SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Greenpeace activists unfurl banners after building a wood and card 'oil pipeline' outside the Canadian High Commission, Canada House, to protest against the Trudeau government's plans to build an oil pipeline in British Columbia on April 18, 2018 in London.
(Photo: Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images)
Trans Mountain Pipeline, Say Critics, Would Make 'Absolute Mockery' of Climate Emergency Declaration
"Fossil fuels must stay in the ground. Forget 'climate neutral' and clever accounting. Our emissions must start their way to zero. Now."
Jun 18, 2019
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday is reportedly expected to approve a $5.5 billion expansion of the Trans Mountain tar sands pipeline, a move environmentalists warned would make an "absolute mockery" of the House of Commons' vote to declare a climate emergency just hours earlier.
The vote Monday night made Canada the third nation to declare a national climate emergency, but critics said purely rhetorical acknowledgements of the planetary crisis are meaningless without concrete action.
"It's great that more countries and regions are doing this," tweeted 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg after the vote. "But remember: The fossil fuels must stay in the ground. Forget 'climate neutral' and clever accounting. Our emissions must start their way to zero. Now."
\u201cCanada declares national #ClimateEmergency.\nIt\u2019s great that more countries and regions are doing this. But remember:The fossil fuels must stay in the ground. Forget \u201cclimate neutral\u201d and clever accounting. Our emissions must start their way to zero. Now. https://t.co/NU4bQ33L6Q\u201d— Greta Thunberg (@Greta Thunberg) 1560847789
Trudeau's government purchased the Trans Mountain pipeline from Kinder Morgan for $4.5 billion last May, sparking outrage from environmental groups and indigenous tribes.
Critics warned that approval of the pipeline expansion would represent a major blow to efforts slash carbon emissions to avert disastrous warming.
As the Washington Post reported, the Trans Mountain expansion project "would nearly triple the amount of Canadian crude oil the pipeline transports each day from Edmonton, Alberta, to the port in Burnaby, B.C., to be loaded onto tankers bound for Asia and other lucrative markets."
Cam Fenton, communications and strategy manager for 350.org Canada, tweeted that the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion is "out of line with a plan to meet a 1.5degC warming limit" by the end of the century.
In a report published last October, the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned that warming beyond 1.5degC could spark a global and "irreversible" climate catastrophe.
\u201cCanadian govt today: Declare a state of #climate emergency.\nTomorrow: Approve a massive, new #tarsands pipeline, increase fossil fuel expansion, spend billions in public $ to prop it up: https://t.co/XuqK2LN5bV\n\nAnyone else see a disconnect here?\n\n#cdnpoli #StopTMX @JustinTrudeau\u201d— Mike Hudema (@Mike Hudema) 1560827574
In a statement ahead of Trudeau's decision, the Green Party of British Columbia said approval of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion would be "reckless."
"As elected leaders, we must act immediately and with courage to make the urgent transition away from fossil fuels and toward a clean, sustainable economy," the statement read. "We can make the changes demanded of us and create widespread prosperity as we do so. Canada's global reputation, and the future we leave for our children, are on the line."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday is reportedly expected to approve a $5.5 billion expansion of the Trans Mountain tar sands pipeline, a move environmentalists warned would make an "absolute mockery" of the House of Commons' vote to declare a climate emergency just hours earlier.
The vote Monday night made Canada the third nation to declare a national climate emergency, but critics said purely rhetorical acknowledgements of the planetary crisis are meaningless without concrete action.
"It's great that more countries and regions are doing this," tweeted 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg after the vote. "But remember: The fossil fuels must stay in the ground. Forget 'climate neutral' and clever accounting. Our emissions must start their way to zero. Now."
\u201cCanada declares national #ClimateEmergency.\nIt\u2019s great that more countries and regions are doing this. But remember:The fossil fuels must stay in the ground. Forget \u201cclimate neutral\u201d and clever accounting. Our emissions must start their way to zero. Now. https://t.co/NU4bQ33L6Q\u201d— Greta Thunberg (@Greta Thunberg) 1560847789
Trudeau's government purchased the Trans Mountain pipeline from Kinder Morgan for $4.5 billion last May, sparking outrage from environmental groups and indigenous tribes.
