Is our premier Blaine Higgs out of step with global trends for climate change mitigation? Read the analysis comparing the current reality reflected in the recent COP27 and the NB government’s shale gas ambitions. Commentary by Jim Emberger, CRED core member with the New Brunswick Anti-Shale Gas Alliance (NBASGA) published by the NB Media Co-op, HERE.
Tag: Fossil
Decolonial Solidarity Moncton- Kill the Drill: Rally Nov. 5
Rallies will be held across Canada on Saturday Nov. 5 in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en people and the defense of their land from a proposed gas pipeline. The Coastal Gaslink (CGL) pipeline would transport fracked natural gas across Wet’suwet’en territory to a proposed export terminal in Kitimat, BC.
The Climate Justice Coalition in the Moncton region is joining with other environmental and Indigenous allies and groups such as Decolonial Solidarity, LeadNow, Extinction Rebellion, the Suzuki Foundation, 350.org, and others on November 5th to oppose development of the Coastal Gas Link pipeline. The rally will be focussed on the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), the largest funder of the Coastal Gas Link pipeline. Details for the action in Moncton are below:
Decolonial Solidarity Moncton – We Are All One – Kill the Drill
Start: Saturday, November 05, 2022 11:15 AM
Royal Bank of Canada
719 Mountain Rd Moncton, NB E1C 8H9
Mi’gmaq and Wolastoqiyik / Walastakwiyik leaders remain opposed to reopening fracking exploration
“Earlier this week, the Government of New Brunswick delivered its speech from the throne to open a new session of the legislature. The speech did not respectfully reflect that it was delivered on the unceded and unsurrendered territory of the Mi’kmaq and Wolastoqey peoples, rather it adopted Higgs’ government’s new revisionist land acknowledgement which fails to recognize our Nations as the proper title and rights holders over these lands, and ignores the solemn promises of our Peace and Friendship Treaties.”
Read the full statement by Indigenous leaders HERE.
Fracking again? An LNG export terminal? Facts please
Premier Blaine Higgs has hinted he would like to end the moratorium on fracking in the province. The premier is also pushing a private-sector company, Repsol, to convert its Saint John LNG (liquefied natural gas) import terminal into an export terminal to help Germany with its energy woes.
The Conservation Council of New Brunswick and CRED-NB core member the New Brunswick Anti-Shale Gas Alliance (NBASGA) have published a fact sheet to unpack this situation. Read it HERE.
Fossil and nuclear energy regimes threaten global security
Janice Harvey, representative on CRED-NB for the Environment & Society Program at St. Thomas University, is the author of this commentary in The Hill Times, and republished in the NB Media Co-op, HERE.
Climate Change Won’t Wait for Politics
Geopolitical events are persuading some governments to re-invest in fossil fuel infrastructure. Jim Emberger from the New Brunswick Anti-Shale Gas Alliance (NBASGA, a CRED-NB core group) wrote a letter in response to a commentary in Brunswick news calling for more fossil fuel extraction in Canada. He writes:
Climate change is happening so rapidly that many plants and animals may not be able to adapt or move in time to survive. Crop losses due to climate related weather, and diseases due to invasive species, whose expansion is enabled by warmer conditions, are all on the rise.
None of these trends cares a whit about Ukraine, or Canada’s fossil fuel industry. The laws of physics do not respond to political and economic events, nor can you bargain with them. If we burn more fossil fuels – the climate will warm – period.
Read the letter HERE, on the NBASGA website.
Video: Decarbonization, Lock-in and Transition in Eastern Canada
Do you know what carbon “lock-in” is, and how it keeps us tied to fossil fuel infrastructure in New Brunswick? If not, check out this video by JP Sapinski, professor of environmental studies at Université de Moncton. The story with the video link was published by the NB Media Co-op, HERE.
The video is Sapinski’s a zoom presentation, hosted by the Environment & Society program at St. Thomas University and the RAVEN project at the University of New Brunswick (both CRED-NB core members).
Rally Sept. 24 – Climate Emergency: This is Not a Drill
Rally for a safe climate and equitable world! Stand in solidarity with people most affected by the climate crisis.
Friday, September 24 @noon at the New Brunswick Legislature in Fredericton.
Optional: 10:30am meet at Conserver House, 180 St. John Street (near the Legislature) to make signs.
Hear from climate activists, Indigenous land defenders, youth, scientists, trade unionists, energy policy experts and elected representatives on what a just energy transition looks like for Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada and beyond.
“Not a drill”: Fredericton rally to call for climate justice
Extinction Rebellion New Brunswick and partner organizations, including environmental groups and labour unions, invite everyone to assemble at the New Brunswick Legislature in Fredericton on unceded Wolastoqiyik territory on September 24 at noon to demand that all levels of government take immediate and effective action on the climate emergency that respects climate justice.
Participants are asked to wear masks and stand six feet apart in a visual display of safety and solidarity with everyone around the world affected by climate change and the global pandemic.
“Our Indigenous Elders have told us for decades that humans have lost their way by neglecting to uphold the original teachings on how to respect and live in balance with Mother Earth. Hence, we are presently in a state of emergency facing global climate disasters and it will only worsen if we as humans don’t stop the greed of corporations and colonial governments,” says Wolastoqewi Grand Chief spasaqsit possesom – Ron Tremblay.
