Get Big Oil’s hands out of the public’s pockets!
By Dylan Penner
Climate and Social Justice Campaigner
The Council of Canadians
You and I know that oil and gas CEOs have profited immensely for decades from activities that are fueling the climate crisis and polluting the land and water. Big Oil CEOs are using their influence to extract tax breaks and handouts from the Canadian government. They’re profiting off of the very thing that is responsible for the fires, floods, and other climate disasters we’re facing, while still picking public pockets for more.
Add your voice to the tens of thousands demanding that the federal government end fossil fuel subsidies.
Fossil fuel CEOs aren’t interested in climate solutions or providing the supports workers and communities need to transition to a post-carbon economy – it’s about selling out our future to guarantee fossil fuel producers can profit for years to come.
In some cases, the federal government is flat out subsidizing destructive projects like the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion and the Coastal GasLink pipeline. These projects violate the rights of Indigenous Peoples, risk toxic spills, and threaten endangered species habitats.
Because of pressure from coast-coast-to-coast, the federal government has made a promise: to eliminate subsidies by the end of 2023.
Yet at the same time, the government has also created massive new subsidies for unproven and ineffective carbon capture technologies like carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS). Make no mistake, these are still fossil fuel subsidies.
Canada already provides more fossil fuel subsidies than any other G7 country, while most Canadians want these subsidies to stop. A CCUS subsidy will perpetuate fossil fuel expansion at a time when the industry must wind down if we’re to have a livable climate.
Instead of entertaining pipe dreams like CCUS, the federal government should be focusing on what’s really needed to get us out of the crisis: a just transition.
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