Friday, January 20, 2017

Trudeau Has Dug a Grave for the Paris Climate Accord. Thanks, Justin.




Trudeau has put paid to any notion of restraining global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The Tyee's Andrew Nikiforuk writes that a new study by Oil Change International shines a hard light on Trudeau's approval of new pipelines, the key to Tar Sands expansion. This prime minister has single-handedly put the Paris targets out of reach.

Canada can’t increase tar sands production or build more pipelines if the world is to achieve the targets on global carbon emissions set by the Paris Agreement on climate.

That’s the central conclusion of a new report by Oil Change International(OCI), a U.S. research and advocacy group dedicated to exposing the full costs of fossil fuel extraction.

“There is no scenario in which tar sands production increases and the world achieves the Paris goals,” says the report.


...

The majority of Canada’s oil exports consist of raw bitumen, a cheap refinery feedstock, which is then upgraded at U.S. refineries for local consumption or export.

“Eighty per cent of the climate impact of tar sands oil,” says the report, “comes from releasing carbon wherever the fuel is burned — thus the most important impact of tar sands expansion is global.”

But the unrestricted approval of pipeline projects such as Trans Mountain and Line 3 could drive the expansion of bitumen production by nearly two million barrels a day over the next two decades, says the report. Current oil sands production is 2.5 million barrels a day and accounts for 60 per cent of Canada’s oil production.

That means that Canada could be adding more new oil production to global markets than Brazil and Libya combined.


As a result, emissions from Canadian oil could eventually gobble up 16 per cent of the world’s total carbon budget if it is to keep global temperature increases below 1.5 degree Celsius, or seven per cent of the two degree Celsius global carbon budget, the report found.

“Without action, Canada could become one of the fastest growing extractors of new carbon pollution over the next 20 years through the expansion of long-lived tar sands production,” adds the report.


It's been awhile since I placed much stock in anything Trudeau promises. We heard enough of his empty promises out here to know that much. However he did pledge that his government would be guided by science. The government has a raft of capable scientists on its payroll. Presumably Trudeau must have sought their scientific assessment of the Trans Canada and Energy East pipeline impacts on global warming and climate change. Why doesn't he show us that professional advice that he must have sought? I'm guessing that's not in the cards.



17 comments:

Lorne said...

A nice smile and empty words, Mound. That may be Trudeau's ultimate legacy.

Toby said...

That 1.5 degree Celsius is a political number snatched out of thin air to placate those who aren't paying attention. It has probably not been realistic since 1990, if then.

Bernard said...

Trudeau approved two pipelines, but they may never be built. Trans Mountain has 157 conditions. Add to this potential court challenges and other roadblocks: Kinder Morgan may well decide to take their marbles somewhere else. The same is true with the Petronas LNG terminal, especially if the prices for natural gas remain depressed.

The PM had a delicate balancing act to perform. If he nixed all pipelines he would throw Rachel Notley under the bus, and face a national unity crisis. Just look at the reaction from his musings about 'phasing out' the oil sands.

The pro-oil sands crowd in Alberta will eventually realized they've been had but by then both Trudeau and Notley should be safely in their second mandates.

John's Aghast said...

Speaking of Climate Change. I wonder how much war related greenhouse gases compare to that generated by 'normal' traffic. If we were able to cease all peaceful fossil fuel use but continued our full time warmongering, what affect would that have on Climate Change?
What if we stopped waging war?

Anonymous said...

Talking of pricks, but a bit off subject.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-4126572/RICHARD-LITTLEJOHN-Tony-Blair-Movie.html

Please sing along.

TB

UU4077 said...

Does it matter with Trump in the White House?

the salamander said...

.. Fictions Vs Facts .. hmm

We really don't get to know anymore, what is just 'political' talk, posturing or outright sellout via captured Government. It really does weigh out as its 'them against us' .. The 'them' being elected & unelected Public Servants.. and us of course are the 'marks' for the political animals & grifters who play for the various political parties. Keep in mind that word 'parties' - because that's what they're having, on our dime - and the kicker is.. we're not invited. They have their cake & eat it too, loot bags all round, massive gold plated pensions.. and we the looted.

