Toronto 鈥� The Green Party of Canada platform for this federal election, if implemented, would devastate Canada鈥檚 oilpatch to the point of eventual annihilation鈥� like the entire oilsands within 16 years. No drilling, no new pipelines, and fracking to be banned.
鈥淲e are in a climate emergency and politics-as-usual is leading us down a path we simply cannot survive,鈥� said Elizabeth May. 鈥淭he Green Party is proposing a course change, and we are ready to take the lead.鈥�
Released on Sept. 16, the Green Party platform promises, 鈥淣o new pipelines, or coal, oil or gas drilling or mining, including offshore wells, will be approved. Existing oil and gas operations will continue on a declining basis, with bitumen production phased out between 2030 and 2035. Hydraulic fracturing (fracking) operations will be banned outright due to impacts on groundwater quality, methane release and seismic activity.鈥�
They would cancel the Trans Mountain Expansion Pipeline, instead spending the $10 to $13 billion cost to their 鈥淐anadian Grid Strategy.鈥� This would involve implementing a national electrical grid, including connections between Manitoba and Ontario, and upgrading connections between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
The Green Party promises to 鈥淚mplement a major ramp-up of renewable electricity. By 2030, 100 per cent of Canada鈥檚 electricity will come from renewable sources. This includes getting remote and northern communities off diesel generators.鈥�
As for orphaned wells, the Green Party promises to 鈥淲ork with provincial governments to determine which orphaned oil and gas wells are geologically suited to produce geothermal energy. This will turn provincial liabilities into potential income-generating renewable energy, ideally in partnership with First Nations. Those with weaker geothermal energy potential may be used in district energy, including for greenhouses.鈥�
That鈥檚 on the supply side of the energy equation. On the demand side, the platform promises to 鈥淏an the sale of internal combustion engine passenger vehicles by 2030. They will expand charging stations for electrical vehicles.
Via Rail would be strengthened with regional rail networks and several 10-kilometre double tracks to 鈥渁void bottlenecks where heavy freight pushes passenger rail to the siding.鈥�
High speed rail would be implemented in the Toronto-Ontario-Quebec City triangle and from Calgary to Edmonton.
All passenger ferries would be converted to electric or hybrid systems by 2030.
Nitrogen fertilizer (generally made from natural gas) used in agriculture would be reduced.
New construction of buildings would require net-zero emissions by 2030.
The justification for all of this is given as such: 鈥淪ince producing and burning fossil fuels is the largest source of emissions, we need to keep fossil fuels in the ground, and retool society to run on non-polluting, renewable energy sources. This is entirely possible, according to studies by the Stanford University researchers and the Deep Decarbonization Pathways Project.鈥�
The Green Party calls it 鈥淢ission: Possible.鈥�
The platform press release states, 鈥淭he climate crisis is the lens through which every policy envelope in the platform is viewed 鈥� the economy, health, education, foreign affairs, immigration, public safety, defence, social welfare, transportation. The policy framework is also designed to meet the linked challenges of reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples, climate stability, economic and social justice, and real democracy. It is grounded in science and expert analysis.鈥�
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