“Climate justice goes beyond advocating for renewable energy, recognizing that injustice is linked to social, economic, and political systems and that climate change has its roots in capitalism, colonialism, the patriarchy and other systems of oppression,” says Susan O’Donnell, one of the climate rally organizers and lead researcher with the RAVEN project at the University of New Brunswick.
With New Brunswick refusing to close the Belledune coal plant in 2030 as part of Canada’s transition off coal, advocates for a just energy transition point to the need to include all affected workers and communities in climate solutions and future economic planning.
“Now is the time to be talking about a just energy transition for workers in the fossil fuel and nuclear sectors and their communities in New Brunswick as well as in Colombia where NB Power has been sourcing coal from the Cerrejón coal mine since the 1990s. It’s not the time to keep yesterday’s fuel sources like coal and nuclear on the table,” said Tracy Glynn, one of the rally organizers and who has worked with Colombian coal miners and affected community members to tell their stories for more than a decade.
“The coal burned in Belledune comes from Colombia where its extraction is linked to the forced displacement and starvation of Indigenous Wayuu and Afro-Colombian farmers and children and repression of coal miners and unionists. Climate justice is migrant justice. It’s reproductive justice. It’s housing justice,” says Glynn.
Climate activists, Indigenous land defenders, youth, scientists, trade unionists, energy policy experts, and elected representatives will share their thoughts on what a just energy transition looks like for Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada and beyond. Ron Tremblay, the Wolastoq Grand Chief, David Coon, MLA for Fredericton South, Fredericton Mayor Kate Rogers, Lois Corbett, Executive Director of the Conservation Council of New Brunswick, and Danny Legere, President of the New Brunswick Federation of Labour are among the speakers.
This rally is supported by Extinction Rebellion New Brunswick, Council of Canadians Fredericton Chapter, Council of Canadians Saint John Chapter, Coalition for Responsible Energy Development in New Brunswick (CRED-NB), Conservation Council of New Brunswick, CUPE NB, Fredericton Club of the Communist Party of Canada, Leap4wards Saint John, New Brunswick Anti-Shale Gas Alliance (NBASGA), New Brunswick Federation of Labour, NB Media Co-op, No One Is Illegal Fredericton, RAVEN, Reproductive Justice NB and Solidarité Fredericton.
All social justice, environmental and climate action groups are invited to endorse this rally. To add your name to our event coalition, contact: fredericton.solidarity@gmail.com.
For more information, contact Tracy Glynn, 506 440-5592, fredericton.solidarity@gmail.com.
XRNB: Work together on the climate emergency NOW plus invite to meeting
1 September 2021
Work together to force governments to act on the climate emergency NOW!
Hello everyone,
My name is Doug Swain. I’ve been a member of Extinction Rebellion New Brunswick (XRNB) since April 2019. I’m writing to you because we are at a critical stage in the climate crisis. The 2018 IPCC report stated that we needed to reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions by about 50% globally by 2030 to avoid a high probability of unstoppable runaway climate change. Three years out of the 12-year window have already passed and GHG emissions continue to rise in Canada.
Now the latest report concludes that the 2018 report was too optimistic, and greater and sooner reductions in GHG emissions are now needed (XR would say that we need net-zero by 2025). But Canada hasn’t even started to address the 2018 target of ~50% reductions by 2030.
Scientists have warned about global warming for over 30 years but governments have failed to act. Now they must take strong action immediately. In my view, governments will only start to address the climate emergency with the required urgency if 10s of 1000s of people are marching repeatedly in the streets across the country. I don’t think that this will happen until the many climate action, environmental and just transition groups act together to mobilise these numbers. So I am writing to you to see whether your group would consider working together with like-minded groups to make this happen. I have set up a Zoom meeting on September 15 for us to discuss this. The link and details are below.
Also, if you want to give this a try before our meeting, there will be an opprtunity on Wednesday Sep 8 in Saint John. On Sep 8, 350.org is organizing marches or rallies across Canada to demand a moratorium on fossil fuel expansion, including stopping existing expansion projects, and an urgent and robust just transition plan that leaves no one behind and moves us past fossil fuels. For further details and sign-up google ‘350.org/still-on-fire/’
Thanks you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Doug Swain
Extinction Rebellion New Brunswick.
***
Invitation to work together in the fight for action on the climate emergency
Topic: WorkTogether
Time: Sep 15, 2021 07:00 PM AST
Join Zoom Meeting
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Meeting ID: 889 5446 3889
Passcode: 276441
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NBASGA joins CRED-NB core group
The New Brunswick Anti-Shale Gas Alliance (NBASGA) has joined the CRED-NB core group of members. Welcome!
From the NBASGA website:
“NBASGA values our basic human right to fresh air, clear water, a healthy environment and a prosperous future for our children and grandchildren.
“We represent the interests of all New Brunswickers opposed to unconventional shale gas and oil exploration and development. We believe that clean energy alternatives will provide New Brunswick with a brighter, more secure future.”