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Trans Mountain approval makes mockery of climate emergency declaration

Less than 24 hours after declaring a climate emergency the government has approved the climate-killing Trans Mountain pipeline. Today’s decision is proof the government is just pretending to care about climate change, according to the Council of Canadians.

“Approving a pipeline the day after declaring a climate emergency is like pulling the fire alarm and then throwing fuel on the fire. It’s not just irresponsible, hypocritical, and dishonest. It’s climate arson,” says Dylan Penner, Climate and Social Justice Campaigner with the Council of Canadians. “Despite approving the Trans Mountain expansion, again, this pipeline will not be built. Our movement stopped the Northern Gateway pipeline. We stopped Energy East. We will stop this one too.”

The Trans Mountain project could add 13 to 15 megatonnes of carbon emissions to the atmosphere, which would be like adding almost 3.8 million cars on the road. This will make it impossible for Canada to meet its climate targets, which are already far from the scale of emissions cuts that are needed.

Just a few short months ago, the world’s leading scientists on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released the clearest report to date, saying we must act urgently – and globally – to avert climate disaster. The panel said we have only 11 years to drastically cut our GHG emissions if we want to ensure a livable future on this planet.

Today, the Canadian government ignored what scientists, environmentalists, Indigenous peoples and Council of Canadians supporters have said – our future is in jeopardy with the continued expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure projects like the Trans Mountain pipeline and tanker project.

“Instead of respecting their own climate emergency declaration, this government has decided to break its international climate commitments and promises to respect Indigenous rights and phase out fossil fuel subsidies. This is a climate emergency. It’s time to act like it,” says Maude Barlow, Honorary Chairperson of the Council of Canadians. “We will continue to stand in solidarity with Indigenous land and water defenders every step of the way until Trans Mountain is defeated once and for all.”

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Blog: They just approved a major climate set-back