Here's Everything the Sask Party Has (N)Ever Done To Mitigate Saskatchewan's GHG Emissions
The time, money and effort spent on the appearance of doing something, while actually doing nothing at all, is staggering.
Warning: this is a long, complex read, just like it was a long, complex piece to write. However, I think the information is important, so take your time.
According to the Canada Energy Regulator, Saskatchewan's greenhouse gas emissions in 2020 were 65.9 MT per capita. Kuwait, the seventh largest oil producer in the world, was at 21.6 MT per capita in 2018, while Qatar was 32.4MT and and Bahrain 19.6MT.
Back in 2016, per capita emissions in BC, Ontario, and Quebec were in the 10-14MT range.
There are two main contributors to Saskatchewan’s disastrous emissions profile:
SaskPower, specifically coal-fired electricity generation;
Extraction of Saskatchewan’s natural oil and gas resources.
As Canada burns, here’s virtually everything the Sask Party has ever said or “done” about climate change and reducing Saskatchewan’s outsized per capita emissions.
Literal hot air.
The first thing you need to know is it was always carbon capture… the Saskatchewan answer has always been carbon capture.
In the run-up to the 2007 election, the Saskatchewan NDP government decided it was time to get serious about climate change, which it absolutely was not in the years previous.
The Sask Party Opposition’s response was predictable:
2007 Sask Party Platform
The issue was big enough in 2007 that a power-hungry Sask Party included eighteen references to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in its election platform, including:
Once elected, the fledgling Sask Party government was so passionate about fighting climate change that it chose Earth Day to announce a rather ambitious GHG emissions target: “reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 32 per cent by 2020”.
32 per cent!
"When we talk about Earth Day, we are really talking about the choices we make each day and the impact those choices have on the environment," Environment Minister Nancy Heppner said. "Our government is committed to making sure the people of Saskatchewan have the support they need to make informed choices that contribute to the health of our environment." - Government of Saskatchewan news release, April 22, 2008.
I wonder if Nancy hates herself now for even suggesting such a thing.
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