The NDP government appears to be refuting statements made by the co-chair of the Oil Sands Advisory Group.
In an interview on another news outlet, Tzeporah Berman told the interviewer Alberta has “capacity” within the current system to reach the NDP new emissions cap and added Alberta doesn’t need new pipeline development to have economic success.
In a statement to 660 NEWS, Energy Minister Marg McCuaig Boyd writes:
“Our government has been very clear on pipelines – we need new pipelines. That position is not negotiable. We need new pipelines so we can sell our resources for their true value, not the discounted rate we are forced to sell them at today. That increased revenue is important – for schools, for hospitals, and for helping to transition to a lower carbon economy.”
McCuaig-Boyd then goes onto point the finger at the lack of inaction Alberta saw under the Progressive Conservative government.
In response to Berman and her comments:
“The goal of the Oil Sands Advisory Group is to bring together a diverse group of experts – from oil and gas, the environmental movement, indigenous and non-indigenous groups – to advise government how we can best work to reduce oil sands emissions. We are not talking about reducing production and we are not asking them whether or not we need new pipelines.”
No word yet on what this will mean for Berman in terms of her current position.
She has previously referred to Alberta’s oil sands industry as toxic and compared Fort McMurray to Mordor, volcanic waste land from the J.R.R Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings.
In the meantime, the Wildrose is calling for her dismissal.
“Premier Notley’s chief advisor on oilsands development shouldn’t be going on national radio and discrediting the work of our most important industry. Not only are Ms. Berman’s opinions damaging to the reputation of our province and energy sector, but they are also factually incorrect,” said Wildrose Leader Brian Jean. “The Premier needs to immediately and publicly correct the statements made by Ms. Berman and replace her on the Oil Sands Advisory Group with somebody who at least believes in the economics and science behind pipeline development.”
Berman also took to her Facebook page after the interview this morning
“Oh that conversation on The Current this morning was so frustrating. Of course as soon as the interview ends you think of all the things you didn’t get to. One important piece is this argument that demand is growing for oil. Recent IEA projections trimmed projections for global oil demand citing “dramatic deceleration in China and India” coupled with “vanishing growth” in developing economies. In fact they said, “Recent pillars of demand growth – China and India – are wobbling,” said the IEA, which counsels 29 nations on energy policy. “The stimulus from cheaper fuel is fading. Refiners are clearly losing their appetite for more crude oil.” We need to be planning for the future in Canada and this notion that a strong economy depends on us building more capacity to export heavy oil is so stuck we are ignoring the trends in the marketplace. The whole idea that there are new markets in Asia that we are not getting to seems absurd if you really dig into it. So China and India are going to invest billions in new refining capacity for heavy crude that will come online in 5 or 10 years? I don’t think so.”
