Alberta pipeline plan puts Canada on wrong path, Sask. environmental group warns

The Saskatchewan Environmental Society is urging Ottawa to abandon plans for a new Alberta pipeline backed by public funding, arguing the project would move Canada further away from its climate commitments and toward greater dependence on fossil fuels.

Peter Prebble, a board member with the society, said the pipeline announcement wasn’t met with enthusiasm.

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“The Saskatchewan Environmental Society doesn’t support public money being spent on a new oil pipeline (because) there’s really no private sector proponent here,” Prebble said.

Prebble said Canada is already experiencing the consequences of climate change, pointing to flooding in Manitoba and northeastern Saskatchewan, destructive wildfire seasons and increasingly-frequent extreme weather events.

“Climate change essentially puts the future of human civilization on the planet at risk if we don’t wind down our use of fossil fuels worldwide, and Canada is going in exactly the opposite direction here,” he said.

Prebble believes federal funding would be better used towards finding cleaner energy solutions.

“It would be much better spent helping to develop renewable energy across the country and helping to develop a national grid across the country that would provide electricity security to residents of every province,” he explained.

Prebble said investing in interprovincial power connections could improve energy security while helping provinces transition to cleaner sources of electricity.

He also questioned the long-term economics of the project, and argued that global demand for fossil fuels is expected to decline as countries increase renewable energy production.

While Alberta and Saskatchewan leaders have welcomed the proposed pipeline as an opportunity to expand export capacity and strengthen Canada’s energy sector, Prebble said the project is sending the wrong message at a time when governments should be reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

“I think it’s very clear that no country in the world should be expanding its oil and gas production,” he said.

Prebble said he hopes governments reconsider the proposal and instead invest public dollars in renewable energy, climate action and other priorities like health care, education and poverty reduction, and argued those investments would deliver greater long-term benefits for Canadians.

While he is opposition to the project overall, Prebble acknowledged he’s relieved a northern pipeline route is no longer being considered, saying it would have posed even greater environmental risks to British Columbia’s northern coast.

Prebble said Canada is at a crossroads, adding that governments have a choice between continuing to invest in fossil fuel infrastructure or accelerating the transition to cleaner energy.

“What I’d like to see is the project not go forward and for public money to be spent building a safe, clean energy future in the country instead of expanding the oil sands,” he said.

“If we don’t change course, we’re on a very dangerous path that threatens the future of the planet.”

980 CJME reached out multiple times for comment to the Government of Saskatchewan, but has not yet received a response.