Carr tells climate forum fossil fuel wealth can’t be left in the ground
OTTAWA — Two federal cabinet ministers danced around the issue of approving new oil pipelines at this week’s climate conference in Ottawa, but both concede that Liberal policy decisions will upset some Canadians.
“We’re not going to make everybody happy,” Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr said Friday to the Canadian Climate Forum, packed with green technology advocates, environmental economists, NGOs and climate scientists.
As if on cue, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau later found himself on the receiving end of some energy-policy indignation in Hamilton, Ont., where an anti-pipeline protester showered him with pumpkin seeds, shouting, “Keep your promises!”
The Trudeau government has made climate policy a central motif since taking office last November but is now trying to pivot to resource development amid slumping economic numbers. The Liberals approved controversial permits for a contested hydro electric dam on the Peace River in B.C. this summer and then conditionally approved a massive liquefied natural gas complex last month near Prince Rupert, B.C.