I was fortunate enough to have participated in a rather interesting meeting with Alberta Environment Minister Rob Renner at the UN climate conference.
The meeting was organized by the CYD and took place on December 10. The delegation seized the opportunity to take direct aim at the Alberta government's economic, environmental and social policies surrounding the province's rapid tar sands development (or, as Renner was quick to correct, 'oil sands' development).
Understanding that Alberta needs to play a role when it comes to carbon emission reductions, citing nuclear as well as CCS programs as viable options, Minister Renner effectively delinked Canada's obligations for emissions reductions set under a new global agreement based on science (on the one hand) and Alberta's responsibility to help reach those targets by reeling in tar sands growth (on the other).
In fact, Alberta's current climate plan will allow emissions to remain above Kyoto targets in 2050. Canada has already set a reduction target of 21% between 2005 and 2020. Should Alberta's emissions grow as expected, Canada will have to reduce it's emissions by 40% to meet those same targets.
In a twisted bit of logic, Renner posed a hypothetical to the group. Suppose - he said - for a second that our planet actually did meet the IPCC scenario reduction targets and reduced global emissions 80% from 1990 levels by 2050. There would still be a gap of 20%, which suggests that the world cannot entirely kick it's carbon habit. Even under the most aggressive plan, oil still needs to be pumped and Alberta can help provide the world with that oil, he noted.
One of the youth delegates was quick to point that, in fact, 13% of global emissions actually come from naturally occuring sources (flatulant cows as one example). Without even realizing, Renner's market opportunity immediately slipped to 7%.
Another of Renner's gaffes came after one of the delegates talked about the health implications of tar sands development, especially in First Nations communities located in close proximity. Someone mentioned cases of deformed fish being found in nearby communities, like Fort Chipewyan as an example.
Renner's response: you can't draw these types of correlations between mutations and the tar sands because they're unproven. In fact, mutations are uncovered all over the world and not all that uncommon.
Needless to say, the meeting was incredibly emotional (many delegates stating their opinions passionately and with teary eyes) and reminded us how far the Alberta Conservatives are from the realities of this crisis and they're overall reluctance to act, despite the science and despite the urgency.
One a different, but related note:
Following the meeting, members of the CYD erected a booth in one of the main corridors in the conference centre with images of the tar sands mounted on poster boards. The banner atop the pictures read: Canada's Dirty Little Secret.
The booth was up for only a few hours before the UN Secretariat demanded that it be taken down. Reportedly, the UN's instructions came after Canada had filed an official complaint.
This incident received quite a bit of news coverage in Canada, particularly in Calgary where the story made front page of the Herald.
Click here to read the story published by CanWest.
