432-01231 Natural resources and energy
Petition to the Government of Canada
WHEREAS:
COVID-19 has caused a prolonged downturn in oil markets. Forecasting agencies are predicting the end of growth in oil demand as countriesshift to clean energy, and major global oil complies are writing off their oil sands investments.
The cost of the Trans Mountain Expansion Project (TMX) has more than doubled to $12.6 billion. Given construction delays, the overall price tag could be much higher, and Canadian taxpayers are on the hook.
More than 100 Canadian economists and energy policy experts have written a letter to the federal government questioning the economic viability of TMX, and calling on the Finance Minister to delay further spending that puts additional Canadian tax dollars at risk.
The federal government bought the Trans Mountain pipeline after the private sector walked away from the project due to financial risk.
As of September 2020, only 5.25 per cent of pipe has been laid on the TMX rout, while billions of dollars have yet to be spend and could be reallocated. Other pipeline projects already under development in Canada will meet the future need for the federally subsidized TMX.
Ambitious investments in the clean economy is required to meet Canada's Paris climate commitments and will create much needed jobs in sectors hard hit by the pandemic and by the downturn in the oil industry.
There is no place for Trans Mountain in the green recovery from COVID-19 that the government has espoused. Instead, public investments must build a resilient low-carbon economy, to address the twin economic and climate crises.
THEREFORE, we the undersigned residents of Canada, call on the Government of Canada to delay further spending on Trans Mountain until an independent cost-benefit analysis that considers economic and market changes since COVID-19 has been completed and to prioritize investments in clean energy now.
WHEREAS:
COVID-19 has caused a prolonged downturn in oil markets. Forecasting agencies are predicting the end of growth in oil demand as countriesshift to clean energy, and major global oil complies are writing off their oil sands investments.
The cost of the Trans Mountain Expansion Project (TMX) has more than doubled to $12.6 billion. Given construction delays, the overall price tag could be much higher, and Canadian taxpayers are on the hook.
More than 100 Canadian economists and energy policy experts have written a letter to the federal government questioning the economic viability of TMX, and calling on the Finance Minister to delay further spending that puts additional Canadian tax dollars at risk.
The federal government bought the Trans Mountain pipeline after the private sector walked away from the project due to financial risk.
As of September 2020, only 5.25 per cent of pipe has been laid on the TMX rout, while billions of dollars have yet to be spend and could be reallocated. Other pipeline projects already under development in Canada will meet the future need for the federally subsidized TMX.
Ambitious investments in the clean economy is required to meet Canada's Paris climate commitments and will create much needed jobs in sectors hard hit by the pandemic and by the downturn in the oil industry.
There is no place for Trans Mountain in the green recovery from COVID-19 that the government has espoused. Instead, public investments must build a resilient low-carbon economy, to address the twin economic and climate crises.
THEREFORE, we the undersigned residents of Canada, call on the Government of Canada to delay further spending on Trans Mountain until an independent cost-benefit analysis that considers economic and market changes since COVID-19 has been completed and to prioritize investments in clean energy now.