May 29, 2018 – Today, Canada’s government announced that it will pay $4.5 billion to Kinder Morgan to buy both the 65-year-old Trans Mountain pipeline and the controversial Trans Mountain Expansion Project. The government also announced that it will assume liability for construction costs of the project, which could cost Canadian taxpayers billions more. In response, experts with Oil Change International released the following statements:
Adam Scott, Senior Advisor at Oil Change International, said:
“Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is making a historic mistake in buying the doomed Kinder Morgan project. At a critical moment in history, the government is indeed doing ‘whatever it takes’ to undermine our transition to a safe, clean, renewable energy future.
“Like other proposed export pipeline projects before it, Kinder Morgan will not be built. Public opposition, legal challenges, and failing economics have stopped all new tar sands export to date. This government is using taxpayer money to buy a doomed asset with no value.”
Hannah McKinnon, Director of the Energy Futures and Transitions Program at Oil Change International, said:
“As Maya Angelou said, ‘When people show you who they are, believe them.’ Prime Minister Trudeau is not a climate champion – he is a shill for an industry that knows its days are numbered. This absurd miscalculation threatens the climate, jeopardizes the economy, and strips Canada of its commitment to First Nations rights and any remaining credibility it had on climate. This pipeline will not be built, but Trudeau’s legacy as a disgraced climate leader is set in stone.”
Alex Doukas, Director of the Stop Funding Fossils Program at Oil Change International, said:
“Canada has repeatedly committed to end fossil fuel subsidies alongside other G7 leaders. Now, just days before Canada hosts the G7 Leaders’ Summit, the Trudeau government has wasted billions of dollars in Canadian taxpayer money by taking on a doomed pipeline project and all of the liabilities that come along with it, which is effectively a massive fossil fuel subsidy.
“It’s not surprising that Kinder Morgan – the successor to fraud-plagued Enron – would try to unload this boondoggle onto the shoulders of taxpayers. What’s surprising and disappointing is that the Trudeau government fell for it.”
Note:
Canada’s announcement comes on the same day that the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) announced that it would no longer directly finance oil sands projects, and also tightened restrictions on lending to Arctic oil projects, thermal coal mines, and coal-fired power stations. RBS joins other major institutions like HSBC, ING, BNP Paribas, and others in restricting lending to oil sands projects.
For more information, see here: https://reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFS8N1KN00S