What is it about?
This article is about how members of the Canadian government speak about the Trans Mountain pipeline in times of climate emergency. Everybody knows that continued extraction of fossil fuels is a big driver for climate change. This is a problem for the Canadian government: on the one hand, they want to be leading the fight against climate change and on the other hand, want to build a big pipeline to sell oil from tar sand extraction. We find that the government does not address this contradiction directly. Instead, they point at the revenues from selling the oil to lead us into an environmental friendly future. How this will play out, however, stays unclear.
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Why is it important?
Our analysis identifies flaws in the logic of the government. It shows how their narrative of continued oil extraction and fighting climate change does not fit together. This way, we provide arguments to the opponents of the pipeline and thus contribute to a strong and living democracy.
Perspectives
The Trans Mountain pipeline is a very contested topic in Canadian politics these days. The pipeline promises to create new jobs and some economic benefits for Canadian people but it also threatens local environments and will add a lot of greenhouse gasses to our atmosphere. This article is our humble contribution to the discussion on the issue we deeply care for.
Mr Henner Busch
Lunds Universitet
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Of pipe dreams and fossil fools: Advancing Canadian fossil fuel hegemony through the Trans Mountain pipeline, Energy Research & Social Science, November 2020, Elsevier,
DOI: 10.1016/j.erss.2020.101695.
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