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Dear Sarah Flynn,
I’m writing today to correct a few factual errors in the pamphlet you were handing out at the January 22, 2020, protest in Calgary against the Teck Frontier oil sands project.
Full disclosure, I don’t work for the company, so I don’t have first-hand knowledge of the project, but they have a lot of info on their website. I also don’t know anyone who works there, so I am in no way writing on their behalf. In fact, they may not even be happy with me for writing this open letter.
Regardless, I’m glad the twenty of you could make the trek out to Calgary, plastic pail drum and all. It gave us pro-responsible development supporters a reason to peacefully gather together, and I always enjoy those opportunities.
A photo I took at the January 22, 2020 rally
I got a hold of one of your pamphlets, and I thought I could help you tighten up some of the facts. It’s necessary to have all the facts to understand the full scope of the problem to help make good decisions.
“The communities downstream of this mine are predominantly First Nation and Metis.” Perhaps you aren’t aware of the 14 First Nations that have approved the project, including all the communities documented on your map. Why isn’t reconciliation with these groups important to Extinction Rebellion YYC?
“Teck Frontier will leave behind a toxic waste site almost half the size of Edmonton” -. Good news! Why? Because we’re very fortunate that the Alberta Energy Regulator places stringent reclamation obligations on oil and gas producers, and Teck has committed to use state-of-the-art practises to manage their tailings, including de-watering technology. Teck has also committed to reclaim land disturbed by the Frontier mine in stages. Plus, the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency is also part of the environmental review, adding an additional layer of oversight. I hope you’ll correct this disingenuous statement in the next edition of your pamphlet.
“Alberta’s tar sands extraction currently account for almost 10% of Canadian emissions”. Congratulations! You got that fact right! However, you haven’t quite painted the whole picture. It equates to about 0.15% of global GHG’s. And oil sands companies are working diligently to reduce their emissions, including Teck. GHG emissions from the Frontier project will be about 50% less than the oil sands industry average. That’s progress!
I must admit that I find it extremely bizarre that you reference Teck’s environmental records from 1930-1995 and then again from 1896-1995. I guess there was no current information available? Seems odd. Haven’t we all done things in the ‘90’s that we wish we could take back? Well, maybe not the kids you brought to the protest. They weren’t even born. We must judge based on current-day behaviour, and Teck has made environmental commitments that far exceed most industrial projects in this country and beyond our borders.
Here’s a great example. We all understand how valuable water is, so I’m sure you’ll be really pleased to hear that about 90% of water used to process bitumen will be recycled, meaning that minimal water will have to be drawn from the Athabasca River. That’s an incredible commitment to environmental stewardship!
“Since 1961, the Trans Mountain Pipeline… has reported 84 spills.” Correct. But not quite the whole story. I think you’re trying to make things seem far worse than they are because that creates fear, and fear is good for business. The Canadian Energy Regulator’s definition of a “spill” is broader than what the average person’s likely is, and even a release of water from a pipeline or facility is a reportable incident. In the last 40 years only three spills of crude oil along the pipeline have been larger than 1.5 cubic meters. That’s a pretty incredible track record!
I’m not totally clear how Indigenous sovereignty is climate action. Can you please explain? What is “climate action” in this context? I thought it was about emission reductions, but it seems like maybe you mean a new social structure? I guess I’ve been wrong this whole time thinking “climate action” was about tackling pollution.
A photo I took at the January 22, 2020 rally
The pamphlet cover says “Edmonton”. Your protest was held in Calgary. I know it may seem that I’m being pedantic. When you come from California or other far away places to protest, both our cities probably look the same, and minor details such as the city name are not overly important. It matters to me, though. There’s a friendly intra-provincial rivalry between our cities.
Sarah, you said on the news that you want a dialogue with the pro-development side so that we can work towards solutions. I’m open to that. Please get in touch. Let’s grab a coffee sometime soon because I’d like to know if not Canadian oil and gas, then what is the best product to use to power our modern society right now and into the near future? Renewables aren’t enough, and they aren’t coming fast enough. I think we can both agree on that.
Here’s great coverage of the rally from Global News.
https://globalnews.ca/news/6446287/teck-frontier-mine-demonstrators-rally/
Sincerely,
Deidra Garyk
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