Oliver, in a speech at a University of Toronto alumni dinner, reiterated the federal government's concern over opposition to the $5.5-billion Northern Gateway pipeline linking Alberta's oilsands to Asian markets via a northern British Columbia port.
But he didn't once label opponents as "radical" and made no reference to foreign funding of the B.C. environmental movement.
Oliver was criticized by B.C. aboriginal leaders and other groups for appearing to paint the opposition to the megaproject with a single brush.
"Our government will not sit back and have Canada's international reputation sullied by people who cannot or will not acknowledge the facts," he said in the text of a speech made available to Postmedia News earlier Monday.
"The oilsands are just too important to Canada and the world to do otherwise. Uninformed criticism and, on occasion, ideologically motivated opposition is putting the timely development of this globally strategic asset at risk."
Last week, in a statement issued on the eve of the start of National Energy Board hearings into the project in Kitimat, B.C., Oliver said he worried "environmental and radical groups" would "hijack our regulatory system to achieve their radical ideological agenda."
At that time, Oliver also accused Northern Gateway opponents of using "funding from foreign special interest groups to undermine Canada's national economic interest."
On Monday, Oliver put particular emphasis in his speech on the world's dependence on fossil fuels, noting that non-hydro renewable energy accounts for less than 10 per cent of the European Union's electricity supply despite years of "generous" incentives.
In Canada, despite growth in wind energy projects, non-hydro renewables reach barely three per cent of the national supply, while in the U.S. it's four per cent.
"Clearly, it will be many years before we come anywhere near to replacing the energy that fossil fuels provide," he said.
He cited a recent report from the Paris-based International Energy Agency saying that even under the toughest measures against greenhouse gas emissions, oil will remain the world's dominant energy source for the next quarter-century.
"That is the reality. We cannot just turn off the tap," he said.
"It would create economic chaos, and relegate more than a billion people around the world to many decades of energy deficiency."
This demand, in turn, puts Canada in the position of a global energy superpower, thanks to oilsands reserves that make up 170 of 174 billion barrels of the country's proven reserves.
"I use the word 'strategic' because it can provide security for Canada in a turbulent international economy and because Canadian oil plays a major part in U.S. energy security."
He said the natural resources industry generates an environmental impact, but "the rhetoric doesn't match the reality."
Original Article
Source: Canada.com
No comments:
Post a Comment