuel industry is Canada’s largest emitter of greenhouse gasses, responsible for more than one-third of the country’s total GHG emissions. Yet, in Canada, the oil industry is the biggest impediment to climate action, not only through greenhouse gas emissions, but also by pushing a dangerous agenda for weaker climate policies.
The industry works through a vast social network, including: law firms, lobbyists, PR firms, advertising agencies, academia, and other institutions in order to sway the opinion of the public and increase the political power of fossil fuels. The industry’s work to halt or stall climate action appears almost daily in the news cycle: the Alberta Environment Minister raging against a bill that would make oil companies have to prove their environmental claims, a request for a large CCS project to avoid impact assessments, and Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre campaigning against the carbon tax while shilling for methane (LNG) expansion.
The industry’s opposition to the federal emissions cap is another recent example. An industry lobby group, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP), released a report on the costs of mandating an emissions cap. To make it look as painful as possible, CAPP modeled the costs of reducing emissions by 40 percent by 2030, when the proposed federal cap only requires a 20-23 percent cut in actual emissions. It also assumes that companies won’t maximize methane reductions, which are the quickest and cheapest way to meet that target, while ignoring the jobs and environmental benefits that come with investments in alternatives to oil and gas.
The industry wants to make the cap appear to be a burden for taxpayers. But oil and gas companies are the real burden. These companies are attempting to dodge accountability for the mess they’ve made and continue to make, pushing for taxpayers to foot the bill or face increased wildfires and extreme weather events, while all the while they are raking in record profits. Their climate impacts are causing a mess that is becoming more difficult to clean up with every diluted policy and delay to action.
Globally, climate change is already costing more than $16 million (USD) an hour. If you are an average reader, that means that in the time it takes to read this article, climate change will have cost $1.2 million USD. Here in Canada, climate change is already costing Canadians billions of dollars. Insurance rates alone are skyrocketing in many areas due to extreme weather resulting from climate change. And it’s not just money. There are immeasurable social, emotional, life and livelihood costs, as well as lost ecosystems and devastated communities. And once we pass key climate thresholds, there is no turning back the clock on the cascading effects.
The path forward is clear: the industry is not decarbonizing on its own, and dragging our feet on climate action has dire costs. It is therefore critical that we decarbonise this sector quickly and fairly, in order to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
The emissions cap is one tool to help us mitigate the worst climate impacts. It’s like fastening a seatbelt. It can help slow climate change and reduce some of the risk. It’s not enough, and it can’t be all we do to protect ourselves and our planet, but it’s an essential step.