It’s a sure indication we’ve hit a nerve when Woodfibre LNG senior advisor and minister-turned-lobbyist Michelle Mungall writes in to defend both the company and the NDP government. There is an eyebrow-raising number of former provincial government staffers—including the current CEO of Woodfibre—who have gone on to lucrative roles in the oil and gas industry. But why are the current ministers unwilling to take responsibility for carrying on with this misguided fossil-fuel project?
In the midst of a climate emergency, no gas export plant is a done deal, and the 2027 completion date is a long way away. How many more floods, fires, smoke and premature deaths from toxic air quality will we see by then? Seven years ago this NDP government came into office promising climate action. They could have done the right thing and reversed course on LNG. Instead, they adopted the industry’s false claim that exporting our fossil gas is somehow a climate solution. Thanks to pressure from the BC Greens and new federal rules under the Competition Act, government and industry will find it harder to get away with this kind of greenwashing going forward.
I’m well aware of the need to balance the public interest with potential costs from being sued by upset corporate interests. In an age where investor-state dispute settlements have been phased out of North American free trade agreements, should we be threatened by a company based in Singapore and owned by an Indonesian billionaire? And does the risk even come close to the $2 billion in public subsidies the project has already secured, or the untold billions in climate change costs we are already having to pay with public funds?
Being reminded about the company’s “rights” seems pretty tone deaf in this age of bloated oil and gas industry profits and increasing inequality in our society. What about the rights of the people who live in Squamish and the Sea to Sky—isn’t our government supposed to be looking out for our health and well-being?
The false narrative that cancelling this project means less money for the things we care about is straight out of the tobacco, opioid, and oil and gas industry playbook: deny, denounce, deflect, distract. Falsely claiming we’re doing our “customers” a favour while reaping massive profits that flow offshore is at best a delay tactic for an industry facing obsolescence.
I’ve spoken to hundreds of Sea to Sky residents who know that with our region’s innovative and entrepreneurial spirit, there are alternatives to business as usual that are way better for the planet and our current and future generations. Leaking climate-superheating methane gas and exporting 6 megatonnes of carbon pollution is a much bigger risk to the public interest than telling Woodfibre to pack up its industry of the past before it is built and then left stranded.
As an environmental engineer I know that we can embrace the accelerating energy transition and invest in green jobs for the future. And as a parent I will continue to stand up for our region’s kids and grandkids and do everything I can to tackle climate change.
