Oh Canada! We Need Your Climate Leadership
Published by the Natural Resources Defense Fund
Today’s meeting between Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau and President Trump highlights how much we need Canada’s climate leadership in the days to come. The Trump government has already invited reapplication of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. He is considering pulling out of the Paris climate agreement, undermining the Clean Power Plan, and slowing our clean energy advances. This is the time for Canada to lead internationally on climate action. It is a time for Canadian provinces and cities to continue to build strong partnerships with the U.S. states and cities who are likewise continuing to move ahead with clean energy. And it is a time where Canada needs to once and for all take a strong stance against the expansion of the carbon-intensive tar sands industry which remains the single largest challenge Canada faces in cutting its carbon pollution.
Trudeau has repeatedly pledged that Canada will take up the mantle of leadership in the global fight to stop the worst effects of climate change. That means moving ahead with clean energy commitments such as strong auto efficiency and appliance standards and regulation of methane emissions. It means staying true to the Paris climate agreement and urging the Trump government to do the same. And it means stopping expansion of tar sands, including through withdrawing its support for new tar sands pipelines—infrastructure that would lock in decades more of harmful carbon pollution.
The press conference after today’s meeting was notable in its absence of its discussion of climate change. And it was worrying in its emphasis on energy infrastructure. The energy infrastructure that builds the next steps to a clean energy system for both our countries is a good thing. But Trump seems to be focused on an energy infrastructure of fossil fuel pipelines that would undermine both of our countries climate and clean energy progress.
The Canadian government has recently approved two new tar sands pipelines and expressed support for President Trump’s revival of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. The math here is simple: Canada cannot build these new pipelines and meet its international climate commitments. These three new lines would enable the tar sands industry to almost double in size—dramatically increasing carbon emissions—a reality that is completely at odds with the kind of tough choices countries seeking to lead on climate policy must make to curb the threat climate change poses to our communities, economies and planet.
Climate leaders don’t build new pipelines. What they do build is relationships that push forward the major commitments that North American leaders made last fall to expand clean energy production and making the continent a global leader in innovation and production of clean energy. American states and cities are continuing to advance clean energy despite the Trump administration’s actions. Many American businesses remain committed to clean energy. This is where Canada can find the climate and clean energy partnerships that will set our two countries up to become energy superpowers through a focus on clean not dirty energy. And dirty energy projects like the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline can try to come back from the dead, but they face fierce opposition and significant obstacles.
The benefits to the U.S. and Canada for following through on these commitments are clear: Today, over 3 million Americans and Canadians earn their paychecks from the clean energy industry, and this number continues to grow.
Canadian climate leadership will be found in reinforcing signals from other countries that there will be repercussions for the Trump administration if America withdraws from the Paris climate agreement. A good neighbor acts in a way that is best for the long term for both our countries. That means strong climate leadership at home and internationally.
Read the full article at: https://www.nrdc.org/experts/susan-casey-lefkowitz/oh-canada-we-need-your-climate-leadership