Critics warned that approval of the pipeline expansion would represent a major blow to efforts slash carbon emissions to avert disastrous warming.
As the Washington Post reported, the Trans Mountain expansion project "would nearly triple the amount of Canadian crude oil the pipeline transports each day from Edmonton, Alberta, to the port in Burnaby, B.C., to be loaded onto tankers bound for Asia and other lucrative markets."
Cam Fenton, communications and strategy manager for 350.org Canada, tweeted that the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion is "out of line with a plan to meet a 1.5degC warming limit" by the end of the century.
In a report published last October, the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned that warming beyond 1.5degC could spark a global and "irreversible" climate catastrophe.
\u201cCanadian govt today: Declare a state of #climate emergency.\nTomorrow: Approve a massive, new #tarsands pipeline, increase fossil fuel expansion, spend billions in public $ to prop it up: https://t.co/XuqK2LN5bV\n\nAnyone else see a disconnect here?\n\n#cdnpoli #StopTMX @JustinTrudeau\u201d— Mike Hudema (@Mike Hudema) 1560827574
In a statement ahead of Trudeau's decision, the Green Party of British Columbia said approval of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion would be "reckless."
"As elected leaders, we must act immediately and with courage to make the urgent transition away from fossil fuels and toward a clean, sustainable economy," the statement read. "We can make the changes demanded of us and create widespread prosperity as we do so. Canada's global reputation, and the future we leave for our children, are on the line."
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday is reportedly expected to approve a $5.5 billion expansion of the Trans Mountain tar sands pipeline, a move environmentalists warned would make an "absolute mockery" of the House of Commons' vote to declare a climate emergency just hours earlier.
The vote Monday night made Canada the third nation to declare a national climate emergency, but critics said purely rhetorical acknowledgements of the planetary crisis are meaningless without concrete action.
"It's great that more countries and regions are doing this," tweeted 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg after the vote. "But remember: The fossil fuels must stay in the ground. Forget 'climate neutral' and clever accounting. Our emissions must start their way to zero. Now."
\u201cCanada declares national #ClimateEmergency.\nIt\u2019s great that more countries and regions are doing this. But remember:The fossil fuels must stay in the ground. Forget \u201cclimate neutral\u201d and clever accounting. Our emissions must start their way to zero. Now. https://t.co/NU4bQ33L6Q\u201d— Greta Thunberg (@Greta Thunberg) 1560847789
Trudeau's government purchased the Trans Mountain pipeline from Kinder Morgan for $4.5 billion last May, sparking outrage from environmental groups and indigenous tribes.
Critics warned that approval of the pipeline expansion would represent a major blow to efforts slash carbon emissions to avert disastrous warming.
As the Washington Post reported, the Trans Mountain expansion project "would nearly triple the amount of Canadian crude oil the pipeline transports each day from Edmonton, Alberta, to the port in Burnaby, B.C., to be loaded onto tankers bound for Asia and other lucrative markets."
Cam Fenton, communications and strategy manager for 350.org Canada, tweeted that the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion is "out of line with a plan to meet a 1.5degC warming limit" by the end of the century.
In a report published last October, the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned that warming beyond 1.5degC could spark a global and "irreversible" climate catastrophe.
\u201cCanadian govt today: Declare a state of #climate emergency.\nTomorrow: Approve a massive, new #tarsands pipeline, increase fossil fuel expansion, spend billions in public $ to prop it up: https://t.co/XuqK2LN5bV\n\nAnyone else see a disconnect here?\n\n#cdnpoli #StopTMX @JustinTrudeau\u201d— Mike Hudema (@Mike Hudema) 1560827574
In a statement ahead of Trudeau's decision, the Green Party of British Columbia said approval of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion would be "reckless."
"As elected leaders, we must act immediately and with courage to make the urgent transition away from fossil fuels and toward a clean, sustainable economy," the statement read. "We can make the changes demanded of us and create widespread prosperity as we do so. Canada's global reputation, and the future we leave for our children, are on the line."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.