Submission to Canada's "Net Zero Advisory Body"
Dec 22, 2021
Climate science has made it clear: We can’t play with fire and dynamite when our kids are in the house.
If we cross climate tipping points then it’s only a matter of time before all children (even the children of the rich and powerful) will face a hellish future.
This means all of us, both rich and poor, need to get down to true zero emissions as soon as possible. That means:
1. - no delaying detours through carbon offsets, and their accompanying over-use of the “net zero” dangerous distraction: See link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_neutrality#Criticism
2. - no gambles on unproven technologies such as unproven carbon capture and Small Nuclear Reactors
3. - no over reliance on uncontrollable market forces: This means that incentives to the private sector are not nearly enough: we also need regulation enforced with real inescapable penalties. The “carrot” is not enough: we need “the stick.” We need to create new institutions and new Crown corporations to get the job done –just as it was done by Canada in World War 2.
Let’s stop playing with climate fire and dynamite when our kids are sleeping in the house.
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Instead of just saying that we are in a climate emergency, we need to act upon it:
Here are five markers of an emergency that Canada acted upon in World War 2, and which must again be acted upon in this climate emergency:
1. Spend what it takes
2. Create new institutions
3. Don’t encourage change, require it
4. A Just Transition
5. Tell the truth
1. Spending what it takes:The mandate letter to the Minister of Finance asks her to “support our whole-of-government effort to reduce emissions…” See link:
4. A Just Transition.
Two-thirds of Canadian oil and gas workers want net-zero jobs: See link: https://www.theenergymix.com/2021/12/20/year-in-review-two-thirds-of-canadian-oil-and-gas-workers-want-net-zero-jobs/
The Minister of Finance must be willing to spend money to create those jobs to save the climate futures of the children of those workers.
5. Tell the Truth, and act with integrity with coherent policies
Public Education on the Climate Crisis: - The climate crisis is, at its foundation, a battle for our minds, and an “education emergency.”
But the public will never be educated about how serious this emergency is unless the federal government teaches by setting an example and also takes the climate crisis seriously.
Is the federal government taking seriously the awful threat that the climate crisis poses for all of our children, both rich and poor? Here’s an example that will help you answer that question:
TRANSMOUNTAIN PIPELINE EXPANSION
The IPCC has told us that the climate clock is ticking.
The Transmountain pipeline expansion is like bailing water INTO a leaky boat when we don’t have much time to get to shore safely in this climate emergency. Do you think the public will believe the boat captain when he says he’s serious about getting us to safety, and yet continues to bail money INTO the TMX pipeline/boat in addition to the initial bad purchase? Would the public’s beliefs change if he ordered four people to bail water out, but still kept one person bailing water in?
In terms of educating the public, one of the most important things that the federal government can do to educate the public about the severity of the climate crisis is to re-allocate money being spent on the Transmountain pipeline expansion and divert that money into the Just Transition that the federal government has been promising since 2019.
Another way to describe the “Just Transition” is to call it a “Green New Deal.” (This is a reference to the “New Deal” used by the USA in the 1930s Depression Era.)
On November 23, 2021, Peter Julian gave notice to the House of Commons that he intends to table a motion that calls on the government to “immediately stop” construction of the Trans Mountain expansion.
The Toronto Star says, “Julian’s motion goes further. Citing reports from the Canada Energy Regulator and other bodies, it questions whether the extra capacity of the expansion is needed to meet future demand for oil from Alberta. It also states the project “undermines” Canada’s commitments to slash greenhouse gas emissions and that the billions of dollars spent on the project, estimated to cost at least $12.7 billion, should instead go to funding a “Green New Deal for Canada” — a reference to a broad program to transition to a cleaner economy while supporting workers and creating high-wage jobs.”
End of above quote from Toronto Star: See this link:
Also see M-1 and M-2 at this link: https://www.ourcommons.ca/DocumentViewer/en/44-1/house/sitting-3/order-notice/page-12
Re-allocating the money being spent on the TMX pipeline, and diverting it instead into a Just Transition / Green New Deal would be a giant step forward in educating the public about how serious the climate crisis is.
That re-allocation would also restore some of the trust in the integrity of the federal government. That restoration is the best education.
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BETTER TRANSPARENCY WOULD RESTORE THAT TRUST:
The government must make a choice between secrecy and democracy because it’s impossible to have a proper democracy riddled with secrecy. Those two are mutually exclusive.
FIRST TRANSPARENCY IMPROVEMENT: If we, the public own the TMX pipeline, then why are we in the public not allowed to know who is insuring our own pipeline?
That is analogous to a situation where one spouse says to another, “I know you are co-owner of our house but I’m not going to tell you which company I used to insure it.”
SECOND TRANSPARENCY IMPROVEMENT: Why are some fossil fuel subsidies hidden unless a Senator asks for information on them?:
Here’s a quote from The Energy Mix about “$9.2 Billion in Federal Tax Breaks Delivering a Boost to Canadian Fossil Fuel Companies”
““These are specific measures, specific deductions the government has decided to make available to oil and gas companies so that they pay us less money,” [Julia Levin] told Local Journalism Initiative reporter John Woodside. “It would be great if the only way to access this information wasn’t through senators’ requests to the PBO [(Parliamentary Budget Officer])…”
See link to above quote here:
THIRD TRANSPARENCY IMPROVEMENT: We need to restore trust in the Canada Energy Regulator even if it means disbanding it altogether and rebuilding it from the ground up:
Quote: “The Canada Energy Regulator is so closely tied to the fossil industry that it can’t be counted on to produce independent advice on the country’s path to net-zero—yet it’s considered the leading source of in-house energy modelling the Trudeau government has at its disposal, according to an independent expert commenting on the CER’s deeply flawed energy futures report released last week.”
Quote from The Energy Mix at this link:
FOURTH TRANSPARENCY IMPROVEMENT:
Why does the Export Development Canada have such a bad record for transparency to us the taxpayers? See link:
MAIN POINT ON TRANSPARENCY:
The best way to educate the public about the threat that the climate emergency poses for their children’s future is to restore some of the trust in the integrity of the federal government.
IN ADDITION TO THAT….MORE FUNDING IS NEEDED TO ALERT THE PUBLIC TO THE CLIMATE DANGER THAT THEIR CHILDREN FACE IN THEIR FUTURE
In addition to those “acts of public education,” even more funding needs to be put into alerting the public as to the severity of the crisis we are in. Massive funding needs to be put into this immediately.
Closely related to that, we must also examine the concentration of ownership of private media into so few hands.
CONCLUSION:
The first and only question I pose to you, the Net Zero Advisory Body, and the people you advise, is this:
Do you love your kids?
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FOOTNOTE:
Here is Bill C-12 as it passed Royal Assent on June 29, 2021
https://www.parl.ca/DocumentViewer/en/43-2/bill/C-12/royal-assent
In that Bill the word “independent” appears as follows:
“Establishment and mandate
20 (1) There is established an advisory body, called the Net-Zero Advisory Body, whose mandate is to provide the Minister with independent advice with respect to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, including advice…”
End quote
But that word “independent” is used differently in the NZAB website:
https://nzab2050.ca/terms-of-reference
“the Government of Canada is establishing an independent net-zero advisory body”
The Bill speaks of “independent advice” but the NZAB website speaks of “an independent…body.”
There is a difference: An independent body is more likely to survive changes to the governing party of Canada. But it’s more likely that a body that is not independent [of the Minister of Environment] may not survive such a change in government.
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