A meeting this week between the federal and Alberta ministers of the environment could be heated—at least behind closed doors, according to Marco Navarro-Genie.
He said federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault and Alberta Environment Minister Rebecca Schulz bring very different visions of energy and the environment to the table.
“There is this zealous impetus in the federal government, that the world will come to an end soonish if the consumption of hydrocarbon energy isn’t curtailed,” said Mr. Navarro-Genie.
“That of course … threatens the survival of Alberta, in the sense that it is the main source of economic drive in the province. And not just in the province. It also involves Saskatchewan, it also involves Newfoundland,” he said.
“We’re not talking about something small,” said Mr. Navarro-Genie.
“Not only are the contemplated federal targets unconstitutional, they create investor uncertainty and are extremely harmful to the Alberta and Canadian economies,” Ms. Smith said in the statement. “This belief does not align with any credible forecast of future world energy consumption, which continue to see oil and gas dominating the energy supply mix for decades to come.”
The statement went on to argue that one of the best ways to reduce emissions worldwide would be to export Canadian liquid natural gas to countries that are currently burning coal, wood, and dung to produce power.
“This would result in the lower worldwide emissions he claims to want,” the statement added.
Mr. Navarro-Genie is among those who do not believe that cutting back production is realistic, given the worldwide demand for energy.
“In the last couple of years, it has grown, and it is expected to grow even more at a steady pace … there are growing economies around the world, thinking of India off the top of my head, that require energy to develop,” he said.
“And until we can solve the problem of storing electric energy for vehicles, and airplanes, and all those things … and we seem to be making some inroads there … hydrocarbon fuel is inch by inch, ounce by ounce, the substance that packs the most energy, most economically.”
He said while there might be room for the two sides to compromise, it will not be easy.
“It is difficult to do that … when you have such a high ideological commitment in the people who sit around the cabinet on the federal level,” he said.
He pointed out that Alberta has proposed achieving net zero by 2050, while the federal government appears committed to an emissions cap by 2030, and a net zero grid by 2035.
“And so there is a 20-year gap there … I suppose there is room for movement one way or the other, but it seems like the federal government is in no mood to want to negotiate the 2030 deadline,” he said.
“We can no longer afford a provincial government that sticks its head in the sand when it comes to climate change,” the NDP leader said. “If we pit the environment against the economy, we will fail at both.”
Mr. Navarro-Genie said the opposing viewpoints could deepen the country’s east-west divide.
“It’s hard to imagine the country could be more divided than it is already,” he said, but added: “It has a significant potential for heating things up. And in making that gulf, that divide, a little bit wider.”
And he warned that may give those advocating separatism more ammunition.
“It is a gift to them, because it advances their arguments,” said Mr. Navarro-Genie, adding it could also be used as a wedge issue in the next federal election.
“So, it’s going to whip up again, sort of bitter sentiments between one region of the country and in the other. And that’s never good news,” he said.
