When you're in the middle of forest fires, stop adding fuel

On June 17, 2019, then-environment and climate change minister Catherine McKenna proposed a motion to declare a national climate emergency in Canada. The motion supports Canada’s commitment to meeting the emissions targets outlined in the Paris Agreement. While not a formal government motion, it was approved in the House by 186 votes to 63. The very next day, the cabinet approved the Trans-Mountain pipeline expansion (TMX) which will add another 238,000 metric tons of CO2 per day to our emissions, raising temperatures and fuelling future fires. In reality, the government has not acted as if it truly is a climate emergency in Canada. Since that declaration of a climate emergency, we have seen communities burned to the ground and more than 600 die in a heat event in British Columbia. Now, four years after the declaration, tens of thousands have been evacuated amid forest fires across Canada that have come earlier in the year and are unprecedented in terms of scale and ferocity. Yet the government continues to support the fossil energy industry. Last week, it announced another $3-billion for the Trans-Mountain Pipeline Expansion (TMX) to move Alberta’s bitumen from the oilsands to the British Columbia coast for export. In doing so, it is literally adding fuel to the fires with the increased emissions that are driving increased temperatures, drying forests, and dangerously lowering the threshold for ignition leading to unprecedented fires. And that is not the only support this government is providing to the fossil energy industry. In 2022 alone, the Environmental Defence reported federal government subsidies for fossil fuel production were more than $20-billion. Canada is the only G7 country with increasing emissions since the commitment to reduction was made in Paris in 2015. The Canada Energy Regulator’s most recent report on production plans shows the oil sector alone continuing growth past 2030 to 5.8 million barrels per day (a 16 per cent increase from 2021) even under their “evolving scenario.” Under current policies, it is projected to increase to 6.7 million barrels (8.7 million metric tons of CO2) per day. As health professionals, we are concerned with protecting the health of current and future generations. The air pollution created by the forest fires—which is affecting major cities in Canada and the United States—has seen Ottawa’s air quality health index go off the 1–10-point scale to 10+. These climate change-related forest fires are a clear and present danger to the health of large populations from coast to coast to coast. We can expect an increase in respiratory disease and deaths due to this heavy air pollution. With more forest fires expected throughout the summer, there will be more health impacts to come, not to mention the mental anguish and suffering of those who lose their homes and in some cases their livelihoods due to climate-driven disasters. This cannot just become the new normal to which we must adapt—that is morally indefensible. We could have reduced the risk decades ago, so we must reverse Canada’s contribution to the carbon emissions problem and rising temperatures now to reduce future risks. We call on the government finally to act in accordance with the House of Commons motion to declare and act upon the undeniable climate emergency. We join the World Health Organization in its demand for governments to "stop paying for pollution" by supporting the fossil fuel industry. Approval for the TMX should be rescinded and all other fossil fuel subsidies abolished. Instead, the Government of Canada should divert these funds to supporting electrification and the development and installation of cleaner energy supplies and building the workforce for tomorrow’s clean-energy infrastructure. Use the pipeline right-of-ways for buried east-west high voltage electric lines. Let the hydropower of British Columbia be the storage battery for Alberta’s fast-growing solar production. When the sun is shining in Alberta it sends power west allowing British Columbia to fill hydro reservoirs, and when the sun is not shining, British Columbia sends power east to Alberta. A phase-down of fossil fuels, diversification of the energy sector and a shift to subsidizing energy conservation and greater efficiency along with clean, renewable energy sources will allow Canada to truly meet its Paris commitments, reduce future climate-driven disasters, and support a livable planet for everyone. Dr. Trevor Hancock is a retired professor and senior scholar at the school of public health and social policy, University of Victoria, in Victoria, B.C. Dr. Daniel Rainham is a professor at the school of health and human performance, Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia. Dr. Tim Takaro is professor emeritus, with the faculty of health sciences, Simon Fraser University in British Columbia. The Hill Times

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When you’re in the middle of forest fires, stop adding fuel

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