don't delay saskatchewan fossil fuel cap, environmental groups say
'saskatchewan emissions are way, way out of line with the global community,' says saskatchewan environmental society's peter prebble.
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environmental groups are urging the government to follow through on agreements to cap fossil fuel emissions as soon as possible, despite pushback from saskatchewan. saskpower minister dustin duncan suggested earlier this week that the provincial government is unclear on how to meet the 2030 net-zero emissions targets for electricity generation that uses fossil fuels.
while the province says the oil and gas industry in saskatchewan continues to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, environmental groups say saskatchewan is far behind.
“the consequences of saskatchewan emissions are very substantial,” said peter prebble, a board member with the saskatchewan environmental society. “saskatchewan emissions are way, way out of line with the global community.”
in 2021, saskatchewan greenhouse gas emissions (ghgs) totalled 67.1 megatonnes of carbon dioxide (co2) equivalent. canada’s total ghg emissions that year were 670 megatonnes of co2 equivalent. that means saskatchewan produced approximately a tenth of the national total, despite its population being smaller than other provinces. manitoba, which has the closest population size, emitted 21.7 megatonnes.
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a united nations report earlier this month said canada is one of the top 20 fossil fuel-producing countries, and is among those expected to produce more than double the amount of coal, oil and gas than is required to limit global warming to 1.5 c by 2030.
environmental organizations say the saskatchewan government must make a more concerted effort to work with the federal government and other provinces to beat these targets.
“every little part of the world is responsible in some way for the climate change crisis that the planet is facing, and saskatchewan plays a role in that,” prebble said. “we need to recognize that role and recognize the impacts are extremely serious.”
earlier this week saskatchewan waste reduction council said the petrochemical industry is moving its lobbying efforts away from fuels and into other fields, such as plastics.
the federal government’s effort to ban six types of plastics under its environmental jurisdiction met with legal resistance from industrial companies such as dow chemical, imperial oil and nova chemicals.
kimiya shokoohi is the local journalism initiative reporter for the saskatoon starphoenix. the lji program is federally funded by the government of canada.
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