Previous letter all wrong on pipelines, carbon taxes
Dear Editor,
Space is inadequate to deal with the partisan and bigoted ignorance of Mr. Horner’s letter on energy development but it should not be allowed to pass without rebuttal and correction. It is false in every detail.
First, the Energy East pipeline would not have brought oil to eastern Canada and made imports unnecessary. It would have transported bitumen for export to foreign refineries. Its “killing” could more correctly be attributed to Mr. Horner’s hero, Donald Trump, who, when he approved Keystone, made Energy East redundant. Trans Canada could not justify the cost.
Second, Northern Gateway was not approved by the National Energy Board. It was approved by the Harper government. That despite the very real dangers from such a project that would also have shipped bitumen overseas after passing through the most sensitive coastal areas of Canada, and over scores of rivers, inviting an environmental disaster of epic proportions.
Mr. Horner’s ad hominem assaults on Premiers Notley and Horgan and on Prime Minister Trudeau are puerile. He is completely wrong in his reasoning, also. It is a complicated political problem and neither of Premiers Notley or Horgan have the Constitutional authority to enforce their aims. Notley is driven by the certainty of a Kenney victory if she does not win and Horgan has an aroused B.C. populace to consider. There is nothing for Trudeau to overrule or enforce since there is nothing that either province can do. It must play out in the courts or assessments.
As for his comments on Trump, that evil man has done nothing for U.S. energy other than bluster. Oil and gas were being exported before that vile man came to power.
Carbon taxes do not kill jobs, they shift the burden of cost to the polluter. The polluter then has the choice to clean or pay. Carbon taxes accordingly stimulate technology and innovation and encourage a transition to clean, renewable sources. Sources that are the fastest job creator in the modern economy. They also save lives and prevent enormous economic damages.
Most major economies now have carbon pricing. It encouraged by the World Bank and the IMF and by most economists who see it as the surest road to halting emissions. That includes most of Canada’s trading partners. Every country in the world has joined the Paris Agreement with the exception of the increasingly isolated USA.
The EU has now warned the US that it will not enter any trade agreements while the USA holds out and some major corporations worldwide have called for carbon pricing.
Individual states and municipalities in the US are stepping up to compensate for the criminal irresponsibility of Trump and more is happening than would have been called for in the Paris Agreement. The world knows what Mr. Horner and Trump do not.
John Peate