Thousands of lawyers attend this never ending party.. we pay them too. And with rhetoric & abstract logic they tell us 'No Duty of Care' .. or bye bye to Navigable Waters Legislation or Jessica Ernst has no right to her wellwater.. and First Nations don't deserve any water - and if they do have any left we gonna siphon it off, give it to Nestle or pump it into frack sites and the Tar Sands.. becauae.. .... well its a Nation Building thang, dontcha know? Killing off Environment, Habitat & Species = Energy Security = Its The Economy, stupids! Vote for us cuz we The True North, Ice Free & chicks for free

Fortunately, we have true patriots like Jason Kenney, Paul Calandra, Ray Novak et al.. plus the new horde of Trudeau backers to save us from ourselves & ensure we don't leave all that 'wealth in the ground' .. hell, the Russians would steal it for sure - much better to sell it off to Asia.. so we can afford to subsidize foreign multinational conglomerates.. and pay the Temporary Foreign Workers to crank the machinery for them.

We the folks stuck in the washing machine.. on endless spin cycle.. and the 'public serpants' just keep resetting the dial with help from their friends.. Mainstream Media

Anonymous said...

I am counting on you're being right!

The Mound of Sound said...

And the winner is - SAL!!! Pretty much right on the money, my friend. Governments have rarely been honest with their public and we dismiss it with a wink, wink. However the neoliberal order, precisely because it is a shared jurisdiction with the corporate sector and, as such, more likely to attend to the corporate interest over the public interest, will work to blur the distinction. That emerges in childish nonsense about how the path to a green future lies in massively increasing production of the highest-carbon ersatz oil on the planet - even as that guts the Paris climate accord. That's some world class lying there, gold-plated bullshitting, but, hey, how about a selfie or maybe I should take off my shirt. Wouldja like that? Only Liberals are so self-blinding that they may not see. However a good many others are simply and mortally indifferent. Sheeple.


Purple library guy said...

The pipelines may indeed never be built, due to strong resistance from people who don't want them to be built. I intend to participate. But the 157 conditions? Yeah, smoke screen. They always have that kind of shit and they never, ever, ever stop anything from being built.

The Mound of Sound said...

What PLG said

The Mound of Sound said...

@ UU4077 - yeah it matters. A lot. We can't do much to give our grandkids a decent environment to inherit but there's still plenty we can do to make it even more hellish than need be. If you lose sight of that, you're right, who cares?

Anonymous said...

Andong....add to that.... presently 7 billion people on earth x's 2.3 pounds of carbon dioxide emitted by each person ='s OMG. Over population isn't the number one problem? Gees, no joking.

Purple library guy said...

I saw an interesting perspective on the overpopulation recently--maybe linked from here--which unified two "sides" on the overpopulation question. Basically, the point made was that the system as it stands creates both the overconsumption of the rich countries (by relentless selling and creation of demand) and the rapid population growth of the poor countries (by grabbing all their stuff and leaving the population living so precariously that they, first, need as much family as possible for support and, second, don't have much way of preventing conception). So whether you emphasize overpopulation or the overconsumption of the wealthier portion of that population, it is the greed for profit of our rapacious elites who are driving it.

The Mound of Sound said...

There's been a marked increase both in population and in per capita consumption since the 70s. They're two sides of the same coin. I think it was some Chinese demographer who termed the large group now progressing into middle class the "consumer class." I wish I had the stats to hand (of course I don't) but a comparison of today with the turn of the last century on just per capita footprint, consumption, alone is eye opening. The third part of this equation is longevity.
More people, each consuming more resources, each producing more waste, for 70-years rather than what had been 40-45 years. Devastating.

One study I can recall looked at how India's population grew by a billion post WWII while America's grew by a hundred million during that interval. Overall, the footprint of those hundred million Americans roughly equalled that of the billion Indians.

STEVE said...

I cant believe that people actually fall for this carbon lie. Instead of believing everything you read in mainstream articles, maybe you should do a little digging and connect with actual science instead of self serving crap dished out by the globalist agenda.

Did you know an active volcano will put out more carbon in one week than humanity has in its entire existence?

Did you know that plants, trees & the like need carbon to exist? They breathe it in and breathe out oxygen

I can give you the names of 9025 PHDs who will decry this lie

The Mound of Sound said...

Thanks, Steve, now fuck off.